Well, what have I been up to lately?

Ok, so it's been a while since I've written to you and told you how I've been spending my time. I would like to first formally apologize for my absence. Now, I'll tell you how I've been doing.

Friday
I really have no idea what I did on Friday. I know there was work. I honestly can't remember doing anything else. I must have watched television and slept. Sorry, that was an un-exciting day.

Saturday or what I like to call the curtains the drill, part duex.
Saturday was also the day I had a most unfortunate migraine. And accidentally got high on Pledge (yes the furniture polish) while I was at Amanda's. The good news is all the curtains are properly hung and the drill is back home. I had a nice time hanging out with Amanda and was glad I could help.
Also on Saturday, remember when I used my super human strength to snap a bolt in half? I did the same thing again although this time the bolt was much smaller and the feat was less impressive.
After minor manual labor and a lovely lunch (you owe me $5.00) I came back to my plate to watch more tv. I watched Catch and Release. I don't recommend it. It's just a few too many people sleeping together for my taste. Plus the wrong guy ends up with the girl and that aggravates me as well.

Sunday
Finally learned that my cousin had her baby so there are three little cousins born within two months of each other now. How exciting. Too bad they're all so far away.
Cleaned the house a little. Although I did that some on Friday too before Amanda failed to come over. (It's ok. I was pretty tired by then.)
Was massively confused by changing all the clocks that needed to be changed.
Luckily did go out to the store to get milk. I'd been without that since Thursday. It was Thursday that I also learned I cannot make smoothies without milk. Don't ask. It goes slightly beyond "no good comes of it" and moves into "that's just gross" territory.
Ate a whole pint of Haagen Daas. It's ok though, it was mocha chip. It's good for me. How many points is in the whole container of Haagen Daas?
Bought Mom this purse as a Christmas gift. That purse is quite a commitment because it's like the one color I wouldn't really want for myself if it doesn't work out for Mom.
Am still working on a cute pajama set Christmas gift. Can anyone explain how to add items to "gift lists" on Amazon. Again, I am massively confused. Surely there must be a few worthwhile greasemonkey scripts for Amazon. Can anyone recommend one? Yes, I did just let my geek show.

Monday
It's so windy there's actually a wind advisory, the time just changed so it's super dark at 5pm, and it's one of the coldest days of the fall so far. This was like the trifecta of "reasons people can't exercise outside" so the gym was packed tonight when I went. I rode the bike and did the rowing machine. I'm seriously considering running tomorrow. Although I haven't actually run in a little while. I have to remotely get back into running because that will be my exercise while I'm at home for Thanksgiving.
And Flight of the Navigator is on right now. Yay.

And now, the book meme

Also from Kelly, I will indicate which of these books I have read by making the titles bold for you. I have a feeling these two memes will result in some amount of scolding and then book and movie sharing. Holy crap, there's over 400 books on here.

I'm adding my three at the top because they are, after all, the most important.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. Love this book.
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendack. Did you know this is going to be a movie? How exciting.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. 1984, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corellis Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The Durbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alices Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens Best. Book. Ever.
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Susskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones’ Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnights Children, Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach, Alex Garland
104. Dracula, Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 1/2, Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
119. Shogun, James Clavell
120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. Georges Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. It, Stephen King
145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile, Stephen King
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander, Patrick OBrian
150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Ken Kesey
158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby **** , Herman Melville
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp, John Irving
166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlottes Web, E. B. White And this, is where, I predict, the trouble will begin. No, I haven't read this. Yes, I am a girl. I have no explanation.
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco
175. Sophies World, Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl
178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner, George Eliot
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Gross-mith
187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews
201. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
202. The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan
203. The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan
204. The Dragon Reborn, Robert Jordan
205. Fires of Heaven, Robert Jordan
206. Lord of Chaos, Robert Jordan
207. Winters Heart, Robert Jordan
208. A Crown of Swords, Robert Jordan
209. Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan
210. A Path of Daggers, Robert Jordan
211. As Nature Made Him, John Colapinto
212. Microserfs, Douglas Coupland
213. The Married Man, Edmund White
214. Winters Tale, Mark Helprin
215. The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault
216. Cry to Heaven, Anne Rice
217. Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, John Boswell - You know, I kept reading the title and thinking it was about Unicorns, which made for a much more interesting book.
218. Equus, Peter Shaffer
219. The Man Who Ate Everything, Jeffrey Steingarten
220. Letters To A Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
221. Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn
222. The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice
223. Anthem, Ayn Rand
224. The Bridge To Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
225. Tartuffe, Moliere
226. The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
227. The Crucible, Arthur Miller
228. The Trial, Franz Kafka
229. Oedipus Rex, Sophocles
230. Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles
231. Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther
232. A Dolls House, Henrik Ibsen
233. Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen
234. Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton
235. A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
236. ALIVE!, Piers Paul Read
237. Grapefruit, Yoko Ono
238. Trickster Makes This World, Lewis Hyde
239. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
240. Chronicles of Thomas Convenant, Unbeliever, Stephen Donaldson
241. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
242. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon
243. Summerland, Michael Chabon
244. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
245. Candide, Voltaire
246. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, Roald Dahl
247. Ringworld, Larry Niven
248. The King Must Die, Mary Renault
249. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
250. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline LEngle
251. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
252. The House Of The Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne
253. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
254. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
255. The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson
256. Chocolate Fever, Robert Kimmel Smith
257. Xanth: The Quest for Magic, Piers Anthony
258. The Lost Princess of Oz, L. Frank Baum
259. Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon
260. Lost In A Good Book, Jasper Fforde
261. Well Of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde
262. Life Of Pi, Yann Martel
263. The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
264. A Yellow Rraft In Blue Water, Michael Dorris
265. Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder
266. Where The Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls Biggest tear jerker ever.
267. Griffin & Sabine, Nick Bantock
268. Witch of Blackbird Pond, Joyce Friedland
269. Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH, Robert C. OBrien
270. Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt
271. The Cay, Theodore Taylor
272. From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
273. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
274. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
275. The Kitchen Gods Wife, Amy Tan
276. The Bone Setters Daughter, Amy Tan
277. Relic, Duglas Preston & Lincolon Child
278. Wicked, Gregory Maguire
279. American Gods, Neil Gaiman
280. Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry
281. The Girl Next Door, Jack Ketchum
282. Haunted, Judith St. George
283. Singularity, William Sleator
284. A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
285. Different Seasons, Stephen King
286. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
287. About a Boy, Nick Hornby
288. The Bookmans Wake, John Dunning
289. The Church of Dead Girls, Stephen Dobyns
290. Illusions, Richard Bach
291. Magics Pawn, Mercedes Lackey
292. Magics Promise, Mercedes Lackey
293. Magics Price, Mercedes Lackey
294. The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Gary Zukav
295. Spirits of Flux and Anchor, Jack L. Chalker
296. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
297. The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices, Brenda Love
298. Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace.
299. The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison. (I tried, in college, for a class, but never made it through, and ended up dropping the class)
300. The Cider House Rules, John Irving.
301. Enders Game, Orson Scott Card
302. Girlfriend in a Coma, Douglas Coupland
303. The Lions Game, Nelson Demille
304. The Sun, The Moon, and the Stars, Stephen Brust
305. Cyteen, C. J. Cherryh
306. Foucaults Pendulum, Umberto Eco
307. Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson
308. Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk
309. Camber of Culdi, Kathryn Kurtz
310. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
311. War and Rememberance, Herman Wouk
312. The Art of War, Sun Tzu
313. The Giver, Lois Lowry
314. The Telling, Ursula Le Guin
315. Xenogenesis (or Liliths Brood), Octavia Butler
316. A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold
317. The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold
318. The Aeneid, Publius Vergilius Maro (Vergil) Guess who translated several chapters from the original Latin. For college credit. In 10th grade. I am not ashamed.
319. Hanta Yo, Ruth Beebe Hill
320. The Princess Bride, S. Morganstern (or William Goldman)
321. Beowulf, Anonymous
322. The Sparrow, Maria Doria Russell
323. Deerskin, Robin McKinley
324. Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey
325. Passage, Connie Willis
326. Otherland, Tad Williams
327. Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay
328. Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
329. Beloved, Toni Morrison
330. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christs Childhood Pal, Christopher Moore
331. The mysterious disappearance of Leon, I mean Noel, Ellen Raskin
332. Summer Sisters, Judy Blume
333. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo
334. The Island on Bird Street, Uri Orlev
335. Midnight in the Dollhouse, Marjorie Filley Stover
336. The Miracle Worker, William Gibson
337. The Genesis Code, John Case
338. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevensen
339. Paradise Lost, John Milton
340. Phantom, Susan Kay
341. The Mummy or Ramses the Damned, Anne Rice
342. Anno Dracula, Kim Newman
343. The Dresden Files: Grave Peril, Jim Butcher
344. Tokyo Suckerpunch, Issac Adamson
345. The Winter of Magics Return, Pamela Service
346. The Oddkins, Dean R. Koontz
347. My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok
348. The Last Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
349. At Swim, Two Boys, Jaime ONeill
350. Othello, by William Shakespeare
351. The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas
352. The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats
353. Sati, Christopher Pike
354. The Inferno, Dante
355. The Apology, Plato
356. The Small Rain, Madeline LEngle
357. The Man Who Tasted Shapes, Richard E Cytowick
358. 5 Novels, Daniel Pinkwater
359. The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Juliet Marillier
360. Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
361. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
362. Our Town, Thorton Wilder
363. Green Grass Running Water, Thomas King
364. The Interpreter, Suzanne Glass
365. The Moors Last Sigh, Salman Rushdie
366. The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson
367. A Passage to India, E.M. Forster
368. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
369. The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux
370. Pages for You, Sylvia Brownrigg
371. The Changeover, Margaret Mahy
372. Howls Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones - I saw the animated version, I’m guessing that doesn’t count
373. Angels and Demons, Dan Brown
374. Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo
375. Shosha, Isaac Bashevis Singer
376. Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck
377. The Diving-bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
378. The Lunatic at Large by J. Storer Clouston
379. Time for Bed by David Baddiel
380. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
381. Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre
382. The Bloody Sun by Marion Zimmer Bradley
383. Sewer, Gas, and Eletric by Matt Ruff
384. Jhereg by Steven Brust
385. So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane
386. Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
387. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte
388. Road-side Dog, Czeslaw Milosz
389. The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
390. Neuromancer, William Gibson
391. The Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
392. A Canticle for Liebowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr
393. The Mask of Apollo, Mary Renault
394. The Gunslinger, Stephen King
395. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
396. Childhoods End, Arthur C. Clarke
397. A Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman
398. Ivanhoe, Walter Scott
399. The God Boy, Ian Cross
400. The Beekeepers Apprentice, Laurie R. King
401. Finn Family Moomintroll, Tove Jansson
402. Misery, Stephen King
403. Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters
404. Hood, Emma Donoghue
405. The Land of Spices, Kate OBrien
406. The Diary of Anne Frank
407. Regeneration, Pat Barker
408. Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
409. Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina Garcia
410. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
411. The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg
412. Dealing with Dragons, Patricia Wrede
413. Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss
414. A Severed Wasp - Madeleine LEngle
415. Here Be Dragons - Sharon Kay Penman
416. The Mabinogion (Ancient Welsh Tales)
417. The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown.
418. Desire of the Everlasting Hills - Thomas Cahill
419. The Cloister Walk - Kathleen Norris
420. The Things We Carried, Tim OBrien
421. I Know This Much Is True, Wally Lamb
422. Choke, Chuck Palahniuk
423. Enders Shadow, Orson Scott Card
424. The Memory of Earth, Orson Scott Card
425. The Iron Tower, Dennis L. McKiernen
426. The French Lieutenant’s Woman, John Fowles
427. The Four Feathers, A.E.W. Mason
428. The Jester, James Patterson
429. Cry the beloved Country, Alan Paton
430. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
431. The Stranger, Albert Camus
432. Deathscent, Robin Jarvis
433. Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice
434. My legendary girlfriend, Mike Gayle
435. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Phillip K Dick
436. Bored of the Rings - Harvard Lampoon
437. The Pelican Brief - John Grisham
438. Schild’s Ladder - Greg Egan
439. Excession - Iain M. Banks
440. One For The Morning Glory - John Barnes
441. The Manchurian Candidate - Richard Condon
442. A Death in the Family - James Agee
443. Fup - Jim Dodge
444. Girl Soldier by Faith J H McDonnell and Grace Akallo
445. We Could Almost Eat Outside by Philippe Delerm and Sarah Hamp
446. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

A Movie Meme from Kelly

Per Kelly's instructions, these are from the AFI top 100 list. I will indicate to you the ones I have watched by making the tiles bold.

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Casablanca (1942)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. Gone With The Wind (1939)
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
6. The Wizard of Oz (1939) What would you do if I hadn't seen this?
7. The Graduate (1967)
8. On The Waterfront (1954)
9. Schindler’s List (1993) The book is even better. One of the most well written things I have ever read. Even without the power of the subject matter, the book is a great read.
10. Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
11. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
12. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
13. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
14. Some Like It Hot (1959)
15. Star Wars (1977) The Star Wars exhibit is coming to The Science Museum. My first thought? "Tony and Doug will come see me" followed immediately by "They'll bring their wives who I really want to see." (These are people from Cincinnati.)
16. All About Eve (1950)
17. The African Queen (1951)
18. Psycho (1960) No. Just no.
19. Chinatown (1974)
20. One Flew Over The Cukoo’s Nest (1975)
21. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
22. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
23. The Maltese Falcon (1941) This one has some memories attached because of who watched this with me.
24. Raging Bull (1980)
25. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
26. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
27. Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
28. Apocalypse Now (1979)
29. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
30. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
31. Annie Hall (1977)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974)
33. High Noon (1952)
34. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
35. It Happened One Night (1934)
36. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
37. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)
38. Double Indemnity (1944)
39. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
40. North by Northwest (1959)
41. West Side Story (1961)
42. Rear Window (1954)
43. King Kong (1933) I have seen the remake.
44. The Birth Of A Nation (1915)
45. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
46. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
47. Taxi Driver (1976)
48. Jaws (1975)
49. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937) Such a good movie. Snow White has the most annoying voice ever.
50. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)
51. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
52. From Here To Eternity (1953)
53. Amadeus (1984)
54. All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)
55. The Sound Of Music (1965) I know every word of this movie. And I love it.
56. M*A*S*H (1970)
57. The Third Man (1949)
58. Fantasia (1940)
59. Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
60. Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
61. Vertigo (1958) No, but I can relate.
62. Tootsie (1982)
63. Stagecoach (1939)
64. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
65. The Silence Of The Lamb (1991) - No. Just… no. I second Kelly's words.
66. Network (1976)
67. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
68. An American In Paris (1951)
69. Shane (1953)
70. The French Connection (1971)
71. Forrest Gump (1994)
72. Ben-Hur (1959)
73. Wuthering Heights (1939)
74. The Gold Rush (1925)
75. Dances With Wolves (1990)
76. City Lights (1931)
77. American Graffiti (1973)
78. Rocky (1976)
79. The Deer Hunter (1978)
80. The Wild Bunch (1969)
81. Modern Times (1936)
82. Giant (1956)
83. Platoon (1986)
84. Fargo (1996) Means so much more now that I live here.
85. Duck Soup (1933)
86. Mutiny On The Bounty (1935)
87. Frankenstein (1931)
88. Easy Rider (1969)
89. Patton (1970)
90. The Jazz Singer (1927)
91. My Fair Lady (1964)
92. A Place In The Sun (1951)
93. The Apartment (1960)
94. Goodfellas (1990)
95. Pulp Fiction (1994) Not my favorite movie.
96. The Searchers (1956)
97. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
98. Unforgiven (1992)
99. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (1967)
100. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Too much TMI? You be the judge

Here's the sequence of events.
1. Mention this story on the blog.
2. Friend comments that based on story, she fights like a man.
3. Lizzie re-reads story. Am saddened to learn they didn't mention very interesting research about fighting and blood pressure. I'll tell you now:
Researchers would invite couples in to a lab, hook them up to blood pressure machines and then ask them to argue with each other. (It took researchers an amazingly long time to learn they didn't need to suggest a topic or scenario for arguing. Simply giving the direction to argue was enough.) Then researchers sat back and watched the show. As women argued, their blood pressures dropped, almost like a release valve. As men argued, their blood pressure increased. But when men were quiet and didn't argue, their blood pressure dropped.
4. Based on points in article, can't figure out why friend thinks she argues like a man.
5. Stop trying to figure out what friend read that she identified with. Am only happy she does not fight like woman from Papua New Guinea.

PS - Just had Chipotle for the first time since sometime in September. Am very happy.

As always, Kelly is right

Don't you just love that title? But seriously, I think Kelly is right about the difficulty in changing blog themes. Obviously I just changed mine because it's not October anymore. I didn't have the whole "I-didn't-do-the-php-codes-right" issue. Blogger is not that advanced people. But for some reason, it's hard to get accurately displayed colors with this monitor (could be because it's a laptop) so I had a hard time re-coloring the blog. If it looks like crap on your computer, someone please tell me.

I read an article about the benefits of Miro compared to Joost for watching tv over the internet. I found it fascinating my experience with the two programs. But then I read how Comcast is screwing with torrent traffic and decided maybe that's why I had such a hard time with Miro. If Comcast ever gets its act together, maybe I'll try again. In the mean time here's five places to download free movies in what the article claims is a legal manner. Let me know if any scary men (or nerdy men) with suits and badges show up at your door.

And, Apple is researching a touch surface keyboard. Think of the typos.

The Downside of the Flu Shot

I got "the crud" last night from the flu shot and spent most of today battling it as well. To make me even more uncomfortable, it was 85* in my condo. I got out the air mattress and took some nyquil. I slept reasonably well (thank you drugs). Although this morning I wasn't sure if I had a fever. Turns out my apartment was just really hot. How bad did I feel? I didn't even want coffee.

More on the multi-vitamin front because I've been reading your comments. I now take it after dinner. I decided that it was the heat that was keeping me awake before and not the multivitamin. I took a pill right before eating lunch on Sunday and threw my lunch back up because of it. I've taken it in the morning after a good breakfast (read eggs, bacon and toast) but not on anything less. I take Centrum one a day for Women. It was the only one with the right amount of iron for me.

I went to Target tonight. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of food, and the variety there. Really on some stuff the variety isn't that good but name me one other store that has three types of Turkey Bacon. Yum. The downside of Target is their soda is rarely on sale. Boo. I also learned that at Target a photo id is not required to purchase nyquil or generic forms of the drug. The only drug that can be purchased without an id is children's tylenol. Way to stop the meth labs and kids overdosing on cough medicine.

What have I found on the internet while I've been convalescing?
Indonesia says if the world wants to save their forests and endangered species, we should put our money where our mouth is. I thought, why not? It's what the nature conservancy does. Instead of an outright donation, why not forgive some foreign debt or build roads and plumbing. Just a thought.

Barack Obama promises a net neutrality law if elected. There's something we agree on.

The psychology of how men and women argue, and why we do it differently. Which we do.

A great clip from the Daily Show, has sound, probably not safe for work unless you have earphones. There's a fantastic line about Fox News in there and stick around for the end of the clip. My jaw dropped.

One third of employees violate company IT policies. I am in this one third. Want to know why? I got in trouble for installing Firefox on my computer. We almost had another discussion about how Internet Explorer can be the default browser even though I deleted the desktop shortcuts. But I've made peace with the IT lady since writing that.

Be Healthy and Give up Caffeine and Coffee. Boo. Obviously I linked to the Digg page because we should get to read everyone else's comments as well.

And finally, this tape would have been nice when I was painting my hallway. I probably wouldn't have had these issues.

I have been away for a while

I know I haven't written in a while. I can never seem to get motivated on the weekends. It must be all that relaxing. This weekend Amanda tried to make me work but I got out of it when my drill ran out of power and I didn't have the charger with me. I still keep forgetting to bring the charger to her house. That's not true. I keep forgetting to pack the charger. Once in my bag, it will be no problem to run it by her house. Woops.

I got a flu shot today and my arm feels like it got hit with a baseball bat. Although as shots go, those aren't that bad at all. I say this as someone who joined the peace corps and got several shots every week for quite a while. Also at work, my boss asked me why i odn't work with teens anymore. I described my ideal teen program which pairs teens and seniors and she was interested so I spent a little time developing that idea a little more. From the brain storm I learned:

• It's really important to involve a diverse group of teens. Every once in a while, something will happen and it's like only for people who are this one faith. Like the contribution I have to make isn't at all valued because I don't share the faith tradition. And it feels really bad. So any youth program I'm involved in for sure needs to involve kids of many backgrounds.


• Wouldn't bother me if all the seniors were from the faith tradition of my agency. No one knows why.


• I have really high expectations of teens. Meaning I believe that teens can deliver a truly professional product. It took a long time for me to learn how to help teens deliver a high quality product, but once I gave them the right tools, the kids who worked for me could do anything.


• Teens need to be paid. This has to be a job. No other way to have ridiculously high standards than by offering a monetary reward.


• This is my baby. Meaning, I need to be in charge. Is that wrong?

Over the weekend, I saved some web pages to share with you as well.

• Quick: To the Bat Cave is a well done story about a bat biologist. Want to know how bad the OCD is? One of the bats pictured on this page is the red bat. Why is that important? It's a tree bat. It doesn't live in caves. Ever.


• For Amanda, who's been on a broccoli kick of late, Brocolli extract may help prevent skin cancer. Does that run in families like other types of cancer? That'd be important to know.


• 25 Unexpected Websites for the Uncommonly Curious makes me feel like I know about things before everyone else, which boosts my self-esteem. Kelly check out the two sites with full books online. Especially relevant given your Book meme.


• The 88 least healthy fast foods judged by trans-fat levels. I got out of reading this, "Liz can go to Wendy's and Chipotle and not feel bad." I'm not sure that was the intended take home message.


• 10 Great Workouts to Spice Up Your Running Program for anyone who is still running. I'm still working out, just haven't been on a run in a little while.


• the Horrifyingly Cute Photoshopping Contest. This is just wrong (but totally safe for work).


• Great information about Europe all done by maps. Also for Kelly who is learning about human geography (I think) and may enjoy this information.


• The top 87 bad predictions about the future. I'm not sure if "we'll never fill up 1G of memory" is on the list, but they're all in that vain.

The Monday Music Mambo even though it's Tuesday.

Name a few of your favorite music websites.

One of my favorite websites, Skreemr is linked on the sidebar there. It's a great mp3 search engine. Hey, I do not ask from whence they come. Other good mp3 search engines are AllTheWeb, most likely to find something no other sites pulls down, and Mp3 realm which has the added feature of determining if a link is functioning or broken before I try to download the file. I also think I blogged about Cha Cha another new site that is finicky but useful.

I checked my Delicious bookmarks for sites I had tagged "music". Here's a selection:
Get Music off your iPod, it's always a harder proposition that it should be.
50 Best Songs for Running Ever Made. These lists are always entertaining. I can tell who has taste like mine and who doesn't.
The Wiki Music Guide.
Jog tunes is another great site for runners, really people who do any types of workouts and enjoy listening to music.
Songbird is a fantastic little player with web-browsing and mp3 search capabilities built right in. It's a mozilla product and works with all platforms. It's billed as the "iTunes killer" and may now have the capabilities to sync with iPods. However, it's not a 1.0 product yet and feels very unfinished. I used it on my old computer because Windows Media Player sucked all resources dry. It couldn't handle my adding all these new files to my music library. I'd have to manually add them to my songbird playlist as well and I couldn't handle it. So I got iTunes.

Can't seem to convince myself that Laundry is important

Can't seem to convince myself laundry is important. Buying another sports bra seems a more logical solution. Too bad Target's parking lot is probably still full. That's such a good site for a Target, I'm amazed nothing was built there before. But seriously, mind the roundabout.

I went to the gym this morning. I found the elliptical a much more enjoyable experience when I could be a slow-poke (and not feel like I was about to faint). I haven't run in about two weeks. I'm to the point where I feel like I'm in good shape but that I'd have to actually train to run a race again. The strangest thing that's happened to me is I don't want to run outside when I feel like this. I feel like, what if I get far away from my house and something happens. At least at the Y, there are other people to help me. Maybe I'm having anniversary effects from this time last year when I couldn't run at all. (How funny that's also the post with the whole thing about the dude. Things happen in threes and he was the first. I've been through all three though so next one is the charm.)

Today I went back to the museum to borrow some supplies. I got to walk around and see a whole bunch of people. Everyone there looks great and seems to be doing well. That was a nice thing to have in the middle of my day.

I talked to my dad tonight.

• Every time I talk to dad, must vent afterwards.


• Even when I offer a solution no one has even considered, and one that is much less money than any solution currently in the hopper, I still get discouraged. Know why? Dad doesn't like repairs. He doesn't do them at home and doesn't schedule others to come in and do them, which is why Mom wants to move to a place that's "less work" and he doesn't like thinking about them or talking about them. He'll dispute that claim and point to all the things he's done. I would point out Mom wanted most of that stuff done for over ten years and they nearly did move once.


• I don't know how the insulation sticks to the pipe. It's not important right now. Move on.
  


• "Oh, maybe I'll compose a letter and you can type it." Bite me. Why do you always ask me to do anything on a computer instead of doing it yourself. I am not your secretary, typist, personal shopper, or google research assistant.

Thanks, I feel much better. Now I'd like to talk about some of the neat sites I've found on the internet lately.
Recently, I've witnessed several couples negotiate the details of their weddings and reception. At least two brides I know have agreed to details of the ceremony or reception that were important to the groom but they wouldn't have chosen for themselves. To both of you, I'd like to say, at least your grooms didn't ask you to do something like this. I wonder what their bridesmaids wore.

Finally, it's not the bubble wrap, but I heard about this site called Don'tDateHimGirl.com and while it does do exactly what you think it does, it's actually got some meaningful content as well. There are some nice things about dating violence, and how to date safely.

It's possible there's an end in sight

I didn't exercise today. After my rant last night, I decided I had earned the right to sleep in. (I've decided I read too many things from British authors because I almost wrote "I decided I could have a lie in".)

I was doing a restorative justice panel tonight and one of the other panel members does guess what for a living. That's right. He does construction. And he told me about the easiest, cheapest way to fix my heating issue. And I feel like I could both afford the solution and convince the board to let me give it a try. Now I just have to get Dad on board. I'm quite excited.

Then I talked with my friend Jenny who is getting married soon. She picked out this dress for the brides maids to wear. I'm feeling ok about it. I'm still quite attached to the dress I wore at Kelly's wedding but it'd be food to have two dresses so I have choices. Should the situation arise.

Oh oh the bubbles

Ok, I think my last post had the wrong general tone to convey the coolness of this site. Seriously, it's online bubble wrap that you can pop. And then, you can try it in Manic Mode which is even more entertaining. For those of you with OCD, you can make nice symmetrical designs in the bubbles. Beware, manic mode is not ideal for this pursuit.

And then you can get a fresh sheet of bubble wrap and do it again. If you're at home, turn up the volume because it's hysterical, and easily one of the coolest parts of the site. I know, you didn't think anything could be cooler than the bubble wrap. If you're at work, put in your earphones because you won't want to miss it. Seriously. Must have moooore.

Oh, oh the joys

Before I go into the things that happened today I want to let you know I've found the perfect stress reliever. Click Here to see it. You can also click on the link I added in the "favorites" section.

Today was generally good until I got home and decided to make dinner. I took my multi-vitamin which very quickly upset my stomach. I realized I needed to eat quickly to calm it down.
Step 1: Evaluate general edible-ness of existing food and find very little to eat.
Step 2: Assess that spaghetti is the most appropriate dinner time food.
Step 3: Smell romano cheese and determine that it is still edible. Possibly because I have OCD, or just because I'm picky, I must have some type of cheese to enjoy with my spaghetti.
Step 4: Make food.
Step 5: Plate food and sprinkle with cheese.
Step 6: Eat.
Step 7: Realize that I did not perform step 3 at an acceptable standard and cheese is not edible. Again sadly, the cheese is mixed in the the spaghetti and there is no way to salvage the meal.
Step 8: I have Turkey Bacon. Yum. Make Turkey Bacon, Eggs and Toast. I didn't choose this at step 2 because it seemed more like breakfast food and I am likely to repeat the meal tomorrow.

And then I went to the co-op to buy more food, since I didn't have too much. And I went to Target. Seriously, the lot is always full. It was 8:00 on a Tuesday. Can you imagine what this place looks like on a Saturday? Or at Christmas? Oh boy.

My Dad called and we had quite an interesting discussion. I told him I didn't want to buy the condo until this whole "my bedroom is 83* and there's no way to cool it off" issue is managed. And he accused me of getting cold feet and not wanting to spend all that money on a mortgage and a kitchen. I feel the need to elaborate on my position before I go pop more bubbles.

• It is sort of a relief to not have to think about a mortgage or ridiculous payments right now. It was overwhelming at first. Although, the more information I got, the more I believed that I could financially manage, even though it would be rough at first. And I might have to severely limit the number of lattes a I drink. So he's not totally wrong. Before you freak out, I am still paying his mortgage and association fees. I wish it were still free.
  


• I would pay for the repair in my wall myself if I could just get it done with. So he is wrong that I wont commit financially at all to this. We actually had a discussion about that and I think he was surprised that I really was willing to pony up. Honestly, in my head it's not a big repair. It's cutting out a piece of dry wall, and putting insulation around one pipe, and putting the dry wall back up. It's not like it's a kitchen.


• When I told my mom about the situation and my struggles with the management company, the first words out of her mouth were, "you can't buy a condo like that". I'm kind of aggravated because if it was a condo where I didn't already have all my things here, my dad wouldn't let me buy a condo like this either. The only power I have in the situation is that I don't own the condo and can theoretically walk away. Even though I'm not going to. I have no other power to negotiate for change in this situation.
  


• When I wrote a letter asking for the participation of the board, I got an email back from the management company saying they couldn't give me my own set of pipes or re-pipe the building. Bite me. This is why I have my dad work with you. And I don't want the mortgage in my name because then I really won't ever get anything out of the management company. Bite me.


• Dad says that I should learn to live with it. That pisses me off more than anything else, even the "cold feet" comment. Mom and Dad's house is the most uncomfortable place on earth because they heat it to 55*, shut off the front of the house and spend all winter complaining about how cold the place is. And it doesn't get that cold in Cincinnati. And in the summer they put air conditioners in the rooms they use and still shut off the rest of the house. And sweat. And I point out that I won't visit them because it's so uncomfortable. Dad was surprised. Like he didn't notice I haven't been home since last Christmas and even then I left two days early to come back to Minnesota to be more comfortable. Mom knows how I feel. Mom also understands that part of the agreement of me coming home for holidays is that they will turn the heat up to a more reasonable temperature while I am home.


• Did I mention that when Dad stays with me, he sleeps in my bedroom and he complains about how hot it is in there? I'm still hacked off from the last bullet point.

I remember a time long ago when I was freaking out about another living situation and thinking about moving. (People kept getting shot across the street from me.) Amanda talked me down remarkably well and also remarkably fast. So if this is another instances of my freaking out, I would appreciate similar treatment. Although, it's probably not fair to judge the situation on the post alone because clearly I needed to vent. Now, go pop bubbles.

Heroes of the Environment

I'm reading this fantastic piece on heroes of the environment from Time Magazine. It's a well done piece. Here are some of my thoughts about it:

1. There seem to be an inordinate number of white men on the list.

2. Lee Myung Bak (slide 5). I've never heard of this guy but I love how he resurected the city's river. Maybe he could help Cincinnati. The Ohio River is synomous with "toxic waste dump" in Cincinnati right now. Like if you eat fish out of it, you might be the next thing with gills.

3. Al Gore. That was predictable. Well earned though. He might actually be able to be elected president now.

4. Jose Goldemberg. The man who is responsible for making the US want to make ethanol out of corn. Really it's not his fault if we're stupid. Ethanol is a good idea when it's done with sugar and some other crops, just not corn really.

5. Prince Charles. I actually remember reading that several years ago.

6. Angela Merkel. Who is impressed that I knew who she was before I read this.

7. Wangara Maathai. Read her story and you will understand why the people are the most beautiful part of Africa.

8. Hammer Simwinga. The park in Zambia that's mentioned is across the border from the park in Malawi, Kasungu, where I was supposed to live. I've seen that park. I didn't see any elephants when I was there. I was grateful actually. My village outside of Kasungu is protected by armed guards. Why are there guards Liz? They protect the villagers from stray elephants. No, seriously.

9. Theo Colborn. Working to save the Great Lakes. Also, "we had gonads flying around the country". Best. Line. Ever.

10. Abul Hussam. I'd actually heard of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh before. Is it wrong that I've learned so much from The West Wing?

11. Kristine Pearson and Rory Stear. I love it when people do things in Africa. I think we actually had some of those flashlights in Malawi. And I'm assuming these were the forerunners of the One Laptop Per Child or hand crank lap tops.

I think I nearly fainted this morning

I went to the Y this morning. I may have finally given up on the mileage goal in favor of regular workouts of any variety for the time being. Nonetheless, the ellipticals were free this morning so I got on one. And I ran and was going. And about half way through I had that light headed, "I'm gonna be sick" ick feeling. I stopped and let my heart come back to a normal rate. And then I got on a bicycle which seemed a much better choice. That might be what I do tomorrow too. Or maybe the stair master. Although if my heart couldn't take the elliptical, no one knows what it'd do on the stair master.

I came home tonight and promptly passed out on the couch. Anyone else have this issue? Just can't stay awake at the end of the day?

To follow up on a previous post where I instructed you to watch this video and count the number of times they pass the basketball. I said I saw something different than you because I have ADD. What'd I see? An extra number of passes perhaps? Fewer? Nope. I saw a freakin' gorilla. The first time I watched. How's that relate to ADD? People who have ADD are less able to tune out extraneous information from their surroundings, like traffic noise, a voice over an intercom, or a gorilla walking through the background of a video. Exciting!

I also started reading what it's like to work for Apple from an undercover employee in training. It's a good read, I'm still working on it because it's kind of long.

Great ways to entertain yourself of Google. To a certain reader of this blog, I bet none of these sites are blocked. Although, if they're not blocking eBay, how good can the software be really?

Best emails to slashdot tech support ever a really funny read. Has some language (they are copies of actual emails), but generally safe for work.

I saw the headline Nasal Spray Will Help You Socialize and Speak Better in Public and I inserted By Making You High into the headline accidentally when I read it. I mean, really, how many other directions could I go with that?

It's been a rough week

The situation with the hot spots on my wall came to a head this week. I had a total freak out after I thought I wasn't going to get any help and am now doing much better. I told my mom I was probably supposed to go through this because it reminds me of how my clients feel when they ask for help and no one will help them. It's a fairly awful experience. That's the lesson I've decided to take away from this.

Amanda and Kelly and I had a lovely day. I cooked for them. I was relieved to learn that Kelly will eat food with bananas in it, like banana corn fritters. One of the recipes from Eating Well that I love and go in spurts of cooking. Sometimes I cook it every week and then I get off of it for a while. I also made collards and black bean soup. The soup was from a carton so I was not at all offended when Kelly didn't want any. She was saving herself for homemade black bean soup which she's been trying to make all week. I guess it's one of those meals that gets cooked in several stages. I hope it's good.

The whole heating fiasco as well as other logistical issues put a damper on exercise for the week. I'm seriously re-thinking the running goal. I think I need a more general goal, measured in the amount of days I exercise or something. I feel like if I go to the gym and don't run then it's a wasted trip. Which is silly. Even sillier is how that belief translates to, "if I go to the gym, all the ellipticals will be full and I don't want to run so I won't add miles to my goal, so I just won't go at all". This is a problem. I'm thinking about ways to address said issue.

While I ponder heat and exercise, check out some of the things I've found recently:

Harry Potter is one of my favorite series ever. I was interested when I saw this headline on Yahoo: JK Rowling Outs Hogwarts Character. I clicked on the link expecting to hear some random piece of information about a less than important character, and instead read that one of the main characters is gay. I had a mixed reaction of "oh, ok", part "yeah, he did wear purple a lot, that makes sense", and part "well, it's cool that she is so comfortable with this idea, and presents it in a way that expects others to be comfortable with the idea as well". And then she started bashing the groups that have been bashing her forever, which took some of the classiness out of the whole event. Love the "oh the fan fiction" comment. Hee hee.

Click here to see a newspaper clipping of a letter seeking advice and the best response ever.

11 USB Toys Your Boss is Sure to Hate is a fantastic article about all the toys you don't want if you have a laptop. I didn't know you could make all of those things plug into a computer. Why don't you want them if you have a laptop? Any accessories connected through a USB port (a mouse for example, or a lava lamp) draw off the laptop battery and that's just a dumb way to use the power source. It's articles like this that make me consider getting a desktop.

Amanda, Click Here. For everyone else, link to a story about a bacon flavored candy bar.

I'm totally freaked out by the latest iPhone accessory. Doesn't that picture just look slightly wrong?

The next great meal at Denny's. Now that's man food.

The Power of Birth Order is a fantastic article about how being the oldest or youngest impacts your life. Me? I am an only child. In some ways I related to the "oldest" thing. But I am the second youngest of all of my cousins, for a while I was the youngest. So in some ways I really took on the role of "wild child" in the extended family. It's a great read. One of the only things that seems to mitigate birth order effects? Child abuse. How sad.

I read the headline: Football sized cockroaches featured at Underwater World. Read the first line of the actual story. Way to get the name right. It's called "Underwater Adventures", which is actually in the text of the story. Someone just didn't read and re-named the aquarium in the headline. Doh.

A new discovery about Alzheimer's and Diabetes. Very relevant to both my work and family life. Diabetes and Alzheimer's is on my mom's side of the family. Oh, the things I have to look forward to.

Given my comments about the running routine an article about How to start and keep an exercise habit seems relevant. Check out number 1. That might be the next plan. Also relevant is number 11. Doh. We'll see how I do this week. Right now I'm still sore from putting together the dresser from Ikea so I can't think about exercise yet.

The Friday Five

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

1. Name five favorite movies.
1. Sense and Sensibility, screen play by the amazing Emma Thompson. One of my favorite romantic comedies where there's no actual kissing. But it's freaking hilarious.
2. Pride and Prejudice, another Jane Austen great. This one is a comedy dressed as a romantic movie.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean, a movie I alone of my friends seem to enjoy. But it's a really clever well written movie. It's one of those I can just put on and reduce my brain cells.
4. Love Actually. Hugh Grant. Yum.
5. What the Bleep Do We Know is my newest movie that I'm trying to watch. It is a heavy movie. I have to watch it a few (a lot) more times to be able to understand it.

2. Name four areas of interest you became interested in after you were done with your formal education.
1. Running and exercise. I think my blog is full of my commentary about that part of my life.
2. Home decorations and remodeling. I say that as someone who just put together this dresser in medium brown (not black). Remember this post?
3. Photography is a new found interest.
4. I'm hoping my next discovery will be reading again. I never really got into that before.

3. Name three things you would change about this world.
1. Everyone should have to live in Africa for at least part of their lives. I never understood how beautiful people can be to each other until I lived there.
2. Everyone should have to live in another country as an exchange student.
3. Traffic laws should be the same all over the world. That way when we do all this traveling and living in other countries, we can still drive safely.

4. Name two of your favorite childhood toys.
1. "Santa's Helper" was this little stuffed animal I had that my aunt gave me before she died.
2. Legos. I loved playing with legos. Still do actually. They're this wonderful childhood toy that actually encourages imagination without guns, or violence, or telling boys they should be tough, or telling girls they should be skinny. Just these colorful little blocks to build all kinds of wonderful things.

5. Name one person you could be handcuffed to for a full day.
Oh wow. I want to go on record and say Amanda I thought of you, but we see each other enough as it is. Kelly, I thought of you, but really you and Eric should be handcuffed in this scenario. (Both of your moms and I would be handcuffed in a different scenario.) I had this friend on the ship named Sarah who I haven't seen in ages, but as I remember her, I think we would do well handcuffed to each other. We'd just giggle the whole time. Hey, I bet Aunt Elaine would be fun to be handcuffed too. We really would just giggle all the time. Fun with nuns...

ADD and the Wednesday Mind Hump

From The Wednesday Mind Hump:
1. What is your favorite brain cell-reducing TV show?
I refuse to believe that all of my television shows reduce brain cells. However, the currently least redeeming, but with most potential show is Back To You. My other favorites are Clean House (probably equally brain-cell reducing), Brothers and Sisters and Men in Trees.

2. What is your favorite brain cell-reducing website?
Overheard in Minneapolis is so entertaining. The Presidents Game and Amanda's Map Game are fun, but maybe not totally brain cell reducing. Digpicz is a great site for all the funny images of the day. My new favorite website for searching for mp3 files is Cha Cha audio search. The old classic is Postsecret.

3. What is your favorite brain cell-reducing music?
Black Eyed Peas, maybe I'm just tired of them right now.

Speaking of brain cells, want to know about ADD?
Take this test. Then Read the results here. Want to know how many I saw? Do you know if it's different because of the ADD? Go take the test and I'll tell you later.

Day one: success

Remember my cracked plan to put my lamp on a timer to help me wake up in the morning? I set it to turn on at 5am. And I woke up. And I ran this morning on the elliptical, 3 miles. I learned my body does not move as quickly in the morning as it does at night. I think that's normal. For me anyways.
This week: 7 miles run, 8 miles to go
This month: 30 miles run, 35 miles to go

Why does 35 miles feel like for than 48 miles right now? I have no idea. I think if it doesn't rain it will be fun to run outside tomorrow.

On the web today, I found some fun things.
When there are more immigrants in the area, the price of gas goes down. How interesting.

What if Google Designed a Page to Rank High on Google. A fantastic look at how the Google algorithm makes web designers do things they would never do otherwise. I suggest also checking out the link to the "if microsoft designed the iPod box" video. It has sound but is otherwise safe for work. And it's funny.

And then I read the 10 On Tuesday topic: Ten Things That Worry You. I decided not to rise to the bait.

It's Blog Action Day

It's Blog Action Day. Glad I didn't miss it. In honor of blog action day, I'll write about the environment. Maybe instead of doing that, you'd like it if I marked the items in this list that have to do with the environment or making the world a better place.

1. Remember when I wrote about the spinning dancer. Apparently the test has taken the internet by storm. Someone at Freakonomics is looking at who is left, right, or both brained and how that corresponds to their profession. Go on over and leave a comment about yourself to add to the data. Me? I studied criminal justice, biology and social work. I can see her spinning both ways.

2. I saw the headline Microsoft wants to read your brain. All I could think was, "well, who doesn't?". Sorry.

3. Using the computer is not giving me carpal tunnel. Good news.

4. ***The Physical and Mental Benefits of Daily Meditation. How does this make the world a better place? People have studied the effects of meditation on the meditators and the general public for years. My favorite study was done in Washington DC. The researches found that on days when more people in the city meditated, the crime rate went down.***

5. Doctors of the World, a cool map that shows the ratio of doctors to people all over the world. Malawi has 50,000 people per doctor. Most of the people I knew in Malawi had never seen a doctor or nurse and probably never will. Make sure you check out Cuba, I think they have actually the most doctors per capita. Who wouldn't go to school for 25 years if it was free really?

6. ***Ten of the Coolest Trees in the World. ***

7. Now you too can discover The Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites of the year.

8. This is a picture of a girl dressed for school. (Mildly not safe for work.) What's funny isn't the picture so much as the look of the boy in the background. I also thought, (Yup, this is why Kelly wants to teach at private school.)

9. ***The coolest tree house ever.***

Running and maybe a solution

I still didn't get up this morning so I ran after work. I ran four miles at 10:45 miles.
My weekly total: 4 Miles complete, 11 miles to run
Monthly total: 27 miles complete, 38 miles to run. Remember when that number was 65? Heh heh.

I decided that part of my issue in not being able to wake up is my curtains. The old curtains (the ones I don't have anywhere in a photo) were tabbed. This was a huge source of annoyance to me because they let in a lot of light from my courtyard. The new curtains (both times actually) are not tabbed and let in no light at all. My room is dark. But I think that is part of the problem.

After I ran, I journeyed down to Cedar Point Commons and my new Target store. ::Brief pause while a light shines down and angels sing:: I got a digital timer that I will program to turn my lamp on shortly before the alarm goes off.
Reasons why this may work:
1. I'm way too lazy to get up and turn the lamp off.
2. Light is good to help me wake up.
3. It doesn't have to happen on weekends because I bought the fancy timer.

Other thoughts about the Target store:
1. What's up with the round-about? They don't make round-abouts that big outside of Massachusetts.
2. Where is everything? It's got to be here somewhere.
3. I did not know there were this many people in Richfield.
4. I did not know there were this many people in Richfield who are not white.
5. I think we're going to need a bigger parking lot.
6. Yeah!

I'd like to leave you with this thought about people from Minneapolis. Yeah!

At Amanda's request, I'm updating my blog

Amanda and I were on the phone tonight and she said I hadn't written in my blog since she'd checked it last. So I'm doing this post in addition to the one I just did about fish and pants. (Now you want to go read that other post don't you? It's ok, the fish wasn't wearing the pants.)

As seen on the web:

Just another plug for the breast cancer site because it's a permanent tab in my Firefox and every time I hit "copy tab URLs" that one gets copied too.

You might think that a toilet shaped house would be enough for me to tell you about this link. While that's quite a lot, I'd like to add this thought: There's a World Toilet Association?

Minnesota has long prided itself on using alternative sources of energy. Our latest source of energy? Turkey poo.

Your Brain is Not Your Friend. Haven't we all felt this way?

Remember when I wrote about a cool way to keep pigeons from pooping in your pool? It seems someone with way too much time on their hands has taken this ingenious invention a step further. This one gets kids too

Great Funny Signs. Safe for work.

48 Classic Books to Boost Your Learning Experience is a cool piece. It lists the standard books that everyone thinks you have to read to be smart. The difference? This piece lists free download sites for most of the books as well. (All the ones in the public domain I'm assuming.) Amanda, this is for you, because some of these might be on that list you had a long time ago. And it's for me because I have the most time of all of us to read.

Good news

Good news. I'm feeling much better. And I ran again. I ran 4 miles today on the elliptical. I ran that far in under 40 minutes. Why do I like the elliptical? It makes me feel fast. Having nothing to stare at but the clock and my progress really does help me pace myself. This brings my total miles for the week to 8, 7 miles short of the goal of 15. It's ok. I have time. My total for October is 23 miles run and 42 miles still to run.

I actually got all kinds of stuff done today. Groceries. Laundry. Cleaning. Right now I'm baking pumpkin bread and I just got done toasting (read: burning) pumpkin seeds. I cut up the pumpkin and put all the pieces that would fit into a gallon bag. Into the freezer it went. My next project might be researching the best way to use a gallon bag worth of pumpkin. The bread only calls for one cup. Not even I eat that much bread.

What else did I do this weekend? A murphy-like set of circumstances required me to work Saturday morning. By the time I got done with that, it was clear I needed to be with people. I called my friend Liz (Other Liz). Liz and her sister Katie and I went to a great restaurant called La Hacienda. At La Hacienda, they make ceviche which is my favorite dish of all time. Amanda would for sure love it, and Kelly would probably really like it. (For sure you'd like it if you didn't have too much information. The way it's cooked sometimes freaks people out.) It's different types of seafood cooked in lime juice. The acid in the lime juice cooks the fish without the need for heat (great for nights the electricity is out).

Then we went shopping at Southdale. Katie wanted a new pair of jeans and we wound up in Eddie Bauer. I had a long time of not really liking their clothes, but they're definitely moving up on my list of favorite stores. I have a pair of pants from there that Kelly helped me pick out. I decided I should have the same pair in a different color. I picked out the size I wear and headed off to try them on with a couple of shirts when we had this exchange.

Liz comes out of dressing room to model pants.
Other Liz: Those look really nice.
Sales girl: They do look nice but they don't fit right. You need a size smaller.
Me: ::Just grins::

Obviously I bought the pants and a really cute top as well. It's red Amanda.

The Saturday 8

do you have any of the following gadgets, and what kind? when did you get them?

1. cellphone?
I got my first one when I started driving on my own. I got a cell phone as a true form of communication when I moved to Minnesota. Had one ever since.

2. digital camera?
Last year at Thanksgiving. Love it.

3. video camera?
Nope. I used them a lot at the Science Museum. My camera will take the really short video clips. That's been entertaining.

4. video game console?
I had the original Nintendo system. Now I just play games on the computer. What games am I playing? The GROW games seem to baffle my mind. The GROW cube is the last one I solved.

5. TiVo/DVR?
I have a Panasonic DVD Recorder. Not a DVR because I don't want to pay a monthly fee for the cable or for TiVo. This is just as good.

6. mp3 player/iPod?
My first was a Palm TX and then I got an iPod Shuffle. After I graduated I got an iPod Nano (red) obviously. Mine's not the fatty model though.

7. laptop computer?
The Toshiba from hell was first, and now my MacBook, which I love.

8. any widget or app on your phone or computer to makes your life easier (commute time calculator, on-time flight alert, zocdoc, etc.)?
I have a widget that tells me when new episodes of my TV shows are airing, and a weather widget. And my favorite thing is the PermaTab extension in Firefox.

Posted by lola.harrington at 6:23 AM

the Friday Five

1.If you could go back in time and change anything that has occurred in history, what would you alter and why?
I think I'd change me having to watch Ann Coulter's latest statement. That's really distressing to me. I'm not Jewish or Christian and it still feels dirty.

2.If your current life was to end today and in the next moment you were born again, where everything was the same as when you were actually born, however, you retained all of what you know from your first life, what would you do differently?
I would have stayed in Africa. I didn't have the tools to take care of myself while I was there, and I didn't get them until long after I came home. It's not a regret really. I couldn't have stayed. I just got such a bad vibe from the place I was supposed to live, and I was so sick by that time anyways. But I did like it there. Right now with looking for a mortgage and those things, I wonder if I'll ever do anything like that again. Some of the people in the peace corps were in their 30's and 40's. Some were even retired, so I guess there's still plenty of time.

3. If you could choose to become someone who has lived or who is living, who would you become and why?
I think it would be neat to be a Buddhist monk, just so my body could be trained to feel calm and peaceful all the time.

4. What do you feel is the most intense experience that is currently happening or may soon come to happen, that may "affect" our survival and what (if) any changes must occur, to continue our existence here?
The way we use our resources to generate energy. We're on the right track, looking for alternatives, but I also think it's clear that ethanol is not the answer. Sorry to farmers across the country.

5. Recalling your most earliest memories/awareness up to now, during your life so far name one thing that you consider a positive experience involving humanity now then from what you can recall in your earliest memories. Name one negative experience also.
For the positive and the negative, I remember watching my mom with her cousin Julie when Julie found out her lifelong friend had just died. I remember thinking that Mom had a really nice way of just being there, and being a comfort without really doing anything or needing anything. It was sad but also quite powerful.

So in over my head

Did you ever have one of those days at work where you thought, "wow, I'm so in over my head"? Not like "I'll never get this" kind of feeling. More like "I really wasn't expecting that. It'll take me a moment to figure this out." That was my day today. It's leaving me feel like once I get these things figured out, I'll be better at my job, able to help people more in the future. And then I went to learn to be a volunteer for an agency called Bolder Options. It should be a few months before I get paired to a kid though. We'll see how it goes.

I came home and found, well, not much on the internet. Nonetheless....

One of my favorite sayings is, "well, that's the pot calling the kettle the same thing", my own version of "That's the pot calling the kettle black". (I'm sure I heard it on The West Wing or Sports Night.) But even I am not this confused about my metaphors. Hee hee.

This story about Pate or duck liver couldn't be any less interesting. What is interesting is the name of the animal rights group. Hugs for Puppies?

4 more miles down

I am pleased to report that after not running yesterday, I did run today. After work, but I still ran. I'm planning on going to the gym tomorrow morning. I think I can, I think I can... I think I have to because the gym was crazy busy tonight. I forgot how it gets after work in the winter. It's ridiculous to me how many people work out in the evening compared to the morning. Fascinating...

I ran 4 miles in... I don't know how long it took because I wore the wrong shoes. I have the old pair of running shoes and the new pair with the Nike+ sensor in it. But I wasn't expecting to run when I went to the gym so I wore the old shoes. I had to run because there was no way I was getting near a machine right then. I'm glad I did though because I wound up feeling much better afterwards.

So let's update our total board. This week I have run: 4 miles. This month, I have run 19 miles. Still to run this week: 11 miles. Still to run in October: 46 miles. If you think I wasn't counting down from 50 to 46 in my head while I was running, you're nuts. I was loving every minute of it too.

News of the wierd from the internet

I was encouraged to hear that Amanda likes all the things I put up from my wanderings on the internet, so I'll keep doing it. At least I know she can play on her study breaks.

Water balloon prank a bust. This happened in Cincinnati, it's the only way I know about it. When you follow the link, look at the mug shot of the first guy. He looks happy to be busted.

What I want to do on my next office picnic. Nuff said.

How to hug a baby. Seriously cute. And those people are really brave to allow their baby to be "hugged" by something that big.

Are you right brained or left brained? Me? I'm both apparently. Because I will watch this thing and invariably she starts spinning in one directions and then changes while I'm watching it. You know why? It's because I'm ambidextrous and use both hands and both sides of my brain.

See how many of the weirdest animals in the world you can name. The species is listed below the picture so if you scroll slowly you can guess. I knew approximately 13 species. The sucker-footed bat? That's about the size of my finger. It's not that deadly.

The weirdest insects of the world. I don't know what was up with Digg today. They had lots of animal stuff. I didn't know as many of these. I will spare you my feelings on big beetles after the Squirrel rant. Glad to see the mosquito recognized for the true danger it poses, especially in the developing world.

I know there's at least one manly-man who reads this blog sometimes. So, this is for you. The 10 Manliest Drinks in the world. ::In television announcer voice, Please drink responsibly.::

And, I'd just like to leave you with this She must have a lot of votes. She'd probably have more if the 18-25 group voted more. At first it looks like it's not safe for work but it really is.

A brief rant about squirrels

I was on Cute Overload when I saw this picture and the accompanying editorial on the general goodness of squirrels.

And I thought to myself, "oh hell no". Squirrels are neither cute nor nice. Also, their claws aren't the problem. The real issue is their teeth. You may find yourself asking, "Liz, how do you know this? Squirrel teeth?"

I have a history with squirrels. For a long time I was a bat biologist. To catch bats we string up "mist nets" which are nets about 12M high and 12M across and about the consistency of hair nets. Bats fly through large forest passages by memory and sight and get caught in the nets rather easily if they are set correctly. Know what else gets caught in these nets if we're not careful? Squirrels. Not normal squirrels either. We get Flying Squirrels which are nocturnal. They're roughly the size of a rat and meaner than a hungry lion. And they have these teeth that are made to gnaw and jaws as strong as an iron clamp. Their teeth didn't actually break my skin, but when I'd get done extracting one of these things from the net, my hand resembled ground beef.

And then, we had to put the nets back up. After the squirrel had been in it, struggling against the net to get loose and then struggling against the net and me to be free. These nets are fragile as heck. I'm working with a hair net basically. Have you ever tried to straighten out a hairnet after a rodent had been into it? It's roughly like trying to sew together two hairbrushes. In the dark. With a hand that feels like ground beef. Now, you try that and then tell me, are squirrels cute?

It's the Monday Music Mambo

It's been a while since I've done this, but this one looked right up my alley.
Hello everyone! Today's theme is tube top day. Who wears tube tops? Women! So we'll change it to Rockin' Women Day.

Tell me your . . .

Favorite female (rock) singer
Mellisa Etheridge. I really started to like her when "Come to My Window" and "I'm the Only One" came out. She's a brilliant musician. I also like that she writes her own songs and she's an excellent performer.
Honorable mention: Sheryl Crow another outstanding performer.

Favorite female guitarist
Can I write myself in here? Hee hee. For now, I'm going with Corrine Bailey Rae who is a fantastic musician. I love her songs. Besides sounding great and having wonderful lyrics, they are written in a way that indicates she has had some musical education and background.

Favorite female bassist
I actually had to google this, and then I remembered that Sheryl Crow is actually a bassist as well as a guitar player. Usually if you can play one you can play the other to some degree. Other female bass players include Tracy Chapman, the girl from Sonic Youth, the only one I could think of, and my favorite Me'Shell Ndegeocello who I first heard of from a John Mellencamp song.


Favorite female singer from any genre
Joss Stone is the best blues singer ever and one of the only white girls who can truly pull off that style. Madeleine Peyroux brings the jazz. Amanda, you would love her music. Somewhat related to jazz is Norah Jones. From the country world, there's Martina McBride and Jo Dee Messina.

Finally, be daring and tell us who is the . . .
Queen Of All Music
That would be Mary J. Blige who has a beautiful and amazingly powerful voice. Filling out the court of music royalty will be the princess of songwriting Sarah McLachlan and the queen mum Joni Mitchell.

More on the nutrition front

After all the research I did last night on eating eggs and other stuff, I poked all over the internet for other information. My conclusion: I think nutritionists should be more accessible to the general public. Wanna know what I learned?

The nutritional needs of men and women, because they're not the same. This article reminded me that it's important to have iron in my diet. My first thought? Darn, it's too bad I don't have any of those old iron skillets we cooked on when I was a kid. Best source of iron I ever had.

Iron Rich Foods. After remembering that I should be eating iron, I went to this page to learn that I eat no good sources of iron and all of the things that inhibit the uptake of iron. I think I might need to talk with someone about this.

10 Tips for Easy Weight Loss. The best thing about this article is the math problem that let me know how many calories I should be eating in a day. Figuring 60 minutes of light to moderate activity (read: walking and running) I need 2,685 calories per day. Seriously? No wonder I'm always hungry. The tip to loose weight is to subtract 500 calories from that total, which still puts me at 2,200 calories per day. Honestly, hungry all the time.

From there, I moved on to Protein needs for athletes. I need to eat 100g of protein every day. For some reason Turkey chili sounds really good right now. Hey, that has iron too.

Overwhelmed with nutrition information, I moved on to lighter subjects. 25 signs that you are a grown-up. Someone once told me that "if you have to tell someone you're an adult, you aren't". I really try to never say I'm an adult unless we're talking about legal drinking ages because of that advice.

Kelly, here's something to do with the cans from the coke you drink. Eric would look great in this. I have a feeling that he or his dad probably has a saw that could cut the cans how they need to be cut to accomplish that look too. Seriously, I thought of you right away when I saw this picture and I really don't know why.

The best Dilbert comic ever.

And finally, I want Dad to start a "Santa Run" for Northern Kentucky Legal Aid. How cool would that be?

Holy goodnight

Well, I ran 5.7 miles today. I thought I was going to die but I did it. I actually ran .7 miles on the way to / from the marathon and 5 miles at the Y. It's hot and humid and it's October. This really doesn't seem fair. We won't talk about how slow I ran. Or the fact that I stopped for water twice in the five mile run. That's part of why i feel sick I think.

Here we go: for the first week of October, I have run 15 miles. Left to run this week: Zero Miles. Left to run this month: 50 miles. That number is getting smaller and smaller.

Also, watching the marathon runners, I'm much closer to a place in my head where I could see myself running the marathon next year. Maybe I should run a 10K first. I could do it, I have a whole year to train. I actually thought about the flying pig marathon. That's on Mother's day. That would be fun too. Although not nearly as long to train.