On the Docket

1. Finish Tales of a Wayside Inn (and pretend that reading 200 pages of poetry in the past 2 days counts toward my goal of reading a piece of poetry every day this year--even if I haven't read any (or much) poetry in the last, oh, 5 months.

2. Continue to send evil vibes toward the 3 people holding on to their copies of Brandon Sanderson's new book even while all 3 are now overdue at the library and I am left sitting in the no. 1 position on the request list).

3. Consider buying candy corn, reject the idea on the premise that I have been doing an excellent job at not eating junk, stay strong for hours and hours, give in.

4. Do laundry.

5. Do something permanent and productive--any ideas?

All Things British

Five things British that are occupying my time:

5. Jane Eyre (actually just finished it yesterday, but as it was the unabridged version it has been occupying quite a bit of my time of late--had to get it finished for Book Group).

4. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (happily felt that it needed to be read again following the finishing of Jane Eyre).

3. Jane Eyre the BBC movie with Timothy Dalton which fairly stinks but I was in the mood to watch Jane Eyre before Book Group--highly suspect one or more Book Group members of borrowing the good versions from the library.

2. Football (or soccer for the Amerosnobs--not sure if that is a real term but it is similar in structure to the term Eurosnob: someone who dislikes non-European club football/soccer). The English Premier League is up and running!

1. Doctor Who. The most recent season is over (it was quite brilliant) so now I am happily ensconced in watching Season 1 again.

And those are the reasons I have not been on the Internet very much of late.

An Olio

I hereby give you fair warning: The Olympics start today!!!!

(I tell you this in case I go missing over the next couple of weeks)

***
I finished my crochet projects:

***
I did not finish the 3rd book that I had wanted to by today. However, I feel just fine about this.

***
I think I have come up with a new blog name, but I am going to think on it for just a bit longer to be sure.

***
Have a lovely weekend!!!

To Do:

Finally finish The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Eat yummy leftover chicken gyro for lunch (thanks Janssen--I am now stalking that blog)

Tweet (already done--twice even)

Think about working out--but then put it off until tomorrow

Stay warm

Numbers

I am very bad with remembering numbers (I'm bad with names as well but I'll leave that for another post). There are very few numbers that I can remember by heart.

These numbers include:

My home phone number.

My Mother's work phone number.

One of my sister's cell numbers (I have 4 sisters and can only remember 1 and it is not even that I call her the most it is just that her phone number follows a pattern that my fingers can make out and that somehow I have remembered)

My Social Security number.

And now this list also includes my library card number (a fourteen digit number!).

Some of the numbers that you may have noticed that I don't know:

My driver's license number.

Any of my pin numbers for my credit cards or check cards (I know the pattern not the number--when I go to Europe I manage to briefly memorize the numbers because their key pads are different than ours but then I step foot back in the states and promptly forget them)

Pretty much all phone numbers--I'm in trouble in an emergency.

I really don't know whether to be embarrassed or proud--I think I'll go with proud.

Lists

I've been in a bit of a rut lately and have somehow gotten out of the habit of writing out my to-do lists. The results have been predictable: I haven't accomplished nearly the amount of things that I want/need to accomplish on a daily basis.

Last night I decided that this had to come to an end so I sat down and wrote out an extensive to-do list for today and tada: I finished the entire list by 4:00 pm. (Okay, not the entire list. Go to book club and say my nightly prayers are still on the list but they are kind of time sensitive) How on earth did I forget the power of The List? Also, it would appear that I need longer even more extensive lists.

On a side (and completely non-related) topic. It really bugs me that my local "oldies" station thinks that 80s music now qualifies as "oldies". Way to make me feel old this morning!!! Clearly I never should have switched over from NPR. They never make me feel old--occasionally depressed or sad at the state of our world (hence the need for some happy oldies music) but never old.

A Glimpse

I thought on this fine Friday I would share a small glimpse into my Internet world. Lately I've been fascinated with the way in which Internet Explorer tracks my use of the Internet. So far I've found it to be very useful and interesting--I'm ignoring the possible scary implications.

Here is what I have found:

My top visited sites (when opening a new tab) are:

10. Ancestry.com

9. Google

8. ESPN

7. Amazon.com

6. YouTube

5. FaceBook

4. All Recipes

3. Goodreads

2. Gmail

1. My Blog

My recent bookmarks are:

U.S. Men's National Team Homepage

hooray!!! unruly things

No Small Plans

Alice Lane Home Collection

Design Mom: Ask Design Mom Photo Storage

Cooks.com Recipe

Cooks.com Recipe

Grocery Store Deals

So there you have it a (perhaps not very interesting to you) look into my Internet habits. The thing I love best about this is watching the new-tab rankings change ever so slightly as my different interests show their faces. Fortunately it doesn't mention how long I stay at any of these websites. It also doesn't track all the sites I visit when I open a new page otherwise my local library would feature as no. 1 and several of your blogs would also make prime showings.

5 Quirks

I was tagged months and months and months ago and never did get around to it (so sorry). In fact it has been so long that I'm not entirely sure of the rules of the tag and I have such a raging headache right now that I don't really feel up to searching for it. So I'm making my best guess that it was a list of 5 quirks.

So here goes:

1. I always look right first when crossing the street. This is a habit I picked up in London and Belfast that I just haven't brought myself to break. Luckily I haven't been killed yet.

2. I HATE nuts in otherwise delicious food such as cookies, brownies, and breads. I used to say that I hate nuts altogether but I recently discovered that I really enjoy cashews. This makes me wonder what other nuts I may also like. Definitely don't like almonds or walnuts, though.

3. I hate the word "gesture." I hate it in print (it is in print an awful lot) and I hate it when it is spoken out loud. I don't really know why this is, it just is. I absolutely love the word "throat." Go ahead say that one out loud. And I love saying "Train to Potevka" with a slight Russian accent.

4. I absolutely love looking at my library account to see how the things I've placed on hold are moving along--really! I try to limit the number of times I look at my account in a week but sometimes I will wake up on days that I know that I get to look and the first thing I think is 'I get to look at my library account today'. This probably solidifies me as a sad, pathetic person, but I just really don't care.

5. If I were given the choice between seeing a baseball game and going to the opera (or ballet or symphony) I really don't know which one I would choose.

I would really love to know what some of your quirks are so leave a comment or consider yourself tagged and create your own list on your blog.

Are You Rude?

Here is a little survey given on a recent Oprah show that I found quite interesting and enlightening.

1. Are you chronically late?

2. Have you ever typed an e-mail while talking on the phone?

3. Have you ever interrupted a face-to-face conversation to take a non-urgent cell phone call?

4. Have you gone through a supermarket 10-item express lane with more than 10 items?

5. While among friends or co-workers, have you yawned without covering your mouth?

6. Have you ever texted or talked on a cell phone in a movie theater?

7. Have you let your dog relieve himself on your neighbor's lawn?

8. Have you ever cut in front of someone in line?

9. Have you ever stolen someone's parking spot?

10. Have you ever let your child kick the back of the seat in front of him and not apologized to his victim?

11. Have you ever not RSVP'd to an event by the date requested?

12. Have you ever gossiped?

13. Have you ever taken someone else's food or drink from the office refrigerator?

And I don't want to hear any excuses why you, and you alone, are exempt from having to follow these basic rules of courtesy. If you do it, you are rude. That said I have a few areas to work on and I am working on them.

One area that I am proud to say I have never had a rudeness problem is with cell phones. Those of you that know me know that I HATE cell phones. I didn't even get my first cell phone until 2005. I hate them because so many people use them in a rude manner. They speak loudly on them because they somehow think we really do want to hear their conversation about how horrible someone else is; they leave them on to go off in movie theaters, plays, classrooms; they answer them when with me and carry on long, unimportant conversations (I can't stand this! If you want to spend time with me that is great. If you would rather talk to someone else on your cell phone then just let me know and I will leave. Please don't assume that my life is so pitiful that I have nothing better to do than to sit for ten minutes waiting for you to get off your phone. Instead you could try out these tactics: "I can't talk right now can I call you back late?" or simply don't answer.--yes I feel strongly about this); they talk or text while driving thereby endangering the lives of hundreds of other people on the road with them; and really I could go on and on.

This week is the 20th anniversary of cell phones and though you will probably disagree with me but I don't think we are better off for having them. Sure they are a convenience, but careful planning can usually eliminate their need. Sure they may be good to have in an emergency, but how often do we really have emergencies in which we use them (or how did we ever survive emergencies 20+ years ago?); Sure it is good to be at everyone's beck and call 24 hours 7 a days a week--wait no! no, that is not good.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I just had a bowl of fruit which contained pink lady apples, plums, and kiwis. When I eat I tend to save for last the food items on my plate that I expect to be the best. Well, I noticed that I had unintentionally saved all my kiwis for last and therefore I am now prepared to declare kiwis as my favorite fruit.

Here are some more favorites:

Green is my favorite colour.

Colour is my favorite spelling of color.

Pasta is my favorite food to prepare.

I don't really have a favorite food to eat but lately I would just about kill for some really good Indian food.

London is my favorite place--especially the parks in London (Green Park being my favorite followed by St. James Park) and the museums.

British chocolate is my favorite (I really can't even eat plain American chocolate anymore).

Rosie Dunne is my favorite book that I am currently reading (it is also the only book I am currently reading but it is turning into a really fun summer read--and a very quick read).

Pie is my favorite dessert (I like it plain: i.e. no ice cream on top or even worse no custard--the British were always trying to dump loads of tasteless vanilla custard on my pie completely ruining the pie crust which as everyone clearly knows is the best part of any pie).

My favorite vegetable is the eggplant.

My favorite pizza toppings are eggplant and sun dried tomatoes.

My favorite band is U2.

My favorite season is Fall.

and to close off this installment

My favorite time of day is sunset/twilight.

Weekend Countdown

10--the number of new clothes I bought over the weekend
9--number of scones I ate (they were smallish)
8--hours spent working on my blog (at least it felt like it--thanks Stacy)
7--things I didn't get to (ie the size of my to-do list right now)
6--kids in my nursery class on Sunday--pure heaven
5--the number of non-black, white, cream, or brown clothes bought
4--Sporting events watched (3 attended in person)
3--Sisters lunched with
2--New cheeses bought (A Greek sheep cheese & a Danish cow cheese)
1--Arm sunburned
0--New cheeses tried.

I've Been Tagged

My cousin Jen tagged me. I couldn't decide if I should be serious or silly so I thought I would be a bit of both. I'll let you decide which one I am being for each one below:

Things I've come to realize.....

1. I've come to realize that my family....isn't as crazy or weird as I sometimes think they are.

2. I've come to realize that when I talk....I talk too much to myself--out loud.

3. I've come to realize that I need....chocolate (European chocolate--I can't even stomach US chocolate anymore it tastes so bitter and waxy).

4. I've come to realize that I have lost....touch with too many people.

5. I've come to realize that I hate it when...people don't signal when they are turning while driving.

6. I've come to realize that when I'm hungry....that what I want most are buttermilk pancakes with chocolate chips.

7. I've come to realize that money....is nice; not as important as most of us think, but still nice.

8. I've come to realize that people....are scared to seek truth because it will require them to act (both spiritual and secular truth) and that people don't really know what it means to be conservative, liberal, socialist, Republican, or Democrat--we have more in common than we think.

9. I've come to realize I'll always be...wishful.

10. I've come to realize that I'm in love with...learning, education, and really good cheese.

11. I've come to realize that my cell phone ...is unnecessary.

12. I've come to realize that when I woke up this morning...it took way too long to figure out what that noise was (my alarm).

13. I've come to realize that right before I go to sleep at night...I am happy to have such a nice bed with warm blankets to cuddle in.

14. I've come to realize that right now I'm thinking about...how I need to go to the library this weekend, Sears has pillows on sale right now and would be nice to have new pillows, and maybe I can make it to Harmons to try a new type of cheese.

15. I've come to realize that babies...are lovely and perfect in every way...especially when you can give them back.

16. I've come to realize that when I blog...I am a bit long winded (a skill that comes in handy when writing scholarly works but not so much here--there I go carrying on again).

17. I've come to realize that today I will...fail at something but that is okay.

18. I've come to realize that tonight I will...go to the gym.

19. I've come to realize tomorrow I will...not go to the gym.

20. I've come to realize that I really want to...go to Denmark, or London, or Rome, or Paris, or Prague, or....

21. I've come to realize everyone I tag to do this will....do the happy Snoopy dance because they are so overcome with joy.

I tag: You--Yes that's right I am referring to you.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Whenever Oprah does her ‘Favorite Things’ show, I am always curious about the things she chooses and why. Tell me, if money were not an issue and you wanted to load up a basket of five of your most ‘Favorite Things’ and give it to your friends, what would you choose and why? It can be something simple, like the type of pen you use or something big like the type of car you drive. I will list my ‘Things’ and then I will tag a few of you to do the same thing. Here they are in no particular order...

1. A Sigg Bottle. I love, love, love mine. Plus I think we should all do a little bit to save the world. Just think of how many plastic water bottles would not be thrown away if we were all carrying these around instead.

2. An iPOD. I love my iPOD, but I am so jealous of the new, sleeker ones that are out now. I would pre-load them with a few Barry Manilow songs (especially Copacabana); a few Neil Diamond songs; everything by U2 and Barenaked Ladies; some K.T. Tunstall; the song "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker by Sandi Thom; Bad Day by Daniel Powter; Everything by Pink Martini; the P.S. I Love You soundtrack; Donald Davis' Grand Canyon story; the finale of The Vicar of Dibley; and there is more but I don't have my iPOD with me to check.

3. Two Dozen Smart Cookies. Cause they are really so very good. And a cheeseburger combo with a mini cherry and chocolate chip shake from Iceberg. Can you tell that I have been trying to limit my intake of these foods--they're on the brain (and on the menu this week since my sis is coming into town and has yet to experience either).

4. An all expense-paid trip to London, Rome, and Amsterdam. Three of my favorite European cities that really should be on everyone's to-do list.

5. 5 Books (cause everyone should read--and love it). Let's see I'd pick: A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens; Persuasion by Austen; The Ladies Auxiliary by Mirvis; The Eyre Affair by Fforde; and Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by Metaxas.

This was a fun one so I hope some of you will choose to do it, so tag you're it.

Bag Tagged

I've been tagged by Cranat (actually was tagged quite a bit ago but it has taken me awhile to take pictures of my purse and then a bit longer to upload the pictures).

So here is what you do....

1. Take a picture of your bag.

2. Show a picture of ALL the contents in your bag. NO CLEANING OUT FIRST!!!!

3. "Bag Tag" five people.

This is a great tag because I have actually been thinking of doing a blog on my purse (well one of my purses--I kind of have a thing for purses. I'm not too obsessive (don't have the money to be) but I definitely have more than I need/use. Anyway, here is one of my latest. It is called a Miche bag and here is how it works: The outside of the bag is a removable shell attached with strong magnets to the purse itself. Here is my favorite shell on my purse:

When you get tire of the shell you have (or need to change it to coordinate with your outfit) you simply pull the shell off.

And replace it with your new shell. Voila, new purse without having to take the contents out of one purse and put them into another. I love it.

And almost best of all, the shells that you are not using store flat so they don't take up a lot of room.

Now for the contents of my bag:

I didn't realize how dark my pictures were so let me tell you what is in my bag: 1 pen; 1 mirror compact depicting a Jack Vettriano work (one of my favorite artists) that I bought in Paris; keys; my black wallet that I love because it is so slim (it is under my keys); chapstick and lipstick; a package of Popsicle sticks (I am a nursery teacher); my peacock coin purse (which I also love); my Body Shop cranberry body butter; My iPod; breath mints; Poetry 180 (a good purse read because I can pull it out and read a few poems whenever I have a bit of extra time); a running notes list covering topics of an address, movies filmed in Boston (preparing for the Boston trip), and this week's dinner menu; and my last receipt from Iceberg--a wonderful hamburger shop that serves great burgers, great shakes (that are huge), and the best fries ever!--not really part of my diet is it.

My Oscar Picks

Okay, so here are my Oscar picks. Of course my picks need to be taken with a grain of salt since I haven't actually seen any of these movies (except for Enchanted--I really do want to see Juno but I don't get out to the movies very often). So in actuality many of my votes are being chosen because of past work that individuals have done. Fore example, I really like Daniel Day-Lewis in Last of the Mohicans so I am picking him to win Best Actor. Or other random guesses such as giving Best animated short film to "Madame Tutli-Putli" because MBC refers to her nieces as Madame. Not very scientific, but its the way I'm gonna work it this year.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role: Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role: Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"

Performance by an actor in a leading role: Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"

Performance by an actress in a leading role: Julie Christie in "Away from Her"

Achievement in art direction: "Atonement" Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Achievement in cinematography: "No Country for Old Men": Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design: "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street": Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing: "No Country for Old Men" Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Best documentary feature: "No End in Sight" A Representational Pictures Production: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

Best documentary short subject: "Sari's Mother" (Cinema Guild) A Daylight Factory Production: James Longley

Achievement in film editing: "No Country for Old Men": Roderick Jaynes

Best animated feature film of the year: "Ratatouille": Brad Bird

Best foreign language film of the year: The Counterfeiters" Austria

Achievement in makeup: "La Vie en Rose" Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score): "Atonement" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song): "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova ( But I really want "That's How You Know" from "Enchanted," Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz to win)

Best animated short film: "Madame Tutli-Putli" (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

Best live action short film: "At Night" A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production: Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth

Achievement in sound editing: "Transformers": Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing: "Transformers": Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects: "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End": John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier

Adapted screenplay: "No Country for Old Men," Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Original screenplay: "Juno," Written by Diablo Cody

Best motion picture of the year: "No Country for Old Men" A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

Sexiest Brits Results

It's Super Tuesday and I (along with many of you) will be heading out in the frigid weather to cast my vote as part of this whole thing that we still like to call democracy. In the spirit of voting, I am reminded of that recent atrocity wherein the Brits were trying to convince us that Britney Spears was last years most attractive woman. As you may recall Hello! magazine was conducting a poll to determine the most attractive man, woman, and most elegant woman. Well, the results are in. And since we are not likely to know our own political voting results for several hours, here are Hello!'s results just to tide you over:

Most Attractive Female:

Britney Spears

Most Attractive Man:

Sean Bean

Most Elegant Woman:

Madonna

So I guess there was a bit of a shake up in the final days with others agreeing with me that David Tennant was just not the most attractive man (although I quite like him as Dr. Who and he is nice looking in that British sort of way). I still wouldn't have picked Sean Bean, but I can get on board a little bit with him. I am still completely off board, though, when it comes to Britney and a bit iffy when it comes to Madonna. But I suppose I can support the British right to find what they will attractive as long as they don't tread on my right to define their list as crazy--I suppose technically the title to my post is incorrect since (fake British accents aside) neither Britney or Madonna are British.

Dumb Laws

I was recently told about this website and got enough of a laugh out of it that I thought I would pass it along. One of my favorites is that it is considered an offense to hunt whales in Utah. (It actually does make a little bit of sense to me that it is only illegal to hunt whales and not to kill whales because while it may not actually be possible for me to kill a whale in Utah it would be possible for me to form a hunting party and go out a-hunting and obviously that would be bad--or at least the state believes that would be bad) Another good one: It is a felony to persistently tread on the cracks between paving stones on the sidewalk of a state highway. And in Salt Lake County no one may walk down the street carrying a paper bag containing a violin. Furthermore, in the same county auctions may not be advertised by hiring trombone players to play on the street. It is my hope that by letting you know about these laws you will not unwittingly bring the long arm of the law down on you. What are your state's dumb laws?

I've Been Tagged

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 Years Ago: I think I was still living the single life in Boston. Good food (Great food); Good Friends; and lots of history. It was great.

5 Things on my to-do list today:
1. Make it through work.
2. Do some homework.
3. Waste some time on the Internet (I had to steal it Cranat)
4. Drink lots of water.
5. See Brad Paisley in concert.

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: Pay off my student loans, buy a mini cooper, and then travel Europe.

3 of my bad habits:
1. I have no portion control: I see, I eat.
2. I procrastinate.
3. I watch too much worthless television (I'm working on cutting back though).

5 places I have lived:
1. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
2. Mammoth, Wyoming
3. Boston, Massachusetts
4. London, England
5. Belfast, Northern Ireland

5 jobs that I have had:
1. Babysitter/Nanny
2. Student
3. Cashier at Food 4 Less
4. Security Guard at Stadium of Fire (at the VIP entrance no less--not that I would have been able to stop anyone from coming in since I was just a skinny 17 year old kid.
5. Work-study student employee in the Ethics Center at UVSC

5 Things people don't know about me:
1. I'd love to get a nose job, but I'm worried about the dangers and about being too vain.
2. I'm a closet skinny dipper (haven't done it lately, but used to in Boston)
3. I wish I spoke a couple of foreign languages
4. I have a fear of the dark--serious fear of the dark.
5. I love planning vacations and taking people on tours.

Ok, I tag...
1. Denise
2. Jillian
3. Kimberly

Thanks Cranat for giving me something to post today.

Facts That You May Possibly Find Interesting

Believe it or not, you can read what follows.

I cdnuolt blveiee, taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd, waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor, of the hmuan mnid, Aoccdrnig to rscheearch, at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer, in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng, is taht the frist, and lsat ltteer, be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses, and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae, the huamn mnid, deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod, as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh?

Also did you know that it is impossible, to lick your elbow.

Coca-Cola, was originally green.

The State, with the highest percentage of people, who walk to work is Alaska

The cost of raising a medium-size dog, to the age of eleven: $16,400

And finally, 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

Sorry, it just needed to be a lazy post day.

5 Things To Do Before I Die

A lot of people have lists of things to do before they die so as a nod to the pack, I thought I would create my own list for your purusal, but I've decided to keep it short and sweet. I figure that I can update and change it as I accomplish any of these items thereby keeping my list both manageable and doable (I can just imagine people at age 97 looking over their list in smuggness and then suddenly freaking out when they realize that they have overlooked number 67: See Backstreet Boys live in concert, something that they no longer can do as all the Backstreet Boys are dead by this time making their list permanently incomplete.).


5 Things To Do Before I Die
In no specific order


1. See the Yankees play live in New York

2. Be fluent in a second language

3. Learn to play the violin

4. See every Shakespeare play performed live: 24 to go (or 22 if I have seen Lear & Shrew--can't remember)

5. Visit every state in the United States: 31 to go