Melissa and Ben

More Quotes

2009-10-18T23:22:00.003-05:00

"Believe nothing because someone else believes it. But believe only what you yourself judge to be true." -Buddha

"Everything you do right now ripples outward and affects everyone. Your posture can shine your heart or transmit anxiety. Your breath can radiate love or muddy the room in depression. Your glance can awaken joy. Your words can inspire freedom. Your every act can open hearts and minds. " -David Deida

MIA - Paper Planes ("Slumdog Millionaire" Movie Music Video)

2009-10-14T10:40:00.001-05:00

Damien Rice - Delicate (Sessions@AOL)

2009-10-14T09:57:00.001-05:00

Damien Rice - 9 crimes

2009-10-14T09:51:00.001-05:00

Today's Quote

2009-10-14T09:01:00.001-05:00

"Listen closely...the eternal hush of silence goes on and on throughout all this, and has been going on, and will go on and on. This is because the world is nothing but a dream and is just thought of and the everlasting eternity pays no attention to it." -Jack Kerouac

Quotes I would add to the list...

2009-09-17T13:17:00.002-05:00

"In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you love? How deeply did you learn to let go?" - Buddha

"Try to be like the turtle--at ease in your own shell." - Bill Copeland

"My advice is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it is on your plate." - Thornton Wilder

Quotes that were on my wall at work...

2009-09-17T13:00:00.002-05:00

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Krishnamurti

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." - Hans Margolius

"In mountain light, all sounds
return to silence.
All that remains, the temple
bell." - Ch'ang Chien

"The fruit drops when it is ripe." - Zen saying

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood; an in convenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." - G. K. Chesterton

"The world is not to be put in order. The world is order. It is us to put ourselves in unison with this order." - Henry Miller

"Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf." - Native American proverb

"Most people believe the mind to be a mirror, more of less accurately reflecting the world outside them, not realizing on the contrary that they mind is itself the principal element of creation." - Rabinranath Tagore

1st Response to the book "The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made it" by Richard Hofstadter

2009-06-23T21:53:00.008-05:00

I found the text dense and difficult to read due to vocabulary. As I worked my way through the new words and deciphered the meaning behind the prose, I developed a new understanding of the Founding Fathers and their motivations. I have to say that their motivations make sense when their personal histories are included. However, they are nonetheless surprising to my unsuspecting mind. Public primary and secondary school do not prepare students to understand our political history in its realistic rather than idealistic form.

I found it strangely comforting and disconcerting that the same comments and arguments are alive today in American politics. Have we not evolved in our philosophies, our ideals? Thomas Jefferson appears to be naïve to think that rewriting a constitution every twenty-five years would be necessary because of our evolution of ideas. We would most likely come up with a similar constitution today as we did in 1776. Or worse, we would sway drastically between ideologies from quarter century to quarter century, as we do every four to eight years. Although, having our countrymen focus on the meaning and form of their constitution periodically throughout their lives may arouse the apathetic to action.

Interestingly, an understanding of the vocabulary is not necessary to form your own opinion of how government should work and how citizens should be involved. My new vocabulary reinforces my opinions by giving them labels from historic movements or schools of thought. In a way, it legitimizes those views and explains the views of my opponents or identifies my natural opponents by linking together ideas my mind had not connected. For instance, a person with currently popular conservative views might naturally be an anti-intellectual. This helps to explain the endless astonishment I experience at the outrageous comments from my aunt regarding her view of society.

At best, I hope this class prepares me to more critically consider the statements of political figures and follow political conversations without being derailed by outlandish statements that I should have known were related. At worst, I will consider myself confident in political discourse and find myself in political arguments that I lack the ability to articulate, as I do now.

Beyond School

2009-03-25T21:30:00.003-06:00

So, graduation is looming...well, if a year away is looming. Regardless, my obsessively plotting mind has focused on this distant event for so long, to plan out how I will reach it with plans in ever motion and being refined in the last year. Then as my uneasiness ebbs from trying to swallow just how difficult the plan truly is, I realize that I must have a plan beyond school. I've been attending college for over a decade. What will I be when I am no longer a student and working my way through school? Well, now that is partially answered. I will be an HR professional, with letters and everything. *snicker*

But really... I am finally comfortable with the answer "an artist". That word has meant many fleeting and shallow things over the years to me. It is now, now that I have explored others and myself that I can say an Artist. So, ok, then what?

Well, there is exploring more of myself. There is trying new things. Doing the things I have been too busy to do. There is a marathon or at least running. I tasted the peace and exhileration of running more than a year ago when I did at least try to keep up a physical regimine. Now that I'm fat and out of shape, running has a more obvious appeal. But truly it is the pushing of my limits that gives me great joy in the surprise of me. It creates a unique chance to stand apart and say "wow, you can actually do that." Without it being a question.

Then there is the goal of learning to sing; to express what I cannot say in words alone. But what voice will I find with a soul singing Janis Joplin and vocal cords that emulate Jewel? We shall see...we shall see...

"Where the Wild Things Are" directed by Spike Jonzes

2009-03-25T21:24:00.002-06:00

This is a must see!

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/03/25/movie-trailer-spike-jonzes-where-the-wild-things-are/

You have to watch this!!

2009-03-06T22:15:00.001-06:00

Inconestrate?

2009-03-02T20:21:00.002-06:00

We have a cheese purchased at the Green City market that we do not think we will find again.

The handwritten label states,
"Inconestrate
Italy, cow".

A Google search for Inconestrate yielded no results...none at all! When does Google have nothing?

So, I figure that the label might be a little off and go in search of Italian cheeses. Well, that was way too many results...yummy results. Then with a little narrowing of the search to Italian cow cheese I find a website that carefully describes the types of Italian cheeses. This may be a Parmesan cheese after all. But who will ever know?

Parmesan Cheese

A hard Italian cheese that is thick-crusted and made from cow's milk. It is aged up to two years, resulting in a sharp, salty, full flavored cheese. It is normally ivory or pale yellow in color. Fresh grated Parmesan variations are an excellent addition to salad dressings as well.

Named after the town of Parma in northern Italy, Parmesan is one of the world's most popular and widely-enjoyed cheeses.

2004 Hawai'i Trip

2009-02-07T23:08:00.005-06:00

Election Night 2008

2009-02-07T22:53:00.009-06:00

If we had a baby...

2008-06-28T15:01:00.000-05:00

http://xkcd.com/441/

The Great Office War

2008-06-19T22:49:00.001-05:00

This is a must see...

Contact Juggling Anyone?

2008-06-11T20:19:00.001-05:00

http://www.break.com/index/another-amazing-contact-juggler.html

aww...a sweet story

2008-05-16T21:05:00.000-05:00

http://www.nbc11.com/slideshow/news/16218922/detail.html

Leadership and New Science by Margaret Wheatley (1999)

2008-04-06T18:09:00.003-05:00

Here are some quotes from my textbook readings. I find these enlightening in the sense that I'm not the only idiot out there contemplating how systems work. :)

"There is another important paradox in living systems: Each organism maintains a clear sense of its individual identity within a larger network of relationships that helps shape its identity. Each being is noticeable as a separate entity, yet it is simultaneously part of a whole system. While we humans observe and count separate selves, and pay a great deal of attention to the differences that seem to divide us, in fact we survive only as we learn how to participate in a web or relationships. Autopoiesis describes a very different universe, one in which all organisms are capable of creating a "self" through their intimate engagement with all others in their system. This is not a fragile fragmented world that needs us to hold it together. This is a world rich in processes that support growth and coherence through paradoxes that we need to contemplate."

"In a dissipative structure, anything that disturbs the systems plays a crucial role in helping it self-organize into a new form of order. Whenever the environment offers new and different information, the system chooses whether to accept that provocation and respond. This new information might be only a small difference from the norm. But if the system pays attention to this information, it brings the information inside, and once inside that network, the information grows and changes. If the information becomes such a large disturbance that the system can no longer ignore it, then real change is at hand. At this moment, jarred by so much internal disturbance and far from equilibrium, the system will fall apart. In its current form, it cannot deal with the disturbance, so it dissolves. But this disintegration does not signal the death of the system. If a living system can maintain its identity, it can self-organize to a higher level of complexity, a new form of itself that can deal better with the present.

In this way, dissipative structures demonstrate that disorder can be a source of new order, and that growth appears from disequilibrium, not balance. The things we fear most in organizations--disruptions, confusion, chaos--need not be interpreted as signs that we are about to be destroyed. Instead, these conditions are necessary to awaken creativity."

Fatboy Slim - The Joker

2008-03-16T13:07:00.001-06:00

Ok, so this is an old video, but definitely worth another watch. :)

Great Physics Teacher

2008-03-15T09:03:00.002-06:00

http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/63302/high-wire-act

Note to Self

2008-03-12T15:24:00.002-06:00

Dear Melissa,

Here you sit staring at your computer wondering what to write your persuasive essay about. The assignment is simple: you either write an Independent Learning Pursuit (ILP) or a letter persuading someone there is either a problem or a solution to a problem. At first you think an ILP would be best. You could get a much needed start on the ILP you said you would write for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM®) Essentials of Human Resource Professionals Certificate Program that you took last October. Then you think a letter would be a much more fun format. Maybe you could come up with a unique angle. You could write a letter from a mother to her children about the reasons they should clean their room. But, alas, you have no kids for reference, and channeling your mother this early in the morning would be frightening. You could write a letter from yourself to your husband persuading him to save more for retirement as he pays down debt. However, you had that conversation last night, and you seemed to persuade him to meet you at least part way. So, what should you write your persuasive essay about? You should really get down to business writing your ILP.

After all, you spent last Thursday afternoon coming up with a competency statement for your SHRM® Essentials ILP. Your competence statement is quite a good one too. The Foundations of Adult Learning materials helped you write a clear and concise statement using the appropriate verbs to express exactly what type of learning you achieved. To ensure that the statement you wrote for the SHRM® Essentials did not overlap with other competence statements, you reviewed the six competency statements you will fulfill by taking the Professional in Human Resources (PHR®) exam next year. Your review of the objectives listed in the SHRM® Essentials reference book guided you through the process of creating your competence statement, and the exercise provided you with a brief refresher. So, in the end, you have a great competence statement for a Human Resources 101-type course: “Understands the roles and responsibilities of human resource professionals and the key provisions of legislation that effect human resource activities.” Your hard work in creating this concise and descriptive competence statement should not go to waste.

Do not forget your hard work on Thursday included reviewing your grid and the Quarter-by-Quarter Plan that you submitted to your Academic Committee last September. Last summer and again this week, you thoroughly researched the need and impact the ILP would have in completing your degree program. Although it might mean you will have thirteen focus area competencies by graduation, rather than the required twelve, the SHRM® Essentials program was a great introduction to human resources. You have worked in human resources for three years specializing in U.S. immigration, so the program helped you gain a better understanding of the other human resources areas. This more rounded understanding of the human resources areas is essential to successfully completing the PHR® exam and fulfilling six of your twelve required Focus Area competencies.

Like most people you had a general understanding of the different human resource functions, but this program let you delve deeper into the guiding principles of each function and which legislation is relevant to those functions. This deeper understanding of what your co-workers do in their day-to-day tasks gave you a better appreciation of how these areas are interrelated and depend upon each other to recruit, select, and retain “qualified employees who will assist the organization in achieving its goals and objectives” (Society for Human Resource Management, 2007). The SHRM® Essentials program was necessary to prepare you for the big, scary PHR® exam next year. The PHR® exam will test your knowledge in all human resource areas, regardless of whether or not you plan to work in those functions. You needed the SHRM® Essentials introductory program as a pretest to see which areas you should study further. Your review of the SHRM® Essentials program materials, that you will inevitably conclude to write the ILP, will help reinforce the principles and ideas you learned in the course. Writing the ILP is essentially a refresher and will prepare you for the Human Resources Case Studies course, which you hope is offered at DePaul University’s School for New Learning (SNL) in the upcoming quarters. You need to prepare for the PHR® exam and, the SHRM® Essentials program and the writing of the ILP will help reinforce your basic knowledge of human resources.

The time you spend at SNL is not only for gaining more knowledge of your focus area, human resources; it is for completing your decade long goal to finally finish your bachelor’s degree. You began your pursuit of a bachelor’s ten years ago in community college. It took you three and a half years to finish a “two year” physics degree. That seemed to drag on forever, but then you went on to art school for three years. You studied computer animation, and you loved all of the introductory courses. When you reached the advanced classes you realized how a person sitting in front of a computer for eleven to twelve hours a day could come to appreciate smashing the machine with a baseball bat Office Space style (Judge, 1999). Oh, how satisfying that first swing would be. Now at DePaul you spend a little less time in front of the computer each day (unless you have an online course) and, you predict it will take you three more years to finish your “four year” degree. You need to write your ILP for focus area credit, get your Bachelor’s Degree, and get out of school.

Meanwhile, you love school; you love learning. But you have a life and career that you want to move forward with. In fact, now that work is taking up more time, you have less time with family and friends. Writing your ILP and finishing your bachelor’s degree will free up your personal time. Dragging this on more is just tiring. Yes, you are tired now, and you long to make jewelry, decorate cakes, and have fun at cultural events with your husband. However, the guilt you will experience if you do not finish your bachelor’s degree is not worth those distractions. After all, you make jewelry about once a week, and you decorate cakes for special occasions. You also cannot forget that your husband took you to see an opera earlier this month. So it is not like you are missing out on the things you say you would rather be doing. You are just not free to do them every night.

Finish your ILP and you will not have wasted your time or your life. The human resources knowledge you will reinforce by completing your ILP is applicable to your job now and will be needed next year for the PHR® exam. You already cleared the idea of writing an ILP for the SHRM® Essentials program with your Academic Committee; they loved the idea. Then you spent the time in the program and learned many principles and best practices in human resources that you had only a fuzzy idea of what they were. The review of the relevant employment legislation was a valuable and necessary exercise to help you understand why policies are drafted the way they are and make sure you are operating within the law. Least of all, you have written your competency statement for the ILP. That is your ILP’s thesis statement. The hard part is over! Now all you have left is to write your ILP, fulfill a focus area competence, and bring yourself one step closer to graduating.

Did you hear me? Graduation is closer with every competence you complete. No matter how tired you are or how much you want to go do other things they will not make you feel as relieved and empowered as graduating will make you feel. Just think, when you graduate, you can run to the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps and dance around the top with your fists in the air, just like Rocky (Avildsen, 1976).

Bibliography

Avildsen, J. (Director). (1976). Rocky [Motion Picture]. United States: Chartoff-Winkler Productions.

Judge, M. (Director). (1999). Office Space [Motion Picture]. United States: Twentith Century-Fox Film Corporation.

Society for Human Resource Management. (2007). Introduction. Develop your HR Skills: SHRM Essentials of Human Resource Management Certificate Program. Alexandra, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.

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This essay is ungraded.

If Monsters Really Attacked Manhattan by MLynnC

2008-03-01T18:26:00.007-06:00

WARNING: This essay contains spoilers for the film Cloverfield.

Forty-six million dollars is the box office record for a January movie opening. The highly anticipated and unconventionally filmed monster movie, Cloverfield, achieved this record the weekend of January 18, 2008, despite or possibly because of the reputation it achieved for making viewers nauseous through the use of a handheld camera. No one from my group of friends felt ill while watching Cloverfield even though it was dark and jumpy. Despite the unlikely event that a giant monster might actually attack Manhattan, the film Cloverfield was created in such a way that it feels like a real event. The realness has a powerful effect on the audience and the movie’s scenes linger in your mind. In short, Cloverfield comes across like a real event because of the limited information given in the film, the director’s presentation of the film, the familiarity of home movies to the audience, the lack of a score or soundtrack, and the restrictive nature of the camera work through one of the main character’s handheld camera.

No one in our group researched the movie prior to seeing it opening weekend, and I think that was the best way to see it. Rarely does a move challenge me to ask questions and really care about finding the answers. Cloverfield made my fellow moviegoers and I pose many twisted questions to each other later that evening over beers and burgers as we tried to figure out the story.

Had we researched the film we would have found several fake websites that were designed to give back-story. These websites were made to look like real companies, advertisements, or video letters from one lover to another. None of them explicitly explain the movie. Instead, they force you to piece together their significance, creating the sense that you are investigating a real story.

Bloggers speculated what the monster was, where it came from, what the movie title might mean, and many other details. The URL 1-18-08.com eventually served as the film’s official website even though it provided few indications regarding the movie’s plot or characters. The fake corporate websites for Tagruato and Slusho (tagruato.jp and slusho.jp) along with the fake activist website Tidowave (tidowave.com) provide the most hints to answer the larger picture of why and how of the monster attacks. These sites are cleverly designed to look legitimate and at the same time give fictional answers to the movie’s plot. The websites jamieandteddy.com (password: jllovesth) and blog.myspace.com/robbyhawkins served as supplements to side-stories within the movie. These side-story websites help provide links between the other corporate and activist websites. Each of these websites fueled the discussion boards and entertained bloggers with ideas of back-story and plot. Just like a real event, the public was left only clues to piece together for answers.

“What’s going on?” popped into my mind when the film opened with the color test bars you see when TV stations are off the air. I actually thought the movie was messed up. Then basic white text on a black background read that the following US Department of Defense file was a recovered digital SD card from site “US-447,” what used to be called “Central Park” (Reeves, 2008). “How realistic,” I thought as I settled in for an unconventional movie experience. This plain introduction sets up the audience to watch a home movie of the attack and implied destruction of Central Park. The director’s unconventional opening to the film was intriguing.

The film is unedited in the traditional Hollywood sense. It contains long shots, jumpy camera moves, people confused about how to work the camera, and times when the camera is forgotten about while running or fighting. Glimpses of Rob and Beth’s Great Day, a month earlier, are dispersed throughout the film because the going away party and attack were filmed over old footage. This unsettling and unprofessional camerawork is expected in a home movie, and it is familiar to us through “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and YouTube, lending to the realness of the film.

As the film shifts from the character setup in the “normal” home movie scenes of Rob and Beth’s Great Day together and Rob’s going away party, as seen through Rob’s camera, to what seems to be earthquakes and explosions you settle in for a good monster scare. However, the cameraman, Hud, does not get a good look at the monster for quite a while. After all he is not in the right place to see the monster from his vantage point. What is seen through the camera is an enormous high-rise collapse reminiscent of 9/11. This is immediately followed by the terrifying hallmark of thick dust clouds raging through the streets of Manhattan, enveloping tall buildings, and swallowing up chaotic bystanders. The heart wrenching and helpless memories of New Yorkers evacuating Manhattan during 9/11 set the stage for the first goal of Cloverfield’s main characters to get out of the city. I believe the writers chose to evoke memories of 9/11 to relate the invasion of the monster to the death, destruction, confusion, and fear American’s experienced during the first few hours after the first plane struck the World Trade Center. The director’s choice to use images American’s associate with total destruction and mass murder lends to the authenticity of the character’s fear and confusion, and to the audience’s belief that what they are watching could be a real home movie.

As with a home movie, the director did to not “add” sound to the film through a soundtrack or score. The sounds of the monster’s roars and explosions of glass and steel usually announce its approach. In a few scenes, the sound of military gunfire, tanks, bombs, and fighter jets indicated its proximity. Since the movie did not use ambient music or a score there were no clues that something dramatic was about to happen or misleading clues to toy with your anxieties. As in real life, the only sounds heard during the movie were those the camera picked up from the environment. For example, there is an eerie scene where the main characters are traveling through the city by following the dark subway tunnels. They discover all the subway rats running in the same direction away from something behind the group. They attempt to be quiet to see or hear what has scared the rats. One of the main characters hears the squeaks and chattering of the smaller, parasitic monsters before the monsters are close enough for the camera to pick up their sound. The camera’s night vision function does not pick up the image of the monsters until they are just a few feet away on the ceiling. Just as you would expect, the sounds closer to the camera are easier to hear and some things are just not picked up at all or are distorted in a way that you cannot distinguish what exactly they are. Again, this common frustration with imperfect sound in real home movies reinforces the real feel of the film.

The frustration with imperfect sound accompanies the frustration with imperfect camera work. By choosing to only show the events through a first- person point of view, the movie never strays away from the realness and the frustration you would have with your own home movie imperfections. For instance, the large scale of the monster and the fact that the monster is walking between high-rises means that Hud gets very few good vantage points to really see the monster. If Hud is running or being attacked, the camera is left to swing wildly or be dragged in a way that you are not sure what is happening to him or anyone else. The fight scenes are especially confusing and frustrating since you cannot see what is happening to everyone in the group from a third person view. This lack of an omniscient viewpoint is effective in heightening the suspense since you do not know what might come from behind the camera or if Hud has missed looking at something important. This makes the experience seem real since the director never leaves first- person point of view.

In fact, what we see is almost entirely what Hud is interested in seeing for himself—like his love interest, Marlena. The audience’s close connection to Hud’s experience creates empathy for Hud and his friends. There is a particularly suspenseful scene where Hud is trying to make it back across the roof of Beth’s broken apartment building, which is resting against a standing building. I found myself leaning forward in my chair, trying to help Hud cross the sloping roof quicker to avoid the approaching monster. This was pure suspension of disbelief! Then towards the end of the movie, when the monster is staring Hud down as he stands over him, you are left to panic with Hud about the inevitable. When the monster chews on Hud, you feel like you are there with him in its mouth and that this is it: the end. However, when Hud’s body and the camera drop to the ground you have renewed hope that Rob and Beth might still make it out of this tragedy alive. Their final comments to the camera, as they hide under a Central Park bridge in Central Park while the US military’s bombs the area, leaves you with the sad realization that they have no hope of surviving. The intensity of these scenes is achieved because the first- person view from Hud’s experience makes you feel like you are living through this catastrophic event with the group of friends.

The director successfully portrayed the film as a recovered SD card from a catastrophic event. My friends and I were left thinking that this could have been one of many recorded views of that night’s events. As seen on the Brooklyn Bridge, other people filmed the events and their footage must be out there somewhere. Just like in real life, there are always multiple perspectives of an event. The producer has discussed making a sequel to Cloverfield using someone else’s recovered camera footage from that same night. The many questions regarding what actually happened and the back-story add to the mystique of the film and drive lively discussions. This encouraged me to find more information by reading through discussion threads to find the websites listed in the introduction. The realism of Cloverfield draws you in and lingers in your mind.

Bibliography

Reeves, M. (Director). (2008). Cloverfield [Motion picture]. United States: Bad Robot.

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My grade for this analysis essay was 395 points out of 400. :)

Dusty is Doing Well

2008-02-23T10:23:00.002-06:00

Sorry it's been a while since our last post. Dusty's high blood pressure medicine is working and two weeks ago her blood pressure was down to 125. She goes in for a checkup today. Poor sick Ben will have to take her while I do more homework. But hey I'm past the midpoint of class. There are only a few more weeks left.

The Dusty Scare

2008-01-09T19:43:00.000-06:00

For those of you who do not know, our 20 year old cat, Dusty, has finally become fully blind. This happened to her last Friday. The vet determined that it was a neurological issue rather than cataracts. Dusty was not only confused and agitated as her pacing revealed, but she was also weak and not her normal spunky self. The vet found that her blood pressure was 255 where 185 or so is the highest limit they like to see. So they prescribed high blood pressure medicine to bring that down. After the emergency vet visit in the morning and missed work we had to leave her at home while we worked in the afternoon.

Friday night we served up "tuna con medication". Early Saturday morning we woke to Dusty's repeated deep yowl--that yowl you hear from an animal who is either so terrified or hurt that your heart aches. We jumped out of bed to find her laying on her side with poofed fur and what looked like she was running as fast as she could. Ben called the hospital to find that they would not be of much help. So I slept on the floor with Dusty after she calmed down from my petting and nussling. An hour later with my hand still on her I awoke to her body convulsing followed by those yowls and running. It was apparently a seizure. I comforted her as she tried desperately to get up and walk on her failing legs for the next half hour or so.

We went back to the vet on Saturday morning to find that they think she may be having mini strokes due to the high blood pressure which would also cause seizures. Her blood pressure is now down to 232.

The vet narrows down her issues to either strokes or a brain tumor. We x-ray her body just in case she has tumors in her body or an enlarged heart. Thankful neither where present. Otherwise, I would have had to decide to put her to sleep on my own that morning as Ben was at the airport heading to Vegas on business. Brain tumors are more expensive to find--around $2,000 for a "cat" scan and MRI (yes, I am still amused at the irony). Even if they found one she is too old for the surgery.

I didn't leave the house all weekend and watched the little girl carefully. She was still very confused and could not find things like the litter pan or her bed. (I'm still working on the smell.) She also drank very little and absolutely refused hard food. Tuna became the treat all weekend since it was the only thing Dusty would eat and eat vigorously. Winnie and Keiko were very excited about this turn of events.

Sunday Dusty seemed to be finding her way around the house better. I can't say I helped much since my mom and I were assembling the new office furniture and had boxes all over the house. Unfortunately, Winnie took to growling and hissing at Dusty. She knows something is wrong.

By Monday Dusty was back to using the litter pan and drinking much more normally. I still had not seen her eat the hard food. So Monday night I picked up the wet version of her special kidney food. She has taken to it just as easily as the tuna. So now she gets the food she should and the other two are still getting tuna treats. I also picked up several new catnip toys and the two youngsters think they are in heaven. (I have to mention that Keiko is currently in my lap purring and trying to immobilize my right arm by laying on it.)

We will keep you updated on the Dusty's next visit to the vet on Saturday.

We are all missing Ben. The furry ones need more petting and I woke up in the morning snuggled up to his pillow. It's funny how that happens. Thankfully Ben will come back home tomorrow from the Consumer Electronics Show to an apparently stable Dusty and ALL four of his girls purring and wanting to snuggle.

Hulu.com

2007-12-31T14:16:00.000-06:00

Just testing a new video service that I got access to through work... Hmmm... too bad you can do full screen on their main site just not on the embed page. Thanks for putting up with my testing :)

30 Rock:

Firefly Episode 1:

Christmas with Abraham

2007-12-28T17:37:00.000-06:00

All Fun and Games

2007-12-28T16:12:00.000-06:00

The last game day was a success for two reasons...Quelf and Rockband...ok, three...our friends...

Pam hiding in her make-shift tent...

Brian, having to keep his arm around the player to his left, keeps an eye on Sava...

Katherine decyfering Scott's assisted drawing...

Everyone else trying to decyfer Scott's assisted drawing...

A tree?

2007-12-28T15:48:00.001-06:00

I kind of like the tree this way.

Thanksgiving with Abraham

2007-12-28T15:16:00.000-06:00

NEW BABY!!!!! ...soon

2007-11-18T12:42:00.001-06:00

At 16 days overdue Angela's water broke at 2 AM this morning. We shall be new a Uncle and Aunt soon!! We'll keep you posted.

2008 Presidential Candidate Calculator

2007-11-06T20:56:00.000-06:00

With so many candidates running for president and the media's treatment like the race has been on for a year now I (Melissa) have been left wondering who I really agree with. Attributed to my hippie nature I generally vote Democrat. However, I really wasn't sure who fit my views since the race has been more about who can trash the other candidate than what their vision for America is. So when Aunt Judie sent me the link below I thought this should be interesting.

http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html

Appearantly, I really am a Democrat when you look at the results. The list is split in half. The top half of the matches are all Democrat and the bottom are all Republican. However, I was quite surprised that Dennis Kucinich was my closest match. Who the heck is he?! I mean I know the name, but know nothing about him...until now. I guess we agree 77.55% of the time. That is pretty neat. Also who is Mike Gravel? No, really I've never heard of him.

I guess I also have to hope that Fred Thompson doesn't get into office or I will only be happy with one quarter of what he does.

My full results:

Your Top Match
Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D) 77.55% match You are number 1,380,341 to use the Candidate Calculator.

Your Top Match

Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D)

77.55% match

You are number 1,380,341 to use the Candidate Calculator.

Your Other Top Matches

Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (D) - 76.53%
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden (D) - 69.39%
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd (D) - 69.39%

Middle of the Pack

New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) - 61.22%
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) - 61.22%
Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) - 58.16%
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) - 57.14%
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) - 52.04%
Arizona Senator John McCain (R) - 51.02%
Texas Representative Ron Paul (R) - 51.02%
Businessman John Cox (R) - 43.88%
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) - 39.80%
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) - 29.59%

Bottom of the Barrel

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R) - 26.53%
Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo (R) - 26.53%
California Representative Duncan Hunter (R) - 24.49%
Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson (R) - 22.45%

Ben here, here's my results... I don't care I'm still voting Obama :)

Your Top Match
Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D) 88.89% match You are number 1,492,379 to use the Candidate Calculator.

Your Top Match

Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D)

88.89% match

You are number 1,492,379 to use the Candidate Calculator.

bookmark this page:
::

Your Other Top Matches

Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (D) - 79.86%
New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) - 59.72%
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards (D) - 56.94%

Middle of the Pack

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) - 56.94%
Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) - 55.56%
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd (D) - 54.17%
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden (D) - 51.39%
Texas Representative Ron Paul (R) - 45.83%
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) - 36.11%
Arizona Senator John McCain (R) - 33.33%
Businessman John Cox (R) - 29.17%
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R) - 28.47%
Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo (R) - 22.92%

Bottom of the Barrel

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) - 14.58%
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R) - 12.50%
California Representative Duncan Hunter (R) - 11.11%
Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson (R) - 11.11%

Halloween Hangman

2007-10-21T12:24:00.001-05:00

The perfect web game to avoid doing homework with...

http://dedge. com/flash/ hangman/hangman. swf?a=300

Pictures from Michigan

2007-09-23T22:27:00.001-05:00

A Blessing or A Curse?

2007-09-23T21:57:00.001-05:00

For Ben's birthday I bought him photography classes. He was very excited and now I don't know what his face looks like without a camera stuck in it. The photo quality in our library has certainly increased tremendously. However, I can't seem to take him anywhere without that camera. A few of my favorites are below.

The Vestivities

2007-09-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

Our dear friend Scott turned 30 about a week ago and, again, Ben did a great job taking pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/langbenj/sets/72157602085980527/

Angela and Jonathan's Baby Shower

2007-09-23T21:51:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Aunt Marge, Aunt Kathie, Aunt Grace, Grandma Trudi and I hosted a baby shower for Angela. Ben did a great job taking pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/langbenj/sets/72157602075148512/

Cosmic Train Wreck! Neat!

2007-08-30T09:33:00.001-05:00

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070822-dark-matter.html

Some birthday party photos

2007-08-25T11:32:00.001-05:00

We survived the thunderstorm

2007-08-25T11:27:00.001-05:00

Well both Ben, the kitties, and I are fine after Thursday nights severe weather. A few blocks away the strong winds broke a grocery store's windows and all over town there was high standing water all day Friday. Some nearby towns still didn't have working stop lights the next day. Driving around on Friday I could see the reminants of 1' and 2' diameter trees lieing on the side of the road or

New TV

2007-08-16T11:50:00.002-05:00

Been watching some of the new shows that will be premiering this fall over the last few weeks. Figured I'd put my thoughts up on the site on some of the better ones. Watching pilots can be an interesting thing, if you really love a show it's going to be months until the next episode which can be painful to put it lightly. Last season I watched the pilot of traveler which completely blew me away. Then they didn't show the next episode until May. That was a hard one. (of course I haven't watched any of the other episodes of it that I've got on the DVR)

After last season I thought that my TV watching would go down dramatically seeing as a lot of shows that I loved finished. No more Gilmore Girls, no more Studio 60 ect... well it looks like there's going to be some replacements in my schedule. I keep trying to get out but they keep pulling me back in. :)

Pushing Daisies

My Fish are Just Lazy

2007-08-10T10:59:00.001-05:00

Man my fish just swim around in circles and eat pellets.

Chore Wars

2007-07-21T18:47:00.000-05:00

Do you ever get into those "discussions" with your family members about who has done what around the house and who feels they have been working overtime on the chores while the other has just put off taking out the garbage for too long? Well now you can settle these disputes with Chore Wars. It's a nice little role playing game where you are rewarded points and other things for completing household tasks or any tasks you choose to create. Ben and I have joined the Clang clan and began checking off our completed chores for the last week. I am Ms. Sparkles and he is Elkton. Since I am busy with homework today I think Ben will far surpass my current Level 2 Cleric with 320 experience points (and a DSW certificate treasure).

http://www.chorewars.com/index.php

The children sensed his weakness once Kirsten mummified him...

2007-07-13T21:41:00.000-05:00

Bug Cakelets for Johnny and Kirsten's Birthday

2007-07-13T21:33:00.000-05:00

Johnny & Kirsten's Birthday Party

2007-07-13T21:27:00.001-05:00

Johnny and Mitch rocking out on Guitar Hero.

Papa seems to be enjoying himself.

Lighting candles on each bug cakelet.

So did they plan their hair to match?

2007-07-13T21:25:00.001-05:00

Grandma and Kirsten

iPhone

2007-06-29T13:51:00.002-05:00

06/29/2007 - Well I'm in line for the iPhone. About 70 people in front of me and about 20 behind. We've been told that we shouldn't have a problem getting one so that's great. It's actually a nice day to wait out. Got a nice chair and wireless. Unfortunatly only about a 10% battery charge.

So you wanna talk to a live person ay?

2007-06-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

Have you ever sat on hold or tried to navigate a complicated phone system when all you want to do is get a person. I've been through some systems that are so complicated and the option I need isn't there that I get kicked out. Well here is a website that lists the customer service number, offers a cheat code to get a live person, and gives you the opportunity to grade the company on their service.

http://gethuman.com/

Let us know if you try it.

Interesting article on how illegal immigration came to be...

2007-06-07T09:41:00.001-05:00

http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/web/20070507-chinese-exclusion-act-california-chester-a-arthur-immigration-san-francisco-earthquake-of-1906-paper-sons.shtml

I bet I know this kid's father, friend, or relative...

2007-06-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

While driving home tonight I was listening to NPR. Not an unusual situation. On "The World" they featured a kid from Novosibirsk, Russia that creates 80's-ish pop electronica songs. Also not an unusual topic for NPR. The crazy part is that a LARGE majority of our Russians at work are physicists or summer kids (kids of the physicists at work) from Novosibirsk. This kid's father is a physicists at one of the local universities in Novosibirsk. I bet someone I know knows this kid personally or at least his father.

With that said, I'm a sucker for 80's electronica. Some of my favorite all time bands include Depeche Mode and New Order. This kid's music was an instant hit with me. Check out his MySpace page.

http://myspace.com/romanrevutsky

2007-05-05T14:20:00.000-05:00

Ok this one is a bit easier for me to write about. I went to see this movie just to kill some time before Spiderman 3. I really hadn't heard much about the film with the exception of seeing a relatively bad 33% on rotten tomatoes and one commercial. But it was playing and it was that or sitting in Starbucks.

I'm actually really glad that I decided on this over tasty drinks. The movie is about a man who can see two minutes into his own future. Once he looks ahead he can decide to change it. Where it gets tricky is that he can then wait a split second and look ahead again and see if that change was a wise move and change it again. He can keep doing it until he gets what he's trying to do right. The movie revolves around a girl (Jessica Biehl) who he sees months before he actually meets her. He proceeds to wait in the same dinner every day at the same time that was on his watch until he meets her. She's both a love interest and a catalyst for the plot (and she's not hard on the eyes :). There also is an FBI agent played by Julianne Moore who is trying to track him down because terrorists have smuggled a nuke into Los Angeles and they need to track it down before it goes off. Because of the FBI's interest in him the terrorists want to kill him just in case he can do what they think he can. He doesn't want to be found by either because if he helps the FBI he'll be a slave to them forever. If the terrorists find him...well he'd be dead and that's not good.

The real interesting aspect of the movie is where he uses his powers to plan out how to get out of situations he gets into. He can see where bullets are coming from so he can dodge them. He can search an entire building in a blink by viewing each potential outcome of walking down each hallway. It's really a nice trick and I would love to see it expanded on.

Unfortunately there are some weaknesses in the script most particularly in the ending. It's certainly not a bad ending but it's kind of a cliffhanger for a sequel which probably won't happen (The movie has only made 10 million so far). The critics really didn't like it, of course they didn't like his last movie National Treasure either and I really liked that one. I don't know I'd recommend it for viewing in the theater but it's definitely one to see on DVD.

3 stars (out of 5)

Spiderman 3

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

This was an odd one for me. I am a registered geek who loves all of the things that make up this movie however I found myself underwhelmed by it. It seemed that the film tried to hard to be everything to everyone. Trying to shoehorn in 3 villains that could easily each carry a movie can really backfire. Look at how Batman and Robin worked out. And these are three of the more interesting Spiderman villains. From what they had set up in the first two films they were obligated to do the Goblin Jr. storyline. It was expected. And sandman is a natural choice for a movie watching public that loves their special effects. Plus it doesn't hurt that he had a decent story. And the alien suit/venom storyline is one of the better arcs in the comic books. Although the way that it ended up Venom, one of Spiderman's most iconic foes, is almost a footnote to the story. However I really liked the narrative arc that they constructed to tie them all together. The characters have no real connection in the actual comics but here they have a very clear link between them. It was an artful piece of writing.

The black suit should have been one of the most impressive parts of the film. It should have made Spiderman stronger, faster and much more vicious. But the film series has already tried to portray him as incredibly strong and fast so the benefit of the suit really wasn't clear. Also a small nitpick but the suit should grow on and off of him not be a simple piece of clothing that can be tossed in a box. The way it was handled with Venom is much closer to the actual feel of the suit. Also he had to have known what the suit was since he took the sample to Doctor Conners. You'd think he wouldn't act so surprised later on. The suit's effect on his personality was quite amusing though. I liked how they combed his hair slightly differently and suddenly he was evil-emo Peter. Funny.

I think my biggest problem with the movie came from the Mary Jane/Peter storyline. It was incredibly goofy at times and included so many twists and turns that really didn't make allot of sense at times. Especially the entire break up storyline and the love triangle. It just didn't seem to work with the characters as they have been established. Peter being entranced by his fame really didn't work for me either. It seemed like a regression to the time before Uncle Ben died where his fame was all that mattered to him. It felt like a betrayal of the character. Every time that the movie would switch to their story it lost a bit more momentum.

It also included 3 musical numbers and dance productions. Not that these weren't entertaining (esp. the bar one) but they felt out of place. The movie had allot of scenes where you could tell that Sam Rami was stretching his old Evil Dead silliness genes. In another movie I would have been reveling in the silliness but in this one it made it feel uneven.

I also thought that the acting by Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst was a bit weak. There have been some murmurs that they are bored of the characters and want to move on to other rolls. I would almost welcome another actors take on the characters if they decide to continue (which they will). The supporting cast was really quite amazing. Bruce Campbell has an amazing scene and was one of the highlights of the film. Topher Grace continues to grow past his That 70s show past and into one of our better actors. And the entire Daily Bugle staff was great.

OK so after all the bad things I said about the movie I still really recommend seeing it. It was massively entertaining with really good action sequences and quite a few funny scenes. It just could have been so much more.

3 stars (out of five)

More Cap'n Crunch Than You Expected

2007-05-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

From the May 2007 Saveur comes this great tidbit: the full name of Cap'n Crunch! His proper name is Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch. The Horatio makes him sound British, which makes sense since his outfit looks like an English Navy get up (or something Napoleon would have worn). And the Magellan gives him an air of exploration. The Crunch is straight out of Dickens. He may be Capt. H.M. Crunch aboard ship, but he'll always be Cap'n of breakfast to me.

http://www.megnut.com/2007/04/capn-crunchs-first-name-revealed

I-Dressup

2007-05-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

Ok girls. I know we are all grown, but don't you miss dress up? I know I do and since I can't actually wear Gucci's Spring line 2007 I can at least play with it online.

I have added the link under "web games to waste time with".

Robot Dinosaurs!

2007-04-28T12:01:00.001-05:00

Ok this is very cool. Love when things aren't just CGI.

Beef Goulash With Dumplings

2007-04-28T11:43:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe over at Simply Recipes one of my favorite food blogs. We've eaten it many times and it's got us through many a cold day. I know it's an odd food to post on one of the first warm days of spring but I'm strange that way. I'm the type of person who craves ice cream in winter. Plus there's never a bad time for soup.

A few notes on the recipe. Don't worry about crushing the carraway seeds. It will make it taste a bit better but it's almost not worth the trouble. In addition if you can't find spicy paprika (I know I couldn't) just use regular paprika in it's place and add a pinch of a spicy pepper such as cayenne. If you don't like spicy foods just use regular paprika. And don't skimp on the dumplings. First of all it's fun to play with dough and second of all they taste amazing.

Beef Goulash With Dumplings

Goulash

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups onions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp caraway seeds, toasted and ground
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon spicy Hungarian paprika
2 Tbsp minced fresh marjoram leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 cups chicken stock
2 1/2 pounds chuck roast, cut into 2-inch cubes (remove excess fat)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dumplings
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp melted butter

1 In a large covered sauté pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and sugar until caramelized (they turn a golden brown). Add the garlic and caraway seed. Cook another minute.

2 Add the sweet and spicy paprika, marjoram, thyme and bay leaf. Sauté another minute, until fragrant.

3 Add the tomato paste. Deglaze with the vinegar and the stock and add the pieces of beef, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cover and cook until very tender, about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

4 To prepare the dumplings, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Combine with the milk and melted butter, mixing lightly. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls into the simmering stew. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Once you have covered the pan, do not uncover while the dumplings are cooking! In order for them to be light and fluffy, they must steam. If you uncover the pan, the steam will escape and the dumplings will boil instead. After 15 minutes, test the dumplings with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, the dumplings are done.

Serves 4 to 6.

No Milk!!!

2007-04-20T09:29:00.000-05:00

Ok, so what do you do when you want to eat peanut butter toast and there is no milk left in the house? You top off your lovely slice of peanut buttery toast with fat free Reddi-wip! Leaves your mouth free to move and talk without the use of milk. Amazing...and yummy. :)

The end is drawing near.

2007-04-20T08:47:00.000-05:00

Yep, on Monday I return to work. Six weeks off is a long time to sit around the house. Some days I was content and busy with games, movies, or other computer related projects. Some days I was bored out of my skull and moping around. I have to thank Ben, my parents, Brandi, and Angie for taking time out to visit me and getting me out of the house. You realize how important these little outings and interactions can be when you aren't able to drive. I'm not sure I am looking forward to the bombardment waiting for me at the office. At least I can say that my World of Warcraft character, Medeaa, has leveled from 30 to 36 and her jewel crafting skills went from 180 to 265. Soon Medeaa will be capable of making jewelry suitable to help the level 60s in our guild to pay them back for all the help they have given me along the way.

Working on Vacation

2007-04-13T16:51:00.000-05:00

Why is it I feel so strange about the fact that this site http://vocationvacations.com/ has so much appeal to me. I like the idea of working somewhere on vacation. The point of vacation is supposed to be getting away from work. I think it's the idea I could work in a kitchen (or the chocolate store in Chicago which I think we've been to... that has appeal) and see what it's really like without having to actually go through line cook hell for years. Plus who can pass up a chance to be a sword maker.

What is paraskavedekatriaphobia?

2007-04-13T11:34:00.000-05:00

A clue? It is something the English, German, Polish, and Portuguese-speaking cultures around the globe have in common. It is also similar to something in Greece and Spain, but there it occurs on a Tuesday.

Do you know what it is?

(Click on the "Comments" link below this article to leave your answer.)

Ugh...Car Repairs

2007-04-13T10:58:00.000-05:00

So my car has been shuttering off and on lately. If you have ever driven a manual transmission and taken your foot a little too much off the clutch and not given it enough gas you know what I mean. Yet, the little bug made it to Michigan and back for Easter without any complaints. That's over 800 miles!

Well yesterday I had had it with the car vibrating my brain and scheduled an appointment at the Volkswagen dealership for today. Of course, the car was not shuttering when I drove it into their service garage and had to swear it really does do it. At least the Check Engine light was still on to back me up.

The first call...$770...with a highly recommended fuel injector cleaning for an additional $150. Apparently, the spark plugs and coil are now in a single unit rather than separate like they used to be in older cars- a very expensive unit. My wires were arcing, my engine was misfiring, and I was clogging my engine with fuel. Who knew?

The second call..."oh, ma'am your extended warranty covers only the coil, but there is a $100 deductible". Now...$350 (plus the $150 cleaning).

Just another 110,000 miles to go until we reach the 200k goal! Let's see if we can't keep her running. :)

She's a poet?

2007-04-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

Many of you may not know that I have been writing poetry since freshman year of high school. Admittedly, I mainly wrote when I was sad or angry. So I suppose, thankfully, I have not written anything in the last three years. My English teacher was the first to show interest in my poetry and encouraged me to write more. That got me started, but mainly I would only share my poems with my paternal grandmother, Grammy. She was my kindred soul since she also wrote poetry and was in general an artist. I would spend my angst years of high school in the wee hours of the night hiding under a blanket with a flashlight writing poetry in my room. Since as I said much of it was created when I was sad or angry it is pretty raw and most likely will not be shared on this blog.

I will share the most recent one written on December 11, 2003 when Ben and I had only been dating a little over 2 months. I was feeling miserable with this nasty cold and trying to sleep as best one can in that sniffly, stuffy, painful state. Faintly I heard this knocking and Ben's voice trying to wake me up. I stumbled to the door in a disheveled mess. My glazed eyes where met with Ben's big grin and a warm dish of spaghetti and meatballs. What could be better?

Hush

My waves roar and crash,
My winds ripe through the dark,
     Churning sea and air alike.
This storm rages,
     Though confined to my cerebral walls.
My body feels withered and ill.

Then a whisper drifts past.
     A wave tries to tumble me further,
          But your voice follows.

A hush comes over my soul,
     And the sea rocks itself to sleep…

          The sky brightens,

               and I am aglow.

I marvel at your power with a smile.

How does my beacon reside within you? My serenity.

-M.LynnC.

When it is snowing in Spring...

2007-04-12T08:11:00.000-05:00

Mel's Happy Place

2007-04-11T17:25:00.000-05:00

Would you believe a place like this exists in the Chicagoland area? What's up with all the snow lately?

Our Babies...

2007-04-11T16:41:00.000-05:00

It seems appropriate to start off the new blog with the 3 gals- Mel's Shadow (Winnie) , The Old Lady (Dusty), and The Snuggle Bug/Hisser/Mischeif Maker (Keiko).

Melissa and Ben

More Quotes

MIA - Paper Planes ("Slumdog Millionaire" Movie Music Video)

Damien Rice - Delicate (Sessions@AOL)

Damien Rice - 9 crimes

Today's Quote

Quotes I would add to the list...

Quotes that were on my wall at work...

1st Response to the book "The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made it" by Richard Hofstadter

Beyond School

"Where the Wild Things Are" directed by Spike Jonzes

You have to watch this!!

Inconestrate?

2004 Hawai'i Trip

Election Night 2008

If we had a baby...

The Great Office War

Contact Juggling Anyone?

aww...a sweet story

Leadership and New Science by Margaret Wheatley (1999)

Fatboy Slim - The Joker

Great Physics Teacher

Note to Self

If Monsters Really Attacked Manhattan by MLynnC

Dusty is Doing Well

The Dusty Scare

Hulu.com

Christmas with Abraham

All Fun and Games

A tree?

Thanksgiving with Abraham

NEW BABY!!!!! ...soon

2008 Presidential Candidate Calculator

Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D)

Your Other Top Matches

Middle of the Pack

Bottom of the Barrel

Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich (D)

Your Other Top Matches

Middle of the Pack

Bottom of the Barrel

Halloween Hangman

Pictures from Michigan

A Blessing or A Curse?

The Vestivities

Angela and Jonathan's Baby Shower

Cosmic Train Wreck! Neat!

Some birthday party photos

We survived the thunderstorm

New TV

My Fish are Just Lazy

Chore Wars

The children sensed his weakness once Kirsten mummified him...

Bug Cakelets for Johnny and Kirsten's Birthday

Johnny & Kirsten's Birthday Party

So did they plan their hair to match?

iPhone

So you wanna talk to a live person ay?

Interesting article on how illegal immigration came to be...

I bet I know this kid's father, friend, or relative...

Next

Spiderman 3

More Cap'n Crunch Than You Expected

I-Dressup

Robot Dinosaurs!

Beef Goulash With Dumplings

No Milk!!!

The end is drawing near.

Working on Vacation

What is paraskavedekatriaphobia?

Ugh...Car Repairs

She's a poet?

When it is snowing in Spring...

Mel's Happy Place

Our Babies...