One Word

This could be rather challenging for a girl like me. I tend to answer things with as many words as possible... but a one word limit? Yes, this should be very interesting.

1. Where is your cell phone? Upstairs
2. Your significant other? Nonexistent
3. Your hair? Long
4. Your mother? Busy
5. Your father? Genius
6. Your favorite thing? Pictures
7. Your dream last night? Bizarre
8. Your favorite drink? Water
9. Your dream/goal? Heaven
10. The room you’re in? Living
11. Your church? Universal
12. Your fear? Sin
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? There
14. Where were you last night? Home
15. What you’re not? Tough
16. Muffins? Yes
17. One of your wish list items? Husband
18. Where you grew up? California
19. The last thing you did? Homework
20. What are you wearing? Cotton
21. Your TV? Off
22. Your pets? Spazzzmaniacs
23. Your computer? Captain
24. Your life? Blessed
25. Your mood? Mellow
26. Missing someone? Yes
27. Your car? Parents
28. Something you’re not wearing? socks
29. Favorite store? Fabric
30. Your summer? Work
31. Like(love) someone? Many
32. Your favorite color? pretty
33. Last time you laughed? Yesterday
34. Last time you cried? recently
35. Who will re post this? unknown

Interesting. Your turn!

'Tis the Season...

...for American Idol to be over. The finale is tonight...we'll see which David wins. One of them sings everything but specializes in rock. The other sings lots of stuff...but it all sounds the same. Tonight the winner will be drowned in confetti and paparazzi, but here is a song meant just for the loser. Enjoy!

Nostalgia

I wrote the following about this time last year. Scott had just joined CAP, and I saved these thoughts under the title of "first impressions." Kind of fun to look back on. Even if you don't know any of these people, impressions are amusing things. And it is amazing how wrong one can be. Or, in the case of the following, how ridiculously accurate.

Call-signs according to me:
Corey – “Bogerding” (present day note: long story, inside joke...my sister will get it)
Kler -- “the Chief”
Cadet Saavedra – “has hair”
Goodall – “the singing cadet”
Kennedy – “the one I haven’t met yet”
Capt. Ammann – “the laid back senior member” or “Santa Clause”
Lt Saavedra – “the intense senior member”
Mahalik and Tavan – “the other BTF cadets”
Murphy has always been Murphy
Ellis – “Hollywood” (named for non-reg sunglasses)

Notes about Sq. 144:
Everyone is addressed by their last name.
No one laughs at Capt. Ammann’s jokes.
They are better at drilling than organizing test taking.
C/2dLt Connolly is much more intense at CAP than at school functions. (Dual personalities are apparently a common denominator of cadets)
They have very comfortable chairs.
“October Sky” counts as aerospace education (it has something to do with rockets).
The whole thing is very formal. Uniforms, drill, chain of command; it’s like they’re already in the military.
They call their hats “covers”.
“144, hoorah”
Cadence is always called with a southern accent.
The air force is better at being military than it is at distributing quality uniforms.
Part of PT exercises is ‘bellowing’
Mrs. Murphy is very entertaining when sleep deprived.
Capt. Ammann would win any and every beauty contest.
Ramos looks just like Scott
Murphy looks like she’s 20 yrs old. (she’s 15)

I'm a Thief

I stole this from my favorite hobbit after Samwise.

The rules:
Bold what you have read, italicize books you’ve started but couldn’t finish, and strike through books you hated. Add an asterisk* to those you’ve read more than once. Underline those you own but have not read.

The ultimate hitchhiker's guide by Douglas Adams
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The kite runner by Khaled Hosseini
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Life of Pi : a novel by Yann Martel
Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra
Crime and punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Vanity fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Ulysses by James Joyce
War and peace by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Catch-22 a novel by Joseph Heller
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle I) by Neal Stephenson
A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens
The satanic verses by Salman Rushdie
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books by Azar Nafisi
The name of the rose by Umberto Eco
The Kor'an
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Odyssey by Homer
The Canterbury tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The historian : a novel by Elizabeth Kostova
Foucault's pendulum by Umberto Eco
Atlas shrugged by Ayn Rand
The history of Tom Jones, a foundling by Henry Fielding
The three musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The sound and the fury by William Faulkner
The Iliad by Homer
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Emma by Jane Austen*
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Sons and lovers by D.H. Lawrence
Gulliver's travels by Jonathan Swift
The house of the seven gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies by Jared Diamond
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Lady Chatterley's lover by D.H. Lawrence
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by Dave Eggers
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
The once and future king by T. H. White
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
To the lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Oryx and Crake : a novel by Margaret Atwood
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed by Jared Diamond
The corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
Underworld by Don DeLillo
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The grapes of wrath by John Steinbeck
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
Jude the obscure by Thomas Hardy
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Tender is the night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A portrait of the artist as a young man by James Joyce
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
The divine comedy by Dante Alighieri
The inferno by Dante Alighieri
Gravity's rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Swann's way by Marcel Proust
The poisonwood Bible : a novel by Barbara Kingsolver
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay : a novel by Michael Chabon
Sense and sensibility by Jane Austen*
The portrait of a lady by Henry James
Silas Marner by George Eliot
The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The man in the iron mask by Alexandre Dumas
The god of small things by Arundhati Roy
The book thief by Markus Zusak
The confusion by Neal Stephenson
One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
The system of the world by Neal Stephenson
The elegant universe : superstrings, hidden dimensions, and… by Brian Greene
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
The known world by Edward P. Jones
The time traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The mill on the Floss by George Eliot
The English patient by Michael Ondaatje
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon
Dubliners by James Joyce
Les misérables by Victor Hugo
The bonesetter's daughter by Amy Tan
Infinite jest : a novel by David Foster Wallace
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
Beloved : a novel by Toni Morrison
Persuasion by Jane Austen
A clockwork orange by Anthony Burgess
The personal history of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Tropic of cancer by Henry Miller

I haven't read many of these at all. But from the titles, that might be a good thing.

Beyond Adjectives

I can't even think where to begin in describing this book to you. "1001 Ways to be Romantic" is a book that surpasses everything cheesy and over-the-top. So I thought it would be fun to share some excerpts with you :)

On wedding gifts: Plan ahead -- way ahead! Get a friend to buy fifty of the top magazines and newspapers that are on the newsstand on your wedding day. Pack them safely away and present them to your partner -- on your twenty-fifth wedding anniversary!

My comment: cool idea, but 50? A little excessive in my opinion. Maybe one or two...

With Hershey's Kisses: Remove all the little paper strips (that say "Kisses" on them) from a couple hundred Hershey's Kisses. Fill a little jewelry box with them. Wrap 'em up and present them to her.

My comment: WASTE OF TIME. Guys, don't bother.

Then a whole section entitled "A Month of Romance" with an idea for ever day. Excerpts: After you say goodbye, turn back one more time and blow her a kiss. Send loving thought to your lover via mental telepathy. But a lottery ticket; give it to her with a little note attached, "I hit the jackpot when I married you!"

My comment: I, personally, would just laugh at the guy who did the first on. Mental telepathy? why not call or email? and on the last one, it's just cheesy.

And then a subject which one is allowed a little creativity, but some of these are slightly excessive.
Engagement ideas: Sky banner proposals, custom jigsaw proposals, video taped proposals (the point???), Telegrammed proposals, using lit candles to spell out "will you marry me?", painting the proposal on the roof and then taking her flying (!!!). The winner for the most quirky: giftwrapping a stack of twelve bridal magazines and say, "You're going to need these!"
Some cool ones, though: hiding the ring in an unblossomed rose. When it blooms, there's a lovely surprise inside! or, for the business student type, apply for the job of "husband". In other words, write a resume outlining your goals, your desirable qualities, your qualifications, and your relevant experience

I thought these were fun! Any ideas or stranger things you've heard of? Romance is a strange world to navigate...but I don't know if these books actually help. This particular one is going to be relegated to the recycling bin shortly.

Boredom Made Manifest

It's another one of these meme things. But I really like doing them. So there. muahahahahahahahahaha

1. Your name spelled backwards?
Tegdirb Hcnyl

2. Last incoming call on your phone?
erm, I don't have a cell phone...I'd have to go downstairs and check the home phone...but I'm too lazy to...probably my sister.

3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
Pictures from the twins' baptism!!!

4. What's your favorite restaurant?
ooooo, tough one. Depends on what I want....Pat and Oscars if I want breadsticks, Mimi's if I want salad, El Ranchito if I want a burrito...just depends

5. Last time you swam in a pool?
Last September, probably. Pools are kinda cold this time of year.

6. Britney Spears is a skank. Agree or disagree?
A what? I don't even know what that means.

7. How many kids do you want?
Tons. But God will take care of the final total.

8. Type of music you dislike most?
Rap. ugh. gives me a headache. and nothing vulgar.

9. What was the last thing you bought?
It's been a while. My college fund has precedent over everything else presently

10. Have you ever ridden on a motorbike?
No. They scare the heck out of me.

11. Does someone have a crush on you?
If anyone does, they obviously don't want me to know, so I'm not about to go asking around. sheesh

12. Ever made a prank phone call?
I'd start busting up laughing if I tried.

13. Listening to music?
Not right this instant.

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?
Neither, thank you.

15. What shoes are you wearing right now?
None!!! Yay for bare feet!!!

16. Do you have a garden?
If I planted a garden, my dog would eat it. So, no.

17. What's your favorite comic strip?
I haven't read a comic strip in a really long time. I like almost anything that doesn't have a political agenda.

18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem?
The first verse and fragments of the other three.

19. Bath or Shower, morning or night?
Morning shower. It's like my coffee.

20. Hello or goodbye?
what about 'em?

21. Favorite pizza toppings?
Cheese...sausage...pretty much anything besides onions or pepperoni or pineapple or ham.

22. Chips or Popcorn?
I'm not a big snack food person. I'll eat either one, but there is usually only one to be eaten at any given moment

23. Favorite color?
To wear, paint walls, or draw with?

24. What did the last text message you received say?
I don't have a cell phone, therefore I don't receive text messages. Simple as that.

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?
Erm, I'm not that pretty.

26. Orange Juice or apple juice?
Generally orange. But certain kinds of apple juice I like.

27. Who was the last person you ate dinner with?
The fam (I realize they're not a "person", technically speaking)

28. What did the last text message that you sent say?
See question 24

29. Lucky number?
I don't believe in luck

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?
Last summer sometime.

31. Have you ever won a trophy?
I have, surprisingly enough.

32. Are you a good cook?
My friends think so. But I'm very messy.

33. Do you know how to pump your own gas?
That would be a big, fat NO. But it can't be that complicated.

34. Do the Chinese really use cats in their food?
Wow. I don't even know where to go with that one

35. Sprite or 7-Up?
There's a difference?

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school?
Yes, actually. For kindergarten. And it was a public school, even.

37. Last thing you ate?
turkey and cheese on sourdough. yummmm

38. Ever thrown up in public?
yeah. I got seasick really bad once.

39. Would you rather find true love or be a millionaire?
The former. Doesn't everyone?

40. Do you believe in love at first sight?
Pizza love, puppy love, or real love?

41. Think fast, what do you like right now?
I don't think fast.

42. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
Maybe a friend after they had a baby? I couldn't really say for certain. I think I was the last person I visited in a hospital.

43. Where were you on Valentine's day?
St. Valentine's Day happened?

44. Last time you laughed?
2:13 pm today

45. What's your favorite animal?
I love dogs. And horses. And cats. I'm an animal person.

46. What was the name of your first pet?
Jupiter or Tina...I was about 4 at the time. I think Tina came first...

47. Who was the second to last person to call you?
To call me? That would've been weeks back.

48. Is there anything going on this weekend?
Well, if Friday night counts as a weekend, then I'm going to a swing dance with my raspberry. And I get to babysit Saturday night.

49. How are you feeling right now?
Relaxed. Kinda spaced out.

50. What do you think about the most?
I don't know. I don't take notes on my mental processes.

51. What do you think of the person that posted this before you?
Bekah is awesome!!! Even if she did move across the country :(

52. Who is MOST likely to re-post this survey?
I have no idea. Probs no one.

Is It True?

"Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because it is unlikely that both heads will go wrong in the same direction." C.S. Lewis

The above is one of my favorite quotes from Lewis. And now I am going to take the terrible liberty of misapplying it. I took two quizzes. Both claimed that they would tell me which Jane Austen character I most resemble. I took both, and the results came out astonishingly similar. Take a look:

Quiz #1

You're Emma Woodhouse of Emma.You're intelligent and manipulative, and tend to form strong opinions of people. You are also very popular, and like to help others.

Emma Woodhouse: 85%
Catherine Morland: 65%
Elizabeth Bennet: 65%
Marianne Dashwood: 55%
Elinor Dashwood: 55%
Anne Elliot: 25%
Fanny Price: 20%

(by the way, I have no idea what those percentages mean. They don't add up to one hundred...I am really quite at a loss. If anyone cares to enlighten me, I'd be more than happy to hear their opinion on it.)

Quiz #2

You scored as a Emma Woodhouse. Emma is possibly one of the most loyal characters of Austen, always wanting better for those around her and doing all she possibly can to make it happen. Her motives sometimes get in the way of her good intentions and her own opinions can end up ruling her actions, but she has a good heart. She loves to be social and is welcoming to most, unless they are too silly to tolerate. While she sometimes changes her behavior to make others feel comfortable, she knows who she is and is always bettering herself.

Emma Woodhouse: 88%
Jane Bennet: 63%
Marianne Dashwood: 63%
Elizabeth Bennet: 53%
Lady Catherine: 31%
Elinor Dashwood: 28%
Charlotte Lucas: 28%

So, stretching Lewis's claim to an unpardonable degree, I must really be a good deal like Miss Woodhouse. Almost exactly the same result came from two completely different sources.


And, I did a little wacky math to see if I could make some sense out of the percentage deals. This is what I came up with:

In quiz #1, I am approximately 23% Emma, 18% Catherine and Lizzie, 15% like both of the Dashwood sisters, 7% Anne, and 5% Fanny. (It adds up to 101, but that's better than 370)

In quiz #2, I am approximately 25% Emma, 18% Jane and Marianne, 15% Lizzie, 9% Lady Catherine (!!!), and 8% Elinor and Charlotte. (again it equals 101, but again that's better than 354)

From a Daddy's Girl

Dad would never do this...but I have a friend who would. Actually, he's already assured me that he will. Except in his case it would be "guns." Enjoy! :D

CAPing it off

I'd love to see my brother's squadron do this!

"Actually Sort of Decent"

My Jewish uncle sent my family these. And, if you know my uncle, the above statement is praise of the highest kind. So, without further ado:

JEWISH HAIKU

Lacking fins or tail
the gefilte fish swims with
great difficulty.

On Passover we
opened the door for Elijah.
Now our cat is gone.

After the warm rain
the sweet smell of camellias.
Did you wipe your feet?

Her lips near my ear,
Aunt Sadie whispers the name
of her friend's disease.

Today I am a man.
Tomorrow I will return
to the seventh grade.

The sparkling blue sea
reminds me to wait an hour
after my sandwich.

Like a bonsai tree,
is your terrible posture
at my dinner table.

Jews on safari --
map, compass, elephant gun,
hard sucking candies.

The same kimono
the top geishas are wearing:
I got it at Loehmann's.

The shivah visit:
so sorry about your loss.
Now back to my problems.

Mom, please! There is no
need to put that dinner roll
in your pocketbook.

Seven-foot Jews in
the NBA slam-dunking!
My alarm clock rings.

Sorry I'm not home
to take your call. At the tone
please state your bad news.

Is one Nobel Prize
so much to ask from a child
after all I've done?

Today, mild shvitzing.
Tomorrow, so hot you'll plotz.
Five-day forecast: feh

Yenta. Shmeer. Gevalt.
Shlemiel. Shlimazl. Meshuganah
Oy! To be fluent!

Quietly murmured
at Saturday Synagogue services,
Yanks 5, Red Sox 3.

A lovely nose ring,
excuse me while I put my
head in the oven.

Hard to tell under the lights.
White Yarmulke or
male-pattern baldness.

And since we're in an Eastern mode, here' s some
Jewish Buddhism for the Jewbu's among us:

If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

Be here now.
Be someplace else later.
Is that so complicated?

Drink tea and nourish life;
with the first sip, joy;
with the second sip, satisfaction;
with the third sip, peace;
with the fourth, a Danish.

Wherever you go, there you are.
Your luggage is another story.

Accept misfortune as a blessing.
Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without
problems.
What would you talk about?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a
single Oy.

Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkis.

The Tao does not speak.
The Tao does not blame.
The Tao does not take sides.
The Tao has no expectations.
The Tao demands nothing of others.
The Tao is not Jewish.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the
least of your problems.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist.

Be aware of your body.
Be aware of your perceptions.
Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a
symptom of a terminal illness.

The Torah says,
Love your neighbor as yourself.
The Buddha says,
There is no self.
So, maybe we're off the hook.

A note from your bagel: If His chosen people have a sense of humour, can that be used as proof that He does? :D

Cinderella

For a few years I have listened to a lot of country music. Now, before you exit this page in disgust, I want to tell you why. I'm not a huge fan of the twangy-ness or the steel guitar. But occasionally one comes across a really cute song on country radio. And I have NEVER heard a cute song on any other station. A recent example:

Stealing Cinderella
sung by Chuck Wicks

"I came to see her daddy for a sit down man to man
It wasn't any secret I'd be asking for her hand
I guess that's why he left me waiting in the living room by myself
With at least a dozen pictures of her sitting on a shelf

"She was playing Cinderella
She was riding her first bike
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin
Dancing with her dad, looking up at him
In her eyes I'm Prince Charming
But to him I'm just some fella'
Riding in and stealing Cinderella

"I leaned in towards those pictures to get a better look at one
When I heard a voice behind me say "Now, ain't she something, son?"
I said "Yes, she quite a woman"
and he just stared at me
Then I realized that in his eyes she would always be

"Playing Cinderella
Riding her first bike
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin
Dancing with her dad, looking up at him
In her eyes I'm Prince Charming
But to him I'm just some fella
Riding in and stealing Cinderella

"He slapped me on the shoulder
Then he called her in the room
When she threw her arms around him
That's when I could see it too

"Playing Cinderella
Riding her first bike
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin
Dancing with her dad, looking up at him
If he gives me a hard time
I can't blame the fella'
I'm the one who's stealing Cinderella"

See what I mean? :D

Rainy Day Activity

Except it rarely rains in So-Cal, so I'm doing it on another spring-like winter day!

I got this in an email from my sister and was supposed to pass it on in a similar fashion, but I thought this would be more fun!

1. What is your occupation? whatever is helpful to the people who are around me
2. What color are your socks right now? Who wears socks?
3. What are you listening to right now? Mum's electric toothbrush and the sound of the keyboard being typed upon.
4. What was the last thing that you ate? A chocolate milkshake. Mmmmmmmmmm :D
5. Can you drive a stick shift? I have a hard enough time with a manual. I don't even want to think about the damage I could do in a stick shift
6. What color would you be, if you were a color? God would've made me a color if he wanted me to be one. But since He chose to put me on this good earth as a human, I have no choice except to consider that a ridiculous question.
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Probably Dad saying he was on his way home from work sometime during the last week. I don't talk on the phone much. Not enough friends :( hahaha, jk :D
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? She's the best big sis anyone could ask for. She gives me ice cream with peanut butter.
9. How old are you today? 17 and three-quarters
10. Favorite drink? I LOVE H2O and I probably drink too much of it...
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? figure skating... i don't know, is that a sport?
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? My hair is already dead.
13. Pets? Two adorable doggy-woggies who use their tongues not wisely, but too well
14. Favorite food? Almost anything Italian. But no mushrooms and not too many onions
15. Last movie you watched? Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet.
16. Favorite Day of the year? Any day that I can dress up for my King!
17. What do you do to vent anger? Cry. And cry. And cry some more. And then I go find chocolate
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? Hmmmmm, tough one....I honestly can't remember any specific ones I had...hmmmmmmmmm
19. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring
20. Cherry or Blueberry? Cherry
21. Do you want your friends to email you back? If I email them, yes. But since I'm not emailing this, it isn't really applicable. In the strict sense.
22. Who is most likely to respond? Andrea usually responds to emails
23. Who is least likely to respond? I don't associate with people who have that little respect for me :P
24. Living arrangements? A house. Where else would I live? sheesh!
25. When was the last time you cried? Last weekend
26. Who is the friend you had the longest that you are sending this to? N/A
27. Who is the friend you have had the shortest that you are sending this to? N/A
28. Favorite smell? Fresh brewed coffee (but I greatly dislike the taste), new babies (clean, of course), a spring day, mountain air.
29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? What is a spicy hamburger?
31. Favorite cat breed? The sociable kind
32. Number of keys on your key ring? I am entirely lacking keys
33. How many years at your current job? As a daughter: 17, as a student: 13, as a parish volunteer: 6 mons.
34. Favorite day of the week? Sunday
35. Who sent you this email? My beloved sister!
36. How many states have you lived in? One

Whew! Now it's your turn :)