Two Questions for Tuesday

Why does this Coach Robot Necklace exist?

And why do I kind of love it in a ridiculous way?

Choo Choo Chooseday

Gentlemen, this is the Coast Starlight, one of the great American trains operating on one of the classic American routes. On this side, you’ll see panoramic ocean vistas inaccessible to any other form of transportation, while on your side, you’ll be treated to 350 miles of CostCos, Jiffy Lubes, and cinderblock homes with above-ground pools.

Over the past few years the Northeast Regional and I have become okay friends. Despite the fact that I think Amtrak is a huge rip off half the time I'd rather spend 5 hours on a train and that's it, than 7+ possible hours in the car stuck in traffic. For about the cost of two tanks of gas I am forgoing the traffic and sitting here in the very last seat in the very last car spending my time dicking around the internet, listening to music, applying to jobs, and writing parts of the books I'm working on.

Baltimore or bust!

Manjoyment Monday: Tea Time

This movie. What can I say about this 7 minute clip other than Alan Rickman is incredible?

And now I'm going to go have some tea.

Dance Like You Don't Have A Nation!

Had to share this. Because these people were awesome.

Closing Time...

...every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

So. It's been awhile. Lots of big things have happened. Namely it's been a bit over three weeks since I lost my job. I'm actually relieved. I really hated spending two hours a day in the car commuting - despite listening to some awesome audiobooks - and I hadn't really been given any opportunities at the company to show them my worth. Add on that an announcement back in December that we were being acquired by an ENORMOUS company in California and basically I knew my days were numbered.

I was proud that I lasted to almost August I mean I've known since December that they were going to get rid of me but it took them a lot longer to realize that. I've been applying to everything in the area that has popped up since last year and was hoping I could leave them before they let me go, but that didn't quite pan out.

I'm not upset, I'm trying to look at this as a good thing. A reason to finally get my personal life back on track, finally get my physical life back on track, and actually enjoy life doing things I like to do. I'm eating better, I'm getting into an exercise routine that will have me ready to restart the c25k in September, and I've spent some quality time with my family. It's been good to decompress.

I'm hoping that by October I'll have found a new job at a company that actually finds me valuable and understands my creativity.

In the meantime I'll work on me and I'll work on my writing. I'm two chapters shy of finishing my first novel and I've got a few other stories in various different stages of completion. I've even got a young adult series planned out and hope to really pursue my dream of being published. I even have a great pen-name picked out and I just am ready to do this!

Paper Anniversary

A year ago today was pretty much the most epic day ever!

I heart my Silly.
Happy Anniversary sweetie!

Avid Reader, or Maybe Just Pretending...

Another one of those fun little memes from the Interwebs. A lot of these I've read parts of, but I won't bold them out until I've finished them...

1. The Bible (King James Version recommended)
2. Gilgamesh, Anonymous
3. Analects, by Confucius
4. The Iliad, by Homer
5. The Odyssey, by Homer
6. The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides
7. Aesop’s Fables
8. Oedipus, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophocles
9. The Orestia, by Aeschylus
10. The Republic, by Plato
11. The Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle
12. Histories of Herodotus
13. Hortensius, by Cicero
14. The Aeneid, by Virgil
15. The Metamorphoses, by Ovid
16. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
17. The Confessions of St. Augustine
18. The Consolation of Philosophy, by Boethius
19. On Loving God, by Bernard of Clairvaux
20. The Mind’s Road to God, by Bonaventure
21. Didascalicon, by Hugh of St. Victor
22. The Summa Theologica (selections are okay), by Aquinas
23. Beowulf, Anonymous
24. The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
25. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, by the Pearl Poet
26. The Cloud of Unknowing, Anonymous
27. The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
28. The Fairie Queen, by Edmund Spencer
29. The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli
30. Utopia, by Thomas More
31. Four Great Tragedies (Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, & Lear), by Shakespeare
32. Henriad Tetrology (Richard II, 1-2 Henry IV, & Henry V), by Shakespeare
33. Four Great Comedies (Merchant of Venice, Much Ado about Nothing, Twelfth Night, & The Tempest), by Shakespeare
34. Institutes of the Christian Religion, by John Calvin
35. The Temple, by George Herbert
36. Paradise Lost, by John Milton
37. Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan
38. Tartuffe, by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere
39. Groundwork of a Metaphysic of Morals, by Immanuel Kant
40. Pensees, by Blaise Pascal
41. Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift
42. Essay on Man, by Alexander Pope
43. Candide, by Voltaire
44. Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
45. The Federalist Papers, by various authors
46. The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution Independence Day is coming, cue up 1776 and Gettysburg!
47. The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
48. Lyrical Ballads (2nd ed.), by Wordsworth and Coleridge
49. Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by Mary Wollstonecraft
50. A Practical View of Christianity, by William Wilberforce
51. Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
52. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
53. Grimm’s Fairy Tales
54. Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville
55. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
56. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
57. Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman
58. Walden, by Henry David Thoreau
59. Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
60. Middlemarch, by George Eliot
61. Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trollope
62. Narrative of the Life of Fred D., an American Slave, by Frederick Douglass
63. In Memoriam, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
64. The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin
65. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, by Edgar Allan Poe
66. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens
67. Unspoken Sermons, by George MacDonald
68. The Idea of a University, by John Henry Newman
69. The Brothers Karamazov, by Fydor Dostoyevsky
70. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
71. Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert
72. Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
73. Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy
74. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
75. Genealogy of Morals, by Friedrich Nietzsche
76. The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles
77. The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov
78. Rerum Novarum, by Pope Leo XIII
79. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
80. Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce
81. Howards End, by E.M. Forster
82. Civilization and Its Discontents, by Sigmund Freud
83. Orthodoxy, by G. K. Chesterton
84. Fear and Trembling, by Soren Kierkegaard
85. Four Quartets, by T. S. Eliot
86. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
87. The Plague, by Albert Camus
88. Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett
89. Deus Caritas Est, by Pope John Paul II
90. The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
91. Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
92. The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
93. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis
94. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
95. 1984, by George Orwell
96. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
97. The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner
98. Silence, by Endo Shusaku
99. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
100. Complete Short Stories, by Flannery O’Connor
101. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Waterson

Only read 7 completely? I feel like a horrible person...though now that I have this I'll have a nice long list of things to look for audio books of at the library.

Thank You

O beautiful for heroes proved 
In liberating strife. Who more than self their country lovedAnd mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine! 

O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! 




Thank you to all of those who have served.
Happy Memorial Day.

Good Morning Angels!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not - probably not, since I've been a horrible blogger - but back in January my sister and I adopted Marines. We did it through an organization called Soldier's Angels and we did it for a lot of different reasons. Basically although most of my reasons are very personal, the long and short of it is I'm anti-war, but pro-troops. Some of these men and women are only 18 years old and they are risking their lives so that I can live mine in safety, and for that I will never be able to thank them enough.

So what is it like being an Angel? I write my Marine weekly letters, just talking about life and the ridiculous things that happen here and there. I try to tack on silly photos or comics - something to just get his mind away from whatever he's doing for a few minutes. I also send care packages once a month full of everything from toiletries to snacks. The whole thing takes me on average half an hour each week and I buy a lot of the care package bits at the dollar store - so despite the quantity of things I've sent it hasn't cost me much money. (Honestly, I wouldn't be able to do something like this if it cost me an arm and a leg, I'm a lady on a budget!)

Not only are there really awesome very involved team activities and large-scale campaigns, there are also other smaller campaigns, ones that take up even less of your time that what I've chosen to do. Our friend Libby is part of the letter writing campaign where she just writes letters and they are distributed to soldiers who do not typically receive mail. She's told me she always slips in a Calvin and Hobbs comic with her letters, it's the little bits of normality that make what these soldiers are doing tolerable. I cannot imagine being away from home for so long and not having much of any contact with those you love. Or worst yet, not having any loved ones at home to tell you how awesome you are and how appreciative they are of what you're doing.

From the few responses I've actually gotten back from my Marine, he is extremely grateful. He's so glad that he has people "back at home" who support him and are thinking of him, and I am happy that I can brighten his day.

So as we approach Memorial Day I put it to you Dear Readers, will you be someone's Angel?

Manjoyment Monday: Brother Dan

Today is my brother Dan's 30th Birthday!
In celebration of this auspicious occasion, Dan is today's Man.

"No International Incidents."

I have 3 words for you Dan:
Happy Natal Day!
Fuck yo couch!

Menjoyment Monday: BBC

I felt the need to share this. My sister found it and let me preface this video and this Monday's Men with a few things:

1. If you haven't already seen Series 2 of the BBC's Sherlock, don't watch this unless you don't care about spoilers.
2. We (meaning my sister and our friends and I) are completely obsessed with this series because it is SO VERY WELL DONE.
3. This video is also incredibly well done and makes me both laugh and cry.

Hope you enjoy.

DPF: Finnegan's Wake

New song stuck in my head. One that makes me want to dance.



I have grown a huge fondness for Darby O'Gill's version of pretty much ANY song on my Jig Rock Pandora station. I think it's his fans that make it fabulous. They remind me of RPI hockey supporters.

Parting Glass

CANNOT GET THIS SONG OUT IF MY HEAD

Foodie Challenge

This has been floating around and I thought I'd plop it here and keep track. Similar to my 101 in 1001 that I've totally failed at (and will be compiling a new one soon)...

I've started the list by bolding all the foods I've already tried, and from here on out I'll highlight in a different color additional foods as I try them.

100 Foods to Eat Before You Die

1. Abalone
2. Absinthe
3. Alligator
4. Baba Ghanoush I found it okay.
5. Bagel and Lox Gotta feed the Heeb in me.
6. Baklava Ladies, fresh baklava...
7. Barbecue Ribs I heart meat
8. Bellini
9. Bird's Nest Soup
10. Biscuits and Gravy Jason lived in the south for almost a year, of course I've tried this.
11. Black Pudding
12. Black Truffle
13. Borscht
14. Calamari I only enjoy this if it's really well cooked.
15. Carp It's a little creepy when they keep the head on the plate...
16. Caviar It's alright.
17. Cheese Fondue (HOW HAVE I NOT?!)
18. Chicken and Waffles
19. Chicken Tikka Masala
20. Chile Relleno Pretty tasty, and a good veggie alternative.
21. Chitlins
22. Churros Mmmmm
23. Clam Chowder Is that the red? Or the white?
24. Cognac
25. Crab Cakes My sister lives in Maryland, 'nough said.
26. Crickets
27. Currywurst
28. Dandelion Wine
29. Dulce De Leche
30. Durian
31. Eel Mmmm
32. Eggs Benedict
33. Fish Tacos TACO
34. Foie Gras
35. Fresh Spring Rolls Om nom nom
36. Fried Catfish
37. Fried Green Tomatoes
38. Fried Plantain Got any sweet'uns?
39. Frito Pie
40. Frogs' Legs
41. Fugu
42. Funnel Cake With Bavarian Cream please!
43. Gazpacho I do not enjoy this because it is served cold.
44. Goat
45. Goat's Milk Mmmm
46. Goulash Uhhh, hello? I'm German.
47. Gumbo
48. Haggis
49. Head Cheese (Laura tells me it is SO odd)
50. Heirloom Tomatoes
51. Honeycomb
52. Hostess Fruit Pie What small child hasn't consumed their weight in these?
53. Huevos Rancheros Whenever Dan and I failed at cooking omelettes, we always just dubbed them huevos rancheros and called it a day.
54. Jerk Chicken
55. Kangaroo
56. Key Lime Pie I don't think I could live in a world where Key Lime Pie didn't exist.
57. Kobe Beef
58. Lassi
59. Lobster Word, first one was eaten just recently in RI with Ash & her family.
60. Mimosa I did get married, I think these are required.
61. MoonPie She calls me MoonPie because I'm nummy nummy and she could just eat me up.
62. Morel Mushrooms
63. Nettle Tea
64. Octopus It is a little odd.
65. Oxtail Soup
66. Paella I love paella though I do not get to eat it often.
67. Paneer
68. Pastrami on Rye Gotta feed the Heeb in me.
69. Pavlova
70. Phaal
71. Philly Cheese Steak I prefer Jim's over Geno's.
72. Pho I cannot imagine my life without pho.
73. Pineapple and Cottage Cheese
74. Pistachio Ice Cream
75. Po' Boy
76. Pocky Delicious.
77. Polenta
78. Prickly Pear I'm going to say yes, because I'm counting a prickly pear margarita.
79. Rabbit Stew
80. Raw Oysters Indeed I have consumed these.
81. Root Beer Float ADORATION
82. S'mores I was a Girl Scout.
83. Sauerkraut Umm, I am a German.
84. Sea Urchin
85. Shark
86. Snail I have eaten these, and they basically taste like nothing.
87. Snake
88. Soft Shell Crab It was the last thing I ever ate at Crabby Dick's before they closed down in Key West.
89. Som Tam
90. Spaetzle Again, I am German.
91. Spam
92. Squirrel
93. Steak Tartare
94. Sweet Potato Fries Delicious, and one of four things I actually put salt on.
95. Sweetbreads
96. Tom Yum
97. Umeboshi
98. Venison
99. Wasabi Peas I actually like these a lot. They clear out your sinuses like whoa.
100. Zucchini Flowers I'm going to say I have eaten these because I believe I have in the past. I love zucchini in all forms but it does not like me and makes me very sick so I have to stay away from it now despite my love for it in earlier years.

Initial Consumption: 42/100

Nearly half, I'm almost on my way to being an adventurous eater!

A farewell

I have no words...

Be at rest Nanny. Love you always.

DPF: It's baaaaaack

Trying my hardest to keep up with old traditions....

So let's start this back off with a BANG!

ORANGE MOCHA FRAPPUCHINOS!

I recently found out that Meekus was played by Alexander Skarsgård. Who knew?

DT Vs. Bambi

Had an exciting morning again. One that I would have rather not had. I hit a deer.

Well, I suppose that it didn’t happen exactly how you might imagine. I was driving up Rt. 9 and some guy was parked with his hazards over in the off-ramp and he was standing outside of his car and I thought it was really odd that he was so far away from his Jeep.

I try to be very aware of motorcyclists, bikers, and pedestrians on the road. They are outside their vehicles and it scares me that there is no metal around them to serve as protection. So queue to me driving up over this rise in the left lane, a car is next to me in the right lane, I’m conscious of the guy outside of his car over on the off ramp, and all of a sudden there is a huge body in the middle of the road.

Yes, the deer I hit was already dead. But it freaked me out completely and the most I could get out of the way was drift a little into the right lane, but there was another car there. I still wound up driving over the thing with my front left tire and man did it make a loud noise.

DT is a tank though. Rolled right over it and dropped back down to the road with a clank and I’m sure the alignment is out of whack AGAIN after we just got it fixed last week, but at least I didn’t cause an accident.

I pulled off the highway to A) Check out DT’s tire and front end, and B) Find a gas station and get a gallon or two to make it all the way to work. DT does this really fun thing where he’ll say he has more than a ¼ tank, but really he’s got close to nothing and within 20 miles the light is on. It’s a fun game we play because I can make it to work on a ¼ tank of gas, but I don’t like to cut it so close that the light is on for 40+ miles of my commute.

Apparently mid/central Connecticut is a veritable wasteland. I got off the highway and headed toward a little airport because it was sort of still on my way to work and I figured where there’s an airport there’s a gas station. It took me a good 15 minutes of driving before I found one. And I nearly cringed at the price. Gas over $4/gallon should be illegal.

Luckily DT’s tire looks fine and there weren’t any Bambi-bits stuck to him or anything. So I made it to work finally, no more worse for the wear but holy effing crap, I hit a deer.

DT: 1, Nature: 0

Let's all go!

I'm going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything here in AGES and just jump right in.

In most recent news:

• Jason is a cripple. He sprained his ankle playing volleyball.
• I am not allowed to play volleyball because it's a company thing and I do not work for the company. Instead I've become a avid - and sometimes vocal but usually I just gesture a lot - fan of Jason's volleyball and floor hockey teams.
• My job is slowly sucking out my soul.
• I continue to have no social life because I spend 2+ hours in the car commuting to and from work every day.
• There are babies about to pop out EVERYWHERE.
• Lulu is no more.
• My sister and I have adopted Marines and we send letters on a weekly basis and care packages on a monthly/bi-monthly basis to complete strangers.
• We've had what my parents like to call "The mother of all summers and the summer of all mothers" followed by what my brother calls "The winter of our discontent"...

But other than that I'm good. Lots of things to catch up on but let's face it, we'll be lucky if I manage to keep up with the current goings on, let alone backtrack and backpost.

DPF: Wedding Snip

Allow us to start off slowly on this new re-blogging adventure...

With a Dance Party Friday of my friends Ashley and Courtney, with a little bit of Veebs, Puppy, and James in the background.

Oh and yeah...this is from our wedding...

Major thanks to Ash for pulling this DPF from our wedding video!

Oh My

I have definitely been the worst blogger ever.

Lots of things have happened.

Maybe someday I'll tell you all about them.