For all you Napoleon fans..

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?


Brooke said...
I am Trisha. The mean chick. Or one of them any way.

If I Were...

I saw this little game roaming around on some PCA blogs, and I thought it would be fun to do. Let's try it and see if goes anywhere.

If I Were. . .

Here's the scoop on how to play: I pick 5 occupations out of the list below and post my answers. Then I tag 3 other people to post their answers on their blog. If I tag you, and you don't want to be a part of this, then that is okay. Just let me know and I'll tag someone else. Make sure you note who tagged you!

The "questions": If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an inn-keeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be an astronaut...If I could be a world famous blogger...If I could be a justice on any one court in the world...If I could be married to any current famous political figure...

My answers:
If I could be a chef, I would only cook foods that taste delicious while at the same time don't make you fat. Because diet food sucks.

If I could be a gardener, I would make make my entire backyard a greenhouse so that I could grow pretty plants to put in my front yard and so the 20 degree weather in April wouldn't ruin my flower buds. Plus, I just really like hanging out in greenhouses.

If I could be an astronaut, I would take a lot of pictures of the moon and outer space, because I think I would be so overwhelmed and that is all I would be able to do.

If I could be a bonnie pirate, I would call myself The Dread Pirate....uh....(what's his name?)

If I could be a doctor, I would travel to third world countries and use my talents to help sick children that don't have any hope in this world.

Ok, the three people I tag is Melodee, Anna and Molly. Come out and play!!

Twigs & Twilight

(I'm double posting from TRP, just so everyone can see this!)

Please go see Dennis' latest gallery, Twigs & Twilight. For those of you who don't live in Montana, it will give you an appreciation of how beautiful my area is, and why I love it here so much. For those of you that do live here, it might make you want to venture outside a little more - it does that for me! (Forget blogging - go walking!)

It also makes me want to be able to take pictures like these!

Andrea says...
Those are really cool!! It's neat to see my favorite places around town captured in such beautiful pictures! I especially like the Entmoot. The trees down on Norm Schoenthal Island have always made that kind of impression on me. Who would've thought that brown grasses and bare trees could look so beautiful??

In Case You Weren't Aware. . .

. . . Andrea is THE BEST. I wanted explanatory text in a little box on my blog - she figures it out for me. I mention a rocking chair - she gives me one that rocks. Check out the finished effect on TRP!

Thank you, dear!

Andrea says...
I'm double posting from TRP too. Melodee has to stop selling herself short! She is an HTML genius!! I was just there for moral support. Ok, I'll take credit for the rocking chair, but that's it. But, seriously, go check it out. It's pretty cool...

Godspeed, Amanda!

May the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Love,
Melodee

Andrea says...
Hear hear!! We'll miss you Amanda! You are in our prayers.

Anna says...
mmhmm, and as my father says, "now let's have a party!" We are completely joking, of course, and I am beginning to miss her already!

Find True Love!!

Ok, I'm sorry for the graphic nature of this picture, but I just thought this was too pathetically funny not to share. I saw this ad for a online dating service, and couldn't really believe what I was seeing. Find TRUE love?? What??










Looks like true love to me!!



Update: I simply had to blur out part of the picture. It was just too much... :)

Anna says:
Whoa...yeah thanks for blocking out some of that picture there. I get so tired of those ads, and they keep getting worse too. Sad times.

Thanks For the Party, Girls...

I had a good time hangin' out with you last night. :) I'm glad you came, too, Sue!

Hmm, I think I'm experiencing the after-effects of not quite enough sleep, though: I'm a complete butterfingers so far this morning, and have this feeling something is going to end up all down the front of my shirt... (Just not Gatorade!)

PS - Thanks for putting up with U2, Andrea!!

Andrea says...
Amanda, I did NOT "put up with" U2! I enjoyed listening to them. I don't know about you girls. Just because I'm not obsessed!! That doesn't mean I don't like the band!!! :)

Brooke says...
Arrrrggh. Me wonts to thank The Dread Pirate Roberts for a wonderful evening. I had a great time.

Amanda says...
Robert, um, the Evil Pirate...what's his name??? ;-) We were also joined by the likes of the Tooth Fairy, Ansel Adams, and Richard Simmons. It was a pretty swingin' time.

Thanks for your encouragement, Sue! I appreciate your prayers about my trip.

Plug in

I just wanted to put a plug in for our dear friend Amanda's new blog. Tomorrow, she is traveling to a region in Uganda, Africa called Karamoja, where she will live and work for 5 weeks. I'll let her blog do the rest of the explaining. Check it out.

If you would like to be a part of her email prayer journal, email me and you can sign up for a day to send her a little chunk of encouragement.

It Is Indeed a Fallen World!

I just walked across campus enjoying the fresh spring morning. The blooming trees were giving off their charming scent, so I took a deep breath to enjoy them to the full. . .

I took a deep breath and got a lung full of secondhand smoke. *choke*

Kings of Leon

We've all neglected to mention the Kings of Leon when we wrote about the U2 concert. I can't imagine how we could have overlooked them! (ha)

Have you ever seen School of Rock? You know those low-lifes who win the rock competition at the end? Put the lead singer in a pink tank top, and you've got Kings of Leon.

Now, if I were a smart person (obviously I'm not), I would have gone out and enjoyed a mocha or something instead of sitting and listening to the opening band for the U2 concert. Most of the audience was smarter than I, as evidenced by the fact that the poor Kings of Leon didn't have an audience, and what little they did have gave them the most measly little golf claps - it was embarrassing. But, while I may pity this particular rock band, my sympathies lie wholly with the absentee audience.

The instruments made a mush of sound; the lead vocalist screeched for 45 minutes without letting anyone in on the secret of what he was singing about, and besides, they had a pink drum set. Now, for about 2 seconds I tried to be charitable by considering the fact that I didn't know any of their songs, which would make it harder for me to enjoy them than to enjoy a band like, say, U2. Then I realized that that nice little charitable argument is bunk. There were several U2 songs that I didn't know either. And yet I found myself singing along with them. How could that be? U2's music actually has a thing called melody, and Bono actually sings these little things called words. If those two minor details are present, I can enjoy a song I've never heard before.

I guess the Kings of Leon didn't get the memo about adding melody and words. I'm sure there are some head-bangers that appreciate them, but until they can do more than screech and smash, I predict U2 fans will continue mocha-drinking and golf-clapping.

Amanda says...
Well, I did have fun watching the sound guys through Melodee's binoculars while they were playing.

U2

If you haven't already, check out what the Banty Rooster said about our concert...

Melodee says:
This better not mean that you aren't going to write your own report. Andrea told me that it would be "too cheap" just to link to Brian's, so I had to go to all that work to write my own. I expect you to do the same, pal!

Amanda says...
Even though I'll be leaving in three days and am really, really busy right now (ha!), I'm going write my own report just for you, pal. ;-)

Annie and Andrea, maybe you shouldn't read this...

U2, baseball, and friends - those were pretty much the highlights of our trip. I had a such a good time!

The first few song seemed a little surreal - I'd been waiting so long that it took a while to sink in that I was really there, that this was real life! The band came out in pitch dark, except for the spotlight-flaslights they were carrying, shining out into the audience. That's a good way to get the crowd excited... But through the whole concert, light and color were used to go with the music and audience participation, not to distract and become just a big show, which I thought was pretty darn impressive.

Anyway, 25,000 people screaming "Uno, dos, tres, catorce" and "Hola!" at Bono was pretty fun! That was one of my favorite things about the concert: being completely surrounded by really LOUD singing, on everything from the "Oh, oh-oh-oh"s on "Pride (in the name of love)" to "How long..." on "40" even after the last band member had left the stage and we knew it must be over. Everyone seemed to know every word to every song they played from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, too, which surprised me. It was great; you just can't get that experience by watching a DVD of them or listening to their CDs!

One of the things I appreciate about U2 is their interaction with each other and with the crowd. They get up there on stage, and they seem almost like your friends - "Oh, look, it's Edge down there playing the guitar." :) I think that's not so much from knowing who they are from as seeing how they like what they do, how they just get into the music and the whole experience. Bono, of course, is a born spokesperson and crowd-pleaser, but we got the pleasure of seeing grins from Larry and Adam, too...

Anyway, hearing Bono talk passionately about ending "stupid poverty" in Africa (e.g. kids dying for lack of 20 cents' worth of medicine) made me want to talk to him about Africa, too. I know what he's talking about, I believe in supporting research to find a better cure for malaria and one for AIDS (Amen to "Miracle Drug"!); but I realized as I was listening to him that life is more than food and clothes - the "soul needs beauty" (to quote U2) and there's ultimately only one way to experience that life, through a new heart. THAT is what I want the very most for Africa. (Sorry to turn that into a mini-sermon, but it's what was going through my head at the concert. I was feeling a little passionate for Africa, too. :) )

OK, I don't really know what else to say. It all blended together into one intense (but beautiful!) experience of color and music and emotion. It was a joy to be there - as Brian said, sort of a foretaste of heaven. Just remember being exquisitely happy about something, in the kind of way that just makes you feel awed and thankful, and that was pretty much how I felt...

Melodee says:
Thank you! I know we've talked about it for hours, but it is still different to get your reactions in a succinct, compressed form. I heartily agree with everything you said about Africa. God created us body and soul, so we need to fight the curse in both arenas. We fight the curse when we work to end "stupid poverty," and when we help provide the 20 cent immunizations. But we need to fight the curse by preaching the gospel, too. They both go hand in hand, and one shouldn't go without the other. Both the corruption of the flesh and the corruption of the soul are ugly, and to quote another U2 song, grace makes beauty out of ugly things.

Your reference to the end of the concert made me realize that none of us has really described the end. The band went from Yahweh into 40. The lyrics to the latter are:

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry.
He brought me right out of the pit,
out of my miry clay.
I will sing a new song,
How long to sing this song?
He set my feet upon a rock,
and made my footsteps heard.
Many will see,
Many will see and fear.
I will sing, sing a new song.
How long to sing this song?

As the crowd sang "How long to sing this song?" Bono and Adam waved their goodbyes and left the stage. The crowd continued to sing with just Larry and Edge playing. Then the Edge left. It was the crowd singing, and Larry drumming. The lights went dim; Larry stopped; the crowd stopped singing and began to cheer. Then Larry started again as if to say, "I didn't tell you to stop singing!" The crowd began singing again, kept singing as Larry left the stage, and didn't stop until the house lights went up. It was so cool.

Andrea says...

Like Melodee, I thank you for putting it in your own words, even in spite of your busy life. And even though I still think you guys are a little obsessed, I like what you had to say. The 'foretaste of heaven' comment made me think of Alfred's sermon yesterday and how everything in this world is a shadow of the things to come - how the music, the art, the BEAUTY is going to be on an immeasurable scale higher. If you thought this concert was good, imagine the "U2 concerts" in heaven!

Dominant Intelligences...

Your Dominant Intelligence is Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

You are great at finding patterns and relationships between things. Always curious about how things work, you love to set up experiments. You need for the world to make sense - and are good at making sense of it. You have a head for numbers and math ... and you can solve almost any logic puzzle. You would make a great scientist, engineer, computer programmer, researcher, accountant, or mathematician.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

One of my professors has talked about multiple intelligences many times, so I found this very interesting. Sadly, I had already guessed that I was strongest in the Logical-Mathematical area. I'm not sure I like that fact though -- it sort of tells me I should have picked a completely different major. Too late now. ;-)

Melodee says:

That one was more fun/thorough than some of the others. I don't think anyone will be too surprised that Shakespeare is in my picture! :) I don't know about the "master of creative phrasing" part though. . .

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

Brooke says:

Supposedly my dominant intelligence is the same as Melodee's. It's not. Even though i enjoy expanding my vocabulary i would take no pleasure in being a poet, lawyer, jounalist, etc.

Bubble Wrap

I can't believe some of the websites I run across sometimes. This is one of the funniest I've seen. It came from a link on one of my favorite sites. Enjoy!

Anna says...
Crazy stuff. Who makes websites like these? That would be a fun job (assuming people actually get paid to do that).

Jane Eyre

I often struggle with an inferiority complex when I am in the company of the well-read and literary genius's of Kindred Spirits. (I have to say - this REALLY annoys Melodee) I've always been the number-head, and rarely had time to dig into good literature. Sure, I love a good book, but I read it, put it down and start another one. I rarely think about it or analyze it after the fact. I just finished Jane Eyre a couple nights ago and thanks to the girls' good influence, I have been unable to stop thinking about it. Jane is my hero. Not because she is an extraordinary person, but because she is REAL. I think she is the best developed character I have ever seen in a book. Maybe this is a common thing among girls, but I can really identify with her. You are screaming at her the entire time she is falling in love with the wrong man, but yet you hurt with her when she has to leave him. She epitomizes my attitude (and perhaps the majority of ALL women's attitudes) towards men and falling for them. I'm so smart and logical at the beginning - Jane saw all Mr. Brocklehurst's faults and pitied him and prayed for him. But then something happens, and all of a sudden, I'm in too deep - Jane suddenly could overlook his faults and fell head over heels for him. Her motives are pure. She truly does want to do God's will and everything that is right, but she stumbles and all of a sudden Mr. Brocklehurst is an idol to her. But, through God's providence, she is taken away from the situation and through to the road towards redemption. *sigh* I love it. In my opinion, it is the best love story I have ever read.

AND, like all good books, it is full of wonderful quotes. Here are a few of my favorites (of many!).

"'Sir,' I answered, 'a wanderer's repose or a sinner's reformation should never depend on a fellow-creature. Men and women die; philosophers falter in their wisdom, and Christians in goodness: if any one you know has suffered and erred, let him look higher than his equals for strength to amend, and solace to heal.'"

"Where is God? What is God? My maker and yours, who will never destroy what he created. I rely implicitly on his power, and confide wholly in all his goodness: I count the hours till that eventful one arrives which shall restore me to Him, reveal Him to me."

"Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones."

"Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags"

"My future husband was becoming to me my whole world; and more than the world: almost my hope of heaven. He stood between me and every thought of religion, as an eclipse intervenes between man and the broad sun. I could not, in those days, see God for his creature: of whom I had made an idol."

Brooke said...

Andrea I know how you feel. I am no literary genius. In the past before I met Melodee and Amanda I only appreciated good-literature for it's wordplay, taking in only the general theme of the books I read. Part of the problem was that I had no one to sport with me and tear apart the books I read. Thanks Melodee and Amanda. Thank you Andrea for reminding me of Jane Eyre and how much I treasure that book. She is definately one of my top ten all time favorite Heroines/Heros.

Amanda says...

I had a really good time reading Jane Eyre a couple years ago with Melodee and some others for a book club; that was the first time, outside of some classes, that I'd "analyzed" lit., but in a good way rather than just criticizing. I realized how much like these characters I can be...even to the point of Jane's idolatry of Mr Rochester, her heart ain't that much different from mine. Or even Mr Rochester wanting something so badly that he would sacrifice anything in his lust for it, ignoring the fact that he had a wife locked up upstairs.

I love how the book ends: "Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus"!

Melodee says:

I love this book as well. I had read it a couple of times when I was younger, and liked it. Then I got some crazy idea that it was "too gothic" and that I didn't like it. When we read it for our book club two summers ago I realized that I loved it. I especially love the change in Mr. Rochester. I'm not sure that Jane ever really and truly understands grace, but Mr. Rochester does:

"Jane! you think me, I daresay, an irreligious dog: but my heart swells with gratitude to the beneficent God of this earth just now. He sees not as man sees, but far clearer: judges not as man judges, but far more wisely. I did wrong: I would have sullied my innocent flower - breathed guilt on its purity: the Omnipotent snatched it from me. I, in my stiff-necked rebellion, almost cursed the dispensation: instead of bending to the decree, I defied it. Divine justice pursued its course; disasters came thick on me: I was forced to pass through the valley of the shadow of death. His chastisements are mighty. . . Of late, Jane - only of late - I began to see and acknowledge the hand of God in my doom. I began to experience remorse, repentance; the wish for reconcilement to my Maker. . . "

"I thank my Maker, that in the midst of judgment he has remembered mercy. I humbly entreat my Redeemer to give me strength to lead henceforth a purer life than I have done hitherto!"

Amen, Mr. Rochester!

U2 are missed

My day has been way too ordinary. I did have the exciting privilege of talking a little bit with Annie, but my short little chats with Amanda and Melodee have been missed. For those that don’t know, the two girls are on their way to attend a U2 concert in Denver. Jealous?? I know they are just having a blast and it makes me smile to think about it. I hope U2 are having a wonderful time and enjoying every second. Hurry back!! I look forward to the full report!

Anna says...
I am slightly jealous. But not enough that I would have spent as much as they did to go with! I had fun talking to you too! (p.s....go see my blog. ;-) )

Amanda says...
We're back! It was worth every penny we spent, and then some. :) They exeeded our already-high expectations and adjectives sort of fail for how good it was, but of course we'll be posting on it soon, anyway...

Hang on little buds!

Ahhh, it's good to be home.

Guarding his window.

Another fun little blogthing

For all you linguists out there...

Your Linguistic Profile:

75% General American English

20% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

0% Dixie

0% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Amanda says...
I forgot to save my "score," but I think I was a mix of everything but Dixie. (The assimilation is complete...) I'll have to do it again.

Wow...my inner European is French!

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

Melodee says:

Amanda, did you mean to delete my comment about my linguistic profile? ;)

My inner European is... *drumroll*...Irish! Top o' the morning to you! I think the description is a bit over the top, though, since the only alcoholic beverage I chose was white wine with the chicken! I also said I liked talking over coffee. That doesn't seem to add up to:

"Sprited and boisterous!

You drink everyone under the table."

Ha.

Amanda says...

Arg! I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd posted when I was editing the comment, but you must have just finished and I obviously wasn't paying much attention...

So you're the colleen from Burlington. ;-)

Andrea says...

Hmm....I'm Dutch. "Open minded and tolerant.You're up for just about anything." I'm not sure how I feel about that...

Brooke says...

My inner European is Italian. Passionate and colorful. You show the world what culture really is. My lessons begin tomarrow morning.

Anna says...

Hmm...I was French too. Maybe Amanda and I really have some French in us. Who would have known?

Amanda says...

Well, supposedly we do have some French blood from Grandma Claire's side. Oui, oui, mademoiselle. Hey, we could start talking like the French peas.

But Rachel was Italian.

Abigail Grace

Here is the little angel. How could you help but adore that little face? (boogers and all)



Already a performer...

Normally...

Normally I would be one to complain about the snow, but today I find it heartening. It has reminded me of the power of Christ. How He can take a hard, dead thing and make it pregnant with life, bearing fruit. What Amazing Grace I see in this snow. I smile at seeing tree's branches heavy laden with water, ready to snap from the sheer weight(joy) of moisture.

So last night I went to Barnes & Noble to purchase a book of poetry. Yeah, I know, Brooke read peotry! Suprising. But not just regular peotry, I couldn't or wouldn't start, as a matter of principle, with something in an elementary fashion. No I must start with John Donne. Supposedly one of the most profound poets ever. Harder to unpack than Shakespeare, or so I've heard. Well anyway I then went to the bargain priced books religion section, cause am always looking for better deals on theology books, and find these titles Who's Who in Egyptian Mythology, Words of Wisdom(picture of the Dahli Lama on cover), and the kickers Irish Pride: 101 reasons to be proud your Irish, and A Feild Guide to Irish Fairies. These DO NOT QUALIFY as religious books. At least they don't in my mind in my mind. I am always shocked at humaities attempt to discard the Truth, alas I see that in myself. But Praise be to God that He is in me and I am in Him. Just findin lessons all over the place. Thanks for yer ear.
Brooke

Amanda says...
Yay, someone besides me posted something! Lol, I look forward to hearing what you think of Donne. Personally, I think you should begin with his short religious poems/sonnets - like "batter my heart..." But some of the "love" ones are very cool, too. And then some are just plain hard...

Irish Fairies, huh? I feel very religious about those. :-D

I like the snow today, too, 'cause it didn't make the roads icy like I thought it would. This morning there was about an inch of slush on the driveway, so I had to walk on tiptoe to the car so as not to soak the hem of my pants and my socks... Anyway, I hadn't connected the snow with God's goodness to us and power, so I'm glad you did it for me!

Andrea says...
I agree about the snow, Brooke. For some reason, seeing it outside my window didn't bug me this morning. The heavy white snow laying my lilac bushes on the ground and allowing a few green leaves to peak through was such an uncommon site, that I tried to treasure it. I tried not to think about how slippery the roads to work may be or whether or not my lilac buds will survive. I tried to just be thankful for the moisture and the reminder of God's presence and power. Thank you for the great analogy!!

Melodee says:
I just posted some pictures of our spring storm on TRP. Enjoy!
Brooke, I agree with Amanda about starting with the Holy Sonnets. But then you have to read A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, which is my favorite Donne poem (that's the one I wrote the paper on. . . it was the most fun I've ever had writing a paper!)

Who's That Kid with the M.Litt?

I've been putting together information for a couple of my professors so they can write recommendation letters for me to send to the University of Aberdeen. It seems rather surreal for me to be asking them to address their letters to . . .

Postgraduate Registry
University of Aberdeen
King’s College
Aberdeen AB24 3FX
Scotland, United Kingdom

. . . not to mention stating matter-of-factly that I'm applying to study for an "M.Litt degree in English Literary Studies."

I feel like such a little kid - how can I be applying for a master's degree? Sometimes I feel that should still be in the backyard playing dress-up with my friends...

On another note, did you know that students of Aberdeen get great discounts on UK rail passes? (Hoorah!)

Amanda says...
Yay! I think you're going to have fun. You'll get to study great lit. (and who knows, you might have teachers as wonderful as Kamowski!) and see SCOTLAND and a' that... you don't have to feel all grown up to enjoy it.

And I know we're going to have fun if we get to visit you! :)

Andrea says...
I know the feeling, Melodee. Although, I've never accomplished (or ATTEMPTED to accomplish) anything as prestigious as an "M.Litt degree in English Literary Studies." We ARE just kids!! What do we think we are doing? But, apart from this, I am so very excited for you and your Scottish adventure -- partly because of the fact that I will miss you so much that I will HAVE to come see you. *wink*

By the way, I will play dress up with you in your backyard ANYDAY. I feel deprived in missing the first go-around.

¡Hola de Cuidad Victoria!

Hola! I just discovered that we have a free hour of Internet at our hotel, so I thought, what better way to spend it then to blog a little. Good idea, huh? By the way, this keyboard is kind of funky, so if I make a typo, it´s not because I can´t type...
Mexico is cool. I´ve never been south of Tijuana, and I´ve been told several times today that that is not REALLY Mexico. It´s also nice that Victoria is not a big tourist town, so I feel like I´m getting an authentic taste. Speaking of taste...I had my first REAL Mexican taco today. Yum!
Kitty and I spent most of the day with Aimee and little Abigail. And this is going to sound completely bizarre coming from a kid-a-phobe like me, but I think that littl Abigail girl is the coolest kid I know. She´s walking now and just toddles around and waving and saying tortibla (tortilla) to everyone. Not to mention that toothy little grin. Ca-UTE!! Don´t worry, girls, I took like 40 pictures of her today. I´ll post one or two when I get back.
Ok, off to bed. Just wanted to say hello. I hope you all are enjoying work and school while I´m down here in (cough cough) Mexico. See ya soon....er....hasta luego!!

Amanda says...
Hola! :) Sounds like you've been having a good time - I'm jealous that you get to hang out with Aimee and Abigail!!! But at least you're taking pictures... Anyway, tell Aimee and Caleb "hi" for me; I miss them all.

Melodee says:
¡Buenos días, amiga! Glad you could check in with us. I hope you continue to have a wonderful time with the Dunns et al. Please greet them for me as well!

African Standards Ain't Ours

Speaking as an American, that is. Check out this article: "Kenya has no intention of legalising abortion and homosexuality."

Andrea says...
"'Abortion is not acceptable because it is against the law. It is only God who can take away life,' the minister said."

how profound...

A Couple Things...

I talked to Sarah on Tuesday night! Sounds like she's doing well and enjoying her kids at school...and hopefully she'll post some things about it. :)

This morning at work, David was talking about putting off the old self and putting on the new. I've heard that a lot, of course. But this time it really struck home, for several reasons. One, David talked about thinking how God treats us, as his children - he doesn't get angry at us, but we're quick to forget that when dealing with each other! He also mentioned that it's not just a putting off - you leave a void when you stop doing something, that makes it easy for sin to come rushing back. Changing needs prayer, imitating Christ, etc. I think that's partly why my "I hate this sin and I want to stop!" never goes much past wishing I could beat it...

I guess the point of this is, I tend not to remember that in the fight against sin, I have Christ's righteousness, and instead of having to just get rid of a habit (a negative), what I really need is to imitate Christ (a positive). For some reason, it just seems less impossible that way - not because I think I can be perfect (we all know I can't be!!!), but because I know Christ died for me and promises that he does not leave us as orphans. Thinking in those terms changes everything, and I'm posting about it so hopefully it'll stick in my brain a little bit better!

How to Drink Tea in Space

This is pretty amazing physics: high tea with chopsticks!

PS - Annie, maybe you could work for NASA. :)

Dogs on Grace

I was reading Brittle Crazy Glass today and she linked to a PCA blog called Wittenberg Gate. This is the greatest post! It is a great example of how we are allowed to "see grace from the grace-giver's perspective, rather than our usual position as a recipient of grace." As a fellow dog-lover, I thought this illustration was perfect!

Amanda says...
Here's a dog quote from Brittle Crazy Glass (thanks, Molly!) that's perfect for you and Cache, Andrea:

"There's something comforting about being in a house where dogs' hairs litter the sofa and bed spreads." -- Anonymous

Thanks for passing on a new angle of viewing God's grace!

Andrea says...
Exactly. Why is it that when I find a Cache-hair in my clothes or even in my lunch sandwich, I can't help but smile and miss my puppy??

Runnin' on empty

Hey all, I just wanted to post a little something before I head off to bed. Yeah, that's right. I'm going to bed at 8:00. What's it to ya?? I need to catch up on all my sleep that I was deprived of in the last four days. I'm going to post more photos later on Webshots, but I included one of my favorites on this post. It is the classic shot of a Bourbon Street sign. I love the stickers and decals all over the signs and the beads hanging from the street lamp, but my favorite part is the American flag flying in the background. I don't know. For some reason, I just thought the shot captured the attitude of the place.

It was a great trip. We had action packed days and to list all that we did would take all night. It ranges from steamboats and beignets to plantations and swamp boats. We even got to experience being robbed in our hostel. Yeah, you heard me - ROBBED! But, no harm done and it just ended up adding to the whole adventure of the trip. Jen and I actually turned out to be very compatible travel buddies and I wouldn't have wanted to go with anyone else. Very VERY good times...

Anna says...
Wow Andrea, it sounds like you had a great time and fun experiences. I'm glad you gotta spend some time with your sister too! Get some rest, and I look forward to seeing the billions of pictures! ;-)

Picture update:
Some of the billions

Welcome Back, Snot-Face!

We've missed you, Andrea! (Me and Drop-Dead Fred.) You better not be too busy working today and tomorrow to tell us about your trip!! :)

Andrea said...
Thanks Amanda!! It's good to be home. It was a great time had by all, but I'm ready to go home and catch up on sleep. :) I don't know how anyone can handle New Orleans for longer then 3 days. I'll have to gather my thoughts about the trip and post something incredibly interesting soon. Not to mention some of the billions of pictures that I took. That's one of the many great things about N'awlins -- the photo opportunities...

Amanda says...
BTW, I hope you don't mind me calling you snot-face - it was the first thing that poped into my head. Well, if we have to wait for pictures and stories I guess we'll survive...I hope you get some rest!

Andrea said...
You hope I don't mind?? I consider it an HONOR. ;)

Baseball on my mind...

I was looking at the news headlines for today and was a little confused by this headline: "Cardinals maintain silence before conclave." Forgetting that Roman Catholic cardinals were meeting to decide on the next pope, I assumed this referred to the St. Louis baseball team. And frankly, the line didn't make much sense at all; but I put it down to my being a relative newcomer still to baseball jargon.

Go TWINS!

Melodee says:
Go TWINS is right! Tonight's game is over, and dearest Mr. Santana is now 2-0 on the season! :) Oh, and did I mention he struck out 11 batters tonight?

On a more sombre note - we just lost our #3 starter (Carlos Silva) for at least half the season (maybe the whole season) due to a knee injury. And our first baseman was hit in the head with a pitch last week and is having recurring headaches and dizziness. These dark clouds can't keep Johan down, but they may not bode well for our world championship bid. . .

Anna says:
I would love to see a Twins game, even on tv, so that I can join you two in being such faithful fans!

Amanda...I fear baseball may be taking over too much of your mind if the word "cardinals" automatically conjures up thoughts of the baseball team. But, it's all good, and I'm glad you two enjoy it so much! ;-)

Melodee says:
Now Anna, did you really mean that? Next time the Twinkies are playing on TV I'll be sure and have you over! :)

Anna says:
Yes Melodee, I really mean that!

Did you mean to call them the Twinkies...? Maybe this is one of those things I just don't understand about them yet?

Melodee says:
Most teams have a nickname (You may hear local announcers calling the Mustangs "The Ponies," for instance.) One of the Twins' nicknames is "The Twinkies." It fits their personality. :) They have hardly any power (home runs), but they are little scrappers and fight it out base by base.

amanda says...
You guys are getting me all excited about baseball now! Hey, we could have a "Kindred Spirits Twins Night." I don't know what Andrea and Brooke would come for, but I'm sure we'd all have fun! It would have to be your house, though, Melodee - none of us get Twins games (until they're in the WS, of course).

Anna says:
Thanks for filling me in on the nickname stuff. A Twins night would be fun.

The Incredibles

Last night I went over to Melodee's to watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and The Incredibles. I'd seen HtLaG last summer and remember enjoying it, but the experience must have been enhanced by the fact that I had malaria. It did have its funny moments, but there was also sort of an overall lameness, not to mention being rather vulgar in places... It just seemed divorced from real life.

The Incredibles was completely different. I didn't expect a cartoon to be SO realistic! :) I don't mean just the animation, either, although that was pretty, um, incredible. The story was just so much like real life that it was completely believable! Not a line out of place in the script, either, which was a problem that HtLaG had. Movies where everything a character says just fits, that never make you want to roll your eyes, are sort of rare.

And of course, there were some pretty great lines. :)

Probably my favorite:
"Mom and Dad's lives could be in jeopardy! Or even worse, their marriage!"

Melodee says:
Jinx! I just posted about The Incredibles on my blog this very minute. You're so right, the contrast between How To Lose a Guy In Ten Days and The Incredibles was stark. HTLaG's humor was mostly vulgar, and its serious parts fell terribly flat. The Parr family, however, was really funny, and also beautifully poignant. I almost teared up at the part where Mr. Incredible says he isn't strong enough to handle losing his wife... All in all, it was a home run!

Oh, and Rachel, I loved that line too. Not to mention the whole scene arguing about what exit to get off on. I laughed so hard I had to pause the movie. That was so realistic!

amanda says...
It's our great minds. ;-)

Commenting

I wanted to make our new commenting system clear to our readers. The system we've been trying out (and I think we all like - correct me if I'm wrong) is that the contributors of KS will make their comments in the post - we do this so that we can see the conversation at a glance, without having to open the comments box all the time. I for one have a hard time keeping track of how many comments are on each post - "were there 7 comments last time, or 8?" I can never remember, so I click into it and sure enough I've already read them all....

But, this doesn't change anything for you. We want you to feel free to comment, and we encourage you to do so. We aren't trying to eliminate comments in the comments section; we just want to reduce traffic there. We would be crushed if you all stopped participating.

Africa Blog

Andrea is going to manage an Africa blog for me while I'm on my trip, which is pretty cool of her. :) I've been trying to think up a good name for it, and here's the best I came up with. Let's vote! If anyone has other suggestions, too, let me know. I've always been terrible at naming things.

thebarefootugandan. It just sounds cool!
ugandainflipflops. Kind of the Africa tour for California girls, or something. But I sorta like it.
ohuganda. The national song of Uganda starts out "Oh, Uganda." I don't remember the other words now. But I like this one pretty well.
karamojamanda. OK.
ejoknooi. (Or ejokenooi, how it sounds - I can't remember how it's spelled.) This is an enthusiastic Karamojong greeting that I love. It goes with shaking hands...

Whaddaya say?

Melodee says:
Well, I really like ejoknooi, but I think it is too hard for people to remember. For what it's worth, I like karamojamanda best, but that seems to be last on your list, so I'll probably be overruled. It's easy, and it has both elements that would be would catch RMCC-ers interests - Karamoja and Amanda. It makes it specific both to our mission in Karamoja and our friend Amanda. I like it.

amanda says...
karamojamanda it is, then! The more I say it, the more I like how it rolls off the tongue... Ejoknooi can go on the page somewhere, though (with pictures of me barefoot? then we'd have it all!). Thank you all for your input.

The Real Calvin

Amanda, you got me thinking about the real Calvin's writing. I couldn't resist; I have to share a couple of my millions of quotes from the Institutes with you:

"For what is more consonant with faith than to recognize that we are naked of all virtue, in order to be clothed by God? That we are empty of all good, to be filled by him? That we are slaves of sin, to be freed by him? Blind, to be illumined by him? Lame, to be made straight by him? Weak, to be sustained by him? To take away from us all occasion for glorying, that he alone may stand forth gloriously and we glory in him?"

"Thus, from the feeling of our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and - what is more - depravity and corruption, we recognize that the true light of wisdom, sound virtue, full abundance of every good, and purity of righteousness rest in the Lord alone."

"...It is very important for us to call upon him: First, that our hearts may be fired with a zealous and burning desire ever to seek, love, and serve him, while we become accustomed in every need to flee to him as to a sacred anchor....""You cannot in one glance survey this most vast and beautiful system of the universe, in its wide expanse, without being completely overwhelmed by the boundless force of its brightness."

And just one more (I'm restraining myself), and this one has something to do with writing, kind of:

"Read Demosthenes or Cicero; read Plato, Aristotle, and others of that tribe. They will, I admit, allure you, delight you, move you, enrapture you in wonderful measure. But betake yourself from them to this sacred reading. Then, in spite of yourself, so deeply will it affect you, so penetrate your heart, so fix itself in your very marrow, that, compared with its deep impression, such vigor as the orators and philosophers have will nearly vanish."

amanda says...
Wow, that was a long post. But good stuff - it makes me want to read Calvin sometime before I'm too much older...

I really loved the first quote. I don't usually think about "faith" in those terms: it's more just some vague term that we throw around and know it's a good thing to have. It's only when I'm really seeing my own sinfulness that I feel compelled to say, "I'm a believer, help me believe" and cry out for Christ's righteousness and glory.

N'awlins or bust!

In 8 hours, I'll be on a plane to meet my sister for a wild weekend in the Big Easy. I'm so excited!!! How will I EVER be able to concentrate today??? I'm mostly excited about seeing my sister. I haven't seen her since Christmas, and I felt like we were really robbed of our usual quality time. (You know how crazy and stressful we have made our Americanized holidays.) I am so blessed to have a sister and a best friend all wrapped up into one person. We are so alike that it's scary. Some people hang out with us and spend the whole time completely frightened or constantly looking for an exit(or both!). Our similar appearance have also thrown many off. It's great fun.

*deep sigh* But, in the mean time, I have GOT TO BUCKLE DOWN! See ya soon, Jen!!!

Melodee says:
I hope you have a magnificent time, Andrea. Don't get eaten by a croc!

Amanda says...
Melodee! :-0 They're alligators in Louisiana.

Andrea, I hope you and Jen have a blast!!

Calvin on Writing

"I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" -Calvin

(I wonder what his namesake John Calvin would think?! :) )

I got this quote here.

Melodee says:
This reminds me of several quotes:

"Those who write clearly have readers. Those who write obscurely have commentators." - Doug Wilson

"Some 'scholars' cough in ink." - Doug Wilson

"I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible." - Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey. (Henry Tilney responds, "Bravo! An excellent satire on modern language."

"A skillful writer cuts the fat and thickens the gravy." - The Roar on the Other Side.

There's nothing like a good date

I had the most lovely evening last night - dinner at the Rex (great food, great wine) followed by an VERY entertaining movie. But, that's not necessarily why the evening was lovely. What made the night so enjoyable was the company and conversation of one of my favorite people - Melodee Mattson. Thanks for the very fun date, Melodee-dear. Let's do it again very soon.

amanda said...
Sounds like a great date, Andrea (and Melodee)! :) What did you have??

Melodee said...
Yes, it was a splendid date. Thank you, Andrea-dearest. After all, it was your gift certificate that enabled us to get all that great food and wine without breaking the bank. :) Amanda, I had pesto fettucini alfredo with toasted pine nuts, red peppers, toasted parmesan cheese chips, and a chicken breast stuffed with...I don't remember...but it was really good. I washed it down with an excellent Syrah. The whole evening was "SWEET!!!!"

andrea said...
I had pork loin cordon bleu with garlic mashed potatoes and a glass of Caymus Conundrum wine. It was pretty divine. I agree with Melodee...it was SUH-WEET!!

Is your hair in a dilapidated state?

Then I have the product for you! The world's #1 balding and thinning solution. Stunning results in 30 sec. I kid you not. The details were in my inbox this morning.

I wonder if they offer a money-back guarantee?

andrea said...
I'm trying commenting this way to see if we like it. It may be easier to view them this way.

I have a hard time believing that 30 sec statement. And I had such great faith in claims that spam makes...

Hail, Amanda!

I never really thought seriously about asking blogger. Kudos, kudos! Although, I liked my conspiracy theory better...

Now my profile is complete! At least until I think of something else to add. (Oh, like Captive Thought!)

U2 again

I just heard back from Blogger tech support:

"Unfortunately, Blogger profiles currently require items in these lists to be three or more characters long, which is why U2 does not appear when you enter it. We apologize for this, but there is a workaround you can use. Simply enter it as "U2." (with a period after it) and it should display in your profile that way."

(And I think it's pretty cool of them to respond within a few days on such a minor issue...)

Fighting Ducks

We have two ducks at work - they've been nesting here every year since we've been in this building. Don't know why.

When I got to work this morning and there were two male ducks fighting in the middle of the parking lot. They were biting away at each other's chests, and there were feathers littering the parking lot. I had no ideas ducks were such violent creatures...it looks like they ain't stopping till one flies off or dies.

Anyway, they're still going at it. I hope our duck wins.

9:30 Update:

After taking a breathing spell, in which both male ducks (mallards?) sat in the shade and preened themselves, they're back at it. There's now duck blood splattered in our parking lot. The female is pretty happy, though. She's hanging around, not caring much who wins. Or so it appears...

"Fight! Fight! Ooh, get 'im, Billy! Nice one, Bobby! What a bite!"

Revised Age Quiz

Amanda and I came up with a better age quiz. Take it if you dare.

1. Flipping through the channels, you are most likely to stop and watch...

a) Survivor
b) Any Jane Austen movie
c) Twins Game
d) Any Colin Firth movie
e) All of the above

2. What's your favorite dessert?

a) Birthday Hat Cookies
b) Warm brownies with ice cream
c) Johnny Carino's tiramisu
d) Chocolate ice cream
e) All of the above (all together or separate)

3. What's your current living situation?

a) My parents are cool enough to let me live with them.
b) Just me and the dog.
c) I rent a place with enough room for sewing projects and a little boy.
d) I know somebody in one of the above circumstances.

4. An acquaintance tells you a very juicy secret about your best friend? Can you keep the secret?

a) Dumb question
b) Dumb question
c) Dumb question
d) All of the above

5. Your idea of a good party is:

a) A luau birthday party
b) A Lonesome Dove marathon
c) Sewing a ball gown while watching a movie
d) A rousing game of Settlers (w/ a side of Danny’s Delight)
e) All of the above (w/ or w/o ice cream and cake)

6. Your ideal career is something like:

a) A movie critic
b) A book critic
c) A food critic
d) A fashion critic
e) All of the above

7. The last time you told a lie was when...

a) Too many of them to remember the last one
b) All of the above

8. You're having lunch with a few friends. After lunch you'll probably going to...

a) Take a nap
b) Watch a movie
c) Go to Barnes and Noble
d) Go work on one of the million projects I’ve got going.
e) All of the above

9. The best rock band of all time is:

a) U2
b) Aerosmith
c) Bob Dylan
d) Coldplay
e) All of the above

10. How would you describe your political views?

a) My political views are good
b) My political views are tired
c) My political views are clear
d) All of the above

Evaluation: If you answered “All of the above” for any of the above questions, you are the correct age.

Dumb, but quick little quiz...try it!

What a relief!! I'm still young(er) at heart...

You Are 21 Years Old

21 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Lassi ja Leevi

Amanda, those foreign names for Calvin and Hobbes are great. I haven't read the comics in any consistent manner since C&H left. It is the all-time best strip ever.

I was just thinking. My fascination with humuhumunukunukuapua'a is a little like Hobbes' with "smock." I just like saying it. :)

Yukon Ho!

Kalfin i Gopsya

Or, as we Americans say, Calvin & Hobbes. I was reading the tenth anniversary ed. during dinner (everyone else ate already, so I wasn't being antisocial. Really...) and now it's got me on a C&H kick.

These names have got to be made up: Gasper in Hops? That sounds like a beer-soaked cigarette, not a kid and his tiger! Why can't the Slovokians learn to speak English??

I love the C&H poems - read Yukon Ho.

Wikipedia even has a whole article on C&H! That's pretty funny. For those of you who don't have more or less the complete collection, and need a quick fix, this C&H Wonderland site is really good...

It's so hard to pick a favorite, but one of mine is when Calvin's mom comes into the living room and sees him pounding big spiky nails into the table. She screams, "What are you doing?" in panic. Calvin looks at her blankly, and asks... "Is this a trick question?"

OK, so they don't translate so well into text. ;-)

Andrea is Having Too Much Fun

Have you all passed your mouse over the names of the contributors? Do it, please. You'll get a chuckle. (But Andrea, would you stop giving yourself the short shrift?!) Oh, and that's humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

Also, take a look at Brooke's profile while you're at it. It's a hoot (especially her two "favorite" books that she has never read! :)

While We're On the Subject...

As you all know, I'm not much of a dog lover. But to join in the spirit of the thing, here is my tribute to the one dog I truly loved, written the morning after he died, when I was 11 years old.

Sabre

Sabre, Sabre, forever friend

Sabre, Sabre, second to none

Sabre, Sabre, even in pain, you are number one.

The romps and frolics did you in,

But we remember how you had been

When we first saw you rolling on the ground,

A little puppy with black and brown.

And now I see you lying on the floor

Having no pain forevermore.

And if the Lord wills we will see you again.

Sabre, Sabre, forever friend

Sabre, Sabre, second to none

Sabre, Sabre, even in pain, you are number one.

Would you believe it? I started crying as I typed it up!

Silly dogs...

Aww, reading those makes me love dogs even more. ;-)

As a follow-up, here are some lovely drawings done by Andrea and Amanda of Cache and my fat stinker dog Beau, who is lacking greatly in the area of sharing skills (the bottom one actually happened, Beau wouldn't let Cache get near his water dish).

Tribute to my Cache

I bonded quite a bit with my little doggie this weekend. It turns out that he is quite versatile. He's my footwarmer, my protector, my house alarm and my caretaker. He alternated between guarding the front window and lying faithfully at my feet - what a good boy. In honor of my little hero, here are a few fun quotes for fellow dog-lovers (and fellow dog co-dependents).

"Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit,you would stay out and your dog would go in."
- Mark Twain

"The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too."
- Samuel Butler

"I talk to him when I'm lonesome like,
and I'm sure he understands.
When he looks at me so attentively,
and gently licks my hands;
Then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes,
but I never say naught thereat,
For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes,
but never a friend like that!"
- W. Dayton Wedgefarth

"To his dog, every man is King; hence the constant popularity of dogs."
- Aldous Huxley

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend: and inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx

"Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear."
- Dave Barry

Ok, only one more...

"Better not take a dog on the space shuttle, because if he sticks his head out when you're coming home his face might burn up."
- Jack Handy

Name that astronaut

Last night I was at Brooke's house, and Ian and I were playing with a couple astronauts. (An orange plastic Easter egg inside a cardboard toilet paper tube really does look like a rocket!) He told me his was named "Astronaut Bingley."

That kid deserves an Only 4-Year-Old to Name a Toy After a Pride & Prejudice Character award! Pretty bright, if you ask me. ;-)

Almost human

Holy cow! I didn't realize when I logged on how much reading I would have to catch up on. Nice work, girls! And WELCOME to Anna and Brooke!

After 3 days in bed living on saltines and ice chips, barely having enough energy to crawl to Cache's food dish to refill it (Thank goodness he has a dog door!), I am happy to announce that I am back in the land of the living! Now, my head only screams at me when I move it too quickly. Which is a MUCH welcomed improvement.

I am awestruck at the fraility of our human bodies. If every part is not working in perfect unison with each other, we are in agony. I had a psych professor in college that liked to use that fact as proof that there was no God. "How could a God, who supposedly is perfect, create an imperfect human being with which so much can go wrong?" On the contrary, Dr. Carter!! How can anyone look at the perfect complexities of the human body and NOT believe that there is a creator? The fact that every part requires every other part in order to function proves that human life was no "accident" - It had to be planned. Although it somewhat pains me to do so, I thank God for this agonizing weekend of mine. I thank God for reminding me that relying on my own human strength gets me nowhere. I need the perfect creator to keep my parts in check. I need Him for every step I take and even for every turn of my head (which anyone who has had a migraine can see my point here). The Lord truly is my strength and my song.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:28-31

Just keep posting, posting...

"Post" reminds me of the Postiese Jig! (Spell?)

I agree that the frog blood is prettier, but I guess I wouldn't want to be a frog, either. You might get et... Besides, can their blood do as many cool things as ours??

Melodee, those pictures are amazing. Do you know if they were all taken in MT? I think the Prairie Smoke is my favorite...what an incredible flower! I've never seen anything like that. Anyway, it makes me want to get out and explore. :)

Too many posts to keep up with!

This looks like fun, but gosh you guys post so much! I will have to come read this at least several times a day to keep caught up! Such a great excuse to spend even more time on the internet though, what can I say?

Those pictures are beautiful, Melodee!

I think the frog blood is prettier as well. We are stuck with the uglier of the bloods. I won't complain though, because oh how I would hate to be a frog.

I fear it is too late for me to be doing much of anything other than sleeping right now, so I bid you goodnight!

Frog Blood is Prettier!

I love all the blue nuclei! Thanks for sharing the pictures, Amanda. I am fascinated with life on the cellular level as well. I remember studying cells in Biology and thinking WOW while everyone around me was falling asleep. Their loss.

While we are thinking of the awesomeness (word used very deliberately) of the natural world, take a look at these photos taken by my brother's friend: Here's a plant Dennis calls "Nature's Firework." Here's "Prairie Smoke." Check out "The Blues." And for a final thrill, look at a broader view of nature in "Lake at Dusk."

While you're at it, browse through all his other photographs here.

If I hadn't been an English major...

I've been proofreading our new catalog all day, which is a job that by the end is a crazy combination of extreme boredom, weariness, and even...fun. Anyway, reading about microscope slides this morning was really fascinating and I've been wanting to post about them every since. (Don't you admire my self-control?) So if I wasn't an English major, I'd wish I were brave enough to be a microbiologist.

Who knew single-celled organisms could look so cool? Or that plants develop from something like this, and a leaf cross section looks like stained glass?

Compare frog blood to human blood. (It's not gross, Melodee.)

Did you know crabs don't start out as crabs, exactly? I knew about insect metamorphosis, but take a look at this: a crab zoea stage doesn't resemble an adult at all, but in a secondary megalops stage you can tell a claw is, sort of, a claw.

We want our U2!

We should sent protest letters every day to Blogger till they fix this for us!

Is This a Conspiracy?

Amanda, your amended profile is much, much better. After looking at yours, I thought I should check mine. Imagine how mortified I was to see that U2 was not listed under Favorite Music! (After giving you such a hard time about it, too!) I couldn't imagine how I had come to leave it off. I went to Edit my Profile to rectify this appalling mistake, but there it was, thankfully, first on the list. So it is there, but it won't show up. I've tried moving to the last of the list, but it still won't show up.

What gives?! (as Joe Jr. would say.)

Appalled

Amanda! I just made the mistake of looking at your profile. Under Music, you list Jamie Cullum as one of your favorite artists - you just got his CD within the last week. And yet nowhere, nowhere do you mention the greatest rock band of all time! The rock band that we love so much that we spent entirely too much money to go see them live in nineteen days!!!

Pardon my agitation, but really, this is too much.

Oh friend, where art thou?

Andrea, I miss you! I finally got a chance to log in to yahoo to talk to you for a minute, and you weren't there. :( (It was quite a shock, I might add.) Hope you're doing "somehow okay" as they say in Uganda...

I'll have some spam, spam, spam...

spam, with spam. I've been getting lots of great e-mail in the last week or two, offering everything from super values on ink jets to remedies for sleeping disorders. I especially like all the ones I get in Spanish...can't read a word of them. (I'd forward them to you, Melodee, but you probably don't want to know what they say!) Does anyone actually believe these things?? I guess so, or they wouldn't be so popular.

After having some problems with the last newsletter we sent out at work, on Forensic Science, I have a new appreciation for some of these spamming techniques, though. Since phrases like "click here..." get blocked by e-mail filters, some clever spammer came up with a link that says "Hit to have it started." Wow.

We tried a couple dozen times to get our newsletter to go through - I scoured the text for possible problem combinations of letters or words and we finally sent tests adding just one section at a time till we found the problem. It turned out to be the last link in the last paragraph, and I'd missed it because it was in the html, which I wasn't searching as carefully. But we learned our lesson: don't link to a www.accessexellence.com unless you want your e-mails blocked!

What to do?

April Fool's Day

Here it is again. April 1st. The day when I am reminded of my complete lack of ability to fool anyone. I have no imagination when it comes to practical jokes. I can never think of a single thing to do for April Fool's.

I had one professor try a really lame scam on us today, and a few others tried some that were more entertaining, but still very unconvincing. One of them was that MLB went on strike. Now that is not funny. :)