When was the last time you thought about Matthew & Gunner Nelson? Too long ago, I'm sure.

~~I can't live without your love and affection...~~

Michael bought me this travel mug. I cashed his paycheck for him today, since he doesn't have a bank here yet. As repayment, I told him that we needed to stop for coffee. He's all excited about his employee discount, so he was asking if I wanted a mug for my coffee. I said "sure" and told him to pick out a cool one. So it's mine now.

Ever heard of The Bellringer of Notre Dame? Apparently using the word "hunchback" was too insensitive for a British theatre company. Amazing.

Where's Home - "An American woman's ruminations about whether to stay in Israel or to leave, and thoughts about what 'home' is." Gives an eye-opening perspective on life in Israel these days.

This is weird. Canadian who used to be a man is now winning women's competitions. This raises some obvious issues. Just because one does some reconstructive surgery in some areas, does not mean it necessarily affects the rest of the body. Does (s)he have an unfair advantage?

Danielle Dictionary
bunch·y adj. Worked up; "knickers in a twist". Eg. "No one has returned that promoter's calls, and now she is getting a little bunchy."

Song for the Day:
Gramarye - Remy Zero
Yep, I'm back on this kick again. Only I don't know who has my cd at the moment.

Coming Soon:
A project I've been thinking would be interesting to undertake... and now with the miracle of qlogger.com, it will be easy for me to bring you..... The Caffeine Log.

Friday Five
When was the last time you...
1. ...sent a handwritten letter? I sent cds with letters to my sister, my parents, and my aunt & uncle all on the same day about three weeks ago.
2. ...baked something from scratch or made something by hand? I don't really bake these days, but I made my mom's vegetable dip not long ago instead of buying the stuff that comes in tubs. I made my last skirt on memorial day weekend.
3. ...camped in a tent? Oh my... I think it was Sonshine '95. I don't really do the Great Outdoors to that extent.
4. ...volunteered your time to church, school, or community? I used to be a lot more involved than I am now... moving and having to find a new church to go to has hampered that -- but I used to run sound, do drama, and was a youth group adult-like figure when I was in Indy.
5. ...helped a stranger? That's tough to remember, because those kinds of things are often impromptu. I must look like I know where I'm going, because I feel like I am constantly giving directions... I know I told some lady how to get back to the interstate the other day.

I bought a very tart, half-full glass of lemonade from two kids for 50¢ this afternoon. I read somewhere that one should always buy from kids selling things in their driveways, and I could not agree more. My sister and I were once young entrepreneurs selling everything from syrupy kool-aid to mostly-dead flowers from the bushes by the house. Thanks to everybody who ever spent a quarter on our treasures.

I am seriously regretting not getting the number off the For Sale sign on the beautiful vintage checker cab that I saw in Florida. Maybe Manda would get it for me. My car is needing to be replaced, after all... and Ted already calls me Phoebe -- so why not go with it?

I can't wait to take my nephew on a date to see Lilo & Stitch. Wheeee!

Big.... b-b-big rain... big bad rain. No concert for me tonight.

Of course it would be raining today. They Might Be Giants are supposed to be playing downtown tonight. Incidentally, were you aware that they just recorded a new children's album called No!? I heard them talking about it on NPR a couple weeks ago. Might be worth checking into.

Anchors away, my boys! Mom just emailed me to tell me that my aunt & uncle invited us to spend 4th of July weekend on their boat. I don't want to be out there the whole weekend, but I am so excited. I haven't been sailing since they sold Grandpa's boat when he died over ten years ago. Yay!

Song of the Day:
Sour Girl - Stone Temple Pilots
Scott... mmm...

I want to open a sporting goods store in Cancun and call it Golf of Mexico.

Okay... it's interactive time here, kids. I'm trying to compile a list of noncommittal responses. This is what we have come up with so far:

• "You don't say."
  
• "I see."
  
• "Indeed."
  
• "Hmm..."
  
• "So it seems."

Appreciated Additions:

• "Oh really."
  
• "Is that right?" (both from my name twin)
  
• "That is something."
  
• "Interesting."
  
• The old nonverbal noncommittal:
  raised eyebrows, pensive frown, and slowly bobbing head. (those three from Mike "Italicist" Ozmun)
  
• "How 'bout that." (from N. Kumquat)
  
• "There you go." (from tashimoto)

If you have any other suggestions, please leave a comment below.

Thanks,
The Management

Last night I caught the tail end of a documentary on PBS called The Smith Family. It was incredibly moving, and I spent the last forty-five minutes with tears streaming. Brief Summary: A mormon family deals with a father dying of AIDS due to his extramarital affairs with men and a mother who also has HIV as a result. Though I may not agree with the religious viewpoint or some of the lifestyle choices, the main thing I came away with was this amazing picture of forgiveness displayed by the wife. It was really good.

Anybody want to meet me in Cincinnati on the 13th? We decided today that we are going to go to the NB show at Kings Island... driving up the night before and spending the day at the park.

Just wanted to link to this place, because I have been reading it for quite some time. It is cool. The Vagrant Café: We like you. Like that.

I think that Pleasant View may have something going here. If given final approval by the City Council, developers hope to start building the first of what they call Mayberry-style villages in Pleasant View in September. Kinda cutsey. And I thought Cool Springs was as "Truman Show" as it gets.

Villains fear me. Heroes envy me. Danielle S. is... The Dynamic Mastermind

Villains fear me. Heroes envy me. Danielle L. S. is... The Intellectual Dragon

Played Zanzarah last night. Extremely beautiful game... but it was kind of boring. Maybe because I had a hard time killing the bad fairies or something. Anyway.... pretty.

Okay, so I did not have time to write my dissertation on the foolishness of sending forwards to people without doing a little research into the validity of their claims. However, I will share the email that inspired the ire yesterday...

(**Email addresses have been changed to protect the innocent.)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-----Original Message-----
From: Seth
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2002 10:59 AM
To: **g51@yahoo.com; **dys@thegroup.com; **ard@accn.org; **imm@yahoo.com; **tor@bellsouth.net; **ysk@aol.com; [my email address here]; **tof@bellsouth.net; **dys@aol.com; **yrd@attbi.com; **sen@familycenter.cc; **jax@aol.com; **y96@aol.com; **e26@hotmail.com; **s20@yahoo.com; **BOB@aol.com; **ron@jcfc.org; **tor@familycenter.cc; **ace@familycenter.cc; **676@aol.com
Subject: Fw: THIS IS FOR REAL. IT WAS ON THE NEWS LAST NIGHT*** WHO KNOWS***

ok this is probably an urban legend. But if it is not....................

Seth

[Keep in mind, what followed was horribly formatted because it had obviously been forwarded many times...]

Date: Wed, 1 May 2002 12:14:31 -0400

Dear Friends,
Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this you will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (if you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period. For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00, for every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a cheque.

Regards.

Chinu! [huh?]

I thought this was a scam myself, but two weeks after receiving this e-mail and forwarding it on, Microsoft contacted me for my address and within days, I received a cheque for US$24,800.00. You need to respond before the beta testing is over. If anyone can afford this Bill Gates is the man. It's marketing expense to him. Please forward this to as many people as possible. You are bound to get at least US$10,000.00.

Gregor McLennan
Professor of Sociology &
Head of Department
University of Bristol
12 Woodland Road
Bristol BS8 1UQ
g.mclennan@bristol.ac.uk
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To which I responded....

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sethro…

Okay --- let’s just take a moment to sit down and think about this one.

You just sent this message to 20 people… however only 19 will get it, because Manda hasn’t worked for that company for about six months now.

So according to your letter below from the very reliable Gregor McLennon, that would mean that you would be receiving $4655.00. (19 x $245)

Now let’s just say that everybody on your list forwards it on to just 10 people. That would be 180 (10 x 18, because I won’t be forwarding this to anyone)… which would give you an additional $43,740.00. (180 x $243) (Cha-ching.)

Let’s just say that only one-third of those people decide to send it on, and those people only send it on to five people each. That would be 600 people (120 x 5)… which would earn you another $144,600.00. (600 x $241) (Thanks, Bill!)

This brings your grand total to a generous $192,995.00! Wouldn’t that be a nice down-payment on a new house/car/yacht?

In this scenario, we are suggesting that over 700 people have then gotten this message… if every single one of them followed though, Bill Gates would be sending out over $135,000,000.00… and that’s just from the people in your little chain that you started. Considering that I have gotten this message at least 30 times (and I believe that is an extremely modest estimate), that would be a half-billion dollars spent on just the chains involving people that I know. (Though I find that I keep getting them from the same people, and so far I have yet to get an email from anybody saying “holy crap, I’m retiring today thanks to Bill Gates and his beta email-tracking system. I got my check today… I’ll send postcards from Figi!”.) Amazing, eh? That Bill Gates sure is a generous guy… especially since he is worth only 33.63 billion. [*this figure changes according to stock prices.]

Now let’s consider the broader implications of this whole email tracking thing. “When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it.” Does this not disturb you? Let’s just assume for a second that this isn’t a complete load of crap. Can you say “Big Brother”? Am I supposed to be thanking you for getting my email address included in this whole Bill-Gates-taking-over-the-world scheme? Thanks a lot, you freakin’ jerky.

Hehe… okay – so I probably should work now. But thanks for giving me a little distraction on a Monday morning. I trust I will not be getting any more of these from you. :) Because if I do, you know I’ll be flying my butt back to Florida (did I tell you I was going to orlando this past weekend?) to beat your sorry ass down, right?

Love ya! D.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Not ten minutes after sending, I received a phonecall from dear Seth. He said he was practically in tears from laughing so hard, and he especially appreciated the conclusion. My work here is done.

I can't remember if I have written about this before, but here we go again:

Bongo Java has a brilliant slogan on a poster I saw at The Factory: Bongo Java - We Appreciate Your Addiction. I love that.

(Just talked to Roy.) :)

I predict that the redletterpeople's word chosen for the last question will be "Crunchy". JOSH! :)

Ahhh... back home again.

No alligator sightings... though we did go to Lake Monroe to try to find the one that Manda saw there before. (I don't know exactly why I wanted to find one out in the wild so badly after reading this article about a girl who was bitten by one last weekend.) If we had had more time, Alex was going to take me to a restaurant that serves gator. She said it tastes like chicken anyway.

Open Mouth Insert Foot Moment for the weekend:
After the show on Saturday night, we went with the cast to a restaurant. This guy David was at the end of our table, and he said, "I think I was just a victim of racism." Apparently when the waitress was checking people's ID's, she took a long time with his. (David is quite tan at the moment, but it's Florida in the summer... what do you expect?) She kept looking from him to the license. I don't know if he said something like, "It's me." or what, but she said "You look white on there." To which he responded, "I am white." She apparently got really flustered and was like "well, you're just not... as tan... on there... more white." It was just weird.

Manda wants to enter the World's Most Beautiful Feet Contest, so we spent some time yesterday afternoon shooting photos for that. It's a bit difficult to come up with a variety of foot poses, but we managed to shoot a roll of 24.

Small World Moment:
I don't know if Jay still reads this, but he might be interest to know that I was sitting across from and ended up talking to Vicki Yohe's husband on the plane last night.

Overall, it was a great weekend... even though it rained almost constantly.



I'm getting ready to write my commentary on how much I hate email forwards... but I am afraid it will not be ready until later today... possibly tomorrow. Some are legitimately sweet or cute or funny or what-have-you... but the ones I particularly hate are the ones that suggest you might benefit from passing them on somehow. I am also somewhere between pity and indifference when I get those that tell you to delete a file on your computer, one that generally is a normal Windows system file that everybody has on their computer. Sometimes I'm nice enough to write back with a way for the forwarderer to fix what they have destroyed.

In the meantime, you can read someone else's last-straw email to his forwarding offenders.

Last Friday's Five
1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo? Townhouse
2. Do you rent or own? Rent
3. Does anyone else live with you? Tina, Beth & Laynie
4. How many times have you moved in your life? 12, I think.
5. What are your plans for this weekend? I went to Orlando! :)

Made it to Florida... minor fingernail-being-ripped-off injury at the arcade... but other than that, it has been wonderful. It has rained all day.

Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.

Six hours and counting... I don't get there until 10:45, but thankfully, today is the longest day of the year.

~~I'm leaving on a jet plane... don't know when I'll be back again...~~

I'm essentially packed though, which is a big accomplishment for me, considering I didn't think about it until this morning.

The puppy has been named.... Ted. (For Father Ted) It was between that and Baldrick... which he still gets called when he's being difficult.

Song for the Day:
Overkill - Men at Work as done by Ben. Gate

ONE DAY until I get to see my Manda again! Yay! :) I get to see her star in Father of the Bride on Saturday and Sunday afternoon... and I suppose we'll get some quality girl time in on Saturday afternoon. Yay!

I was presented with an official copy of Contact today. There are some special features on the CD-Rom part of it... and I'm sure the photos will surface online in due time... but in several of them, Costa is wearing a certain robot-potato t-shirt by a band we all know and love.

Martha Stewart. Tsk, tsk, tsk. One would think the worst scandal the home-interiors queen would face might be a slighty burnt flan catastrophy. But no. Insider trading, Martha? For shame.

Yay! The new M&M's colour is PURPLE!! (But what's up with that "limited time" crap?)

And down below is what I was writing earlier when the power went out, and I lost my connection:

I am horribly distracted today. Maybe it's because I have the door open, and I've been trying to lure a squirrel (Jimmy) inside. Maybe it's because I'm wearing an orange shirt (which, as a redhead, I normally avoid... but Michael gave it to me last night, and I woke up late.). Maybe it's because Ted won his court case, and I'm waiting for him to get back to take him out for a celebratory cappuccino.

Okay... and since everyone who reads this ought to care... here's another one of those little Getting to Know You things which comes courtesy of Joanna.

PAST:
first grade teacher's name: Mrs. Romberg
last word you said: "perhaps"
last song you sang: "Close to You" by the Carpenters
what's in your cd player: the Elevator cd I'm supposed to be giving to Paul *guilt*
what colour socks are you wearing: I'm barefoot, but yesterday I wore my gray ones with Union Jacks on them.
what's under your bed: storage containers with sweaters in them
what time did you wake up today: the first time I hit snooze was 7:35

FUTURE:
where do you want to go: home
what is your career going to be: I haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up.
where are you going to live: I have moved ten times since I moved out of my parents' house... your guess is as good as mine.
how many kids do you want: None for a long while... eventually a couple, maybe
what kind of car will you have: light blue classic VW beetle

CURRENT:
current mood: unsettled
current music: none
current taste: Coffee with milk.
current hair: Two pigtails
current clothes: jeans, the aforementioned orange shirt
current annoyance: none to speak of
current smell: coffee
current longing: *sigh*
current desktop picture: The "Embrace" wallpaper from fork-you.com
current book: In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
color of toenails: royal blue... per usual
current crush: oh no no... only a select few know this one. like my sister and the other couple of people who know who they are
current time-wasting wish: see above
current hate: answering the phones at work

Michael brought back the sweetest puppy. Poor thing was missing his mama though. Only problem now is coming up with a name for the little guy. We were throwing several options out there, but none really stuck. I think Hans is intent upon calling him Squeak or Squeakie or Squeaker or something. (Though he also suggested Syndrome, so that we could say "Down, Syndrome!" That's so awful.) Lisa and I thought he could be a Basil. We tried out Killer and Cujo, but those were vetoed.



I'm Weekend Update Jimmy!

Take the Jimmy Fallon recurring SNL character quiz here.

A - Animals/Pets: Beth's dog Laynie.... though last week we had two poodles, Blossom & Lily
B - Best Friends: Manda, Ern, Ally, Tash... oh too many
C - Cohabitants: Beth & Tina
D - Desire(s): to look on the bright side
E - Eye Color: green
F - Favorite Food(s): ugh... do not fill this out when hungry -- right now all I can think about is a piece of iced lemon pound cake from Starbucks... but surely that is not my favourite.
G - Games: Age of Empires lately, Motocross Mania
H - Habit(s): Coffee
I - Interests: Music, books, computers, sewing
J - Job: Oh to have a neat little job description. Executive assistant / legal secretary / travel agent / band babysitter / webmistress / IT helpdesk -- all wrapped up in one 45+ hour-a-week paycheck.
K - Kitchen ... wonder or blunder? I can cook when I feel so inclined. I just have this weird hatred for grocery shopping, so that really limits the cooking options.
L - Languages: English, a very limited amount of Spanish, and a few choice phrases in Dutch, French, and Turkish.
M - Most valued possession (not person/pet): ugh... I tried to think of anything else, but I'm going to have to go with my computer.
N - Name (named after?): Danielle -- mom got the name from a soap opera character
O - Outfit you love: probably whatever I have made most recently... I love long skirts.
P - Pizza toppings: I don't really dig pizza anymore, but I can deal with anything except sausage or pepperoni. Canadian bacon & pineapple is tastey.
Q - Question asked to you the most: "Are you from Iowa?" Yes, I know that I haven't lived there technically in six years or so, but I still have Iowa plates on my car.
R - Relationship: don't have one; don't really want one.
S - Sport: I like to watch hockey or basketball when I care about who is playing.
T - Television show(s): 24, Trading Spaces, The Practice.
U - Unsavory characteristic: I have a tendency to leave shoes all over the house.
V - Video (DVDs count, too): Today I'm going to go with Top Secret -- Val Kilmer classic.
W - Webpage (favorite - not your own): x-entertainment.com... not porn, despite the "x".
X - Xylophone (or other instrument): Piano... and many moons ago, trumpet, organ, handbells
Y - Year born: 1976
Z - Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

I am trying my luck at being one of the beta testers for Age of Mythology -- sign up is this Friday.

Out of the mouths of babes....
Last night I was watching Karl's kids, and Tony's two daughters were there. Such sweet timid girls. The nine-year-old was helping me cut peaches, and she turned to me and said shyly, "You are a beautiful woman. You are very nice." *sigh*

Song for the Day:
You're Still You - Josh Groban

I am trying to remain focused... I really am.

This is the second time that I have run across this h2g2 today. This was just a great little commentary on The Internet vs. H2G2:

Although the internet is a great place with many many many resources, it's kinda stupid. You have all this information available to you, right at the click of the mouse. That is, if you can find it? How many times have you tried to look up flying asparagus and gotten about five thousand sites that have to do with monkeys? That's the problem with the internet. There are too many sites that just don't have any point whatsoever. This site, on the other hand, just might be one of the most useful sites ever created. Look at what you have here: everything that you ever needed to know about life, the universe and everything. This site could revolutionize the way the web works. Just put everything on one site so that you don't have to search for hours trying to find midgets for hire. If I could have it my way, everything would be right here in H2G2 just waiting for us to point and click at.

You may wonder how I came across that. Would you believe that a google search for "midgets for hire" only comes up with four results? Don't ask...

Handy Latin Phrases

Vescere bracis meis.
Eat my shorts.

Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est.
Yes, that is a very large amount of corn.

Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt.
When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults.

Right... okay, back to work.

I'm horrible -- I did not get ahold of my family this weekend. Happy Father's Day, Dad... and Happy Birthday, Mom!

File this one under Hell Hath No Fury... apparently they have traced the source of the Colorado forest fire back to a forest worker who was burning a letter from her estranged husband. Sucks to be her.

Well, now that the NBA Playoffs and the Stanley Cup have produced champions for this year, I suppose I can turn my attention to the World Cup. Look at the U.S. hanging in there. Of course, Germany is probably going to kick the pants off them, but go team! (Which reminds me of when I was on the Metro in D.C. with a couple of German players back in 1994.)


Find your Realm of Influence at SailorOrion.com

Song for the Day:
In Bloom - Nirvana

Which Season are you?

Ern, I was watching Cruel Intentions for the first time this afternoon on television too! Though I had never really heard much about it, I quickly picked up on the parallels to Dangerous Liaisons, which is one of my all-time favourites... so though I left before the end, I'm sure I can guess what happens. It was kind of cheese-mo in comparison, but I saw some very John-Malkovichy aspects to Ryan Phillippe's performance. (Interestingly enough, Swoosie Kurtz shows up in both.) Mr. Cranky gave it four bombs.

There's a cutey at the Starbucks down the road from the office. I didn't think so at first... but he's growing on me after hearing Beth go on and on about him. He's really tall and dark with super curly hair... not unlike Josh Groban. We think his name is Jordan. We have too much spare time.

David Blaine is at it again His newest spectacle will be next February when he will be thrown into the freezing River Thames from Tower Bridge, hoping to escape his chains before surfacing alive.

Another ex is getting married. I used to think he was "the one". Ahh well... best wishes to the happy couple.

How to Recognize a Bad Boy -- for all the women out there who may wonder, and for all the men out there who are trying to be one. Yeah, and then I found something interest in the main article when they were interview a guy who was a "reformed player". He said he had to target a specific girl: "Usually, the shier kinds, not the most attractive ones in the world, because the stunning ones usually don't put out."

You're Donatello!

You're introspective and somewhat reserved. Definetely more brain cells than the average turtle, and you're something of a "Mr. Fix-It." You love to invent things, or fix broken stuff. You are quiet and serious, but do have a fun side. Try and let it show more often.
Which Ninja Turtle Are You? Quiz by Irish

I could seriously consider a career in the travel agent arts. Today I order tickets for the guys to go to Ooooooklahoma. Paul and I just talked about plans for the New Olreans/Minnesota/Wisconsin weekend. I still think they may need to defy time and space to get to WI on time... but hey... whatever.


Heehee... this is what I was ultimately looking for the other day, but I didn't expect to find anything this great. It changes daily, mind you.

Yay -- Friday Five's back!
1. How often do you do laundry? Sadly, I tend to wear everything I own before I muster up the energy to haul it all downstairs to wash.
2. What's in a typical wash load? A typical load? I generally have towels, undies & other delicates, bedding, jeans & dark t-shirts, maybe another load with knits and light stuff.
3. Front or top loader? Powder or liquid detergent? Top loader. Liquid Tide Free.
4. Do you use fabric softener in the rinse cycle? Yepper... Snuggle *giggle*
5. Dryer or clothesline? Both. Anything that might have the slightest potential for shrinkage gets hung up. Being tall, I can't afford to lose any length on anything!

Rawk! Bruce just stopped in. He actually did the "rock" sign. \m/

Random Tid-bit: I found out this morning via Thux that "the condom pack was the top selling merch intem, world-wide, on U2’s popmart tour and zoo-tv tour!" Interesting, eh?

I was exposed to the world of Baja Fresh earlier this week. It's a pretty amazing place, actually. ("There are no freezers, microwaves or can openers in our restaurants.") Ted got me a baja burrito that was quite a tastey lunchtime alternative. Mmm... cilantro. I feel like I might be craving another one, but I'm going to go see what's within walking distance instead.

The dude from Living Sacrifice is supposed to be coming in today. I just know he's going to come while I'm at lunch.



That is my chinese name. Or as close as I'm gonna get with a generator thing.

Bizarro site for the day: AlbinoDuck.com

Happy Birthday, Bil.

I want the domain cataclysmo.com. Just because.

I was told that I "look rad today". To which I replied, "I feel rad today."

Today Ted told me that I need to write a book. I forget what exactly I was rambling about at the time that led him to say this, but I told him that I have considered doing this for quite some time. He determined that it would be a pretty hilarious read.

I told him I would devote a chapter to my encounters with K-Max. (Seeing as how he was in front of me in line at Starbucks today, and I had this horrible twinge of guilt as he turned around, smiled, and said hello... because just last week we were all here secretly laughing a little bit about his review in the Nashville Scene.)

I heard an interesting story on public radio this morning about an obelisk stolen from Ethiopia by Mussolini during World War II. It is now sitting unmarked in Rome, though not hard to see. The Ethiopian people are asking for it to be returned to them... but the process has been drawn out and largely ignored. Now I just found a petition asking for the return of the obelisk. 2098 signatures as of today. (Though I've always wondered if those online petitions really do any good.)


which one of the trading spaces cast are you? (hehe... yay!)

This post goes out to Manda, whose love for South Park I have never understood.

So this is what I would look like if I were a South Park character. (Except my glasses are more square, but they just looked funny.) Link stolen from this dude who apparently stole it from someone else.

Take the Which Spider-Man Character Are You? quiz.

I have found a favourite place in Tennessee. In Michigan, my place was the riverfront park. I loved the Canal Walk in Indy. But Sunday I took a stroll down this path that I had seen going down along the Harpath River. It was so beautiful and serene. (About halfway through, I decided I really was a bit stupid considering the recent news about the demise of Chandra Levy. But I was continuously conscious of alternative routes back to civilization if needed.)

There were these dragon-fly type creatures that followed me down the path, flitting from leaf to leaf. They were black for the most part, but when the sun hit them, they had the most brilliant stripe of metallic blue on their wings. (Again, I need a digital camera.)

When the path went away from the river, it started to follow alongside a green pond. It was covered in neon green muck, but it was still pretty.

Beth and I went back that night... it was still lovely outside. Then I showed her the cemetary at Carnton. We also walked up to the plantation house and gardens. Is it technically trespassing if you don't see any signs?

Not all who wander are lost. ~J.R.R. Tolkien

And now...the moment you've all been waiting for.... Star Wars meets Rocky Horror Picture Show. (Wouldn't it be great if this caught on??)

"It's wrong to destroy literature."

Tell me again why I haven't quit this job.

Molested Cars - "So what is a molested car? Basically it has been modified in ways that do not enhance the vehicle in any way." The paint-job section highlights one of my vehicle pet peeves... the paintjob you hope that no one honestly paid for... and if so, you are hoping they are in a lawsuit trying to get their money back. (via The Presurfer)

I spent the early part of this afternoon on the deck in a daft effort to increase my odds of getting skin cancer (aka attempting to get some color... but for any redhead, this just means getting more freckles.). I'm finding that I got a little crispier than I thought at the time. Ouch!

This concept is fascinating me today. Let-Me-Stay-For-A-Day. The guy is basically hitchhiking around the world with the help of gracious hosts along the way. Amazing. Partly insane, but amazing.


Which era in time are you?

Epitonic is literally rocking my world right now. Ahh the joys of having a highspeed connection now.

"Our love is God... let's go get a slushie." Heathers was on television today.

I've been waiting and hoping that one of these times the Friday Five would load for me... but alas. No.

I have found the most inexpensive copy of the Lord of the Rings Collector's Edition is at amazon.com. I have the green boxed copy of The Hobbit shown there as well. I will purchase this in two weeks.

Bought my plane ticket to Orlando today -- leaving two weeks from today. Will purchase my ticket home for the Fourth of July weekend tomorrow. Just call me a globetrotter. I cannot wait. I need these trips.

Memphis is gearing up for the big Lewis/Tyson fight tomorrow. Hundreds of police will be on duty... and they have apparently been preparing for this night. The police director told the officers, "You will not go on vacation, you will not die, you will not get sick and you will not have a baby. Not on June 8, you won't."

Congrats to my uncle who got his Australian citizenship today... well, I guess time-wise it was technically yesterday, but date-wise it was today. Now when do I get to come visit?

Aww yeah... my daddy is your daddy, so we must be sistas.

Couple weird experiences in the last 24 hours...
#1. Last night saw a hot air balloon land in the carpark of the apartment complex across the street. (This is why I need a digital camera.)
#2. Saw a very long, slightly mangled, very dead snake on the road outside the office here this morning.

Today I move to the other office. Let the mayhem ensue.

Everything I Ever Wanted To Know About Mythic Structure I Stole... – er....uh – Borrowed From The Lord Of The Rings

By George Lucas

Lay out your epic in a trilogy format. There is something balanced and almost mystical about the number three. People will think you are deep.

Follow these basic guidelines for general structuring:
Part One - Introduce the characters and set out on the quest.
Part Two - Things tend to go rather poorly for the heroes. Split them up and end on a down note.
Part Three -The heroes' darkest hour, and yet a glimmer of hope remains. Resurrect some ancient practices and save the day.

The "main" character(s) should be little more than locals – everyone like to see the Everyman win. He, she or they should also have some strong – if unknown – connection in the past to the larger events of the world. Usually this involves a relative. A powerful heirloom might be handed down to the one(s) about to undertake the quest.

The intrepid band of heroes should be lead by a wise old lore- master (possibly with mystic powers) who should "die" at the end of the first part. He is allowed to show up later in the story either because he did not actually perish or he can walk the earth again as a wisdom- imparting phantom.

To really drive home that "down note" at the end of Part Two, take one of your favorite characters and either kill him (her) off or leave him (her) in such a state that their ultimate survival in the future is VERY much in question. In other words: BIG CLIFFHANGER ENDING.

What is your official Ya-Ya name?
I'm Queen Sitting Turtle. :)

I just talked to Beth (aka Princess Rattling Gourd). She is out of surgery and seems to be doing fine... just a little tired.

This is quite possibly the oddest website I have come across in a while: uppity.com
Bizarro.

Yes, I may be known for my strange thought processes sometimes... but you really need to do a google search for "ever get the feeling" once. It comes up quite humorously in different contexts:
• "Do you ever get the feeling that your life is a great adventure..." (I think I'm a Magician, btw)
• "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"
• "Ever get the feeling no one is paying attention to you?"
• "Did you ever get the feeling you were being watched?"
• "Ever get the feeling that you are miscast as someone who has a brain?"
• "Ever get the feeling that the person next to you on the plane paid half of what you did for the same flight?" (oh yeah... all the time)
• "Did you ever get the feeling that what you learnt in science class at high school was just plain wrong?"
• "Did you ever get the feeling that you're just a marionette in someone's grand play?"
• "Did you ever get a funny feeling that your cat was trying to tell you something?" (haha)
• "Do you ever get the feeling that what's happening to you now isn't happening to you for the first time?"
• "Do you ever get the feeling that what's happening to you now isn't happening to you for the first time?" :)
• "Do you ever get the feeling that you're going to be single forever?" (die!)
• "Do you ever get the feeling that your brain is wired a little bit differently from everyone else's?" (more often than you might think)

Everyone must go get Contact by The Benjamin Gate when it comes out in July. Take special note of the "Danielle" mentioned under The Band Thanks: section. :) Hehe... Thux just showed it to me. Spelled right and everything. He said I can also be included in Chris's thanks, because he just thanks "everyone".

I am Arwen Undomiel, daughter of Elrond and Celebrian of Rivendell. I gave up my immortality for love, but it was for the hottest Ranger-King of Middle Earth. In the movie, I'm played by Liv Tyler.
|| Which Lord of the Rings Elf are you? ||

So it truly is a worldwide web... I was looking for a tongue-in-cheek website about the temperature of hell (don't ask), when I found this site for Your #1 Hell-Weather Service. Slightly entertaining, so I look around to see who made it. Dan Huff. Dan is/was apparently a member of the band Circadian Rhythm... who played at Flevo last year two nights before ES which was one of the trips that I desperately wanted to go on with them.

Anyway... staff meeting beckons...

I was touched by this website: AmericanLegacy.org. I guess almost everyone has been affected by the horror of cancer. And for anyone who hasn't, this site puts a face with it.

Beth has her tumor removed tomorrow at 10:30. Prayers would be appreciated -- that it goes well, that it does not come back this time, that her treatments following the surgery do not make her sick, etc. Duncan just called and asked how she is doing. He seemed surprised to hear that she is working today and has intentions of being back by Thursday. Hopefully he and his wife will call her and tell her to take it easy. (I think the more people who tell her she is overdoing it, the better.) Problem is they have their big Canada tour starting this week, so she feels too needed to be lying around at home.

So we're all a little disappointed about Sacramento... Go Nets!


:: how jedi are you? ::

I am trying to rationalize spending $29.99 on a .jpg. We found my mother's family crest, and last year I drew it as an 18x24 for which she is looking for a frame in order to hang it in her sitting room. Now I found out that this site has my dad's, and I really want to see it... I've been told that it has has three stripes blue-white-blue with a red cross in the middle, but then again, I've heard that it has a ship on it somehow. Oh the pressure.

Song for the Day:
Land of Confusion - Genesis

Song for the Day (Part 2):
Just Wait - Blues Traveler

Jack and I went to see Fellowship of the Ring yesterday afternoon. It really was breathtaking. Another parallel I found was the death of Gandalf and the death of Obi Wan... accompanied by Frodo's/Luke's scream of "Noooooooooooooo!". They also had a trailer for The Two Towers that really has me excited for the next installment.

We went to the Opryland Hotel this afternoon. Pretty amazing. The thing I loved the best was the waterway that passes through it. They brought in water from different bodies all over the world and blended it together for their stream. There was even water from the Big Sioux River back home. :)

After a revelation brought to me by Martin over at The Copydesk, I have been checking into the works of Bill Bryson... a fellow Iowa native. What I have read thus far has been a real delight, so today I picked up In a Sunburned Country. I figured between my family down there and all the aussies I know here, I've as good as been there myself.

So which letter of the alphabet matches YOUR personality, huh? (via another danielle)

Call it blasphemy if you will, but I have yet to see Fellowship of the Rings. I didn't want to see it until I had read the book, which I didn't want to read until after I had finished The Hobbit... neither of which has happened yet. So I mentioned this to Ted today. He highly recommended that I see it in the theater if I still could.

We then got into a conversation about the parallels between FOTR and the Star Wars Triology/Sextet/Quintet (whatever you want to call it at this stage of the game). This is what we've got so far:
1. The Orks = The Clones
2. The white wizard (I think) = Dooku (funny that it's the same guy)
3. Doon Mountain/volcano (or whatever) = the Death Star/reactor core

So it's still showing at Hundred Oaks. I guess I've got my weekend planned.

(By the by, Jack left me a voicemail last night. I guess I should call him while he's still in town, eh?)

One has to wonder how much stalking this site promotes. The idea is that New Yorkers are supposed to map their blogs according to where they're located in the city based on the nearest subway stop. I think that blogs set people up for freaky internet stalking anyway -- your average page includes all the information about age, looks, photos... and then after reading for a while one can pick up where those people go and who they are with -- and now we can help stalkers narrow the vicinity of where we sleep at night down to a couple block radius. Good plan.

I saw this picture on anthropologie.com... the pants are cute, but I am in love with the suitcases. In fact, I have one exactly like the large one on the right. I have two makeup cases like that which I inherited from my Grandmother, except one is a little bluer and the other is brown. (I also have the two full-size brown suitcases, and another beige one that isn't in the best shape.) I would love to have a hat box like the one in the picture though! I love those vintage Samsonite hard suitcases!!

So last night I started rating my music. When I grew weary of writing reviews for them, I just started going through my cds and either adding them to the database or clicking that I own them... then I will go back and review later. I had attempted doing this before, but I gave up... I may still go back to that format when I do more reviews though. I really love this guy's method, but again -- far too time consuming for me at the moment. I've gone through two crates... I have three more to go... plus whatever is in my car... and then I have literally boxes in the garage of cds from clients that I have never even opened -- including the entire Michael Card collection and all the new releases from Tooth & Nail in 2001.

Apparently there is no Friday Five today, so instead I will create my own version:
If you could pick only five channels to be on your television, what would they be? (And you may add for what particular reason.)
1. FOX - for 24
2. ABC - for The Practice and Whose Line Is It Anyway?
3. TLC - for Trading Spaces, et. al.
4. TDC - for Shark Week, et. al.
5. This is tough, but I think I am going to go with MTV... I want my... I want my... I want my MTV

Email quote of yesterday:
"Be peeved. I'm peeved on your behalf."

Karl is on his way to Guatemala. He's bringing back souveniers. :)