1. I never, ever, ever get heartburn. But, the last three nights in a row — I’ve had the most killer, hellacious, buckled-over heartburn.

2. I got a B (88/100) on my first English Composition essay. My grammar was correct, and my English instructor even said it was a great essay. But, he couldn’t tell me how to increase the grade to an A. It didn’t have ’spark’. He couldn’t explain to me how to achieve an A, he just knows spark when he sees it. He has twenty years experience, afterall. I fail to see how he’s teaching me composition. But I know teaching in action when I see it.

3. No matter how much OJ I use to chase my cherry-flavoured, Vicks 44 cough syrup — the vile taste just doesn’t go away. Vicks 44 is also not helping the heartburn.

4. Y’know how sometimes you just need a change? Going back to school is certainly a change, but that’s not quite what I mean. I can always get a hair cut, or buy new clothes, but that’s not really what I mean, either. I tried changing my blog, but that didn’t do it. That’s the problem, I can’t define it.

5. I think I found a group of people that I hate more than cops — postal workers!

6. I really, really, really want to nick the neighbors cat. She’s teeny (like our youngest cat, Jazz), and is the sweetest cat.

7. I haven’t bought a new pair of shoes since August. I know, there are poor children in third-world nations who don’t even have shoes.

8. I’m going to withdraw from my photography class and take it next semester. I got behind in the required dark room work, and now I’m just lost. I hate having to admit that I don’t get something, or that I can’t just figure it out on my own, but that’s how it is. I can’t figure out how to process negatives or make prints on my own. There, I said it.

9. Omega-3 Fatty Acids are the greatest things ever, but they don’t quite take all of the edge off of anxiety.

10. It would be really nice to sit back, relax and read something I want to read.

12. The computer has been giving me fits, lately. Everyday there’s something new that slows it down. Eventually, I’m going to spend time on the computer just to run various anti- or PC Maintenance programs and never do what I need or want to do.

13. Just blah.

Questions courtesy of LittlePea

1. Who were your role models growing up? Are they the same now that you’re older or have they changed?

Y’know, I don’t remember ever having any role models. It’s possible that I did have a role model, but I can’t think of who it would have been. I would also say that I don’t really have any now. No one has ever impressed me so much that I would strive to be like them.

2. What was the best advice ever given to you? What was the best advice you ever gave?

I was once told that when you lie about your age, you should lie UP. If you’re 30 and say you’re 35, then you’re a 35 year old that looks younger. But if you’re 30 and say you’re 25, then you’re a 25 year old that’s looking a little older.

As far as giving advice, it would be: Negative reinforcement does not work with birds. I told quite a few clients that while working at an independent pet shop.

3. Do you believe in, or have you ever had any encounters with ghosts?

Okay, I don’t REALLY believe in ghosts or anything metaphysical or spiritual (or whatever you want to call it), but I’ll go to my grave believing I’ve seen one. At Allerton Park in Monticello, IL, there is a lady in white who is said to walk the grounds. I’d been hiking with my friend, Worley, and it was hot and we had no water when I saw her walking in the woods and then disappear. I must have been hallucinating. It wasn’t until we later spoke with a ranger that we learned that this particular ghost had been seen many times.

4. Okay, hypothetical scenario: An asteroid is heading straight for Earth and will destroy everything. The good news is, every human will be evacuated to a twin planet. There is only enough room to bring one sentimental item, what are you bringing?

Actually, and this is a little odd, I’d bring a stick with me. But not just any stick, this stick:

I found this at Girl Scout Camp when I was little, and painstakingly whittled away most of the bark and then coated it with Polyurethane. I’ve had it for roughly 20 years. A former roommate was quite surprised when I ripped him a new one for using it to beat a rug.

5. Surely you must be sick of my bragging about my secret special beach. You always have beautiful pictures on your blog and have mentioned geocaching a couple times. Do you have a special place of your own that you visit for peace of mind and solitude?

I could never get sick of hearing about your secret beach. Only madly jealous of your shark teeth finds. Madly.

Peace of mind and solitude? Not gonna happen. Not ever. I have no desire to change that since I don’t see my lack of calm as negative.

Interview rules:

If you request questions from me, please give me a few days so that I can personalize them.

50 Books: A Meme of One’s Own

Five most recent books you’ve bought for yourself:
1. Montana Trivia by Janet Spencer
2. Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon
3. 2006 Federal Aviation Regulations Aeronautical Information Manual (FAR/AIM)
4. Faking It by Jennifer Crusie
5. Accidents in North American Mountaineering 2002 by Jed Williamson & Nancy Hansen (editors)
Bonus: The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder & Noah D. Oppenheim (I put this in because I bought it yesterday, after I had already typed everything out).

Five books you’ve most recently given other people:
I’m cheating here because these are the most recent books we’ve sent out via Paper Back Swap
1. Darkness, Tell Us by Richard Laymon
2. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
3. The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red by Ellen Rimbauer
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
5. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Five most recent books you’ve loaned other people, and their status:
Ummm… I haven’t lent any out.

Last five kids’ books you bought:
The Harry Potter series are the only children’s books I’ve purchased, the answer would be books 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2.

Last five books you looked at on Amazon/Chapters/Powell’s/etc.:
That would actually be the five books under ‘the books I’ve recently given to someone’. But, anyway. I usually look at books on Quality Paperback Books
But, they are:
1. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
2. Where are they Buried, How did they Die? by Tod Benoit
3. Five People who Died During Sex by Karl Shawn
4. Cell by Stephen King
5. The Desk Encyclopedia of World History by Elizabeth Martin

Top five books on your “to read” pile:
1. Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon
2. Othello by William Shakespeare
3. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
4. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer-Bradley
5. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Bottom five books on your “to read” pile:
1. 2006 Federal Aviation Regulations Aeronautical Information Manual (FAR/AIM)
2. Middlesex: A Novel by Jefferey Eugenides
3. The Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly
4. Quiet as a Nun by Antonia Fraser
5. Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

Whaddya think?

1. Find a home with a landlord that allows pets. Lots of pets.

2. Submit all remaining paperwork for college by July 15.
3. Quit a few bad habits.
4. Get back to a normal sleep schedule.
5. Three words: Comfortable Office Chair.
6. Put a large dent in my To Be Read pile.
7. Replace torn carpeting on our cat tree with sisal.
8. Quit slacking on my Irish Gaelic lessons.
9. Get rid of clutter. I think this will be the most difficult one!
10. To NOT see any blonde, celebutards wasting programming space on CNN, or other media outlets.
11. Figure out Wordpress and install it to my own server on my own domain.
12. Finish the Agatha Chrisite PC game And Then There Were None that I’ve been playing for a few months.
13. Enjoy time with Dan!

Is this an original Thursday Thirteen? No, but I don’t care… Pfflbbt! And I’m too lazy to link to the actual posts that these led to. So there.

1. Bunny Cat Chase

2. Picture of Jay Leno’s Cat — This search was used TWICE!!! And from different geographical locations.

3. +Kalispell+”tori amos”

4. Tara+St Patrick

5. Old PC games cat chasing cheese

6. “montana state trooper” — This has been searched for countless times.

7. kalispell celebrites — Umm… That chick from Dawson’s Creek and Brokeback Mountain?

8. There are 5 houses in 5 different colors in a row. In each house lives a person with a different nationality. — This was the riddle I posted that I still owe my niece a matchbox for getting correct. (It’s almost done, I swear!)

9. cactus microscopy

10. cat office supplies

11. runaway leopard gecko — My leopard gecko really was a runaway lizard. Someone turned her in to the pet store I worked at after they found her in their crawl-space.

12. david copperfield phase of moon trick card

13. tom pecorelli — My tribute to Tom is listed in my right sidebar under 2,996 Project.

Odd Bonus: when and how did christianity reach ireland — this was after my St. Patrick’s Day Post.

All in all, they’re not too weird.

I’ve had this meme kicking around for a while in a notepad file. I figured I’d finally fill it out and post it.

Three things that scare me: Centi/Millipedes, deep water and Microsoft.

Three People who make me laugh: Dan, Eddie Izzard and contrary people (I laugh after I’m done banging my head against a wall).

Three things I love: Birds, gadgets and sushi.

Three things I hate: Bigots, movie theaters and, well, Microsoft.

Three things I do not understand: Bigotry, contrariness, the instructions to my new alarm clock.

Three things on my desk: Empty Dr. Pepper can, empty Dr. Pepper can and half-full Dr. Pepper can. Really? GPSr, a Staples fácil button (yes, a fácil and not an easy button), a coaster.

Three things I want to do before I die: Travel, finish college, have a Kobe steak.

Three things I can do: Turn my tongue completely over (sideways), change a tire and I have a unique talent for making girls cry.

Three things I can’t do: Sing, dance or resist a kitten or puppy.

Three things I think you should listen to: Your conscience, instincts and no one else.

Three things you should never listen to: The president, elitists with superiority complexes intent on nothing other than making sure you feel horrible, and the little voice in your head that says, “you can have fun when you retire, until then be a stick in the mud.”

Three things I’d like to learn: Anger management, Irish (language), every logical fallacy by heart.

Three shows I watched as a kid: Smurfs, Facts of Life and… hrmm… I think I watched Diff’rent Strokes.

1. How to speak Irish. I’ve been using some online instruction guides, have tons of books and audio cd programs, and I read a lot of blogs written in Irish. It just isn’t that easy. Not in the least!

2. Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop. I can usually figure things out pretty quickly, and I can do things with a tutorial, but then I forget what I’ve just done.

3. How to Rock Climb. It’s a good thing heights don’t scare me.

4. How to sew. I don’t have any urge to get into quilting or all those country crafts. I just want to be able to make home decor that I like, rather than hoping I can find something pre-made. Like curtains. I hate the curtains available in the stores. And decorative pillows. And Dog beds. I could go on and on…

5. I’d like to learn how to hook up this TV Tuner thing that my computer came with. On this one I actually have to put forth the effort to read up on it. I just haven’t done it yet.

6. How to be a smoke jumper. This one is never going to happen, but I’d love to be a smoke jumper.

7. How to play the guitar. Dan has tried to teach me, but I just can’t wrap my brain around it.

8. How to speed read. I don’t really feel the urge to learn this, but it would sure be nice to get through the gazillion books in my to-be-read pile.

9. Photography. I would like to take a few photography classes this fall when I go back to school, but they fill up very quickly, so I will probably have to wait until next spring, or the following year.

10. How to make paper. I really enjoy paper crafts, and the only thing I could add to that is to make paper myself. I was also always fond of sculpture, and have a few paper sculpture projects in mind.

11. After I’m done making paper, I’d like to learn how to make books. I think I could make some neat journals of handmade, scented paper. Maybe with embroidered covers.

12. Candle making. I read a lot of forums and websites about making candles. I peruse the candle section of a local hobby store and online shops. I just need to slowly gather supplies.

13. How to be more focused. I have some attention span issues. Meaning that I don’t have one. I could learn any of these things if I could just sit down and follow through.

So, there you have it. Any suggestions or resources that you think might help me accomplish these? Have you done any of these yourself?

1. Shoes — Sneakers, heels, funky platforms, flip-flops — they’re all good!

2. Gadgets — It doesn’t matter what it does, how many things it does, or if I’ll ever need it to do what it does, I love gadgets.

3. DVDs — Especially TV on DVD.

4. Manic Panic — So my hair isn’t always a colour naturally found on the human head, so what? If you don’t like it, that’s your problem!

5. Anything that says, “Burt’s Bees,” on it!

6. Office Supplies — Do I need a half million pens, pencils, erasers, mini-staplers, or post-it note dispensers? No, I don’t even use the post-its at all, but I still have to have them!

7. Bags, binders, totes, filing systems, etc. I’m not the most tidy person, but I can organize like nobody’s business. I may not have a place for my camera bag, but my camera and accessories have a place.

8. Scrapbooking supplies — I have so much stuff, and I haven’t finished a page in, well, a while.

9. Sound systems — I don’t have one, but speaker wires alone will send me into a tizzy! And I will have a 5.1 speaker system for my computer (7.1 would be better, though).

10. Cars — Fast ones. Ones that corner at at least 40 mph. Black is good, too. With a leather interior (and of course, the aforementioned sound system).

11. Plants — Especially orchids and African Violets. I think houseplants make for a healthy household, but our house would look like a jungle if I had it my way. (That is, when we find a house.)

12. Jeans — At one point I had about 50 pairs of jeans. I don’t buy so many anymore (I only have five pairs), and I let the one’s I do have wear out until they fall off, but if I find a great pair at Ross or TJ Maxx, they’re mine!

13. Do cats count? What about dogs? Birds?

By the way, for last week’s Thursday Thirteen, I listed 13 things on my desk and was asked for photos. Here they are.

1. My awesome Web cam.

2. My equally awesome Olympus SP-350 Digital Camera

3. The best Eye drops ever. Visine A with Antihistamine and redness reliever.

4. My Peter Rabbit round tin that holds our half million pens, pencils and scissors.

5. A lighted 5X magnification mirror. Yep, I tweeze my brows at my desk.

6. A can of compressed air. The best invention ever. It also works well as a cat deterrent.

7. A newly arrived post card from New Zealand — my first one from NZ.

8. A self-healing mat, cork board I use for crafts, bone folder, adhesives and an 18″ stainless steel ruler.

9. A yellow, HP, 02 series ink cartridge for Gertie (my printer).

10. A 180 GB external hard drive, named Billy. I use it for weekly backups, as well as extra backup for photos. I cannot tell you how many photos I’ve lost because I didn’t back them up regularly.

11. A 2007 Crossword of the Day Desk Calendar.

12. A Great Smoky Mountains Geocoin that I found the other day in our first Geocache find. (Scroll down if you’d like to see it).

13. Green Tea flavoured Chap stick. I also have a large zip lock bag filled with about a hundred more chap sticks. I can’t get enough of them!