Thirteen Random Things

1. I think March and April are the worst months for me. The cabin fever is at it’s worst, and I feel more cooped up than ever.

2. We just got a Cue Cat to scan DVD’s and books into our Collectorz programs. It’s kinda cheap and plain, but it gets the job done.

3. I seriously need a drastic change. I’m not sure what that change should be.

4. I really want a new Swingline stapler. You know the one. The red one.

5. If we don’t find a place to live soon, I’m going to go crazy.

6. I’d really like to join a gym. There are a few here, but they’re either not in Kalispell, or have horrible hours. Seriously, what gym closes at 5pm?

7. I cannot wait until Dan gets home so we can start dinner. Mmmm… Spaghetti with garlic shrimp.

8. I’m thinking about uninstalling the video and audio comment plug-in. It’s never been used, and it’s kind of pointless anyway. Anyone wanna try it out before I uninstall it?

9. We got 10% off of next months Netflix bill. Cool.

10. I really, really need to buy new clothes. I used to be quite the clothes horse, but in the last few years, it hasn’t seemed important. Well, unimportant until you don’t have any.

11. There’s no new Lost until April 24??? How will I survive? I’m already in withdrawl.

12. I didn’t want Penn Jillette to get voted off of Dancing with the Stars. I’m a huge Penn & Teller fan. Monica Seles totally deserved to get booted.

13. Just once, I want to be able to eat string cheese in peace. If the bird’s demands don’t drive me insane, the 22 pound cat that takes a flying leap into my lap, will.

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Thirteen Things I Absolutely Love
1. Elvis Presley. I remember telling a neighbor girl I was friends with, that people who were born the year that Elvis died were cursed. She believed it.
My favourite Elvis song, That’s Alright Mama:

2. Eeyore, and in particular, Classic Eeyore. I’m trying to learn to be more positive and less, erm, gloomy, but there will always be a part of me that relates to Eeyore.

3. When Solomon, my African Grey Parrot, says to me, “Can I have a kiss? Mwah Mwah Mwah!” As much as he can try my patience sometimes, when he says that — my heart just melts.

4. Bugs. There are a few exceptions, namely, cockroaches, but I love all the colours, sounds and behaviors of bugs.

5. Mary Jane style slipper socks. For the past few seasons they’ve been super trendy and in all of the stores. I can’t get enough of them!
6. The art of Juli Adams. We first saw her work at an an arts festival here in Kalispell, and I immediately fell in love with her paintings. We bought a print that day, but I’d love to purchase an original.

7. I love to bake. It’s odd that I don’t like to eat most of what I like to bake. I don’t have much of a sweet-tooth, and while I like bread, I don’t eat a lot of it.

8. Binders, page protectors and divider tabs. I also love Sharpies, Papermate felt-tipped pens and highlighters. Oh, and red, Swingline staplers, automatic pencil sharpeners and three-hole punches. I guess I just love Staples and Office Max.

9. This should be a given, but I lurve cats. I may love them, but I need another like I need a hole in the head. Five is more than enough for me.

10. Applebee’s Bruschetta Burger! I could eat those all day, everyday!

11. I can never have too many sets of stationary, note cards and cute envelopes. I don’t know why I haven’t gotten into card making or stamping. I should start that hobby, just so I can have the cute correspondence stuff!

12. Orchids, lilacs, roses and dahlias. Those are all of my favourite flowers.

13. I love most anything to do with the ocean. My dream home would be Monterey Bay Aquarium. Sure, I know it’s not a house, but I’ll bet I could make it one!

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Image courtesy of Samulli

Thirteen Reasons Why I Feel Like the Frog

Last week’s Thursday Thirteen unintentionally took on an air of depression. Really, I’m perfectly cheery. I thought that this week I’d try to counteract the negativity with a list of the good things. Here they are:

1. I got an A on my second English essay. I will always take an A without complaint.

2. Two words: Nintendo Wii! In addition to The Legend of Zelda (my favourite game series), I’ve also developed a love for Wii Sports — I can kick some serious boxer butt, throw a 95mph fast ball and bowl a perfect game.

3. My Pink Butterfly iDog. Sometimes it takes so very little to amuse me.

4. My favourite cat, Meg, curled up and slept with me last night. She tends to be a little haughty. Humans tend to soil her silky fur.

5. I think I’ve got linear regression figured out. I was a little worried at first, but it’s surprising what you can learn if you actually read a math textbook.

6. Torchwood brought back Susie! Sure, it was just for one episode, and she was the bad guy, but they did bring her back. From the dead, even. (I’m a huge fan of Indira Varma.)

7. At Costco I found almond scented bath wash, hand soap and lotion. I don’t think there’s any scent I love more than almond. Maybe Febreeze, but I don’t want to smell like Febreeze.

8. I found a recipe for Dutch Babies:
1 TBS Butter
1 C. All-purpose flour
1 TBS Granulated Sugar
1¼ C. Milk
2 Large Eggs, at room temperature
¼ tsp Salt
Confectioner’s Sugar, for dusting
Fresh fruit of your choice (the recipe recommends nectarines and black berries) for topping.
Optional: ¼ tsp. Vanilla Extract and/or ¼ tsp. Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°F. Put the butter in a 9-inch pie pan and place it in the oven to met.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, milk, eggs and salt. Using an electric mixer set at medium-high, beat the mixture for 1½ to 2 minutes, or until smooth. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully swirl to evenly coat the bottom with the butter. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the edges have risen and are crisp and golden-brown, and the center is set but still soft.

Remove the pan from the oven and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Cut the pancake into wedges, top with fruit and serve immediately.

Makes 6-8 servings.

9. It’s Hallowe’en and there will be tons of horror flick goodness on the telly tonight.

10. My computer is completely spy ware, virus and error free. All of my hard drives are defragmented and backed up. All updates to all programs are installed and functioning, and all of the ‘junk’ files, empty folders and dead shortcuts are gone. I run all of our maintenance programs on a schedule, but it feels nice when everything is done at the same time.

11. My three day bout with heartburn is over.

12. I have a huge stack of magazines to feed my habit. This might be considered as just another item to add to my to-do list, but kicking back with a magazine is what I do when I want to avoid my to-do list.

13. My honey has three days off in a row to spend with me!

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Image courtesy of Samulli

Thirteen Reasons Why I Feel Like the Cricket

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.

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Thirteen Things About Returning to College

1. The fresh-out-of-high-school freshman are so tiny! Much smaller than my peers were when I was eighteen.

2. 140 dollars for a book? Is it made of gold? $140 is actually nothing compared to what the nursing students are paying for their books or what the engineering students paid at the UofI.

3. What exactly am I going to major in? Since it’s a small community college I’m attending, I have four choices: associate of science, associate of arts, assosiate of applied science and associate of applied arts. But what to do after these next two years? Beats me!

4. If my English instructor asks me where I learned something one more time…

5. I remember math being a lot more difficult. Oh wait, it wasn’t, I just didn’t do my homework. Why didn’t I do my homework in high school and get this stuff out of the way?

6. 97% on my English placement exam? I missed a question? Show me! I want proof! (If any of you regularly read my blog you might be asking, “how did you score so well on your English placement exam?” The answer is simple, my blog does not affect my GPA.)

7. When DickBlick said that this 18″ x 24″ portfolio actually holds 18″ x 24″ paper, they were lying.

8. My classes and homework had better not interfere with Dancing with the Stars, Heroes and Lost, or I’m not going! I kid!

9. Can they teach me how to think inside of the box? This abstract thinking that no one but me understands is beginning to get frustrating.

10. I’m almost certain that the pre-Socratic philosophers must have had an early bid on the opium trade.

11. I can overcome my disrespect for authority and check my attitude. I will not be asked to leave.

12. My photography instructor attends Burning Man every year and says, “it’s cool!” a lot. This is going to be a fun class!

13. Dan must love me a lot to bust his tail like he does so that I can go to school full time. I shouldn’t be so hard on him when he leaves his dirty socks turned inside-out on the floor.

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Thirteen Goals to Accomplish this Summer

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!

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thirteen Search Terms that Led to this Blog

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.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thirteen Things I Would like to Learn

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?

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thirteen Stupid Things People Have Said

1. “I may have said something about the NAACP being un-American or communist, but I meant no harm by it.”
–Jefferson B. Sessions III (R-Alabama), prior to his serving in the senate

2. “I shouldn’t say I’m a vegetarian because I love sweets.”
–LaToya Jackson

3. “We have very hazardous conditions due to a five-year drought, and lack of rain hasn’t helped any, either.”
–KABC-7 Reporter, Los Angeles

4. “ATOMIC BOMBERS UPSET OVER ENOLA HOMOSEXUAL EXHIBIT”
–A Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) headline, referring to the Smithsonian Institution’s planned exhibit on the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima by the plane the Enola Gay

5. “Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.”
–Church Bulletin listing

6. “This global terrorism is everywhere.”
–Madonna

7. “The biggest problem with earthquake prediction studies is that you don’t know when there’ll be an earthquake.”
–Alasdair Skelton, Stockholm University, Sweden

8. “[This is] a place that would be pretty much like the place that I would have grown up in, I think, if I had have grown up here.”
–Political pundit Alan Keyes, on the Chicago neighborhood he chose to rent in after moving to the state to run for the U.S. Senate.

9. Customer: “I’m an educated man, so don’t you dare talk down to me!”
Tech Support: “OK, sir. Do you have a desktop or tower case?”
Customer: “Don’t use that technical s*** with me!”
–Actual call to a computer tech-support line (I heard stuff like this ALL THE TIME while working at a call center for a cell phone provider.)

10. “A Thursday story incorrectly quoted Councilman Stewart Clifton as calling Mayor Bill Boner a ’squeeze-bag’. Clifton called Boner a ’sleaze-bag’.”
–From the Nashville Banner

11. “The sun rose promptly at dawn.”
–Tom Clancy’s novel The Teeth of the Tiger

12. “Justice ought to be fair.”
–President George W. Bush, speaking at the White House Economic Conference

13. “I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”
–Then Vice-President George H.W. Bush at a Press Conference at O’Hare Airport

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thirteen Material Weaknesses’
As a semi-existentialist I can make a case for materialism, these all top my list:

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?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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