Monday, May 30, 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Cheater, Cheater Pumpkin Eater

          So, I was reading up on my fashion (which I do on occassion...ie. when I'm bored out of my ever lovin' mind, which happened yesterday while the kidlet was napping) and read an interesting article about Urban Outfitter stealing one independent designers' idea, read more about it here. Long story short, for those of you who don't want to click or clicked realized the story was too long and came back hoping I'd recap, a designer made a necklace, she says that Urban copied it and tells the whole Twitter world, immediately gets a lot of anti-Urban responses, including some from Miley Cyrus, so much so that Urban has to respond some how, check it out here. Recap: Urban says that they didn't do it, but if they did than she did too (although they didn't come out and say that instead they said the opposite and let the evidence speak for itself), since that particular necklace design was used before her original Etsy post and after her original post, if you read the whole article at Regretsy you'll even see where someone has shown how the necklace designer plagarized one of her own designs from someone in Germany.
         And, all I could and still think, as I surf the Net for more and more information on the subject, is: "No wonder why there is a prevalence of students who copy essays off the internet or magazines and have no problem letting their parents/siblings/significant others write their papers...there is no longer a fine line of what constitutes the word cheating and there is no longer a 'true' definition of plagarism in the media, why should there be for 16 year olds?"
         The definitions for both plagiarism and cheat are really quite simple, and yet, it seems the whole world has a problem with both. If you use somebody's product without giving credit to that somebody you are, in fact, plagarizing. If you use dishonesty to get answers for a test or homework assignment (examples include: copying answers from someone with or without their knowledge or willing let someone copy answers, as you are then culpable to the crime), if you use fraud to gain something valuable (ie. using someone else's necklace design to boost sells or letting someone else write your paper or do your homework) you are, in fact, cheating. And, although you may not be caught by the law or your teacher, that doesn't mean that either doesn't know...just because it can't be 'proven' that doesn't make what you are doing any less wrong in the eyes of  your teacher, the police or God.
          Hmmm...since it is Sunday let's look at that for a minute, shall we? Again, the answer is simple...The Bible says that stealing is wrong (Lev. 6:1-2, 6-7; however here's a whole article on the matter) it also says that lying is wrong (here's a pretty clear cut one Proverbs 12:22, but for a whole slew of scripture, check here and here) you are doing both when you plagiarize and cheat.
   
Now, to make sure that we each go away with ways to not plagiarize and cheat, here are some simple rules to follow:

1] If you are using an item for your blog cite your source, if you are trying to make money off the item, though, you must get permission or don't use it at all. Find more on fair use here.
2] If you are using the internet (which by the way I did in its infancy) to get ideas, but not to copy and paste ideas as your own that's OK, however, if you use anything from the website you get ideas from you must cite your source properly. As a teacher, it's really easy for me to Google a phrase from your paper and find the original source...I'm just saying.
3] If you are letting someone else do your homework that's a bad idea, if you are letting someone else use your homework that's a bad idea, however, working together to attain answers and than putting those answers into your own words is a good idea...I like to call that learning and there are some of us out there who learn better in groups.
4] Most importantly, however, if it feels wrong in your heart of hearts it is wrong...don't do it!

And, finally, gee-wiz if you are going to post your ideas for all to see people are going to pilfer your ideas, it cannot be helped, I would say that some even do it unintentionally. Watch what you personally put out on the interwebs, people...pretty please, especially if you are going to yell "Foul!" everytime you see what might be something similar to an idea you once had or something...


[Source]

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Six Word Saturday #6

My life in six words
MOTW X-File episodes over Aliens, anytime!



Top 10 Monster of the Week (MOTW) Episodes
(not in any order)

Arcadia
Season 6 Episode 15
Scully and Mulder go undercover as husband and wife in a high-class planned community where several couples have gone missing.

Bad Blood
Season 5 Episode 12
While investigating bizarre exsanguinations in Texas, Mulder kills a teenage boy whom he mistakes for a vampire. Awaiting a meeting with Skinner, Mulder and Scully attempt to get their stories "straight" by relating to each other their differing versions of what happened during their investigation.

3
Season 2 Episode 7
Whilst Agent Scully is still missing, Agent Mulder embarks upon an investigation involving vampires in Los Angeles, subsequently becoming involved with a sultry female vampire who yearns to escape her lifestyle.

Sunshine Days
Season 9 Episode 18
Reyes and Doggett investigate two murders revolving around a house that is, at some points in time, identical to the Brady Bunch house.

How the Ghosts Stole Christmas
Season 6 Episode 6
On Christmas Eve, Mulder and Scully stakeout a house that is supposedly haunted by the ghosts of two lovers who killed each other in a lovers' pact 81 years before. Inside, the agents find two apparitions who are more than willing to give insight into the relationship and personalities of Mulder and Scully.

The Unnatural
Season 6 Episode 19
Mulder uncovers a story involving a Negro baseball player in the 1940s who played for a minor league team in Roswell. When in a photograph he sees the Alien Bounty Hunter it is assumed that Josh Exley, the baseball player in question, might just be alien himself.

Redrum
Season 8 Episode 6
A man lives the most recent 5 days of his life backwards and finds out that he is the main suspect in the murder of his wife.

Je Souhaite
Season 7 Episode 21
Two brothers have a less than helpful genie who grants their wishes with disastrous consequences. Mulder comes into possession of the same genie, and his wishes garner similar results.

Small Potatoes
Season 4 Episode 20
Five unrelated women in a small town give birth to babies with small tails. The prime suspect is a man who can shape shift into whomever he wants.

Home
Season 4 Episode 20
The remains of an infant suffering from an uncharted amount of birth disabilities are uncovered in a field in rural Home, Pennsylvania. The only suspicious residents are three brothers who have lived on their family farm for twenty-some years. They live there alone. Or do they?

Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing. The full list and linky can be found here. And, here's where I found it.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Graduation Questionnaire

So, today is the last day for teachers and tonight is graduation. We 'get' to go to graduation this evening...we 'get' to go every year which got me to thinking about my graduation from high school. I found this questionnaire and narrowed it down to the essential questions (because I 'get' to watch seniors graduate tonight I'm answering it from the perspective of my senior year of high school not college, although college would be way more fun!)...and thought I'd answer them below, if you would like to answer the whole questionnaire click here:

Graduation Meme
Here is a survey for the seniors to take. Feel free to answer the questions here in the comments or on your own blog.

1. Where you lived freshman year?
Mansfield, Missouri on Jennifer street

2. Did you attend concerts/comedians/sports?
Loads of Christian rock concerts and the occassional trip to St. Louis or Columbia to see the Cardinals and the Tigers play

3. Best Senior Prom moment?
Being crowned prom queen and then realizing that my friend Torrie (a junior) and I had on the same dress...different cut, but same navy blue material and we laughed and laughed and laughed...

4. Worst class?
I didn't have a class I didn't like, especially my Senior year when the morning was taken up with open hours and the afternoon was taken up with yearbook and newspaper...if I had to pick one it would be Calculus...I hate math!

5. First heartbreak?
Senior year...almost didn't have a date for prom...not a bad memory, just a sad, real one...and, that is all I'm going to say about that!

6. most embarrassing moment?
Ok, so I am never on time for anything and we were bussed to our prom (about an hour away, we're a small school and for prom we go BIG!) and I still needed shoes, my mom was pulling into the parking lot when the bus began to pull out and my dress caught on something and ripped up the back to the zipper. I yelled at my friend to stop the bus as my mother and I grabbed the back of my dress...hopped back in the car and drove home, where my mother (who always has safety pins handy) safety pinned my dress, raced back to the bus and had a great prom!

7. Play any sports?
Um...no...I was a stat girl and a manager and such for sports (which gets you a sports letter, by the way)

8. Your 18th birthday?
was fantastic and held in conjunction with my friend who turned 18 three days after me!

9. Sunday nights?
were spent doing homework or hanging with friends, going to church

10. What do you miss the most about your days at high school?
the amount of freedom that I didn't know I had!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Growing Pains

          So, because my 35th birthday was fast approaching I had adulthood and growing up and what it means to be a grown-up floating around my little noggin'...
          I read a lovely post over at Dead End Follies about being "adult" that was actually posted on my birthday (isn't it amazing how things work sometimes...?), in this post is a link to an article from Cracked.com (sure the article is written for boys, but the ideas therein apply to all) that I read several months ago, it became evident that I needed to write about what's been stirring around in my mind ever since, well, ever since I turned 30!
         I am not a grown-up. Yes, I have a kid, a husband, a college degree, a job and so on...but, these are only indicators of society's notion of adulthood, they only make me look grown-up.
         In the essay "Growing Pains" from the book It's Not Mean If It's True: More Trials from My Queer Life,  Michael Thomas Ford talks about what growing up means to him, he opens with the most wonderful set of paragraphs, these paragraphs resonated with me when I first read the essay at the age of 23, but now, at 35 (5 years older than Ford's 30 year old self when he wrote the essay), I know them to be true.
"I am a grown-up. I know this because this morning for breakfast I ate half a bag of Reese's miniature peanut butter cups. If I were a child, someone would have stopped me.
But I don't always feel like a grown-up. In fact, most of the time I sit around waiting for someone to tell me what to do next, as if the bell ending recess rang but I can't remember where my classroom is. I keep hoping a hall monitor will happen along and point me in the right direction. The peanut butter cups were clearly an act of rebellion."
         This essay is about trying to fit into a world that prefers to wear suits and carry briefcases and worry about mortgages--a world that prefers to be "adult". I, like Ford, spent my early 30s wondering when I was going to magically become a grown-up and I, like Ford, kept on ticking off things that should make anyone a grown-up--own my car *check*  have a kid and take them to daycare *check* pay taxes *check*...yet...I was looking at the grown-ups around me and still noticing I wasn't meeting some sort of unwritten grown-up standard. I do not feel compelled to be at work in a timely manner, I do not feel compelled to pay my bills in a timely fashion, I do not feel compelled to feel a sense of duty about attending weddings, graduations and other things to which I am invited just because I have been invited. If I have to RSVP to something I usually mail it on the deadline. I drink strawberry and grape soda. Oh and I also drink kool-aid extra sweet. Sometimes the kiddo has pizza for breakfast, one time she had ice cream. Um, I don't shower every day. Er...I can tell you...I don't like the idea of being a grown-up. As Ally in The Breakfast Club says, "When You Grow Old Your Heart Dies." And, every day I found a part of me not being able to remember names of friends from high school, everytime I found myself not being able to recall a particular college road trip, I felt the 'ole heart skip a beat. However, here in the last week whenever I've told people that I'd be 35 or am 35, I've been getting a lot of "Oh, really...?" as in "Oh, really I didn't know people who do what you do [Lord, only knows what that is!] could be over 30!"
         Frankly, I prefer the company of teenagers over the company of most grown-ups...their needs are simple and their efforts are apparent.
         I think I peaked at 17.
         At 17, I would have been the mature one.
         I do love me this way, though.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

30 Day Song Challenge: Day Twenty-one

Day Twenty-One: A song that you listen to when  you're happy
          While I am happy wayyy more than I am angry it has been hard to think of a whole playlist of happy songs (and, I feel the need to make a happy song playlist since I made an angry song playlist).

Here's my Go-To List when I'm feeling especially HAPPY! Many of these songs I listen to every day of the week and twice on Sunday!!!

1. Unwritten  Natasha Bedingfield
2. Pumpkin Soup  Kate Nash
3. Brown-Eyed Girl  Van Morrison
4. 1234  Feist
5. A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action  Elvis
6. Sweet Caroline  Neil Diamond
7. Love Shack  The B-52s
8. All I Wanna Do  Sheryl Crow
9. Beautiful Day  U2
10. Sweet Child 'O Mine  Guns 'n' Roses
11. Banana Pancake  Jack Jackson
12. The Middle  Jimmy Eat World
13. Remedy (I Won't Worry)  Jason Mraz
14. Fame (I Wanna Live Forever)  Irene Kara
15. Celebration  Kool and the Gang
16. Wonderful World Louie Armstrong
17. Sweet Emotion Aerosmith
18. Clocks Coldplay
19. Why Georgia John Mayer

And, my favorite happy song, Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles. How can this song not be everyones favorite happy song...I mean if I'm in a bad/grouchy mood, I instantly perk up and it's a great song to sing along to while driving!

Feel free to join in by commenting below (I really do love comments, on fb or here), or doing this challenge on your own blog.

The 30 Day Song Challenge
Day 01 – Your favorite song
Day 02 -- Your least favorite song
Day 03 -- A song that makes you happy
Day 04 -- A song that makes you sad
Day 06 -- A song that reminds you of someone
Day 06 -- A song that reminds you of somewhere
Day 07 -- A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 08 -- A song that you know all the words to
Day 09 -- A song that you can dance to
Day 15 --A song that describes you
Day 16 --A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 --A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 18 --A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 --A song from your favorite album
Day 20 --A song that you listen to when you're angry

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

50 Books in a Year: #24 What Did I Do Wrong?: What to Do When You Don't Know Why the Friendship Is Over

          I am a person who breaks-up with friends. I am more than willing to admit it. I’m not very good at keeping in touch with friends once they are out of my sphere, although I do miss them. I don’t tell them what’s going on in my life, you’re better at learning about me from Facebook or this blog than getting me to call you or write a letter. I am also more than willing to admit that I was hoping that Liz Pryor’s book What Did I Do Wrong? What to Do when You Don’t Know Why the Friendship Over (from Free Press) would make me feel guilty and repentant. I realized after reading the book, I am nothing like the evil women who have left unendings, I, no matter how much it has hurt me and the other person, have confronted the ending and lived with the consequences. I have no need to feel the guilt and repent like some of the women should feel.
         The beginning of this book is foolishly deceptive, as in it seems like it’s going to be the “Cosmopolitan magazine” approach to friendships, I felt there was nothing there for me to learn. However, Liz Pryor does well to ease the reluctant reader in and then teach us (and, by us I mean women) how we hurt ourselves and each other when we just brush off our friendships.
         She takes us through each step of a friendship break-up, how to do it responsibly and how to heal after a friend has given you the cold shoulder and has stopped answering your phone calls.
         Frankly, it wasn’t until I read this book that I began to understand that women do to other women what they WOULD NEVER want done to themselves. One story really resonated with me, because it is the kind of behavior that you see only in 8th Grade girls, it’s the story of Jessica.

The Story of Jessica, a Preview
     "About a year after the icing, before their house had sold, one of the four neighbors finally contacted Jessica. She called late one night and said, "I just want you to know that what's happened with you was not my doing. I know what good people you are, and i'm sorry that this has happened." But before Jessica could say anything, her former friend hung up.
      A couple of days later, Jessica received a phone call from her former preschool teacher, who said she wanted to tell Jess everything she'd heard about Jessica's family. She felt it was the right thing to do. Jess sat and listened...in horror."

          I am amazed that there are women out there who treat their friends like children and don't give them the respect that they, as adults, deserve.
          I thank Liz Pryor for writing this insightful book about an epidemic that women seem too ashamed to talk about. I hope that Pryor's experiences as well as the experiences of the brave women in her book will help others to not only open up, but understand that sometimes friendships end...be brave enough to end them correctly.

The message is powerful, but the conduit is a little simplistic.

Monday, May 23, 2011

50 Books in a Year: Book #23 Prom and Prejudice

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date."

           And, so Elizabeth Eulberg's tale of prep school and prom dates, Prom and Prejudice, begins. I've read several books that are either Jane Austen spin-offs or are inspired by Jane Austen novels, but hadn't started any for The Jane Austen Reading Challenge that ends this summer and thought I should get on it. Some friends of mine and I took the tiny tot and went to a Scholastic book fair last Thursday. While I was slow paced, reading covers and watching the kiddo as she grabbed books and plopped down on the floor to read, my friends brought me books that they thought I would find interesting. My friend Amanda, who also likes Austen and her tributes, found this book and we immediately decided to purchase copies. I think she purchased hers with the intent on giving it to her little sister (after she read it, of course) I purchased mine entirely for myself...what could be better than a light-hearted YA novel geared towards my favorite Austen novel, Pride and Prejudice? The answer: nothing.

Synopsis from Barnes and Noble:
      After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isn’t interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be — especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.
     Lizzie is happy about her friend’s burgeoning romance but less than impressed by Charles’s friend, Will Darcy, who’s snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it’s because her family doesn’t have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk — so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?
    Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making? Whatever the result, Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club, has concocted a very funny, completely stylish delight for any season — prom or otherwise.

          I know a lot of people think of these Jane Austen spin-off books as sacrilege and avoid them as being beneath what Jane Austen would have wanted for her novels. I think of them as flattering towards Austen and, also as a conduit to others who might not read Austen otherwise. Eulberg portrays each of her characters in the same manner as Austen. Lizzie is brash and pig-heading, Jane is unassuming and sweet, Charlie doesn't have any clue as to the reasons why his sister is so rotten and Will Darcy reminds me so much of Fitzwilliam Darcy, it's hard to imagine that he wouldn't have been this way had he gone to a modern-day private school in the States. It's really cute that Longbourn is the Academy for girls and Pemberley is the boys school, Eulberg throws in a lot of fun tidbits for Austenites who pick up this book to read. I gotta tell you, so far I'm enjoying this book and its tribute to the Austen novel.--even if I do know how it will end. I only hope that it gets teenagers to read more Austen, as I am amazed every year that there are whole groups of students who have only watched the movies.


Saturday, May 21, 2011

Six Word Saturday #5

My life in six words
"Uh, you say it's your birthday!"



"Happy Birthday to You!"
Actually, it's my birthday in 3 days (yes, I am unfazed by the "Rapture" that should be taking place today, although that would be a nice birthday present!), I will be 35!!! I'm CRAZY-EXCITED!!! Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I FRIGGIN' LOVE (with the passion and fires of a thousand suns!) MY BIRTHDAY!!! Hey, it keeps me young!

Ocean Zen tonight! Woot!




Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing. The full list and linky can be found here. And, here's where I found it.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Cliffhanger...can't hold on much longer...

As I'm sure many of you remember this fact: I hate suspense...I hate waiting! This week has been KILLING ME!!! All four of my favorite shows (all on CBS, go figure!) have ended KA-RAZYLY!!! I don't know what I am going to do...as waiting all summer will really crimp my style, I'll just have to obsess over the re-runs!

SPOILERS!!!

The Mentalist Those of you who have been following this show know that Patrick Jane has been stalking/obsessing over this man Red John who murdered his wife and daughter. Last night at the end of the show he shoots Red John and waits patiently for the police to come and take him away. He's sipping tea and all I can think is, "Did that just really happen!? Or, is this just another of Red John's games?" Unfortunately, I won't know for awhile!!! (Oh, and I also hear this show may be ending...GAR!)

Hawaii 5-0 The opening episode (the best show opener in the history of television) concluded with the 5-0 being commissioned by the governor of Hawaii. The final episode has the governor killed by Wo Fat, McGarrett framed for it, Danny's ex-wife pregnant with his baby, Cho back on the force and Kono arrested for taking part in a heist. I'm not sure how they're going to get out of all these jams. I'm going to spend all summer trying to figure out how they're going to do that!

Last season's NCIS: LA season closer really ticked me off and then they spent a large portion of this season ticking me off on a regular basis...I hate it when a show kills off a main character, I hate it when a show moves an endearing character off of the show and into the horizons of Never Neverland...the only redemption is that Deeks is funny and Gs' life is wrapped up in mystery. The final episode of this season has G remember his past life in Prague, but the team including Heddy,  excluded Eric and the new girl, quitting NCIS, obtaining black market guns, flying to Prague and kicking some butt. Heddy and G are also family members of some sort of old school mafia-type feud and G is the last of his kind, whhhhhattttt??? 

Now, the original NCIS manages to kill off characters every season, so I was not shocked when they killed off Mike Franks...I didn't even shed a tear or get angry. I was waiting for someone to die...So, how were they going to make sure that tried and true NCIS fans like myself feel all twitchy all summer long??? Put Tony back into an undercover op, of course. The last time he was undercover he fell in love and we spent the whole season watching a doomed relationship. I'm not really sure what to expect this time, however, as they've left the "TOP SECRET" folder's information out of our view...leaving us to speculate (based only on Tony's facial expression) who this next person might be...I'm thinking Gibs or Ziva or McGee or...blar! I don't know and I'll spend the rest of the summer spinning my wheels.

Curse you CBS, CURSE YOU!!!


Thursday, May 19, 2011

Book Through Thursday-Double (Age-Appropriate & Age-Inappropriate)














From Booking Through Thursday:

1] Do you read books "meant" for other age groups? Adult books when you were a child; Young-Adult books now that you're grown; Picture books just for kicks...You know...books not "meant" for you. Or do you pretty much stick to what's written for people your age?

2] In contrast to last week’s question–What do you think of censoring books BECAUSE of their intended age? Say, books too “old” for your kids to read?
Question One
           I read whatever book tickles my fancy. I find that when I'm feeling especially stressed out the more juvenile the books I read are. My favorite children's book is "Giraffe's Can't Dance"...I went to a conference several years ago about motivating students and differentiated instruction and the speaker opened with this book. I have opened units with this book, started the school year with this book and given it to graduating seniors as presents. I find it amazing that my students (who are mostly sophomores) enjoy and respond to this book. You know, that's what good books do, they grow and change as you do.

Question Two
          Is just as clear cut as the first...I don't think you should...ever. Read with your kids, plan with your kids, discuss with your kids, talk to them about what they want to read and why...but, never, ever censor. Because really once you start when does it stop? What is too "old"? What better way to educate your children than to talk with them about their choices? And, then read or watch along with them and discuss the books/movies/TV shows et cetera that they are into.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

30 Day Song Challenge: Day Twenty

Day Twenty: A song that you listen to when  you're angry
          For the record, it is hard to write about angry songs when you are not angry! I remember one time being angry and just listening to "The Heart of Life" by John Mayer. I just kept cruising around the country back roads over hill and valley, taking the curves at a speed that curves should not be taken, just singing along with Mr. Mayer letting the words just become part of how I was feeling until the words became what I was feeling and my fingers had stopped shaking. Frankly, I'd never been that kind of angry before as I usually don't let myself get duped (my motto: "I like people and I like them to like me, but I wear my heart where God put it, on the inside. " by F. Scott Fitzgerald) and haven't since, as being sad and angry at yourself and someone else is such a strange feeling. Although, that moment wasn't all bad as I did get two AMAZING CD compilations out of it, one from which the John Mayer song came (it's nice when people know how to make you feel better). Most days I'm angry, however, John Mayer doesn't cut it and when I'm so angry that I'm cleaning house (doing dishes by hand, and scrubbing the floors, anger tears running into my nose and through my clinched lips) and, I've got the iTunes blaring I go to a whole basket of songs.

Here's my Go-To List when I'm feeling especially ANGRY! I usually end with the more upbeat life-affirming ones...my heart couldn't handle those kinds of songs at the beginning of it all...as the beginning is usually for the screaming and the raging!

1. I Hate You  Silver Chair
2. Not Sorry  The Cranberries
3. Limp  Fiona Apple
4. Elderly Woman Behind A Counter In A Small Town  Pearl Jam
5. Mary Jane Shoes  Fergie
6. Stronger  Kanye West
7. Dog Days Are Over  Florence + the Machine
8. I Hate Everything About You  Three Days Grace
9. 10, 000 Fists  Disturbed
10. Anthem  Blink-182
11. Save Yourself  Stabbing Westward
12. Song 2  Blur
13. Since You've Been Gone  Kelli Clarkson
14. Bullet With Butterfly Wings  Smashing Pumpkins
15. The Heart of Life  John Mayer
16. I Want to Be Sedated The Ramones
17. You Oughta Know Alanis Morissette
18. More Human Than Human Rob Zombie
19. Ooh La La Goldfrapp

And, my favorite angry song, Head Like A Hole by Nine Inch Nails. I mean when I'm feeling especially angry, I mean so angry I could strangle puppies, the playlist starts off with this song. Sometimes the list ends with this song. Heck! Sometimes the list is just this song over and over and FRIGGIN' over! "Head like a hole. Black like your soul. I'd rather die than give you control." Hmm...looking at the list above, I feel like I must have spent a portion of the 90s angry about something...*lalalala*

I gotta tell you though, I usually rather just yell than stew when I'm feeling a good rage spell...if I've gotten to the point where I have to drive to calm the rage, if I've gotten to the point where I'm cleaning and having a good cry while listening to music, man, oh man, you'd better watch out the storm is coming.

Feel free to join in by commenting below (I really do love comments, on fb or here), or doing this challenge on your own blog.

The 30 Day Song Challenge
Day 01 – Your favorite song
Day 02 -- Your least favorite song
Day 03 -- A song that makes you happy
Day 04 -- A song that makes you sad
Day 06 -- A song that reminds you of someone
Day 06 -- A song that reminds you of somewhere
Day 07 -- A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 08 -- A song that you know all the words to
Day 09 -- A song that you can dance to
Day 15 --A song that describes you
Day 16 --A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 17 --A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 18 --A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 19 --A song from your favorite album

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Word of the Week: Fulminate and Weekly 100 Words


Here are my 100 words from (S)mythology by Jeremy Tarr p55:

          "What did strike Sophie as peculiar, however, was that Hell didn't look like she imagined it might. It wasn't a dark fire pit of toil and plague, rather it was a series of corridors and cubicles. Hell, you see, was a bureaucracy. Men and women dressed in cheap grey suits running around, from desk to desk, cubby to cubby, office to office, asking for official signatures. As the Minotaur explained, 'There are four quarters of Hell. The first quarter of Hell consists of paperwork. Before you can advance on to the second quarter, you must have the proper paperwork filed...'"
This meme is hosted by Ruthi at Ruthi Reads!  The object is simple:  share exactly 100 words from the book you are currently reading, and no spoilers!  Be sure to include your book's title, author, and page number in your post.  Head over to Ruthi's site and add your link to your book!  Happy Reading!

Monday, May 16, 2011

50 Books in a Year: Book #22 (S)mythology

fairy tale
n.
1. A fanciful tale of legendary deeds and creatures, usually intended for children.
2. A fictitious, highly fanciful story or explanation.

          From the very beginning (S)mythology would like you to know that it believes itself to be a fairy tale. To make sure that we know that, it even starts of as all good fairy tales do, for it would be "sacrilege" not to do so, it starts off with "Once upon a time..." and, so that's how I shall begin my review.

     Once upon a time there was a girl who didn't realize that she was lonely. She was content to live at "Number Four Danube Street Flat Four, London SW3" and she was content to be alone for she knew that, having been cursed by the Gorgons, she would turn anyone who loved her into stone.
     Sophie, no last name, enjoyed being lonely until she met the man of her dreams, the surname to her Christian name, Smyth, and although Smyth was strong and artistic and beautiful, he could not resist falling in love with Sophie. Sophie, because she loved him, could not help but go through Heaven and Hell and all that's in between to save him, although being saved may not have been the answer to their Love but all romantics have to learn the hard way that "Love is a myth and we all live in fairy tales". When she loves again she will be more adult, she will be more careful.

          This book, Jeremy Tarr's first, is delightful and enchanting. Mr. Viceroy is an excellent multi-jowled villian, the Gorgons (think Medusa and her sisters) have converted to Kabbulah (think Madonna), there's a minotaur, Posideon and Hades, a mermaid, the creator of Stonehenge (by the way, did you know it's the house a guru built, complete with a gym?), Jesus and the angels, evil nuns, a Yeti, Buddha, talking fish souls, pygmies and, of course, apparitions in the form of Smyth, his parents and Sophie (who has been swallowed whole by the Angel of Death). Let me go on, there are contracts and deeds and orphans, there's communication with a Fountain that actual knows what you desire, there's all things Cat Stevens, and a Beatles quoting secretary to Cupid. Through Sophie's journey, there are questions that compel us to delve into our Faith and what we believe is Eternity and there are questions about family and commitment and undying devotion. And, you'll ask yourself these questions while experiencing a book that will make you laugh your socks off at the wit and humor of it all. Yes, this books is funny and whimsical and full of Life.
          Like all good fairy tales we learn valuable lessons about what it means to live ("'Happiness often comes from the search for Happiness'" and "And, she lived happily ever after") and what it means to die ("There's no true definition of beauty. Except for maybe Heaven." and "'Had I not had the experiences that I had so long ago with the Afterlife, I still don't think I would fear death. However, I will hold nostalgia for Life. and I'll certainly hold nostalgia for the people in my Life.'"). And, while we can argue forever about whether this is a true fairy tale, following the definition, (and, I did with myself and am doing so now as I type this, as the narrator will argue as you read) we can't argue that Jeremy Tarr has given us a book about the most important of all virtues; Love. He has shown us what it is (there are three important types), how to give it, how to receive it and most importantly how to cherish it so it grows and is remembered. One added feature is all the beautiful drawings by Katy Smail, they kept my tiny tot entertained while I read and are full of the same whimsy and enchantment as the words on the page.
          If you are like me, this seemingly simple novel with leave you with questions about its ending, your own life and its ending, and it will make you look at "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) a little differently. It will make you laugh a little about the glorious absurdity of all that it means to be alive.

Morning Has Broken Lyrics
(A Traditional Song, Lyrics by *Eleanor Farjeon)

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the world

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

4 1/2 Stars

Act II kind of lags for me, but that's probably because I'm a romantic and was mourning my losses, both figuratively and literally and spent some time drowning in my melancholy.

For More Information:
Tarrology more clever wordsmithing with pictures
(S)mythology all about the book, ever so pretty

Oh, and I won this book on Good Reads and, while I didn't have to write a review, it said I could if I wanted to, and, boy did I want to, this book is so much more than fun!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

The New Mom’s Prayer Bible

If you are like me, you are not the kind of person who buys Bible after Bible. The Bible I use (I say use, now that I’ve got both the NIV and KJV on my Nook, I may be using that a bit more) is the same one I bought in college. Its gold flake is all but gone and it is full of notes and old church bulletins and sidebar scribbles. The notes are notes from my whole life, as I transcribed notes from my previous two Bibles into it, and if I bought a new Bible I would take the time to transfer the notes et cetera to it. I do not take Bibles or Bible purchasing lightly.
On NetGalley, you can preview The New Mom’s Prayer Bible. I wanted to have a look at it, not because I needed to review The Bible (this Bible is a NIV version by the way), but because I wanted to see what lovely features this edition had and I wanted to see if I wanted to buy my own copy as a way of being able to fit a little more God Time into my everyday life; an everyday life that has gotten a little more hectic than I would have ever thought.
This is the perfect Bible for a new mother, or a harried working mother in her 2nd year of parenting. It addresses the changes in her life through thoughtful devotionals called “Thought Starters”.
Here’s what the Introduction says:
“Throughout this Bible you’ll find fifty-two Thought Starters (on colored pages) by letting you recharge by dipping into God’s word for a minute. These devotional thoughts cover 13 different topics and subtopics relative to new moms.”
These “Thought Starters” discuss such pertinent topics as marriage, family and walking in faith. They can be broken down by how much time you have. Each topic starts out as a minute scripture reading, if you have 5 minutes you can add on a reflective prayer time, if you have 10 minutes you can add on a more in-depth study of the focus scripture. I’ve only read a few and they have helped calm me down in the past week and helped me to see what I should really be focusing on, which is my family, not my job and its expectations.
This Bible also comes with a Weights and Measurements page, a lovely Table of Contents and easily accessible and readable maps.
If I would have known about this Bible during my pregnancy it would have definitely been on all my wish list. I know that I will be asking for it for my birthday which is coming up pretty quick (just incase any of my family is reading this!).

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Six Word Saturday #4

My life in six words
"Ninja" is a pretty fun game!



From Camp Games:

Ninja
Players in a circle, making quick one-motion moves to slap others' hands.
MaterialsNone

How To PlayPlayers stand in a circle. Players take turns, going around the circle.

The player who is up can make one quick motion in order to slap the hand of another player. The motion must last not much more than 1 second. The player freezes in the position he or she ends in.

The player being assaulted must try, also with one quick move, to evade being hand-slapped. This move must also last not much more than 1 second and the player then freezes in whatever position he or she ends in.

If a players' hand is slapped, they are eliminated from the circle. If a players' move is not swift and quick, they are eliminated from the circle.

Optional: Players are eliminated if they try to evade an attack when the attacker was really attacking someone else.

I learned it from the kids at school!



Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing. The full list and linky can be found here. And, here's where I found it.

Friday, May 13, 2011

For the Love of Reading

Found this at Squiddo...Feel free to answers these questions below or on your own blog.



What have you just read?
I just finished Dead Is Not An Option by Marlene Perez.

What are you reading now?
I'm still working on Loving Frank and will always be reading Vanity Fair, but at least I'm farther along on both of them. Vanity Fair is sooooo uninteresting that I'm having a hard time and I know how Loving Frank is going to end and am not ready to be that sad, and, reading it has made me melancholy. I've picked up another book (S)mythology by Jeremy Tarr and illustrated by Katy Smail. I won it on GoodReads and will definitely have it finished before finishing these other two, as it is nonsensical like Alice in Wonderland, which I love.

Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?
I'll review a book from NetGalley (on Sunday) and start reading the book that was sent to me to review for Free Press; review due on the 24th...which is also my birthday!

What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Ironically *smirk* it's still The Sound and the Fury...I will never finish it, but here's the thing WHEN I finish (and, I'm only finishing it because I am in a group and feel compelled by this fact) Vanity Fair, I think it may surpass The Sound and Fury...WOW!

What's one book you always recommend to just about anyone?
Here lately it's been Cinderella Ate My Daughter, as I have been in the mood to talk people about raising my daughter and want feedback.

Admit it, sadly the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
The librarian at the high school does...hello! Some librarians in the town library do, not all of them.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
People seem scared by Ayn Rand...although I love her books, especially The Fountainhead.

Do you read books while you eat?
Loads.

While you bathe?
Everytime. There is nothing better in the world than a bubble bath, some candles and a good book.

While you watch movies or tv?
Yes, during the commericals ALWAYS...and, during movies my husband picks as they are "man" movies.

While you listen to music?
Yes. Rarely is it quiet while I read.

While you're on the computer?
Yes, and this is a new thing for me. I read most of my answer to #1 on my computer.

When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Yes, mostly because I was reading books like Great Expectations and Watership Down in 4th Grade.

What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn't put it down?
Last night. I am really liking that (S)mythology book...and, it fills my head with wonderful visions, while I dream.

Have any books made you cry?
Yes, I don't want to talk about it...as it will make me cry.

Enjoy!!!

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