Celebrity Deaths

Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. No, I didn't have anything to do with any of them!
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Summer in the City

There is less than a week left in June. It seems like the summer months go by so quickly. Yesterday I had movers come and move most of my stuff so now I have to get the last of it packed and moved and clean the apartment. My roommate will be moving his stuff this weekend too.
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Monosyllabic

A recent thread on Metatalk (subsite of metafilter) neatly summarizes how I feel about people who insist on posting their opinion of anything and everything, especially when said opinion is usually "Cool!" or "Lame!" or even "I saw this already!". The internet has allowed everyone to inflict their banalities on everyone else. These kinds of comments are pretty useless when it comes to things like movies, books, youtube videos or anything other widely available media. They only become powerful when aggregated into a rating system. I don't care that nycgal94 didn't like the book. I care that 95% of those who rated it didn't like the book.

So I try to keep my mouth shut (ha!) when it comes to media nuggets that I didn't like, unless I am asked directly or have a specific point to make. I will tell you that I hated the Matrix if you ask me, but if you post about it I'm not gonna post "hated it".

drunkmolly.jpg

drunkmolly.jpg
Originally uploaded by soelo

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June

June was named for the Roman goddess Juno, the patron goddess of (among other things) marriage. This is one reason June is a popular wedding month.

Car wash

Car wash
Originally uploaded by soelo

Springtime means car wash time.
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Rainbow

Rainbow
Originally uploaded by soelo

This is the eastern sky above Minneapolis right now!
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May

May was named after Maia, the eldest of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes.

Geocities

Yahoo is closing down Geocities sometime this year. Wow, I am still storing some stuff in it and actually have a link on my blog's sidebar to my lyrics page there. I still have an Angelfire account, too. So I sign in today to see how much of it is worth saving. My whole site was under 10 megabytes, so I could email it all to myself if I really wanted to. The first thing I see is three .gif files named blue, green and grey. These were just 10x10 pixels of blue, green and grey, and I found them useful back when I hand coded pages of links. Those were the first things to go, along with several background .jpg files of a chain link fence, crumpled paper and some wood. Then i changed my index page to point to my blog, since it wasn't doing anything else.

What is a Flow Purloiner?

That last post may not have made sense to anyone who doesn't play Kingdom of Loathing, sorry. They are the custom signatures you can now create to show off your character on the forums. Yes I have six characters, no I do not have a problem =) Back when I started, you could only be one class, there were six classes and I wanted to try them all.

Kingdom of Loathing character banners

Radio Play and a Head Cold

I can't keep Coldplay and Radiohead straight. I am forever mixing them up. I also got Jeff Buckley and Jeff Healey mixed up once. What celebrities trip you up?

April

We don't know for sure where the word April comes from. It could simply mean "other" or "open", or it may have been named after Aphrodite.

Southeast Road Trip Day 10

We booked a room in Bowling Green, had breakfast and headed to Tennessee on I-75 until we got to Chattanooga and got on I-24 to Lookout Mountain. Normally you can see quite far from the top, but today it was very foggy, it reminded me of the time I drove through Shenandoah. We drove up the mountain and back down getting lots of pretty pictures on the way. After crossing over Nickajack Lake, we took the exit for Lynchburg to go to the Jack Daniel's Distillery. You start by getting a tour time (it's free) and wandering around a museum until your tour starts. The tour starts with a film and a walk up to the area where they make charcoal. Then you see the cave where the water comes in to the grounds and walk through his house. Our guide explained that the trees had a black covering on their bark due to the amount of alcohol that evaporated out of the barrels, called the "angel's share". We saw the stills and then went into the bottling area where they were packaging the single-barrel stuff. Lastly we went through the very fumy barrel house and into a bar where they served lemonade. The county they are in is dry, but they have special permission to sell bottles in their store.
Next it was on to Nashville to see the Parthenon. It's a full scale replica of the one in Athens that was originally built in 1897 for the World's Fair, and rebuilt in the 1920's. As we walked around it, we came across a row of yoga mats. It looked like some kind of weird art installation until the people using the mats to work out came around the corner after taking a lap around the building.
We got to our hotel in Bowling Green and watched a bit of TV. There were some kind of court or city council meetings on the local channel and they were kind of funny. One guy was fighting a $15 parking ticket, and when he was beign sworn in, the judge says "do y'all swear to tell the truth?" We realized that aside from a few tour guides, most of the people in Georgia didn't have much of an accent. But now in Tennesse and Kentucky, almost everyone had a drawl. Mike said our Jack Daniel's guide would have been subtitled if she had been on TV.

Southeast Road Trip Day 9

Since Mike didn't get much sleep, we cancelled the hotel in Nashville and stayed in Atlanta another night. While he rested, I took the truck to the Atlanta Zoo to see some more Giant Pandas. On the way to see them, there were Flamingos, Elephants, a pair of Southern Ground Hornbills, Lions, Meerkats, a Rhinoceros, Giraffes, Zebra, Ostriches and a Waterbuck. A guy by the meerkats told his daughter that they were "meekrats" and a woman told her grandson that the rhinoceros was a hippo! The guy could have been kidding, but the woman was serious. Even though you couldn't see the rhino's head because it was laying behind a log, there was still at least two signs on the exhibit. The Waterbuck was easy to spot when I first walked up, but I sat down to check the map and he hid behind a tree for the rest of the time.

Next there was a Bongo and two Kori Bustards, then the Gorilla enclosure and then The Living Treehouse housing lots of birds. Adjacent to the treehouse are some Black-and-white-ruffed Lemurs who were all resting, unlike the Ring-tailed ones we'd seen in DC. More primates were next door, in an enclosure shared by Drills, Mona Monkeys and Wolf's Guenons. The Mona Monkeys were running around chasing each other and I noticed that one was missing a back leg, but was able to keep up with the others just fine. I tried to get a good view of the Asian Small-clawed Otters, but they were all huddled up against a door. The Orangutans were not as shy, there was an adult male and a baby climbing on the structure in their exhibit and another male relaxing in full view of all us gawkers. The last two animals I saw before the Giant Pandas were a Red Panda, who was sleeping in his box that resembled a bird feeder, and the Komodo Dragon who was perfectly positioned in a window so people could place their loved ones in front and snap pictures.

Time for Giant Pandas! First up outside was Yang Yang, the male who walked around for a bit and then sat down to inhale bamboo. Also outside was his daughter, two and a half year old Mei Lan, who alternated between laying on her stomach and laying on her back lazily chomping bamboo. Then inside Yang Yang's son, seven month old Xi Lan, was climbing on a branch, entertaining all the kids and adults squeezed under the canopy to watch him. His mother Lun Lun kept an eye on him while scarfing bamboo. Back outside, Yang Yang paced around some more and then decided to cool off in the water.

I stopped for a snack and then went over to see some big cats. The Sumatran Tigers were easy to photograph, but Moby the Clouded Leopard was very elusive. The next area had more birds, including a pair of Milky Eagle Owls, a King Vulture and a Cassowary. All of the Kangaroos were resting, but they kept a close eye on any nearby humans. Second to last was the Petting Zoo with Kunekune pigs, three kinds of goats and sheep, and last was the Giant Tortoises.

I headed back to the hotel to check on Mike and he was tired but the pain had subsided, so I drug him out to dinner at Carrabba's.

Southeast Road Trip Day 8

We had the good breakfast again, booked a night at the Wingate in Atlanta and checked out. Instead of heading straight for Atlanta, we doubled back into South Carolina and went out to Hilton Head Island. I was picturing a small town with a bunch of houses, hotels and little shops, but there are 33,000 people in Hilton Head, so it's bigger than I expected. I used Google Maps to find a public beach, so we ended up on Burke's Beach. It was too cold for swimming, but we waded out into the waves. It was the first time either of us had been in the Atlantic. There were lots of small holes in the sand, and when a wave would wash water over them, the animal below would siphon sea water and sand out of the hole. We tried to dig down and see what they were, but we never found anything. There were gulls and pelicans flying out over the water, and we started digging some small holes in the sand. When we walked away from the area we'd dug up, some gulls came down to investigate. As we were heading back towards our shoes, we saw what looked like a footprint, but it had an odd pattern to it, like an insole had been left behind. I flipped the "insole" over only to discover it was a sand dollar! We didn't want it to dry up on the beach, like another we'd seen, so Mike brought it back into the ocean. As I was trying to get my shoes back on, I fell into some plants, and when I got back up there were cockleburrs on my jeans. I was not careful enough getting them off and I got several slivery things stuck in my hand. We stopped at a Wal-Mart on the way back to the mainland (cheap souvenirs!) and then took 95, 16 and 75 up to Atlanta. By the time we reached the hotel, Mike was feeling sick. He thought he was getting a bad cold, so I grabbed us dinner from KFC and got him some medication at Walgreens. It turned out he had a kidney stone, so he didn't get much sleep that night.

Southeast Road Trip Day 7

Wingate hotels have a great breakfast in their lobby, the regular continental stuff plus some kind of sausage or bacon, a waffle maker and cappucino. We took our time eating and getting ready, so we didn't leave the hotel until noon. Savannah has plenty of traffic, so we parked in a ramp a few blocks from the river and walked past another Custom House, the golden-domed City Hall and then down to the riverfront. We got tickets for Old Savannah tours and then ambled down River Street to the boarding area. From River Street, you can see Savannah's cable-stayed bridge, the Talmadge Memorial Bridge which looks just like the Ravenel bridge in Charleston. The trolley took us around to fourteen stops in the city, including some of the squares, the main campus of Savannah College of Art and Design, a house built out of marble dust bricks, the oldest tree in Savannah, City Market, the Historical Society, the First African Baptist Church, Colonial Park cemetery and the Pirate's House, which is now a restaurant. Our guide explained that the blue color is supposed to keep evil spirits away, and that Robert Louis Stevenson set some of the action in Treasure Island at the Pirate's House.
Once the tour was over, I stopped to get some boiled peanuts and then we stopped for ice cream. The peanuts smelled like overcooked peas, but they tasted good. We walked up to Johnson Square and then got back in the truck to drive down River Street, through the city and around some more squares. Heading back to the hotel, we went over the Talmadge bridge and then had dinner at the Longhorn Steakhouse. Last night's domino game continued and Mike won again.

Southeast Road Trip Day 6

Breakfast was the only thing we really did in North Carolina, since there was just 20 miles left before we got to South Carolina. We perused the atlas and our guidebooks for a good place to see the ocean and we settled on Charleston, specifically Fort Sumter. So we headed southeast off of 95 and took 26 into Charleston. We parked at Liberty Park and went into the Fort Sumter Visitor's Center, a building on the mainland housing artifacts from Civil War Era South Carolina. There we got our tickets for the ferry that brings you out to Fort Sumter, since it's on an island that was constructed over a sand bar at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. As we waited to board the ferry, we saw several boats traveling through the harbor and some that were docked, including a cruise ship and one that looked like a pirate ship to my landlubber eyes. Off to the left there was the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge over the Cooper River, the longest cable-stayed bridge in the western hemisphere.
We took seats on the top floor where the wind sliced right through us. I had to put up my hood and was still freezing! As we pulled away from the dock, some gulls followed the ferry out to Fort Sumter. A few passengers threw bread for them as they screeched and dove. I took video of them, and I would guess they are Bonaparte's Gulls, but I'm not really sure. There were a few pelicans and other birds around as well. Out in the harbor we saw Fort Moultrie, Castle Pinckney, USS Yorktown, a Custom House, and some great views of Charleston. There was a narration on the boat telling us about the harbor and the events leading up to the first shots of the Civil War, which took place at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Once we arrived at the Fort, the ranger gave a more detailed talk about the dealings between Anderson and Beauregard, as well as explaining the six flags that flew overhead. He explained that the tree on the South Carolina flag is a palmetto and the crescent shape is from the caps of South Carolinian troops that fought in the Revolutionary War.
Then we were let loose to run around the Fort, visit the museum and stare out at the ocean for about 45 minutes before the boat brought us back to the docks. The gulls accompanied us again and the cruise ship passed close enough that we could wave at the passengers.
Since we'd been in view of the Ravenel bridge the entire time, Mike really wanted to drive over it, so we took the long way out of town, over the bridge and around Charleston on 526 before meeting up with Highway 17. There are lots of signs proclaiming it the Savannah Highway, so we knew we were headed in the right direction. We giggled as we passed the US Vegetable Labratory and got to the Wingate in Savannah just in time for sunset, dinner at Sam Snead's steakhouse and the first half of a two-night domino game.

flock of gulls

flock of gulls
Originally uploaded by soelo

These birds followed the ferry out to Fort Sumter and back. Some passengers threw bread for them as they screeched and dove. Some would rest on top of the boat and others landed on the water.
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Southeast Road Trip Day 5

This morning we checked out and drove around most of Maryland trying to find a post office! We finally found one and then drove into the city headed for the National Zoo. After a bit of trouble finding the parking lot, we got there just a few minutes before noon. The Giant Panda exhibit was at the other end of the zoo, so we decided to head there quickly and then take our time coming back. As we headed up, we saw the Przewalski's Horses and the Orangutan. Then we came to the Giant Panda exhibit! They were all three awake and walking around their enclosures. I think the first one we saw was Tian Tian (his name means "more and more") and he was eating bamboo. He'd had enough of us staring, so he went up towards the building after I got some good video. Then we walked up the bridge and saw Mei Xiang, who was resting towards the top of her enclosure and lastly we saw three year old Tai Shan, who is nearly the size of an adult.
We continued on and saw the Red Pandas eating, the Asian Small-clawed Otters sleeping in a pile, a Fishing cat and the Clouded Leopard, who was soon to be a father! Check out the clouded leopard cubs that were born at the Zoo just four days after we visited. We went inside the Small Mammal House and saw lots of Golden Lion Tamarins, Golden Lion-headed Tamarins (I guess there is a difference), Elephant-shrews and Naked Mole Rats. I think my favorite small mammal was the Prehensile-tailed Porcupine. There was a zookeeper in the enclosure and she was reaching out to them. They were moving really slowly towards her, like sloths or something.We saw the Sumatran Tiger and the male African Lion, who grunted and growled as I filmed him. Lastly, we saw Prairie dogs, Cows and Alpaca before leaving.
When we left, we drove on Rock Creek Parkway past the Watergate Hotel, the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial. We drove over the Potomac again and went by the Pentagon and the Air Force Memorial before hitting rush hour traffic on 395. Traffic stayed bad onto 95 and most of the way through Virginia. Once we hit North Carolina, all we saw were signs for hotels and outlet malls, I guess because it's on the way if you drive to Florida from just about anywhere in the Northeast. We got to our hotel in Lumberton, North Carolina after dark.

Southeast Road Trip Day 4

We took the Metro into town again and had breakfast at Johnny Rocket's in Union Station before getting back on the Tourmobile. This time we went to the Museum of Natural History and saw the Dinosaur and Fossil Mammals. Then we went through the Sant Ocean Hall and the Mammal Hall, which was just like the Field Museum with tons of stuffed animals on display. There was a Giant Panda, a Fennec Fox and a movie playing about the earliest mammals. It explained that the first ones were very small shrews during the time that the dinosaurs were the dominant aniamals. Somehow the shrews survived the meteor and became dominant. Even though it was geared towards kids, I still learned quite a bit.
After that we went down to the basement to visit the gift shop and have lunch. Then we went up to the Geology Hall and saw lots of cool rocks and minerals before going inside the little room that houses the Hope Diamond, the largest blue diamond in the world, and some large meteorites. The day at the museum had tired us out, but I insisted we go out see the Jefferson Memorial, so we got back on the Tourmobile. I'd always thought Jefferson was sort of hunched forward because I'd only seen it from behind, but he's standing straight up. As we were leaving, we saw more helicopters over the Tidal Basin like we had yesterday. Lastly, we grabbed some gelato back at Union Station and headed back to the hotel, where we played dominoes and booked our next three nights, one in North Carolina and two in Savannah.

My Flickr Pictures from March 19th

trex.jpg

trex.jpg
Originally uploaded by soelo

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Southeast Road Trip Day 3

We took the Metro into the city, but we rode it one stop too far. We were trying to get to Union Station and assumed they would announce the stop or we'd see a big sign. We rode back one stop and got our tickets for Tourmobile, a hop-on hop-off narrated tour of Washington D.C. After leaving Union Station, we drove past the north side of the US Capitol (the side you see on the news), and then down the National Mall past the National Gallery of Art, the National Archives, the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of American History. Then came the memorials: the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

We knew it was supposed to rain the next day, so we decided to focus on outdoor things today, which meant we crossed the Potomac and went on the Arlington National Cemetery leg of the tour. I remembered going out there in 1992 when my marching band came to D.C. The first stop out in Arlington was the Eternal Flame over JFK's grave, which had changed since I first saw it to include Jackie, who died in 1994. Robert Kennedy's grave is next to theirs and our guide told us that his was the only wooden cross in the whole cemetery. We took the bus up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and on the way we passed the grave site of the pilot of the plane that was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon on 9-11 as well as the headstones for lots of men lost at sea. They aren't buried there, but their headstones are close together on hillsides throughout Arlington. There are also several areas where there are clumps of unknown soldiers from wars before most soldiers wore dogtags. At the Tomb, we saw the changing of the guard and The Canadian Cross Of Sacrifice.

Next we headed back over the Potomac to visit the Lincoln Memorial as well as the Memorials for the Veterans of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. We climbed up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial and got lots of pictures both inside and out. Adjacent is The Korean War Veterans Memorial, which was dedicated in 1995 so I had not seen it yet. It's nineteen soldiers walking through a rice paddy and a granite wall that faces them with pictures of soldiers in it. The wall is shiny, so the statues are reflected in the wall to a really cool effect. The quote "Freedom is not free", the casualty statistics and the names of countries that sent troops are all part of the memorial as well.

We went over to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which seemed much bigger than the first time I saw it. I'd not realized back then that the names were all in order, or that the design was so controversial when it was first picked out. It had been a full day, but we still had to get back to Union Station, so we got back on the bus, went past the golden sword in front of the White House and back up the National Mall. As we drove past the west side of the Capitol building, we decided to hang out there for a while, get some pictures and gaze down the National Mall. After our gazing was done, we went back to Union Station, got some souvenirs and had dinner at Pizzeria UNO.

US Capitol

US Capitol
Originally uploaded by soelo

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washington.jpg

washington.jpg
Originally uploaded by soelo

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lincoln

lincoln
Originally uploaded by soelo

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maryland.jpg

maryland.jpg
Originally uploaded by soelo

(If you are seeing this link on Facebook, you probably have to click it to see the picture.)
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Southeast Road Trip Day 1 and 2

The first two days we really just drove east. I woke up late and then we took a wrong turn before leaving the state! Things could only get better. We hit some construction and traffic going around Chicago and then stopped for gas and snacks in Indiana. After one missed exit and a stop at a KFC/Pizza Hut for dinner, we made it to Toledo, Ohio Monday night.
We woke up and booked two nights in College Park, Maryland, just outside D.C. We had breakfast at a Denny's before continuing east. I fell asleep in Pennsylvania and woke up when we entered a tunnel. I'd been using the atlas to navigate, but I decided to try Google Maps on my Blackberry. I've had it for a year now, and I always thought the GPS was not activated. But when I opened Maps up, it pinpointed our location! It works just like the non-mobile version, letting you search the map and get directions. I ended up using it quite a bit for the rest of the trip. We made it to our hotel through a bit of traffic, then went to buy shoes for Mike. He'd meant to bring some tennis shoes, but all he had were the hiking boots he was wearing. We tried two different restaurants that we found on the map, one was closed and the other was more like a dance club, so we finally settled for Applebee's.

Day Three

The results of my 101 things in 1001 Days

Back in June of 2006, I made a list of 101 things I wanted to get done in 1001 days. March 8th, 2009 was the official end of the project. I got 49 of them done, and there are about ten others that remain half done.

The 49:
1 Go to Europe (DONE May 07)
2 Turn thirty (DONE 6/22/07)
4 Take a Papermaking or other art class (DONE 12/13/06)
6 See Los Angeles (DONE 6/22/06)
12 Take an official tour of a city, even if it just Minneapolis (DONE - Berlin 3/25/08)
13 Organize my CDs, both music and computer (DONE 7/20/06)
14 Whiten my teeth (DONE June 07 - ditto)
15 Go to The Science Museum (DONE 6/25/08)
17 Take Writing 2 (DONE Dec 07)
18 Make an informative opening page for soelo.com (DONE)
21 Set aside an arts and crafts area in home (DONE - because my roommate is cool, he did it for me.)
22 Get a dishwasher and washing machine (DONE 7/3/06)
23 Read at least 33 books (one per month) (DONE Sept 2008)
28 Put something on soelo.com in addition to my blog (DONE)
29 See a Panda Bear (in captivity, most likely) (DONE 3/24/08)
31 Buy more wine and learn which wineries I like (DONE)
32 Learn to make a wine spritzer that I like (DONE Nov 06)
33 Attempt to improve my handwriting (DONE, but just the attempt)
34 Drive along the west coast (DONE June 18-21, 2006)
39 Knit, crochet or sew something nice enough to wear in public - and wear it. (DONE, if my wallet counts)
40 Make one birthday or Christmas gift (DONE Feb 7, 2009)
42 Post to my blog on 87% of the days in a month. (27/31) (Done Dec 07)
47 Fill the tank with gas - drive till it’s half gone, take pictures, and then come back (DONE 10/11/08)
49 Learn to make homemade chai (DONE Oct 06)
51 Memorize 'If' by Rudyard Kipling (DONE July 31, 2006)
52 Journalize my time from age 18 to 28 (DONE I used a timeline instead)
56 Make a nice long blogroll (DONE - via rss and gmail)
57 Get my car's rear axle fixed (DONE June 12, 2006)
58 Try ordering groceries online (DONE Jan 08)
60 Update my immunizations (DONE 8/7/08)
61 Go on a blind date (DONE Sept 07)
62 Go on a real date (with someone I know or meet, not a fix-up) (DONE July 07)
64 Get rss archives down to below 100 (DONE, but then I switched to Google Reader)
70 Set up scanner (DONE Nov 30, 06)
74 Tag most of my blog entries (DONE Dec 27, 2006)
77 Organize my books and list the ones I own but haven't read (DONE 07/02/07)
78 Go to the Como Zoo (DONE May 07)
80 Buy and use a Tetsubin (DONE June 06)
86 Get a passport (DONE May 16th, 2007)
87 Make a significant contribution to a Wikipedia article (DONE Summer 07)
89 Make cookies from scratch (DONE July 08)
90 Make another dessert from scratch (DONE Nov 08, Baked Brie)
91 Make an entire meal (entree, two sides and a beverage) myself (DONE Feb 07)
93 Make an asian noodle dish in my wok (DONE May 08, Chicken Fried Rice)
94 Play board games with my friends (DONE)
96 Retake Calculus 2 (DONE Aug 08)
97 Flirt with a stranger (DONE)
98 Use craigslist for something (DONE Jan 07 - my apartment)
99 Get some more videos for my ipod (DONE - the ipod broke and I got it fixed and I never use it to watch videos anymore)

Bhudda's Hand

Bhudda's Hand
Originally uploaded by soelo

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Sensing a Theme...

Sensing a Theme...
Originally uploaded by soelo

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Seeing the Southeast

On Monday, the boyfriend and I are setting out on a thirteen day road trip. Places we plan to hit are Savannah, Louisville, Washington DC, Atlanta and maybe Nashville. Although I have done plenty of reading, map-staring and bookmarking, we aren't being too rigid in our plans. We figure we will just plan each day the night before. I think we each have some specific things we want to see, and apart from that we will just go with the flow. My must-sees are the National Mall, Giant Pandas (probably in D.C., maybe in Atlanta), the historic center of Savannah and at least the outside of the Parthenon in Nashville. A riverboat ride would be cool, too, and it seems like most of the big towns in the South have them.

Embroidered Map

embr map
Originally uploaded by soelo

I finished the routes today. I'll be going on another trip in two weeks, so I'll have another route to add, which will probably be in purple.

March is all Mathy

Apparently today is Square Root Day (3 * 3 = 9), tomorrow is World Math (or Maths) Day, and soon it will be Pi Day (3.14).
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March

The month of March was named after the Roman god Mars. In ancient Rome, March was the first month of the year, probably because spring began during the month.

February 30th

February 30th was a real date on the Swedish calendar, and is used in some artificial calendars.

Scrappy Stars

Scrappy Stars
Originally uploaded by soelo

What a Coincidence

This morning I was reading a book my boyfriend got for Christmas about Minnesota Highway 61. In it, there was a mention of Tobie's Restaurant, which is famous for it's caramel rolls. Then I get to work and a coworker is telling me about how he stopped there on the way home from Duluth yesterday. Weird.

Last Friday I read an old AskMe post about flexagons, which I found under the crafts tag. I made a few out of paper, and then two out of fabric. Now today I find this post on Make:Blog on how to make a hexaflexagon. Weird.

Edit: And I was just thinking about the Seinfeld episode where Elaine gets ink on Mr Pitt and he gets it on his upper lip like a mustache. Then later he is speaking and looks like Hitler when he talks about annexing Poland. I get home and that exact episode is on TV.

Easter Quilt

Easter Quilt
Originally uploaded by soelo

The pattern is Hidden Wells, but instead of piecing strips, I used a striped fabric. It helped that it was a symmetrical stripe.

Seminole

Seminole
Originally uploaded by soelo

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Dreams

Two different ones:
The first was a little kid and I running away from bad guys, but they kept finding us. We ducked into a club and tried to change clothes, but we got recognized. We hopped onto a bus and they got on as well. It was all very Slumdog, but it wasn't scary, just dramatic.

The second was that I was pregnant and my doctor was asking me how old my first kid was. He then explained that I would be giving birth while squatting, just like the first time. My mother and sisters were there with me, but my boyfriend wasn't.
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Fisher Price Phone

 

I had one of these when I was little. The wheels are angled so it goes up and down as it moves forward.

Scrappy and Blue

Scrappy and Blue
Originally uploaded by soelo

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Just over a month left

 until the end of my 1001 days. I am going to try to check of a lot of things at the end, like I did in the beginning.

These are the ones I am working on:
21. Set aside an arts and crafts area in my home
37. Take a trip somewhere using only public non-airplane transportation (i.e. bus, train, helicopter, taxi)
39. Knit, crochet or sew something nice enough to wear in public - and wear it. (does a wallet count?)
40. Make one birthday or Christmas gift
41. Go Snow Tubing somewhere official, with tube rental and lift
79. Travel the Grand Rounds
90. Make another dessert from scratch
92. Purge the clothes I no longer wear

Collect Them All - Rainbow Brite

RainbowBrite.net or on Wikipedia Rainbow Brite

She lives in Rainbowland with the seven color kids (one for each ROYGBIV color) and each of their sprites. She rides a horse named Starlite, and her sprite is named Twink.
Wikipedia lists the color kids and their Sprites:
Red Butler (Romeo)
Lala Orange (OJ) (in the 2004 line, OJ's name is Mango)
Canary Yellow (Spark)
Patty O'Green (Lucky)
Buddy Blue (Champ)
Indigo (Hammy)
Shy Violet (IQ)

Her main villains were Murky and Lurky, and there were many other characters in the show and movie.

The Wisdom of Tracy Chapman

At This Point in my Life - You see I've conquered hills but I still have mountains to climb, and right now, right now I'm doing the best I can at this point in my life.

Baby Can I Hold You - Maybe if I told you the right words, at the right time you'd be mine.

Change - If everything you think you know, makes your life unbearable, would you change?

Fast Car - You leave tonight or live and die this way.

Gimme One Reason - I told you that I loved you, and there ain't no more to say.

Remember The Tinman - Who stole your heart, the smile from your face, the innocence, the light from your eyes? Who stole your heart or did you give it away?

The Promise - Remembering your touch, your kiss, your warm embrace, I'll find my way back to you...If you can make a promise, If it's one that you can keep, I vow to come for you.

You're The One - You love to play with fire you love gambling. But I know what you love and I know what you need, and I like it when you play with me.

February

February is named for the Roman and Etruscan god Februus. He was the god of the dead and purification, the Februalia festival was held in his honor and "Rome was purified by its citizens by making sacrifices to the dead" during the festival.

Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers

This morning the song Lady came on the radio and I was reminded of the site Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers.com. It's good stuff.

Quilt Blocks

Quilt Blocks
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Eight-Pointed Star

Eight-Pointed Star
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Sting - Mad About You

A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you, I'm lost without you
Though all the kingdoms turn to sand
And fall into the sea
I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you

And from the dark secluded valleys
I heard the ancient songs of sadness
But every step I thought of you
Every footstep only you
And every star a grain of sand
The leavings of a dried up ocean
Tell me, how much longer? How much longer?

They say a city in the desert lies
The vanity of an ancient king
But the city lies in broken pieces
Where the wind howls and the vultures sing
These are the works of man
This is the sun of our ambition
It would make a prison of my life
If you become another's wife
With every prison blown to dust
My enemies walk free
I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you

And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominations over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories, without love

A stone's throw from Jerusalem
A walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you, I'm lost without you
And though you hold the keys to ruin
Of everything I see
With every prison blown to dust,
My enemies walk free
Though all the kingdoms turn to sand
And fall into the sea
I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you

Quilt Rows

Quilt Rows
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Minipurse

Minipurse
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Sun Goes Down - David Jordan

Open your eyes cuz another day is dawning,
Children of the night , can you hear them all calling.
Stars open up and an angel starts falling,
Listen to their beats, can you hear them hollering
Start in the morning, through to the evening
Dance like you’re the only one around
Move like you want it
Grove like you need it,
Dancing it up till the sun goes down

Free your mind cuz tonight we’re gonna break it down
Shake make it funky down
Get so high as the toxins in your body
Are the bass and the drums and the ra, ra, ra
We’re right on time, & all is fine
If you’ve lost your senses here have mine and..
Lose yourself in the time you awake wait till the evening time
’till the sunshine breaks.

Open your eyes cuz another day is dawning,
Children of the night , can you hear them all calling.
Skies open up and an angel starts falling,
Listen to the beats, can you hear them hollering
Stop in the morning, through to the evening
Dance like you’re the only one around
Move like you want it
Grove like you need it,
Dancing it up til the sun goes down.
Till the sun goes down…

Go Come on for this makes for hysteria
You feelin what we bring to y’all..
Peace and love find yourself gettin down tonight, tonight tonight, tonight
Fire is burning on and there's children in the forest playing
Just come forget this to forget the beats hunting for its prey

Till the sun goes down
Till the sun goes
Sun goes down
Sun goes down sun goes down
Sun goes down!

Open your eyes cuz another day is dawning,
Children of the night , can you hear them all calling.
Skies open up and an angel starts falling,
Listen to the beats, can you hear them hollering
Stop in the morning, through to the evening
Dance like you’re the only one around
Move like you want it
Grove like you need it,
Dancing it up till the sun goes down

Sewing

wallet
Originally uploaded by soelo

The BF bought me a new sewing machine for Christmas, and I have mostly been using it to repair things and piece quilts. I love it, and have been staying up late sewing all week. On Saturday I made this wallet by following the pattern here. I made a mistake with the coin purse and made a few intentional alterations, but I am happy with the results.

Eight Below

Eight Below
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Work

This morning I was actually smiling as I walked in the door to work. I wasn't really happy to see Monday morning, but I'd been thinking about something that makes me happy. I started work by getting lots of little stuff done in preparation for the big monthly thing we are doing in Wednesday. Right before lunch, I see an email from my boss' boss asking a guy in another department for some info on missing data, and I see the guy's reply. It is two terse sentences saying that there is no missing data. My immediate thought is, "What a dick."

We get several things from this guy's department and they are error-ridden and full of holes. I have heard rumors that he and a direct report don't reply to women via email. I've emailed them both about ten times in the past six months and never gotten a reply. I sent out letters with the wrong information in them because of this bad data. I am sick and tird of these jerks. I am also pretty sick and tired of the people in my department who should be dealing with this. It's not my job to deal with them, and if I tried to, I'd probably be reprimanded. Dicks.
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Did you know

Did you know
Originally uploaded by soelo

?
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January

January is named after Janus, the Roman god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. Janus is also where the term janitor comes from.

2009

I am hoping to do more cooking, cleaning and crafting in 2009. Every year I resolve to eat better and get more organized, and who knows, maybe one of those will happen this year.

2008

The bad stuff:

My boyfriend's grandmother passed away in March and my grandfather died in June. His other grandmother had a stroke this year, and so did mine. Several friends lost grandparents, aunts, friends or pets this year. Car trouble. A few friends lost their jobs and one had to move because his landlord was evicted from the place she was renting. My niece moved to Colorado in July. Prague. Work. Politics class. School in general. Heath Ledger. Michael Crichton. Recounts. My iPod breaking. Too much snow in December.

The good stuff:

My boyfriend and I celebrated a year together. Lots of babies born, two engagements and a few new pets. My niece moved back. Berlin. I moved into an apartment and neighborhood I really like. Most of those friends have found new jobs. Obama. Calculus 2. A+ certification. A week up on Potato Lake. Camping. The Dark Knight. Duluth. The Minnesota Zoo. Sonic. Bowling. Zack and Miri. 33 books. The 35W bridge reopened. Lots of new music. My Blackberry. The boyfriend got a Wii, and he is buying me a sewing machine for Christmas.

So it seems there was a bit more good than bad. That's a good trend, right?

Teen Angst

I wrote this poem in 9th grade:


I had a beer behind a book, no one gave me a second look.

I shot up in a back hall, no one seems to care at all.

I failed five tests in a row, people act like they don't know.

I had a joint under the stairs, I guess that no one really cares.

When I was thirteen, I ran away. I was gone for over a day.

When I got home, I got a beating, which wasn't exactly what I was needing.

I'm more innocent than I appear, for growing up is what I fear.

I'm just a kid, not sure of what I did.

I don't know where to go from here, I guess I'll have another beer.

Too much Christmas

Too much Christmas
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Down by the river

Down by the river
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Popovers

Popovers
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Disenfanaticism

Disenfanaticism - What happens when you find something you like being advertised in an icky way, like spam or pop-up ads. Netflix: you were the first.

Cute animals, but not the ones you're thinking

No cats or dogs here. A baby hippo was born at the Berlin zoo on November 29th. Scientists have discovered hundreds of new species in Mozambique, including the olive sunbird.

Cold? Why yes it is!

Cold? Why yes it is!
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Cute Things Falling Asleep

from cutethingsfallingasleep.org

I have only seen 29.2% of the IMDB top 250 movies.

Today

Today's word is bivouac.
"I’ll go see where he’s bivouacked the family." always struck me as odd when watching The Great Outdoors.

Today's annoyance is crappy snow shoveling, and today's malady is Upper Respiratory Illness.

A+

I passed the 602, so now I have to get through the 601 on Tuesday

Count again

Metropolitan State University claims to be convenient and accessible because "Five convenient metropolitan locations serve as class sites." Except that they don't make a point to hold general classes at each site. Want to take any Math class? You must got to one of the two St. Paul campuses. Art? Every class but one is held in the same building in St. Paul. Chemistry or Biology? Let me give you a map to St. Paul.

I am very annoyed by the lack of any official statement about this. Put it the handbook, note it on the locations page and make it clear on the information pages about each major. "The Math Department is located in ST. Paul and holds classes in St. Paul and Midway." If they were more upfront about it, students could make an informed choice instead of being mislead. I feel mislead.

I've emailed people at the school, complained in class and asked a Metafilter question about it. While I know it can be hard to get an answer to a Why question, I find this one particularly difficult. Several times they have just restate the policy instead of offering a reason. If I did that on a test, I wouldn't get credit for it.

Reasons I have been given:

Lack of students willing to take a class in Minneapolis, due to parking costs or other reasons: Parking is only $2 more here and it's not an issue for College of Management students. If you don't hold classes here, how do you know if students want to take them? The last three classes I took here were full on the first day.

Due to an agreement with MCTC, Metro will not hold 100 level classes in Minneapolis so they won't be in competition: What a crappy agreement. The co-location was nothing of the kind then. It turned Metro into an unwelcome guest, and not a roommate.

Lack of space: How many classrooms are empty in Minneapolis? I'm not just talking about in the CoM building, but in all of the MCTC buildings. An Algebra class needs seats and a whiteboard and I think they have some of those hanging around.

It's! so! easy! to take an MCTC class for Metro students: No it's not. You have to apply, get transcripts twice and you have to take MCTC assessment tests. How is that different than attending any another school?

The bottom line is that you are not filling your customers' needs and I have tried to point this out. Apparently there are too many layers of bureaucracy to get a point across.

I'm so frustrated by this that I have decided not to continue trying to take Metro classes. I haven't decided what I am going to do yet. I have checked out other schools, including MCTC, and might go to one of those. It seems like my job will pay for Associate's degrees now, too. For now I plan to take a CLEP or two this spring.

Don't leave soda in your trunk

Don't leave soda in your trunk
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Sprain

On Saturday afternoon, I tripped over my laptop cord. My right big toe got bent too far and hurt like I had stubbed it. It swelled up and I have been limping since then. I just read a description of sprains and I am pretty sure I have a mildly sprained big toe. Pain meds and ice are recommended.
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Honesty

Honesty
Originally uploaded by soelo

I have always appreciated the honesty of this sign.
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No School For You

I am not taking anymore classes at Metro State. There are two more meetings of my current class, and after that I am done. There are many reasons, but chief among them is that they don't hold enough classes in Minneapolis. I asked why and was told that they don't hold 100 level classes in Mpls because they have an agreement with MCTC due to the colocation. There was no answer about 200 and higher level classes. I asked for one, but there has not yet been a reply.

I would like to call shenanigans on this agreement. It is not any easier for a Metro student to take an MCTC class than for them to take a class anywhere else. The only difference was no application fee. I still had to pay to have my transcripts sent, take MCTC assessment tests, etc. The only cooperation I see is that we sometimes get a classroom in their buildings. In my opinion, they are not very nice rooms.

Going to school is hard enough without having to deal with the non-answers I have been getting. You might say that college is supposed to prepare you for the real world and there is plenty of bureaucracy to deal with there. Well, I work for a giant corporation and live in a big city, and this is a new level of it.
I am going to try emailing my adviser. I have never talked to her, so this will be a lovely introduction.

Busy

October 30th - I went to the Al Franken rally at the Convention Center. Saw Amy Klobuchar, Keith Ellison and Bill Clinton speak, as well as Al himself.

October 31st - I went to Aaron's party as a tree. No one knew what I was.

November 1st - I volunteered at the DFL and made ~250 phone calls.
November 2nd - I was supposed to get crafty with Gee, but I had to cancel on her to do homework.
November 3rd - We watched 'Recount' in class.

November 4th - I voted and then stayed up past 1am watching returns. I went to bed when it was apparent they would not know who won the Senate race before morning.

November 5th-7th - I stayed after work for four hours to attend A+ test prep class.

November 6th-9th - I am watching Debbie's cats while she is in California. Twice a day I go feed them and give Stormy his meds.

November 8th - I finally got to see 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno' with Mike.

November 10th - Class, where the write up of our voluteering is due. It will be the first class where my homework is done before 6pm.

November 17th and 24th - We have to give 4-person presentations in class. We also have to watch 7 or 8 others. Oh joy.

November 18th-20th - More A+ class.

November 21st - 'Twilight' comes out.

Either November 14th-16th or 22nd-24th - Driving to Colorado.

So if I ignore you during this month, please forgive me.

How does your mind work?

Are you an Empathizer or a Systemizer?

I guess I am a systemizer, since my SQ is almost 3 times my EQ!

Michael Crichton

Micheal Crichton has died of cancer. I really enjoyed his book entitled 'Travels', but I haven't read any of his more popular novels. The book is a collection of episodes from his life from the 60's to the 80's, a mix of biography and travel stories.

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

I know I will. Here are some of my favorite parts of Obama's speech last night:

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dreams of our founders are alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

"It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day"

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand."

"To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope."

"Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin."

Here's the whole thing.

President-Elect Obama!

I have never voted for a winning Presidential candidate until this year. It feels good.
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Why I hate my class

It's supposed to be a "smart classroom", but there seems to a problem with some part of the technology every week. Sometimes the problem is that the teacher doesn't know how to work the technology. I wonder if there was any training provided.

I like that teacher, but she gave a mini-lecture about spelling after our first papers. The next lecture she had notes in a Word doc that she showed on screen and it had many misspellings.

It is a class on Elections and Parties. This is not the place for you to discuss your views on each issue. Issues should only be discussed as they pertain to the campaign. Shut up, please.

During a discussion, you get to make one point each time you talk. I don't care that you work at the capitol, you are not teaching the class.
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At the rally

At the rally
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Al and Bill

Al and Bill
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That One

That One
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