Back to School

If you're interested, check out my latest UT MPA blog post with previously unshared pictures from our Christmas break here.

Would You Rather - Theater vs. Home

If money, babysitters, etc. weren't an issue, would you rather see a movie in the theater

or

in the comfort of your own home?

"You guys are lousy doctors."

Perfect dinner (chicken divan and sliced strawberries) . . .

From Drop Box

Perfect setting . . .

From Drop Box

Imperfect memory of House, Season 2. Who shot Gregory House, M.D. and why? I need closure before continuing with season three, and fortunately, Janssen borrowed season 2 from the library to refresh our memories (I think we actually missed the last few episodes entirely!).

From Drop Box

Weekend Would You Rather - Motorcycle

I had a motorcycle for two years while I was at BYU. It was a lot of fun to ride, yet when I sold it, I breathed a little sigh of relief that I had never gotten into an accident. You have to be ultra-defensive when you ride a motorcycle because other drivers are accustomed to looking for SUV's and sedans, so motorcycles sometimes get overlooked.

I'm curious to know if you would rather have a motorcycle

or

not have one at all.

Any stipulations?

A Cousin, Toast, and 4 Things

Today is my cousin's birthday. Not just any cousin, mind. This is the cousin with whom I spent much of my childhood and many a day getting into trouble. She's a few months older than me, so she was probably the instigator most of the time.

So I was thinking about Sandy (that's her name) and I remembered that she started a private blog some time ago. I'm not very good at following private blogs because I rely on google reader almost exclusively for new blog content. So I went to check up on her and it turns out that she regularly updates! Not only that, but she has great posts, cute pictures (she's a photographer and a mother of four cute kids), and she TAGGED me on one of her posts a few months back.

NObody tags me. Ever. Which is okay. I'm just sayin' . . .

So it was both nice to see that Sandy and her family were doing well, and also that, unbeknownst to me, Sandy thought of me as one of 8 people she entrusted with a tag. I propose a Happy Birthday toast to my good cousin, Sandy, and to her aspiration of traveling more often being fulfilled by visiting us either in Austin or Boston. Specifically, I suggest (for the toast) two pieces of toasted English Muffin with a mug of hot chocolate to fend off the winter chill.


Once you've finished your toast and hot chocolate, feel free to delve deeply into my answers to the questionnaire Sandy passed on to me (I changed these from 8 to 4 for all of our sakes):

4 Things I'm Passionate About:
--Learning
--Relationships
--Efficiency
--Music

4 Words or Phrases I Use Often:
--"You remind me of the babe."
--"Alrighty."
--"Gotcha'."
--"Why have you come here? I told you never to come here. Do you realize what you could have done? Get out!"

4 Things I Want to Do Before I Die
--Repent of all my sins.
--Go skydiving.
--Get a truck.
--Help people.

4 Things I Have Learned From the Past
--When we die, all we're left with are relationships and knowledge/memories, so it's better to be patient, loving, and friendly, and to always focus on the good in people.
--Saving money can be more fulfilling than spending it.
--The world is big, but not too big.
--Friends are just a smile, a handshake, and an invitation away.

4 Places I Want to See or Visit
--Australia - Sidney and kangaroos
--Africa - Lions, elephants, zebras - the works
--China - The great wall, big cities, the Three Gorges Dam, etc.
--Spain, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, India, Japan, and Canada. For starters.

4 Favorite Restaurants
--Bamboo Hut
--Bombay House
--The Flying Sumo
--The Tree Room

4 Things that Happened Yesterday
--I woke up sick, again.
--I nonetheless enjoyed another day of vacation
--Janssen fell asleep instead of watching a movie with me in the evening
--Janssen stopped me from watching Nicholas Nickleby without her. Which is just as well because it'll be more fun watching with her.

4 People I Tag (just if they're interested, mind)
--My brother, Doug
--My sister, Megan
--My friend of a friend, Angela Noelle
--A blogging friend, Revanche

Oysters on the Half Shell

Are you a sushi fan? Janssen and I love it, especially when my brother, Rob the sushi chef extraordinaire, makes it for us. We missed going to his restaurant last year, so we were really excited to go this year. And he did not disappoint. Even the oysters on the half shell were palatable, though admittedly not my favorite. To tell the truth, they were the only thing I had at all a hard time getting down.

Books I Read (or listened to) in 2008

1. Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card (2nd of 7 books in The Tales of Alvin Maker)

2. Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card (1st of 7 books in The Tales of Alvin Maker)

3. Playing with Fire by Derek Landy (Sequel to Skullduggery Pleasant, and just as fun!)

4. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (It took awhile to get into this, but I enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing the movie based on this book when it comes out next year, though the trailer makes it look very different from the book.)

5. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (Audio CD - Listened to it with Janssen. A lot of fun, similar to the Bartimaeus trilogy.)

6. John Adams by David McCullough (So GOOD!! Quite lengthy, but no less insightful and inspiring for it!)

7. The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 6: Superior Saturday by Garth Nix

8. The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 5: Lady Friday by Garth Nix

9. The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 4: Sir Thursday by Garth Nix

10. The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 3: Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix(I'm starting to think of these as a series rather than as individual books. That said, there's just enough closure at the end of each book to appease me till I get into the next book.)

11. The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 2: Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix (Quite good. I enjoyed this one better than the first of the series.)

12. Sabriel by Garth Nix (This was my second time through and it wasn't quite as good since I no longer had a crush on Sabriel. Still, a great read!)

13. The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry (Read aloud with Janssen. Clever and delightful.)

14. The Farthest Shore (Book 3 of The Earthsea Cycle) by Ursula K. Le Guin (Excellent read. Made me want to appreciate and live life to the fullest.)

15. The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 1: Mister Monday by Garth Nix (Audio CD)

16. The Tombs of Atuan (from The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2) by Ursula K. Le Guin (Pretty good, though not as good as Book 1)

17. A Wizard of Earthsea (from The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1) by Ursula K. Le Guin (Really good!)

18. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (Listened to audio CD w/ Brendan Fraser as narrator. He did a fantastic job (to my surprise)!)

19. The Thief Lordby Cornelia Funke (Listened to audio CD w/ Simon Jones as narrator. This was quite good, although I liked Simon Jones' narration of the Bartimaeus series much better).

20. The Merchant of Death (Pendragon Series, Book 1) by D.J. MacHale (Didn't love this at first, but it grew on me when I was bored on an airplane.)

21. So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane (Listened to audio CD. Didn't love the narrator. But it was a mediocre to good book.)

22. The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt (Quite a good book if you're interested in Operations to any extent)

23. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Listened to audio CD. Quite good.)

24. Ptolemy's Gate (Book 3 of the Bartimaeus Trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud (Listened to audio CD, w/ narration by Simon Jones - fantastic narration, fantastic end to the trilogy. Loved it.)

25. The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford (An introduction to Economics of sorts, but really well written and accessible in a way somewhat similar to Freakonomics, though more credible.)

As you can see, 2008 turned out to be quite the juvenile fiction year for me - partly because our library has a good selection of juvenile fiction audio CD's, and partly because I really like the genre. We'll see what 2009 holds in store.