Sunday, December 30, 2007

List Of The Day

Was pointed to this blog by another blog I read. Meta-blogging is the best...blogging about blogs. Anyway, the post today is pretty awesome!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

The Gossip

So I just got back from the engagement party of Bec and Adam, my west coast family. They are one of many friends who are diving into major life events in 2008. Consider this as close as I get to Perez:

-Ali is preggers!
-Terps is engaged!
-Nazli is engaged!

You may not know these people, but if you did, you'd be happy happy for them!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Happy Birthday Jebus!

I wish as many people followed the values of JC as celebrated Christmas, but as the Stones said...you can't always get what you want.

Hope you got some of what you wanted this holiday season!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Really?


I think that if you have so much food that you can't hold your wine, you may need to rethink things.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Faculty Fun Time!

Today for our 10 minutes of faculty fun, we had the first annual medley relay. This brought back memories of the Inter-departmental Olympics at FHS (2005). Today we had teams of five competing in a relay of sharpening pencils (with those hand-sharpeners), collating and stapling paper, grading a multiple choice test, running around the school with a coffee cup, and board writing. My team came in 4th of 5 or 6, but it was a riot. It really helped to end the first day of finals with something mindless.

Riding Off Into The Sunrise

Today is the day that's been on the horizon for the past four months. Today, Patagonia Boy leaves California, on his way back to the east coast. I realize details are a bit fuzzy on the Boy. The gist is that he was in Tahoe doing a co-op at a civil engineering firm and he's going back to finish his degree so he can graduate in August. Before you start calling me Mrs. Robinson, like JD did this morning, the Boy is 24 11/12 and three years behind the usual schedule of college graduation. I'm robbing no cradle.

Not sure what will happen from here on out, but we had a fun time while we were both on this coast. I'm certainly hooked on beautiful Tahoe and glad I had an excuse to play there this fall.

Finals start today. I give mine on Friday and I'm trying to write it as I type. It's going to be stress and sleep deprivation until I get on the plane Saturday morning!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

My New Addiction

This website: http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

The best thing for killing time during my free periods since Sudoku.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Hitting The Slopes

200th post!

I was talking to my aunt recently and she asked about Patagonia Boy and what sports he does. I told her that he is a hiker, rock climber, and skier. Her response was, "Skiing...that's not your most intuitive sport. We need to get you out on the slopes." I didn't ski until I was 18 (1998) and then again in 2004. I don't think I've skied more than that (I am convinced there's another time but it's not coming to me). So, Patagonia Boy has his work cut out for him.

It snowed in Tahoe on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I met Matt and his friend Willy as they finished night skiing at Boreal on Friday night (after a very tentative ride up the hill...clear roads but I've spun on black ice before and I've never driven Lighting in the snow. On Saturday, we got a late start (what can I say...he brings out the late sleeper in me) and went to Alpine Meadows Ski and hiked. I was on snowshoes...which did no good because the snow was totally powder and I sunk straight down. Matt hiked in his new tele gear and skied down. There was a "drizzle" of snow all day Saturday, which was totally what I was wishing for...no snow on my drive to or from but snow while I was there. Sunday, we got up at a reasonable hour and were about to ski for about five hours. I got a Learn To Ski pass, which was a beginner ski lift ticket, rental, and lesson. Despite being totally discouraged at first (it's not totally intuitive), I played around for a bit and finally got the courage to get on the lift. It ended up being great fun...it's not totally intuitive, but I'm not a disaster either. Hopefully, I didn't embarrass the boy too much. It was fun...maybe we'll do it again next weekend.

Monday, December 3, 2007

I Love California...but...

1. No Teddy peanut butter. I haven't bought peanut butter since I've been here because I can't find what I want.
2. No Fields of Mint tea by Republic of Tea (at least not at Whole Foods where I used to buy it).
3. No mint flavored No Pudge brownie mix (sources: Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Save Mart).
4. No seltzer in cans. And definitely no Polar Lime seltzer. No where!
5. Can you get UNSWEETENED dried cranberries anywhere in this country?
6. Partial highlights for my hair cost almost 50% more.

There's more...it'll come to me during my next trip to the grocery store.

I've Been Tagged

Boo. I adore Amy and her blog but I hate the feeling of obligation from tagging. Here are the rules:

The rules of tagging are as follows:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven random facts:

1. I had a dream the other night about proving sin^2 + cos^2 = 1 with my junior prom date.
2. I have never seen any of the Indiana Jones movies, Lord of the Ring movies, James Bond movies, or Titanic. Patagonia Boy is gasping.
3. I have a fear that my arches will fall.
4. I didn't like having anything around my neck (turtlenecks, necklaces, hands, etc) until I was about 17.
5. I have a strict rule that I will not wear running shoes for anything other than running. Period. And I always run in the road against traffic...even if you flash your lights, honk and yell at me...I'm not moving.
6. My alarm goes off every night at 8:30pm reminding me that I should already be in bed.
7. When my students come talk to me while I'm doing work on the computer, I like to freak them out by looking at them while I'm still typing.

The only reason I will continue this is to share some cool blogs with you. However, I'm not going to leave comments on these blogs letting them know they have been tagged. Spam is not kosher. But here are the top 7 blogs I read every day: Perez Hilton, Blah Blah Blah, The "Blog" of Unnecessary Quotations, Crummy Church Signs, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, Ed and Marisa in Europe, and This is Framingham. Oh and let's throw in Good Magazine too.

Brian Boitano and Barry Manilow...finally

One of my colleagues, not a homosexual mind you, was invited to this event by a friend who won the tickets. From the SF Gate: On Wednesday, AT&T park will be the scene of a live show, "Aflac Presents Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular," starring Barry Manilow singing eight numbers. The skating will include performances by several other Olympic medalists: Dorothy Hamill, David Pelletier and Viktor Petrenko. The show will be taped for future airings on NBC and the Style Network. Costumes have been designed by American Conservatory Theater wardrobe whiz Beaver Bauer. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the George Mark Children's House, which serves children with terminal illnesses.

Did you ever think all your dreams would come true? I hope there are pictures...

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Love Love Love...

Natalie Portman. I'm not afraid to say how much I love her. She's 26 and she's got that Jackie O-Audrey Hepburn kind of grace. She's well spoken, never gets negative press, and she has real-people eyebrows. There's a video from an interview with the Times here...just click the play button on the lower right.

Giving

The countdown is on: Chanukkah in two days, Solstice in 19 days, Christmas in 23 days, and Baby Jesus's B-day in 23 days too. While you're trying to get all the gifts on your list, don't forget to give to some organizations that make your life (or someone else's) a bit better.

Recycline Rules



One of my favorite companies, Recycline, has added to their product line. They've introduced cutting boards, storage containers, and colanders, under their Preserve line, made of 100% recycled #5 plastic and 100% recycled paper. Check them out here and at Whole Foods. I exclusively use their toothbrushes which are made from Stonyfield Farm yogurt containers. Wherever you buy the toothbrushes you can get a free mailer to send the toothbrush back to the company when it's done all it can for you and it will be made into plastic lumber. And they are based in Waltham, MA!

Crazy Videos

Mom emailed me this one. This reminds me of most young engineers I know. They just like to make crazy contraptions.



And this American Idol alum. One word: Wow.