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Christmas shopping

Before we begin, may I say I am very glad to be off for Christmas.

I decided on Thursday that I'd try to get the hubby his gift. He actually asked for something - that's pretty significant, right there - so I was taking that request and running with it.

The kiddos and I piled into "mommy's blue ride" and headed to breakfast (IHOP), then to Hastings (a local book/CD store that also sells and rents DVDs). I didn't expect to find his gift there - he asked for some additional memory for his computer - but he did ask me to pick up something for the person he drew for the office gift exchange, so I looked around there (with kiddos in cart) and talked back and forth on the cell phone with him until we figured out what he wanted to get him.

After that, off to Target. Didn't reeeeally expect to find memory there, but I thought I'd try, anyhow. I had a couple of other things to pick up, so it wasn't a wasted trip.

From there, his office. I called Office Depot from there and found out that I needed a whole lot more info about the computer than the last time we bought memory for one - which was quite a while ago (one of the Win 95 comps, likely). All I remembered doing back then was getting the amount I wanted, not needing to know much of anything else. So I drove home, ran in, scribbled down computer info, and then called the store back from the car.

After a few minutes, I decided I'd just go ahead and start driving there (since if they didn't have it, I was going to try a small local computer store). I was almost to Office Depot by the time I got off the phone with them (they finally put someone on the phone who knew exactly what to ask me so that I knew what THEY needed to know - that we had SD RAM). At that point, the man I was talking to said he thought they had what I needed.

Soooo, into Office Depot. After finding someone to help, I found the memory, and he had concerns whether or not the memory they carried would be backwards-compatible with the hubby's comp's speed. After looking up his computer model, we discovered that indeed, they did not have the type he needed. This Office Depot Guy was quite helpful though - he wrote down exactly which type we would need, and advised we take a peek inside the computer first to know its configuration (it would affect how much we might buy, depending on how the memory already there was split up, or if it was all on one card, etc.). He also told us what the max was that the computer could take.

So, after all that, I had no memory (hee!), and the kiddos and I had all about reached our limit. I needed to get home for Patrick's speech therapy, and was in no mood to try to cook, so I went through the McDonald's drive-through while calling the hubby to tell him what the guy told me about the memory (so that he'd know what he might be looking at). Had to tell him to wait a moment while I ordered, and when he heard me order Happy Meals...

"Are you feeding my children McDonalds?"

Yeppers. And I must say, the chicken nuggets look far more appetizing now than they did back when they first came out. Like real chicken breast pieces, not processed chicken parts.

At any rate, by the time we got home and ate, the speech therapist was due to be there - or so I thought until I checked the calendar she gave me, and realized that I still had old default times on my computer. She wasn't due to see Patrick again until after Christmas.

So the kiddos played a little bit, but started showing their exhaustion, thus prompting me to declare naptime for all three of us.

At least I did find something at one of the above locations for the hubby (no, not at McDonalds), so our decision to wait until after Christmas for the memory, instead of as a gift for Christmas, does not leave me with nothing to give him.

On Friday, I finished the shopping for the kiddos. I decided I wanted to give them something in their stockings, so I found some things while killing time at Wal-Mart waiting for Christmas luncheon party thinger for hubby's office.

RIP

Rest in peace, Dan Fogelberg.

The 12 Days of Christmas

...as sung by "Straight No Chaser", a men's a capella group. It gets rather humorous.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Finally finished

Back on Sept. 3, I posted that I had started reading James Joyce's Ulysses. I finally finished it a couple of nights ago. It took me over three months to read.

I've heard it said that that's the most readable of his books. If so....wow.

I'm glad to have read it just for the sake of exposure to his style, but it was hard to read through some parts of it (hard as in difficult at times, and hard as in personally distasteful at other times). Others, not so bad. It *was* definitely interesting to get a taste of what life was like in Dublin at the time period of the book, and I did laugh when I found out who the man was at the beach watching the girl. It's also at that point that I understood Joyce's choice of the title.

Not an easy read, but it's done.

Nobly Stands the Grand Old College...

...and advances to the Stagg Bowl once again.

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO! Go Purple Raiders!!!

An upset little girl

I went in to check on Calla, since she was crying and wasn't sounding like she was going to quiet back down herself. I patted her back, and then realized that there was a second child in the little toddler bed. I hadn't been patting HER back, but rather PATRICK'S. Poor little Calla was crammed up against the wall - Patrick had climbed into her bed and was taking up most of the middle of the bed.

Calla calmed back down after I sent Patrick back to his bed (and replaced batteries in her little musical aquarium thing).

Victor Borge sings phonetic punctuation...

I remember seeing shows in which he did it spoken...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-buiOOwXatM

I do not remember ever having seen him do it while singing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7L02tCNi0I

TOO funny.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a good one!

Kiddos' latest amusements

Patrick loves playing "night-night" with Calla. It has nothing to do with sleep. They know Jay and I close their door and say "night-night" when it's bedtime. So, Calla goes through the door (usually our bedroom door, since it doesn't stick shut as firmly as theirs) and Patrick shuts it, declaring "night-night!" Calla then pushes the door open and walks back in, and they both cackle.

Apparently it's great fun. :D It's also funny to watch.

Patrick's also taken to the piano more deliberately, picking out notes and singing along with them. Sometimes Calla helps with accompaniment. ;)

We're going to need to get the boy some music lessons, I think. What age do they typically start keyboard lessons at? 5 or 6ish?

One more week!

..until Thanksgiving break! Yay!

In other news...

Go Mount Union! :D
The score on today's football game (shortly after starting the 3rd quarter) was 49 - 0. Jay's comment: "Still first quarter?" Hee!

And it's nice to have a kindred spirit with whom to listen to streaming Christmas music online, who also was counting down the days until some stations started to broadcast holiday music. (It's also really nice to have headphones so that Jay won't be driven crazy listening to Christmas music weeks before Thanksgiving!)

Price comparison

(from a news story about the American Girl boutique
opening in Dallas)

AMERICAN GIRL ENSEMBLE

$87 –Julie Albright, historical doll from the 1970s,
with a period outfit and Meet Julie book

$20 –Julie's hat, necklace and shoulder bag

$39.95 –Julie's set of six paperback books

$24 –Julie's casual outfit with boots

$185 –Julie's Bedroom Collection, a 24-piece set that
includes bed and pajamas

$355.95 –Total

20 years later: Handed down to daughter



XBOX 360 AND PERIPHERALS

$349 –Xbox 360 Pro console (including two bundled games)

$49 –Second wireless controller

$99 –Wi-Fi adapter for connecting wirelessly to the Internet

$50 –One-year subscription to Xbox Live Gold online service

$59 –Halo 3 game

$606 –Total

20 years later: Obsolete

..hee!

Today...

We had our "Race for Education" fund raiser today - it's not quite a walk/run-a-thon (in that most folks donate some amount without basing it on laps walked/run), but the idea is similar. We go for an hour. There are prizes (from the school) for the most laps completed and such.

I did 2.75 miles. I would have been up over 3 (possibly closer to 3.5), but my kiddos were at the park with the babysitter, and they did two laps with me - which I know took quite a bit of time. Heck, I carried one or the other for at least one lap, so I should just go ahead and say that makes it 3 miles. :D

I'll probably need to take some ibuprofen before I go to sleep.

An icky few weeks.

About a week and a half ago, we found out that one of the members of one of the local congregations (of the church we attend) killed himself. While it's not someone I knew well (though I knew *of* him), it is still a shock, as he was one of the last people one would have imagined doing something like that.

Last week, one of the long-time members of the church died of old age. I think my husband had once referred to him as being 150 years old -- he wasn't, obviously, but he was a definite fixture, and someone you could have just about pictured being around long after *you* were gone.

Last night, a member of one of the local Spanish-speaking congregations was killed when his motorcycle was struck by a drunk driver (actually, it's more likely that it was when the driver tried to flee the scene, and not the initial hit). The driver was pursued by several witnesses, who boxed in his vehicle with theirs and held him until police arrived.

Can this stop now, please?

Happy Ending

For a while, we thought we might have a mouse in the house, because at some point I saw a little brown blur (running faster than I thought a gecko would) in one corner of the kitchen. No evidence of a mouse, though, so after a gecko sighting, I thought that might have been it after all. Nope. Finally saw evidence under the sink. I was going to get poison or a trap on my last trip to Target, and completely forgot.

Well, today the mouse and I startled each other, and it *froze*. It froze really really well. For quite a while, I thought it must have had a heart attack (heck, I nearly did). I finally decided I'd kick myself if I didn't at least *try* to get it out of the house, while it was still paralyzed from fear or whatever. Got a canvas tote bag, crept up over the bed (it was on the floor beside the bed), and watched it for a while longer. It finally moved its head just slightly, and I tossed the bag flat over it, scooped it up through the bag, carried it to the back door, and gently tossed it into the vines in the backyard. Saw it hit the vines, too.

The canvas bag is now waiting to be washed with the whites, on HOT.

I'll still get some poison or a trap to put under the sink (the kiddos are kept gated out of the kitchen), just in case it or another comes back, but this time, we all ended up happy. Mouse lived, and it's not in my house anymore.

A new little one at church...

Yay! Congrats to Tara and Dustin on their little girl!

Grrr...

In professional-type communication (for school specifically), I *try* to model appropriate grammar. I was rather displeased (understatement!) to see, then, that on one of my notices that the main office printed out to send home, they substituted QUOTATION MARKS AS EMPHASIS instead of what I originally had (which I believe was boldface type).

Ugh. Now I look like a moron. Fantastic.

New pictures

Progress on the bedroom bookshelves:



And the "new" car my father-in-law bought:

Reading list

Completed this year: The Science Before Science (Rizzi), Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (Descartes), Mere Christianity (Lewis), Freakonomics (Levitt and Dubner), Inspiration Point (Bowen - local author), The Thirteenth Tale (Setterfield), Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Maguire), The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ (...authorship would be hard to try to explain on this...erm..."interesting" piece, which I will dispose of as soon as I figure out whether I want to burn it or what), Bible Handbook (Halley), and Jesus of Nazareth (Benedict XVI).

(Edit: Forgot that "Life on the Silk Road" book. And am upset that I *cannot* find it in the house. Bah!)

I've started reading what's probably gonna be the hardest of any so far this year - James Joyce's Ulysses.

Hooboy...it's been an interesting first several pages.

Seen as a message board signature...

Knowledge is Power.
Power Corrupts.
Study Hard.
Be Evil!

Inspirations and redemptions

My grandfather loved books. Actually, both enjoyed reading immensely, though I remember seeing my father's father reading Reader's Digest more than anything else. He did spend a lot of time at the library as well (fit right in there with his frugality). My mother's father, though, owned a number of books, and though I don't remember seeing him read much (I wasn't around him as often, and he died when I was much younger), I have a fair number of his books, and have been told how much he enjoyed them. I have been reading them. I love reading old books - especially those owned by my relatives. I feel connected to them when I do.

One of the books I read through recently was Tales of Sherlock Holmes (containing A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, A Scandal in Bohemia, and A Case of Identity. I had heard before the mention of Holmes's drug addiction, but hadn't anticipated it being mentioned so heavily in one of the stories - A Scandal in Bohemia, where Watson and Holmes discuss it. In fact, I really hadn't expected the overall picture of Holmes that appears through all of the stories that I've read (admittedly, not many). It is definitely not a flattering portrayal.

It dawned on me that it reminded me of House. Neither title character is all that likable, both have addictive (or perhaps compulsive) personalities, and let's face it, both are arrogant because they're brilliant and they know it. In both cases, too, any liking I have for the characters comes from their friends. They're redeemed, I suppose, because I expect that there must be something that their friends see in them, even if it isn't often portrayed in the stories/shows (Okay, so it helps in the case of Dr. House that Hugh Laurie is not exactly unattractive. Hugh is far more appealing now than he was in Blackadder. Too bad the same can't be said for Rowan Atkinson. He should really go back to wearing a beard. Seriously).

Granted, I think House plays this up more than Sherlock Holmes, because the depictions are products of different times. Holmes was not as flawed as House in his arrogance for the time the characters are set in.

Now watch this - someone's gonna say that there was an interview done with (insert cast member/director/producer/writer from House here) in which he/she said that Holmes was an (or the) inspiration for House...

An amusing eBay auction

Hysterical.

A mom of 6 got $142 for an auctioned pack of Pokemon cards. Her story of her trip to the grocery store with all six of her kids is likely why she got that amount for it.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675

Since he posted the pic on his site...

...I feel like I can post it here now.



It's really coming along very well. It helps some that he won't have to build shelves for as many CDs, since I've spent the last few days ripping some into the computer (to allow them to be put up in a box somewhere vs. left out on shelves). Ripped are in (and stacked above) the box, those left are on what was our DVD holder (DVDs are in the unit Jay built now).



It'd be really tempting to take those CDs that I've ripped onto the computer over to Hastings and see if we could pick up a little money for them. I dunno how I feel about that, though.

I agree with what Jay said on his site - we now have to find something else re. the curtains; they're just a little too long for this. Unfortunately, I don't know how easy it will be to find something cheap that will fit the bill. Originally, I had thought Roman blinds would look good in the room (I still do!), but those are just waaay the heck outta the budget by the time you figure in eight windows - or even six, since we'll be covering two with a bookshelf (which could then keep the old sheers).

Maybe we'll ask my folks for curtains for Christmas (how exciting, eh?).

In the process of moving things...

I was moving some old books from the kiddos' room to our room, and spreading their remaining books out a bit (easier for them to get to) as well as moving the children's DVDs to their room. In the process of finding a temporary home for the books moved out of their room (until we get bookshelves up in our room), I rediscovered an old book of my great-grandfather's. It's apparently an old copy of a catechism (?) -- it was published in the US, but this copy is in German.

I really have to get back to trying to learn German, since this is at least the third book or so of my great-grandparents' that I have. I'd like to be able to read them with at least a little understanding (might be hard, since they're printed in the older Germanic typeface - forget what that style was called).

More work on the computer desks/bedroom stuff

The hubby's been busy. The two corner computer desks are now linked up, which has provided a new home for the TV. It's really coming along nicely.

Pics forthcoming as soon as (if) he posts them on his blog first - he deserves first bragging rights. :D

Personality and intelligences test

Oh, something else...

http://www.xanga.com/JayPatrickSanders

See there for videos of the recent church gospel meeting and for one of the kids there (young folks? They're not really "kids"...) singing.

Wow, it's been almost a month...

Patrick's been enjoying his ride-on toys. He also likes to put on his hat by himself (a big boy thing, I suppose). The combo leads to the following images...





















It's pretty cute.

Calla has been walking as long as she holds on to something - the ottoman in our living room works well for her, since she can push it around and walk behind it. Yes, we do actually have a toy for her that she could push and walk behind, but she likes the ottoman (and Patrick likes riding on the aforementioned toy, not shown in the pictures).

Another school year is about to begin, and I have been promised that I won't be teaching, so that I can concentrate on accreditation. Now all we need to do is figure out who can watch the kiddos on Fridays (Mondays and Wednesdays are already secured). :/

Oh, here's Calla...

Isn't she getting BIG? (BTW, thanks to Sears for the portrait).

We're pretty certain this will be my last year with the school. Childcare is harder each year to arrange, especially part-time. It sucks - you work part-time so you can spend more time with the kiddos, but that means you can't afford to pay for "official" childcare on the days you need it. Otherwise, you'd need to work full-time.

We're also pretty sure that the kiddos will be homeschooled. I went on and on and on (and on...) with a couple of the folks from DR talking about my ideas for it - basically, I want to do unit-based instruction once they hit about 3rd or 4th grade, with units being geographically based, then as they move into upper middle/high school, the units would be more timeline/historically based.


So for instance, we'd spend a year studying Africa, and in the process cover (obviously) its geography and cultures (maybe including trying to cook some dishes), the plant and animal life (including food chain, photosynthesis, plant resipiration cycles, etc. as appropriate to the age), read books about or related to the area, drawing vocabulary and age-appropriate spelling and writing assignments from them. There, you've got social studies, science, literature, writing, spelling, and (though I didn't mention it) plenty of chances to also include art and music. Math would be harder to tie in, but we could at least relate story problems to the unit.

As we'd move to the timeline/historical based units, the approach would be the same, though by then science and math would both likely require separate study (again, tying in topics wherever possible, such as the development of certain scientific theories as we hit the appropriate time frame). This would also allow us to revisit some of the geographical information as events in history center around particular regions. Given that most high schools put US history and government in the junior and senior years, I think this would also work well as we'd go from ancient and hit modern time periods at around those years (and thus be able to incorporate that information in).

Plus sides? Literature, art, music, and cultural information (including non-western cultures) would all be in context. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (for instance) makes far more of an impact read (or skimmed) in relation to its historical setting than outside of it in an isolated lit course.

In addition, it's not something that's tied to particular school years - there's no real reason why my kiddos, barely over one year apart, can't cover the same information. Their assignments may differ a little, but otherwise, no reason to differentiate the years for the two of them. They can both do Africa in the same year.

Minuses? While I'm confident that by the end of the "block" of geographical-based years (ditto the historical ones) the kiddos would have (at the minimum) the same topics as those in school, there would be little chance of switching to traditional schooling (public or private) in the midst of them. It's like switching the way one does math, for instance, and concentrating on adding and subtracting in the first couple of years, then multiplication for a year, then division in fourth grade, and fractions/percents/decimals in fifth (with measurement, Roman numerals, and some other topics sprinkled in among those years). By the end of 5th grade, I'm confident you'd have a student who can do math - in fact, I'm quite confident that they'd be far more secure in the basics, since they worked on *mastering* one before moving on (instead of freaking doing LONG DIVISION in THIRD GRADE **BEFORE** they even finish mastering multiplication facts and tables...HELLO, division is MUCH easier once you KNOW your multiplication well...gah...off the soapbox...), but the kiddo would struggle if they had to go into a "normal" math curriculum partway through and deal with problems that assume they've been working on long division already for a full year.

(Note - I'm not necessarily planning on doing math exactly that way, nor necessarily in that sequence, though I am a firm believer in the benefits of mastering one step before moving on to another big topic. It was just an example.)

It'd also be a lot of work for *me* - helped by not doing two vastly different things with the kiddos, mind you, but it's not like you can order XYZ kit of books for grade 5 and be more or less ready to go (note - I have *no* problem with those who want to use boxed curricula. Heck, I likely will as well the first couple of years, before moving into the above plans). There are some curricula that do something similar to this (Konos comes to mind in upper grades) in at least combining language arts and social studies, but I'm looking to tie in more than that, and I'm not even sure that anyone does what I want to do at those lower grade levels.

I'm excited about the idea. I'm also intimidated by it. Eep!

I (finally) watched a recording of a particular pop-u-la-ler musical that a particular person sent to me. Loved it. Heck, the hubby saw some of it too, and liked what he saw. Thanks, you know who! :) If it ever comes (back?) to town, I so wanna go see.

Long update! Thanks for sticking with it!

The Wilhelm Scream

If you've never heard of it, you must go read about it.

(Even if you've never heard of it, you have definitely HEARD it.)

http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/

Where'd I put that scimitar...?

62%

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

The foxes

...are back. I spotted three of them in the back-backyard.

Don't usually have rodent problems anyhow, what with neighborhood cats and the crawl space under the house (instead of being a slab where they'd be going into the house, not under it), but we certainly won't have any with the foxes back.

They do have a fair bit of range to wander between, what with the connecting alley (not drivable, though some city vehicles go back there for municipal stuff) allowing access directly to other backyards and such without going out onto driven streets.

Yay! Foxes back! :)

Book review

While out at garage sales today, I picked up a book titled "Life Along the Silk Road", by Susan Whitfield. It's a collection of...hm. Historical fiction biographical sketches? It doesn't read like a novel, definitely, even within each separate story.

It's a collection of tales of the lives of several people of different walks of life who lived during the time of the "Silk Road", and whose lives were shaped by the culture, trade, and conflict of the area. It is researched and based on primary source information, as much as possible. Real people are included where possible, but the gaps in their lives are filled in with information based on other resources - the story of the trader, for instance, may include details and information based on what is known of traders along that route at the time.

It is fascinating. I have long thought that we get too little Eastern history in school (and even what we do get is often separated into its own course, leaving it out-of-context with the more familiar Western history -- but the lack of context and such in history courses is a topic I could go on and on and on about, so I'll just leave it at that for now), and miss out on so much because of it (I loved my Eastern Civ course in college). Now, of course, I feel the need to get out my timelines and see where those stories fall -- hee!

Anyhow, if you happen to see the book, flip through it. The individual stories are short and easily readable, and make the cultural information so much more accessible.

Niece is here!

My sister delivered her little baby girl early this morning by c-sec. They're both doing very well.

Welcome to the outside, Kinsie Elizabeth!

(8lb. 6oz. and 21")

Swiped from a few people

Things I've done in bold, want to do in italics.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10 Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently (briefly, at least)
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart (dunno.)
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Bad times in Pakistan

http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/newsviewsdetails.php?newsid=693

In short:

It said that Bhandara replied that his amendment bill sought only that protection available to Muslims under the law should also be provided to non-Muslims. The bill was sharply and unanimously voted down, it said.

...and after they voted it down, they made the existing law even harsher...

Instead of merely being unable to blaspheme against Mohammad, one would now not be able to covert from Islam - a man would face the death penalty for doing so; a woman, life imprisonment. Children and property would go to surviving Muslim relatives.

Lovely.

Why a new blog?

I decided this blog would be for more RLish stuff, and the LJ blog would be for game-related posts.

So! Onward and upward!