Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
1 year ago
Sunday, December 23, 2007
merry christmas!
"Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles." ~Author Unknown
Friday, December 21, 2007
freezer buns
the ladies' bathroom is 63 degrees right now. seriously. i looked at the thermostat. it doesn't let me do anything to it other than tap my frozen finger on it in a meager attempt to let the furnace know that it's freezing in there. brrr. that is one place i particularly don't like it cold.
Powered by ScribeFire.
fear
so i was talking to my boss about likely trying snowboarding next week. she had tried it once and was telling me about it. meanwhile the president of the company walks by and tells us about his experiences with it (tried it for 3 days in vail). he encouraged me to pad my tailbone (he ended super bruised by the end of the trip) and not use my wrists to break a forward fall... things i already had an idea about, but that were even more solidified after talking to him. then he tells us about a girl that was on the trip with them. she had just gotten strapped into her board, first day of a five day trip, first thing in the morning, not even gone up on the chairlift yet, had wristguards with her but hadn't yet put them on. she fell forward and... broke both wrists. both. wrists. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! i'm sure i'll do alright and hopefully won't end up with anything broken, but there is a chance. add to that the fact that it's easier to snowboard in powder and there certainly will not be powder where we're going (chestnut mountain in galena), and i'm definitely staring down a challenge. i'll be bringing my insurance card with me for sure.
Powered by ScribeFire.
i need to read more
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them." - Mark Twain
Powered by ScribeFire.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
candidates and their gadgets
from the "who really cares" file...via Reuters
i think this is how voters age 18-35 should decide whom to vote for. i know i find this information invaluable!
i think this is how voters age 18-35 should decide whom to vote for. i know i find this information invaluable!
The Associated Press asked the presidential candidates to name their favorite electronic gadgets.
Their answers:
DEMOCRATS:
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: iPod
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards: iPod
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama: BlackBerry
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson: BlackBerry, “my Crackberry.”REPUBLICANS:
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani: CD player
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: “Probably my laptop. Or my bass guitar and amplifier.”
Arizona Sen. John McCain: Razr cell phone and the TV remote
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: BlackBerry
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson: iPod
iPods and Blackberries seem to be the top items. What the heck is
Giuliani doing with a CD player? 1995 called and it wants it’s portable
music technology back. McCain’s still using a RAZR and his tv remote,
he needs an upgrade as well.
Powered by ScribeFire.
another good quote
this quote reminds me of a few people i used to know...
You are not superior just because you see the world in an odious light.
- Vicomte de Chateaubriand
You are not superior just because you see the world in an odious light.
- Vicomte de Chateaubriand
Powered by ScribeFire.
Monday, December 17, 2007
great quote from the dalai lama
"In the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller families; you
have endless conveniences -- yet you never seem to have any time. You
can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don't bother to cross the
road to meet your neighbors...I don't think people have become more
selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoiled them.
have endless conveniences -- yet you never seem to have any time. You
can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don't bother to cross the
road to meet your neighbors...I don't think people have become more
selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoiled them.
They have less resilience, they expect more, they constantly
compare themselves to others and they have too much choice -- which
brings no real freedom."
Powered by ScribeFire.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Friday, December 07, 2007
rawr!
it's a draggin. i can't believe it's only 2:15. ack! today is going so slowly. hopefully it hurries up. i'm antsy to get home and relax!
Powered by ScribeFire.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
dang ding
so, i went out this morning to brush the snow off my car, and much to my surprise, the vw emblem on the front grille was askew. i tapped it and it popped out. evidently one of the clips in the grille that holds the emblem in place snapped. no idea how. so now it looks super dumb. i called the dealership to find out the cost of a replacement. i knew it would be higher than i wanted to hear, but they said it would be $190 just for the part. now, keep in mind that this is only for the grille insert, not the whole front end or for the emblem or anything. it's about 18" long and 6" high plastic. highway. robbery. i didn't even bother getting a service quote. i'll end up trying to find a replacement online or something and do it myself (which actually means with heath's help). i've already solicited my brother in law's help in finding a replacement. the biggest challenge will likely be the color. the part only comes in black or primer grey, so it wouldn't match the green of my car. i'll have to weigh my options and cost when it comes to that situation.
it got me thinking, though, that it is just crazy to charge that much for a piece of plastic. even if i did have a ton of money to blow, i wouldn't pay that. i feel bad for people who have no knowhow or resources and have to go through a body shop or the dealership. thank goodness i have people to help me with this. if you find anything for me online, let me know. it's a 2004 vw jetta. maybe i'll get some sort of pimp chrome one. teehee.
it got me thinking, though, that it is just crazy to charge that much for a piece of plastic. even if i did have a ton of money to blow, i wouldn't pay that. i feel bad for people who have no knowhow or resources and have to go through a body shop or the dealership. thank goodness i have people to help me with this. if you find anything for me online, let me know. it's a 2004 vw jetta. maybe i'll get some sort of pimp chrome one. teehee.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Monday, December 03, 2007
packed weekend
heath and i had quite a busy weekend, but it was a lot of fun. friday night, i treated heath to a nice dinner at vermilion to celebrate his birthday (a day early). saturday, we lounged a bit in the morning due to a change in the plans. heath's parents were planning on visiting, but the weather was pretty icky that day, so they're going to try to come a different time. so, we cleaned a bit, and i finished up making our tree skirt. i think it turned out really good. an unfortunate step in the process, however, was having to walk to the fabric store. in the sleet. i figured it wouldn't be too too bad, but by the time i got there, i was soaked. ick. i made it back with the supplies i needed, and finished things up.
later, heath noticed that the local movie theater was playing the golden compass. it isn't supposed to come out until next friday, but they must have had some advanced screening. there's been a fair amount of controversy surrounding this film because the books it is based on were written by an atheist and apparently have a very anti-church (especially catholic church) message. there was pretty much no mention of religion in the movie. there was an anti-authority message, a message that people should be allowed to make up their own minds, and an entity that could be interpreted as sort of a religious body (the magesterium), though they never made reference to anything religious. it was quite an entertaining movie, and definitely did not wrap up at the end, thus leaving it open to sequels (and potentially encouraging viewers to read the other two books to find out what happens, which may be a source of some of the outcry from christian groups. personally, i didn't see anything in this movie that sent a message of there being no god. it didn't say either way, but i suppose i may be naive and if one were looking for that kind of message, he or she could probably find it if they looked hard enough (as with anything else - see: confirmation bias). i'm curious to read the books myself to find out what all the drama is all about. much to the surprise of some of the critics, i won't be transformed into an atheist simply by watching this movie or reading this book. much as i don't think that there is really a hogwarts or ministry of magic. i know this is a bit different, but in my humble opinion, there is nothing wrong with exposing yourself to diverse points of view and belief systems. if you are secure in your faith, then why be afraid to learn about others. ignoring the other viewpoints won't make them go away. feel free to disagree and say that i shouldn't be supporting these messages by seeing the movie or considering buying the books, but i honestly see no harm in finding out for myself what the big deal is, rather than basing my understanding of the situation and my opinion on some inflammatory email written by somebody with an agenda (for either side). okay, end of rant.
so after the movie, we came home, which was great because the weather was still fairly nasty. yesterday, we hung out a bit, then went to the gym to work out. we played 1 on 1 basketball, which was interesting since i hadn't played in years. i actually gave heath a run for his money and he was looking a little worried for a while there. he hit some big shots from the outside to beat me, but said he was surprised by how i played (yay go me!). it was fun, but it beat me up. we grabbed lunch at potbelly's and headed home to shower.
then we went to see the trans-siberian orchestra at the allstate arena. drama ensued. first, traffic was insane. the ramp to get to the arena is incredibly poorly designed so we were going to be late for the 3pm show. we finally got to the arena at 3:05, hustling to get in without missing much, and when we had our tickets scanned, they stopped us. oops. tickets were for the 7:30 show. well, crap. we had already paid our $15 to park (highway robbery), and now we had 4 hours to kill before our show. luckily there was a target nearby, we browsed a bit, then walked to chili's for a very unhealthy dinner. back to target. bought me a sweater. then we ended up going over to krispy kreme for donuts and something to drink. at about 7pm, we wandered back to the arena (brrr!), and enjoyed a really fun show. they definitely entertain. lots of lights, electric guitars, fire, etc. very cool, though. there were a number of songs that they did that i was very impressed with. of course they do their christmas songs, but they also did their interpretation of a number of classical songs (flight of the bumblebee, canon in d, etc.). i thought they did a great job with those. we ended up getting home pretty late, so we're beat today, but it was a lot of fun!
later, heath noticed that the local movie theater was playing the golden compass. it isn't supposed to come out until next friday, but they must have had some advanced screening. there's been a fair amount of controversy surrounding this film because the books it is based on were written by an atheist and apparently have a very anti-church (especially catholic church) message. there was pretty much no mention of religion in the movie. there was an anti-authority message, a message that people should be allowed to make up their own minds, and an entity that could be interpreted as sort of a religious body (the magesterium), though they never made reference to anything religious. it was quite an entertaining movie, and definitely did not wrap up at the end, thus leaving it open to sequels (and potentially encouraging viewers to read the other two books to find out what happens, which may be a source of some of the outcry from christian groups. personally, i didn't see anything in this movie that sent a message of there being no god. it didn't say either way, but i suppose i may be naive and if one were looking for that kind of message, he or she could probably find it if they looked hard enough (as with anything else - see: confirmation bias). i'm curious to read the books myself to find out what all the drama is all about. much to the surprise of some of the critics, i won't be transformed into an atheist simply by watching this movie or reading this book. much as i don't think that there is really a hogwarts or ministry of magic. i know this is a bit different, but in my humble opinion, there is nothing wrong with exposing yourself to diverse points of view and belief systems. if you are secure in your faith, then why be afraid to learn about others. ignoring the other viewpoints won't make them go away. feel free to disagree and say that i shouldn't be supporting these messages by seeing the movie or considering buying the books, but i honestly see no harm in finding out for myself what the big deal is, rather than basing my understanding of the situation and my opinion on some inflammatory email written by somebody with an agenda (for either side). okay, end of rant.
so after the movie, we came home, which was great because the weather was still fairly nasty. yesterday, we hung out a bit, then went to the gym to work out. we played 1 on 1 basketball, which was interesting since i hadn't played in years. i actually gave heath a run for his money and he was looking a little worried for a while there. he hit some big shots from the outside to beat me, but said he was surprised by how i played (yay go me!). it was fun, but it beat me up. we grabbed lunch at potbelly's and headed home to shower.
then we went to see the trans-siberian orchestra at the allstate arena. drama ensued. first, traffic was insane. the ramp to get to the arena is incredibly poorly designed so we were going to be late for the 3pm show. we finally got to the arena at 3:05, hustling to get in without missing much, and when we had our tickets scanned, they stopped us. oops. tickets were for the 7:30 show. well, crap. we had already paid our $15 to park (highway robbery), and now we had 4 hours to kill before our show. luckily there was a target nearby, we browsed a bit, then walked to chili's for a very unhealthy dinner. back to target. bought me a sweater. then we ended up going over to krispy kreme for donuts and something to drink. at about 7pm, we wandered back to the arena (brrr!), and enjoyed a really fun show. they definitely entertain. lots of lights, electric guitars, fire, etc. very cool, though. there were a number of songs that they did that i was very impressed with. of course they do their christmas songs, but they also did their interpretation of a number of classical songs (flight of the bumblebee, canon in d, etc.). i thought they did a great job with those. we ended up getting home pretty late, so we're beat today, but it was a lot of fun!
Powered by ScribeFire.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
