It's been a while...

So it's been an obnoxiously long time since I last wrote, but in my defence, this is my first year of teaching, and I'm almost halfway done! It's been crazy trying to work out the planning and paperwork, but I think I have a pretty good system now. I'm already working on plans for January!

And here's the thing that I saw that reminded me, yes, I do have a blog that needs to be written every once in a while; the funniest headline I have seen this year (be sure to read the comments from readers at the bottom, just as hilarious as the article): Stoned wallabies make crop circles.

Enjoy!

Psalm 111

In doing devos today, I read the following:

Psalm 111

1 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. I thought that was really neat - I love looking at the Bible as a work of literature as well as instruction and direction. The beauty, complexity, and intricacy of the literary aspects of this work that was written over such a long period of time is amazing!

Paresseux

While teaching adjectives to my French II classes, I was emailed this video of how lazy people are (Lazy - what a good adjective! Not as good as festive though... And speaking of festive - Christmas is coming soon! Yay! I can't wait! I watched a few Christmas movies this weekend and have been listening to Christmas music since...) Following that big tangent, here's the link to the video Getting people to use stairs.

Accomplishment

And yet again I fail at blogging every day, but I did make it 3 times this week so far (counting today), so that's better than nothing!

Today I did lots! I finished my lesson plans for next week and my instructional assistant will be thrilled that I can get her my things to be copied tomorrow! Yay! I also did some errand-running, cleaned my entire apartment - afterward I realized that I really, really needed to open the windows because of the smell of the cleaning supplies. Hooray for non-suffocation!

And I am starting to realize the advantages of cable TV - I found a movie about Moliere in French! Yay! I feel like I'm doing some sort of research for a lesson, even if I'm not. Makes me feel accomplished with all I got done this afternoon.

Funny language-y thing: being accomplished (perhaps I'm thinking of this because of the film) used to be applied to people in the way that they have many skills, chiefly used to be women. Today, I am accomplished as well, but not because of my amazing skills, rather because I got an amazing amount of stuff done. (Obviously I'm not accomplished for my grammar or my language skills right now....)

Life as We Know It

Four and a half months after the fact, I am just now fully realizing that life as I knew it before is over. Yes, there are remnants of my life as a student from before (how funny it is to hear that!) like old college books, student teaching materials, and of course, friends.

One thing I have discovered though, is how blessed I was through my schooling experiences - high school, college, etc. And how strange it is to not be surrounded by people going through the same stages of life you are. It's very different, humbling, and sometimes disorienting remembering that the people I'm working with are so much older than I am , have so much more experience at their job, and some have kids my age or older. Weird. It's just very strange and hard for me to get used to following 16 years of being with people my age, going through the same transitions and growth. So it's pretty safe to say that life as I knew it is over and I'm the same sized fish, just in a much bigger pond.

Lazy Daze

I really should be posting every day since I really don't have much else to do except write lessons, grade papers, clean, and lounge around...so now I will. Hopefully...

In other news, how amazing and encouraging it is to have God on our side and have fellowship with others! I was really encouraged by Isaiah 43 and being reminded of what I have been blessed to do and spend my time on the past 4 years at school, camp, and home.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins... But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." But now thus says the Lord, he who created you O Jacob, he who formed you O Israel: "Fear not for I have redeemed you:I have called you by name, you are mine."

-Isaiah 40:1-2, 53:5-6, 35:3-4, 43:1

Homecoming, Homegoing

This weekend was thankfully and conveniently a three-day weekend so I was blessed enough to go back to Grove City to visit for Homecoming 2009. It was such an odd and bittersweet experience saying hello to old friends and goodbye (again) to college life. And here's one very small example of life moving on without me - sniff - the huge trees next to the entrance to South that I walked through for three years are gone! No more do girls have to squeeze between the massive trees or have a head-on collision trying to run in or out when it's raining and cold. Ah, Grove City life.

However, despite all the changes and such, it was good to go back, see friends, and realize that I miss it so much because I had such a great time there and met so many amazing people! So yay good times, great friends, memorable professors and the collegiate life and academia!

Bonsai!

Recently, I have discovered the joy of different themes on the background of my webmail. This lead to the discovery of a fun background with characters that do different things depending on what time it is. And the fox is trimming a bonsai tree as we speak. Or I write. How exciting my life is.

In other news, I'll be traveling back to the Grove this weekend for Homecoming! Yay! I am so excited to see good friends and go back to an atmosphere I've found myself missing these past few months. Pray for safe travels, please. I'll be carpooling, but it's still a 3-hour drive to "the meeting place."

In other news, I was observed twice last week! Contractually, we are supposed to be observed 8 times per year (four "rated", four "non-rated") by members of the administration and our curriculum supervisor (mine is the head of the world languages division and used to be a German teacher). However, we're apparently not supposed to be observed back-to-back as I was. Either way, I have two non-rated observations over with! Whew! Now I need to focus on my classroom management and warm-ups at the beginning of class.

And, I'm a genius! I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon and bought four binders - one for each level of French. I'll be making a "phantom student" for each class collecting all my tests, quizzes, handouts, etc. so next year, I have everything in order and I won't have to write up too many new things or search frantically for something I'm trying to find. Yay!

Whew! That was a lot of uninteresting goings-on here, especially since I hadn't written in so long, but there's my life for pretty much the past few weeks. Bleh.

Also, tonight for dinner - BLT. Yum.

Purpose

Being a teacher, I think about objectives a lot. In lesson plans there's a "teacher jargon": TSWBAT. This stands for "the student will be able to..." and following it, the objective and goal of the lesson should be stated.

As students of the Bible, what should we be able to do?

God outlines his entire objective for our lives through his Word; and, on occasion, we discover something more specifically applicable to our lives at a particular point, the objective of the lesson (instead of the unit or even course). I was touched today through an email from a friend which had the following verse in it. If there was ever something so encouraging yet direct and giving purpose to our lives, I don't know what that was. Being bogged down by the stress of my first few weeks of teaching, I had forgotten to focus on that which is above and what God has in store for me and wants me to do! What a meaningful and great wake-up!

"I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I make you to be a covenant for the people,
A light for the nations,
To open the eyes that are blind,
To free captives from prison,
And to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness."
-Isaiah 42:6-7

Speed Limits

So while on a small roadtrip to visit family this weekend, I passed a few of these signs and imagining how they enforce the speed limit via airplane did amuse and entertain me for a good fifteen minutes.

Update!

So it's been a really long time since my last post, but alas, I was mostly without internet access this summer due to camp and reason yaadeedah and whoopdeeloop. However, I am now in Maryland, setting up my new apartment with some new furniture, dishes, and the like (yaaaay financial obligations...) along with getting ready for school starting in a week and teacher training starting Monday.

"That's quite a whirlwind of events, Abby," you must be saying. Well, yes, yes it is... I interviewed for this job on Tuesday afternoon and within 10 minutes had been offered the position, accepted, and was packing to leave. My mom was able to come out with me (for which I am sooo grateful!) and we left Wednesday afternoon and arrived here Thursday. I spent about 5 hours doing paperwork on Friday and then went and saw this apartment, got it, and moved in this morning! It's crazy, but now that I have a place to stay, have met a few people, know my way around at least a little bit, and am becoming more organized by the minute, my mind is calming down and I am becoming slightly more confident about my job. I hope I can be a great teacher!

It's funny cause it's true....

It's true... and therefore funny. It's funny, cause it's true. from Behind the Scenes on Vimeo.

Mosaic

Well, I think mosaics are cool anyway and I don't generally pass on silly surveys and such, but I thought this was a cool project. Below, you can see the questions and above, my photographic answers. Try and figure out what they were... intriguing... Shout-out thanks go to Alicia whose artistic spirit both inspires me and makes me jealous.

Mosaic Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into
Flickr Search (http://www.flickr.com/).
b. Using ONLY the first page, pick
an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic
Maker. Change rows to 3 and columns to 3 (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php).

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite
food?
3. What is your favorite color?
4. Favorite drink?
5. Dream
vacation?
6. Favorite hobby?
7. What you want to be when you grow
up?
8. What do you love the most in life?
9. One word to describe
you?

Force is strong for Jedi police

Yes, you read right, the Jedi police. I did a double-take as well when I first saw that. Almost 390,000 people in the 2001 Census of England and Wales listed their official religion as "Jedi: Follower of the Force."

Here's the intriguing story from the BBC:

Eight police officers serving with Scotland's largest force listed their official religion as Jedi in voluntary diversity forms, it has emerged.

Strathclyde Police said the officers and two of its civilian staff claimed to follow the faith, which features in the Star Wars movies.

The details were obtained in a Freedom of Information request by Jane's Police Review.

Strathclyde was the only force in the UK to admit it had Jedi officers.

In the Star Wars films, Jedi Knights such as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda use the Force to battle the evil Darth Vader, who has strayed to the dark side.

Jane's Police Review editor Chris Herbert, who requested the information, said: "The Force appears to be strong in Strathclyde Police with their Jedi police officers and staff.

"Far from living a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, some members of the noble Jedi order have now chosen Glasgow and its surrounding streets as their home."

Provided voluntarily

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police confirmed: "At the time of the request, 10 (eight police officers and two police staff) had recorded their religion as Jedi."

She added that the force monitored "six strands of diversity" - age, disability, gender, race religion and belief, and sexual orientation.

The force said the information was provided voluntarily and securely stored.

About 390,000 people listed their religion as Jedi in the 2001 Census for England and Wales. In Scotland the figure was a reported 14,000.

The Office for National Statistics did not recognise it as a separate category, and incorporated followers of Jedi with the atheists.

Last year, brothers Barney and Daniel Jones founded the UK Church of the Jedi - which offered sermons on the Force, light sabre training, and meditation techniques.

Strathclyde Police employs 8,200 police officers and 2,800 civilian staff.

Lemme see you shake your tailfeather....

And here is a bird that should maybe go on DWTS he has so much rhythm!

Thanks go out to my mom for sending this great video on to me.

The Importance of Being Earnest

It hit me today after my interview. "What hit?" you may ask. Well, the wave of peace. Yeah, that's right, the wave of peace. I will admit I still was and am slightly jittery, but it's jitters over nothing, which is quite frustrating. However, I just keep have to remind myself that yes, this interview was important, but in the big scheme of things, it really isn't.

The real important thing is to be earnestly seeking the Lord and what His Will is for our lives - a lot tougher than it sounds. I'm learning that there is more and more of a struggle as I become bogged down with 'the adult world' and all the things that suddenly become super-important as we grow up. Christ was right when he said we must have the heart of a child to enter the kingdom; everything is so much simpler and wondrous when I look through the eyes of a child. So what is left but to give it all up to God and to wait on Him?

“We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.” Psalm 33:20-21.

Growing UP

I know it's been a while since I had the time (or deep thoughts for that matter) to write a post that wasn't something I thought was "cute" or grabbed from someone else... so here it is!

On the way home following more wonderful car issues, (For those of you out of the loop I had a flat tire two weeks ago and today my engine stalled for a long while. Luckily I stalled in the bus lot outside of the school, so two of the bus drivers came over to look at the car and we got it all sorted out. God provides in funny ways. Now I have some bus driver friends!) Anyway, on the way home, I got to thinking. "Thinking?" you say. "Yes," I answer, "thinking. Lots and lots of thinking thoughts."

And my thinking thoughts can be basically summed up as follows: I am starting to understand the entire scary thing of growing up. I'm starting to really feel the pressure. Yet, at the same time, I know that the Lord will provide and guide me no matter what!

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." - Isaiah 41:40

Also, I finally get why old people (Please excuse me if you fall into that category - everyone is old in relation to someone. I myself was called old last week by one of my students....) I finally understand why old people go crazy and dance all silly-like when they hear songs from when they were young. Everything can be a trigger for memories - songs in particular; and these silly people (my parents included), of whom I was and still can occasionally be embarrassed, are all young at heart and decide to remain so. I only hope I can too!

Graduation

THE FIRST REALIZATIONS THAT YOU'RE NOT IN COLLEGE ANYMORE - also applies to student teaching....

© Marty DeAngelo, Writer's World, Inc.

http://www.delanet.com/~martytdx/humor.htm

* You're waking up at 6 am instead of going to bed.
* College sweatshirts are 'casual' instead of dress up.
* Your parents charge rent.
* It's 'getting late' when it's 9:30 p.m.
* Three words: Student Loan Payments.
* You make thousands of dollars a year - and still can't afford that dream Porsche.
* THEN, discussing with your friends: GPA's, spring break plans, and tonsil hockey; NOW: mutual funds, interest rates, and wedding plans.
* Naps are no longer available between noon and 6 p.m.
* Sneakers are now 'weekend shoes'.
* Your salary is less than your tuition.
* Your potted plants stay alive.
* Mac & Cheese no longer counts as a well-balanced meal.
* You haven't seen a soap opera in over a year.
* You have to file for your own taxes.
* You hear your favorite song on the elevator at work.
* You carry an umbrella.
* "Twenty-something" means over-qualified, under-paid and not married.
* Your friends marry instead of hook-up; and divorce instead of break-up.
* You start watching the weather channel.
* You go from 130 days of vacation time to 7.
* You stop confusing 401K plan with 10K run.
* Your car insurance goes down.
* You refer to college students as kids.
* Your parents start making casual remarks about grandchildren.
* You get your news from sources other than USA Today, ESPN Sportscenter, and MTV News.
* You wear more ties in a week than you even owned while in college.
* You find yourself reminiscing fondly of 2-hour Calculus exams.
* You empathize with the characters from 'Friends.'
* METABOLISM SLOWDOWN
* You actually eat breakfast foods at breakfast time.
* Grocery lists actually contain relatively healthy food.
* Over 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work, not video games.
* Golf is beginning to seem a lot less silly.

Kittehs

Despite student teaching obligations, paperwork, and being exhausted most of the time (is it really exhausted if you get used to it?), I have been spending an obnoxious amount of time on icanhascheezburger.com looking at funnily-captioned pictures of our feline friends. It's kind of funny because I don't even particularly care for cats. I mean, they're alright, but I prefer dogs. Bit these pictures are so hilarious, they just bring a smile to my face no matter how tired or stressed out I may be. Yay for distractions! Well, there are many more distractions, but this one is particularly funny and shareable.

What If Dr. Seuss Wrote Techincal Manuals?

This was sent to me today by a friend (thanks Megan!) and I thought it was so witty I couldn't resist sharing!

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort,
and the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report!

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,
And the double-clicking icons put your window in the trash,
And your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't hash,
Then your situation's hopeless, and your system's gonna crash!

If the label on your cable on the gable at your house,
Says the network is connected to the button on your mouse,
But your packets want to tunnel to another protocol,
That's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall.

And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss,
So your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse,
Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,
'Cause as sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang!

When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk,
And the microcode instructions cause unnecessary RISC,
Then you have to flash your memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM,
Quickly turn off your computer and be sure to tell your mom!

Une histoire à suspense

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

Cute little French girl! Une petite, mignonne fille francaise!

The Dam Dam

This is an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan DeVries by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan . This guy's response is hilarious, but read the State's letter before you get to the response letter.

SUBJECT: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Montcalm County

Dear Mr. DeVries:
It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthoriz ed activity:

Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond.

A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity.

A review of the Department's files shows that no permits have been issued. Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws annotated.

The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at t his location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2006.

Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff.
Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action.
We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter.
Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
David L. Price
District Representative and Water Management Division


Here is the actual response sent back by Mr. DeVries: Re: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Montcalm County

Dear Mr. Price,
Your certified letter dated 12/17/05 has been handed to me to respond to.
I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget Piersen, MI 49339.

A couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood "debris" dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials "debris." I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity.

My first dam question to you is:
(1) Are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers, or
(2) do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request?

If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, through the Freedom of Information Act, I request completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued. Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 19 94, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws annotated.

I have several concerns. My first concern is, aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation -- so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer. The Department's dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event, causing flooding, is proof that this is a natural occurrence, which the department is required to protect In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling their dam names.

If you want the stream "restored" to a dam free-flow condition please contact the beavers -- but if you are going to arrest them, they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter, they being unable to read English.

In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam rights than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond. If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up to its name, it should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment (Beavers' Dams).

So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until 1/31/2006? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice then, and there will be no way for you or your dam staff to contact/harass them then.

In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention to a real environmental quality, health, problem in the area. It is the bears! Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the beavers alone.

If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your step! The bears are not careful where they dump!

Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response to your dam office.

THANK YOU.
RYAN DEVRIES & THE DAM BEAVERS

Why Buy Expensive Toys

Obviously sometimes we have bad days, tired days, or just days of blah; however, I have found the antidote to all that! Just watch this video clip and I dare you not to smile.

Lingua Engla?

Oh dear, oh dear. It seems student teaching has really monopolized my time... well, that and a few other things. Therefore, I have unnecessarily ignored my blog for almost a week! Simply atrocious!

On the other hand, English is the new lingua franca, which is dimming my views of becoming a French teacher a bit; yet, French remains the second lingua franca, so there IS motivation to learn it! Also, there is a new foreign language on the market these days - literally on the market: Globish. Apparently it is a language that only non-native English speakers can master...

"Monsieur Nerriere is a retired French businessman who one day
in the course of his work made a fascinating observation.

In a meeting with colleagues from around the world, including
an Englishman, a Korean and a Brazilian, he noticed that he and the other
non-native English speakers were communicating in a form of English that was
completely comprehensible to them, but which left the Englishman nonplussed.

He, Jean-Paul Nerriere, could talk to the Korean and the
Brazilian in this neo-language, and they could understand each other perfectly.

But the Englishman was left out because his language was too
subtle, too full of meaning that could not be grasped by the others.

In other words, Monsieur Nerriere concluded, a new form of
English is developing around the world, used by people for whom it is their
second language." (BBC News 2009)

And now for my 'huh?' question: can it still be called the lingua franca if it is no longer French?

Global Warming

Despite the severe winter storm warnings, these demonstrators are making ready for Al Gore's appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday morning to testify on the "urgent need" to combat global warming.

Small Enough

Small Enough (This Mystery Album Version) - Nichole Nordeman

And a link to the lyrics if you want to read them.

Worship

I was cleaning out my email this afternoon and found an email I wrote at the beginning of junior year (i.e. last year), and it was so cool to be reminded of something so important again at the beginning of what is looking to be the busiest semester of college for me. God is so great!

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship.”
-Romans 12:1

It is so infinitely important for us to do this at the beginning of the semester before classes, activities, etc. start to take over our lives. Worship is an all-the-time thing – it needs to encompass all of life! Worshipping God through every aspect of our lives in reverent submission should be continuous! Remember that under the new covenant, sacrifices are no longer needed, but even in the OT, Samuel instructed King Saul that “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam 15:22). We must make every effort to obey God without reservations! It is so encouraging that we don’t have to wait for a priest to absolve us of our sins – Jesus has already done that and all we can do in return is obey and worship Him!

Rising fame for Obama 'lookalike'

Recluse photographer is in great demand because of his great resemblance to President Obama, sources say (says the BBC).

65

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-e.e. cummings

Double Post!

And the second half of today's posts is to make me feel a little more smarter. Haha. Okay, more smart. I'm a nerd and I've had this story saved on my favorites for almost a month just so I could write about it - I think it is severely cool: Ancient Supernova Mystery Solved.

The Darwin Awards

And to ring in the new year 13 days late, here's a fun website (compliments of the brother): The Darwin Awards which recognizes those people who we hope never have children - or at least not until they get some common sense. Or as the website puts it, "Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it." Ouch.

Also fun (and sad) to read are those stories of people who won millions of dollars in the dumbest lawsuits ever. One that comes to mind is the story of the guy who left the drivers seat of his mobile home to go in the back and make a cup of coffee. Suffice it to say, he crashed but still won about $10 million because "do not leave drivers seat" was not in the owner's manual/instructions. Sheesh.

Now I'm really, really looking forward to 2009. (Well, actually, yes I am, but that was sarcastic.)