Random (but not really)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tasty Tuesday – I Got Nothing

So Thanksgiving is Thursday, and for the first time in awhile, I won’t be making Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m actually saddened by this, because I like making big special meals. Yes, I make Michael clean and stuff the turkey but everyone else likes turkey, and I always use the leftovers in turkey pie, so it’s okay.

But not this year.

No Yukon gold potatoes for masked potatoes. No buying two types of sweet potatoes–one for sweet potatoes an one for sweet potato pie. And no stuffing. The past couple years, with Grandmom guiding me, I’ve gotten the stuffing just right. And since stuffing is the best part of dinner, not having cold stuffing to nibble on for a couple days saddens me immensely. Even if it rarely lasts a couple of days.

I’ll be making two pies–one pumpkin and one sweet potato–but they’ll be traveling, so I might not have any leftovers.

But just wait for Christmas!

Written by Michelle at 8:00 am    

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Categories: Food  

Monday, November 24, 2008

Book Meme

What was the last book you bought?
The last new book that came into the house was Fables Volume 11, by Bill Willingham et al.
My last Amazon order was The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri, Lucifer’s Shadow by David Hewson, Hellboy Vol. 8: Darkness Calls by Mike Mignola

Name a book you have read MORE than once
A book? Just one? Craziness! Here are some of the more frequently re-read: The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Hobbit by JRR Tolkein, The Phoenix Guard by Steven Brust, the Belgariad by David Eddings, Good Omens by Neil Gaiman. Plus there are a bunch of books I can’t wait to reread.

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
Everything I read teaches me something new, and every time I learn, my life is changed.

How do you choose a book? (E.g. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews?)
Yes.

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
Yes.

What’s more important in a novel, beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
Yes.

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Going back to my childhood, it’s probably a toss-up between Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple. Otherwise, it’s probably the character in the series I’m currently reading, or the last book I read that I loved.

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
Now, the books on my nightstand are way different from the books strewn throughout the house that I read throughout the day.
The Histories by Herodotus (I will finish this book), Healing Anger by the Dalai Lama, Faerie Tales ed Martin H. Greenberg, Latin American Folktales ed by John Bierhorst, Russian Folk Belief, A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong, The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, The Path to Tranquility by the Dalai Lama, Vellum by Hal Duncan.
Of course some of these I haven’t read in a year or more, but still they’re there.

What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
Today I finished The City of Falling Angels by John Brendt and Hellboy 8 Darkness Calls by Mike Mignola.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
Repeatedly. But I’ll also finish a book out of sheer stubbornness (see Herodotus).

(via Janiece)

Written by Michelle at 8:00 am    

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Categories: Books & Reading  

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Blues

It’s just one of those blue days I suppose.

My brain is muddled and my body is trying to convince me to curl up with a book and take a nap. Maybe after the next load of laundry.

So, as I’ve got nothing, I put forth the following: what’s your personal cure for the blues?

Written by Michelle at 4:04 pm    

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Categories: Non-Sequiturs  

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Pat White Is Awesome

White broke the NCAA record for career yards rushing by a quarterback in leading the Mountaineers to a 35-21 victory over Louisville on Saturday. The senior ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns to give him 4,292 yards for his career, breaking the record of 4,289 set by former Missouri quarterback Brad Smith from 2002-05.

I’m thrilled Pat is doing so well, and would like to see him end his season in the same vein.

Written by Michelle at 6:28 pm    

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Categories: West Virginia  

WVU vs Louisville

My aunt & uncle are visiting, so no live blogging.

However…

1) They totally stole that touchdown from us

2) Pat White rocks

3) YEEEEEE HAAAAAW!!!!!

ADDENDUM the First:
Pat White
123 yards passing
204 Yards rushing

Pat White is now the all time leader for quarterback rushing!

Pat White rocks!

Written by Michelle at 2:43 pm    

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Categories: West Virginia  

Friday, November 21, 2008

Turn the Radio Up

It would not be an exaggeration to say that I listen to the radio constantly.

I wake up to Morning Edition on WV public radio. I go to bed listening to the Real Jazz station on XM. At work I listen to jazz on WDUQ over my computer. When there is a WVU football game, I listen to it on the radio even if it’s on TV. There are radios throughout the house, all tuned to WV public radio, and the first to stations in the car are WV Public Radio and WDUQ (I can’t get WDUQ in the house.)

There’s even a radio in the bathroom. Which brings me to this evening’s incident.

On Friday nights WVPR plays a mixture of bluegrass and folk programs. I was in the shower (I’m still pretty tired, and admit I’m going to bed after I finish this) one quarter listening to what I could hear of the radio over the shower, and three quarters letting my mind wander, when I suddenly realize that the radio is playing Rage Against the Machine. I actually turned the water off so I could hear better, because that just seemed… wrong.

Yes, it was Rage Against the Machine, but it was the local pop/rock station overpowering the public radio station. (It’s been down a lot recently, so who the hell knows what happens.) My first thought was to wonder what Rage Against the Machine song qualified as folk or bluegress.

My second thought–after realizing that WV public radio had gone out. again–was to wonder how many other people listening when the other station cut in, actually knew they were listening to Rage Against the Machine.

Written by Michelle at 11:13 pm    

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Categories: Non-Sequiturs  

Today’s Word

It my personal guiding word:

non sequitur \NAHN-SEK-wuh-ter\ noun
1 : an inference that does not follow from the premises
*2 : a statement (as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said

Did you know?
In Latin, “non sequitur” means “it does not follow.” The phrase was borrowed into English in the 1500s by people who made a formal study of logic. For them it meant a conclusion that does not follow from the statements that lead to it. But we now use “non sequitur” for any kind of statement that seems to come out of the blue. The Latin verb “sequi” (“to follow”) has actually led the way for a number of English words. A “sequel” follows the original novel, film, or television show. Someone “obsequious” follows another about, flattering and fawning. And an action is often followed by its “consequence.”

Written by Michelle at 8:20 am    

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Categories: Non-Sequiturs  

It’s Friday!

And it’s SNOWING again!

WHEEEEE!

Written by Michelle at 8:12 am    

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Categories: Non-Sequiturs,West Virginia  

Friday Cat Blogging

Kat_0003

Why won’t she get out of my face?

Kat_0002

Kat_0001

Yes, Michael’s shins are apparently extremely comfortable.

Written by Michelle at 8:00 am    

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Categories: Cats,Photos  

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Random Bits

Some of these (perhaps all) have appeared here before, but all are worth visiting again.

Name Voyager Not related to Star Trek. Looks at the popularity of names over time. Shockingly, the popularity of my name peaked in the 70s.

Giant Microbes I have a cold sitting on my desk.

Odd news from the BBC: Who doesn’t have a belly button. (More importantly, How and Why?!)

Basic Instructions My favorite is this one.

Written by Michelle at 4:30 pm    

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Categories: Non-Sequiturs  

Today’s Word

for erin:

gravid \GRAV-id\ adjective
*1 : pregnant
2 : distended with or full of eggs

Did you know?
“Gravid” comes from Latin “gravis,” meaning “heavy.” It can refer to a female who is literally pregnant, and it also has the figurative meanings of “pregnant”: “full or teeming” and “meaningful.” Thus, a writer may be gravid with ideas as she sits down to write; a cloud may be gravid with rain; or a speaker may make a gravid pause before announcing his remarkable findings.

Written by Michelle at 8:14 am    

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Categories: Books & Reading,Non-Sequiturs  

Snow + Favorite Tree

For lack of anything better, here’s my favorite tree, covered in snow, in a picture taken Tuesday morning.

18_Nov_Snow_0002

Written by Michelle at 8:00 am    

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Categories: House & Garden,Photos  

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Like an Elephant, Only Hairy

Scientist have sequenced the DNA of a woolly mammoth!

When a frozen Woolly Mammoth was discovered almost a decade ago I was very excited. The idea of being able to *see* a creature that had died millennia ago astounds me.

I mean, elephants are cool. How much cooler would a woolly mammoth be?

Mammoth DNA Project

Written by Michelle at 9:10 pm    

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Categories: Science, Health & Nature  

Kosher

So a post over at Eric‘s has inadvertently lead to my consideration of a very strange question.

Initial question was if crosses and holy water are effective against vampires, would vampires be safer if they moved to India or the Middle East?

But the question that came from that is whether a Jewish vampire who drank human blood would be keeping kosher.

Here are my arguments supporting the thesis they would be.

1. I believe that in a life or death situation, a Jew is allowed to eat non-kosher foods to save his own life. If a vampire could survive only upon blood, shouldn’t the drinking of human blood be okay as long as the victim was not killed or maimed? (i.e. if the vampire was polite and asked nicely beforehand.)

2. Isn’t there a difference between drained blood and blood straight from the source, so to speak?

3. Would kosher rules even apply to vampires? A vampire has died an moved on from human life. Do the rules of Leviticus even apply to the undead, assuming they still retain free will?

Anyway, just some thoughts filtering through my brain.

Written by Michelle at 8:00 am    

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Categories: Non-Sequiturs,Religion & Philosophy  
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