Pages

Jun 28, 2010

Week in Review, Week Ahead

Hello, and welcome to a brand new week! Uh, Yeah, it's Monday. Isn't this supposed to happen on Sunday? Whoops. Spent a little too much time playing The Sims 3 yesterday, and now here we are. ANYWAY. Last week, I gave myself one last chance at exercise that didn't feel like exercise. and Photo editing. Guess what? I didn't do either. Yes, my work schedule was kinda all over the place, but that's only a little bit of an excuse. Mostly I was lazy and...yeah. Yeah.

Cool stuff from around the web:

Peanut Butter Sushi - Okay, so it's not actually sushi, because there is no rice involved, but it is adorable and probably very tasty!

Speaking of Sushi, how much do you know about it? Take this quiz to find out!

From Cracked.com: 6 Companies that Make Money Solving Problems (That They Made Up) & The 6 Most Hilarious Undercover Operations Ever Pulled Off.

This made me laugh. Really hard. People are such smart asses. (via lamebook)

Centuary of No Progress is all about Nikola Tesla. Who is awesome.

A Canadian Author's Perspective on "Radical Extremism" and Copyright. A good read and an important read.

This week, I'm going to focus on what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to waste huge heaps of time playing The Sims. In fact, I'm not going to play at all untill the weekend comes around again. And I'm not going to lounge around re-watching episodes of my fav tv shows that I've seen a million times already (no matter how enjoyable I find it!). I'm not going to look at little things I need to get done and sigh and say, "Oh, I'll do that tomorrow.".

How was your week? What are you doing this week? What are you not doing?

Jun 25, 2010

You've Got Choices

Photo by Gabriela Camerotti
You've got a lot of choices.  If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice.  ~Steven D. Woodhull

Jun 24, 2010

Things I Love Thursday


Coffee, coming home from work to the surprise that The Boyfriend bought (and installed!) The Sims 3 Ambitions for me!, The Sims 3 Ambitions!, new birds at the bird feeder (grosbeak!), homemade iced coffee on hot days, ducks, walks, sunshine, noisy geese, meatballs, our air conditioner, Payweek!, America's Got Talent Audition shows (Of my god, that show is hilarious), laughing, purple.

Jun 23, 2010

Brighten Up Midweek

Wednesdays can be kind of a downer. Still so many days untill the weekend! You know what always brightens my day? A Kitten riding a tortoise.

Jun 21, 2010

My Two Favorite Things About June

June is more then halfway done! Can you believe it? This month just kind of disappeared before my very eyes. Time to slow things down and stop to think about my two favorite things about June. Luckily, both things start appearing mid-June or later!


#1- Local strawberries - Local Strawberries have just started popping up in grocery stores and farm markets all around me! They're still a bit on the pricey side ($3.49 a pint I saw on a sign yesterday), but soon the prices will start dropping and then then U-Picks will open! Local berries are not only cheaper, but they taste like little bites of heaven. So sweet and juicy.

a photo from my garden!
 #2 - Lilies - Lilies are my favorite flower. I've got several different varieties in my garden, and mid-June is when the first of the day lilies bloom! Yay, Lilies!

ps: It's also the first day of summer today! Why not celebrate by doing something summer-y?


Isn't June an awesome month? What are your favorite things about June?

Jun 20, 2010

Week in Review, Week Ahead

Hello and Happy Sunday! Also, Happy Father's Day to any Dads out there! Last week, I had plans to exercise without it feeling like exercise. I did not do very well, again. I don't know, it's something I'll have to work on. And I have still not done any photo editing. Or even photo organizing. It's getting out of control.

LINKS!

The Best Things in Life

Dream it, Do it - this is good, you should read it.

15 Worst Food Creations of 2010

The Three Most Common Uses of Irony - I'm still not really sure the correct use of irony (Which is why I never, ever say that anything is ironic, since is probably isn't), but I'm a little closer to understanding. Maybe. I don't know. Anyway! The Oatmeal is awesome.

6 True Stories About Disneyland They Don't Want You to Know


This week, lets try one more time. Exercise that doesn't feel like exercise. and edit some photos.

How was your week?

Jun 19, 2010

Animals I've seen this week

Some of the animals I've seen this week(sort of in order, but not entirely):

I saw my Own kitty (Memo), My silly Beagle (Jasmine), My Betta Fish (Jackson), The Fish (and ghost shrimp) in our Big aquarium, and The six zillion Malaysian Trumpet Snails in the two aquariums and the one goldfish left in our pond.

On a drive to my Grandfather's I saw several fields full of cows (including some little babies!), a field full of horses (I think there were 6 or 8 of them), a field full of alpacas (I said to my mom that I didn't know the difference between alpacas and llamas. She told me that "llamas are ugly and alpacas are cute." Also, llamas are bigger. I guess.), a bunch of dogs (there were probably 7 or 8 dogs....a tiny one, a golden retriever, a golden lab maybe, a Saint Bernard and some others) getting obedience training in a fire station parking lot across the street from Grampy's house, a little beagle puppy, some scruffy looking small dog, and a tall brown and white speckled dog.

I saw lots and lots of goldfinches, a bunch of chickadees, tons of starlings and grackles, lots of doves, some crows, and a nuthatch.



We went to the pet store (and bought six more goldfish for the pond), where I saw lots of animals, including but not limited to: a pile of sleeping kittens, a whole bunch of puppies that all seemed to be different types of chihuahua crosses, a sleeping chinchilla, a couple degu, some rats & mice & hamsters & such, lots of birds, tanks upon tanks of fish, lots of betta fish, a shiny black scorpion, a Green Anole lizzard, three bunnies (two with floppy ears!) and a guinea pig.

I saw a mallard duck. I saw a dog that may or may not have been a border collie, and one that may or may not have had some pit bull in it. A black/gray poodle-ish dog out for a walk. I saw the heron in the duck pond on the way to work. I saw blue jays eating sunflower seeds. I saw the splotchy colored neighbourhood kitty that I thought must have died because I hadn't seen it this year since the weather got nice (so yay, not dead!). Two dogs getting walked: a grey and white dog that if I had to guess I'd say was a shih tzu and a black and beige dog that I couldn't guess a breed if my life depended on it.



On Tuesday morning, I opened my bedroom curtains and saw two sapsuckers pecking at the maple tree on my front lawn. As I was standing there watching them, my eyes drifted to my neighbour's driveway across the street and saw - to my complete surprise!- a deer standing there! I yelled to the boyfriend that there was a deer across the road, but he didn't hear me and it walked away before he would have been able to get upstairs to see it anyway. I like to think it stood there just long enough for me to see it, so I could write about it here. lol. I saw a chipmunk stuffing his face with sunflower seeds untill they were good and chubby.


I saw a black lab who's face was gray with age and a black and white kitty sleeping on a deck railing. There was a dark golden retriever hanging it's head out a car window, making sad eyes at me as I drive by. Dogs getting walks: three small white dogs, a giant dog, a medium sized dog and a very pretty large brown and white dog.

I saw chipmunks at our bird feeder every morning from Tuesday on. I <3 chipmunks! I know there are at least two of them, because I saw them both at the same time, but last year we had like...4 or 5. I hope they all come back this year. On Thursday I saw a chipmunk fall out of the bird feeder. It was sad and kind of funny. (It fell into the lilac bush and got right back up and back into the bird feeder).





I saw a dog wearing a spiked collar and who had one ear pointed up and one down with it's head out the window of a contractor's van. I saw a silly brown dog out for a walk, young, still learning to walk good on a leash.  I saw a chocolate lab and a black lab. I saw a whole bunch sapsuckers. I think they had babies and are all coming to the bird feeders now, because some were huge and some were tiny. I saw a male and female grosbeak, whiche neither the boyfriend or I had seen at the bird feeders before! And I'd actually never seen one before, period.


I saw a chihuahua, a dog tied to a sign post, some sparrows, a robin and a northern flicker. I saw two dogs in a jeep. I went for a walk with jasmine, and saw 10 different dogs in their respective yards. I saw four noisy geese. I saw three kitties.

I went to a fishing tournament way in, and saw a bunch of bass in buckets being weighed. I saw four horses, 20 or 30 ducks (plus ducklings!) and a bird that I couldn't identify (It was big and kinda greyish colored).


.....I think that's it.

Jun 18, 2010

My 5 Favorite Aliens

This month, news broke that there is the right evidence was present that might suggest that there could be life on Titan, the moon of Saturn. (I learned about it on boing boing). In light of this news, I thought I'd share my five favorite fictional aliens.

(In no particular order)

1.  The Doctor (TV show, Doctor Who) - The Doctor, the main character of the series Doctor Who, is a man with many faces because of his species ability to regenerate. (My favorite? The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)). The Last of the Time Lords (I think? I'm always a little confused about this point..anyway, not important), he travels through time and space via the TARDIS, with a human companion, and has all kinds of fantastic adventures or whatever.

2. High Commander Anna (TV show, V (2009)) - V is a 2009 remake/re-imagining of 1983 miniseries with the same name, about alien visitors (or "V") who come to earth. High Commander Anna is the queen of the V. She completely manipulative and probably totally evil, but I still think she's awesome. Gotta love a great villain, right?

3. Jonas Quinn (TV show, Stargate SG-1) - Jonas Quinn is technically human, but he's not from Earth, so that makes him an Alien, right? I guess? Let's say it does. Anyway, Jonas comes to earth after committing treason on his own planet, but his people were building bombs, so it was treason for a good reason and that makes it ok. It's kind of complicated. He was only a regular on the show for one season, but for that season, he was awesome, so he makes the list. My favorite thing about Jonas was that he always seemed to be eating. Which is weird, but I like weird.

4. Ford Prefect (Book, Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams) - If you have not read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you should seriously go read it. It's my favorite book of all time. Anyway, Ford is an alien who came to earth for a week and got stuck here for 15 years. Ford is well traveled (he is a travel writer after all!), smart and enjoys a good party and a stiff drink.

5. Chiana (TV show, Farscape) - Chiana is fun and sexy and kinda weird. She's also got this street smart, fend for yourself, cheat and steal thing going on. What's not to love?

Who are your favorite fictional aliens?

   

Jun 17, 2010

Things I Love Thursday


Coffee, tigers, camels, herons, The Boyfriend, Memo and Jasmine, goldfish in my pond, lilies!!!!! (seriously, lilies are my favorite!), irises, little baby beagle puppies, fields of alpacas, soft cookies with oatmeal and chocolate chunks, animals, taking time to notice the little things, meatballs, rice with honey garlic sauce, deer, chipmunks, pasta and meat sauce, Penne noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese (yes, I know, it's weird, but that's me), making a decision to finally do something I should have done years ago, laughing, piles of kittens, relaxing, exercise, reading, sunshine, webcomics, my family, 50s style pin up photos, green, navy, my black capris - even though I can't wear them for more then 5 minutes without them being covered in dog and cat hair, stretching, free samples, that this blog is one year old today!, orange. 

Jun 16, 2010

Strange Things You Can Buy on Amazon.com (That Might Just be Perfect for Father's Day)

So, Father's Day is coming up this weekend. I always have a hard time with Father's Day presents, since my Dad's Birthday is earlier the same month. Luckily this year my Mom told me exactly what to buy him (thanks, Mom!). A lot of you out there may have not been so lucky. So, this morning, I was aimlessly browsing around on Amazon and I thought, Man, there are some strange things available. You know who might like these weird things? Dads! And Thus, here we are.

So, it you're having trouble finding a gift for the father that has everything, or you just want to get Dad something a little different this year, check out the following:

For The Big Kid At Heart

 Flying Pig: It's a pig and it flies. How awesome is that? 













USB Panic Button: What does it do, exactly? Um, as far as I can tell, nothing. But, according to the Technical Details it's a "Great Desktop Conversation Item", a "Great Desktop Conversation Item". Also, "Design is stylish and innovative. Satisfaction Ensured".










6pc Set of Slingshot Flingshot Flying Animals: Slingshot animals that you can fling at things. Oh, and they make sounds.













Air Hogs R/C Havoc Heli: Another cool thing that flies!












For The Meat Lover

 Buffalo Bills 1.75oz Beef Jerky 6-Pack Gift Cooler: It's an insulated cooler filled with 11 assorted 1.75oz packs of our Buffalo Bills Beef Jerky. That's a whole lot of jerky. 










Venison Summer Sausage 3 Pack: "Deer meat is mild-flavored and tender. It is naturally low in fat, calories, and cholesterol."












20-4-oz Ostrich Patties: If jerky and venison sausage are not quite different enough for your dad's taste, how about some extra lean ostrich burgers?











If You're Looking to Spend Big
(and when I say big, I mean REALLY big)


JL421 Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank:  Sure, for Twenty Thousand Dollars you could buy dear old dad a brand new car, but this is much, much cooler.












Relaxman Relaxation Capsule: If your dad is stressed out, maybe he needs this relaxation capsule. From the site: "Be the first in the U.S. to own one of the finest relaxation devices invented. Used in helath clinics all over Europe. Designed by the world famous Biotonus Clinic in Switzerland specifically for relaxation and stress reduction. The custom designed Relaxman is completely heat, light, and sound proof, providing total isolation for the ideal environmental therapy. Inside, the heated water mattress stays at body temperature while soothing, preprogrammed music and lights take you into a deep state of relaxation."




...Other


Rat Dissection Manual: So maybe your Dad always wanted to be a mad scientist. I don't know.











MANGROOMER Do-it-Yourself Electric Back Hair Shaver:  Um...Yeah.












Crab Doorknocker: Why have a regular doorknocker, when you could have one shaped like a crab? And if crabs aren't your father's style there is also a Solid Cast Iron Woodpecker DoorknockerBoxer Dog Doorknocker BronzeSPI 30749 Horse & Horseshoe Doorknocker and a Solid Brass Greek God Doorknocker.










Sushi Popper: It's sushi (California Roll) on a stick. It's kind of like a Push Pop, but with sushi instead of candy. $29.99 will get you a 6-pack of Sushi Poppers, which is the equivalent of 42 pieces of sushi.   










Of Course, you could just get him a Gift Card.

Jun 13, 2010

Week in Review, Week Ahead

Welcome to a new week! Last week, I was supposed to be all about photography and non-exercise-exercise. ...Yeah. I don't know what happened, but I didn't do hardly half the things I planned to do. I did get some cleaning done, but Monday-Friday that's about all I got done. Saturday, I did get the garden weeded, so I guess that's something.

The Four Most Awesome Things I Saw This Week From My Car:
1. The heron in the duck pond on the way to work - I've been seeing it for a few weeks now, but it still makes me giddy with happiness. A heron! What is it doing in the duck pond (which, by the way, I have not seen any ducks in for more then a month..)? Just hanging out, I guess.
2. A really, really low flying plane.  - It was a big plane too. Not the small ones that I'd expect would be going to the Waterville Airport. It must have been going to Greenwood. It did look like a military plane. Anyway! Big plane flying really low - very cool.
3 & 4. A Tiger and a Camel - When I went to pick up The Boyfriend from work Thursday evening, I drove by the rink downtown. I'd forgotten the circus was being held that night! They had the back parking lot all fenced in, and I saw a camel walking around, and in a smaller caged in area, a tiger!

Here's some cool stuff I found online this week:

Movies By the Numbers: From Zero to One Million shows that filmmakers love putting numbers in their movie titles. This is very cool. There's not a movie for every number (can you imagine?!) but it is still three pages of awesome.

Sarah Von at yes and yes is looking for more people to interview for her True Story series. Do any of these sound like you or someone you know?

Quiz: Is There a Chicken Soup for the Soul for That?

Will Our Galactic overlords be Titanish? There has been some evidence of a possibility that there could be alien life on Saturn's Moon Titan.  Maybe.

I've signed up for mental_floss' Watercooler Ammo and today, because of it, I Learned about Zombie Fit "Fitness to Survive the Apocalypse". From the Zombie Fit Site: What is functional fitness? We think it is the ability to perform any given task, at anytime, quickly and efficiently. Functional fitness and situational awareness are necessary skills that are lacking in today's society. ZombieFit hopes to change that. What if you woke up tomorrow to find your city overridden with zombies, would you survive? This may seem childish, but by preparing for the impossible, you'll be ready for the improbable. I think this is very cool, creative marketing and I wish there were classes in my area!

Dear Hotmail: What the Hell Happened to You? Ah hotmail. I remember when you used to be awesome.

And they Walked Away: The Stories of 5 Strange Injuries. Number 4 is the worst/best. It's very much car accident like - Makes you sick to your stomach but you can't look away. Or stop reading. When they said it was gruesome, they weren't joking.

Glee vs copyright: do as I say, not as I do An interesting look at how many of the things done on the tv show 'Glee' would be copyright violations in real life. With insanely high penalties. I don't actually watch the show, but the article is still very interesting.

I love people talking about their dogs. Gala Darling posts about 10 year old Hank Williams and new edition to the family, Dolly.

Celebrities Eating Dot Com - exactly what it sounds like. Interesting, if you're into that sort of thing. This is me once again glad that I'm glad I'm not a celebrity...

Will they build it? McDonald's Double Breakfast EggMc Big Mac What exactly is a Double Breakfast EggMc Big Mac? I'll give you a hint: It's insane, and you wouldn't be able to eat it as is without dislocating your jaw.  

This week, same plan as last week, but with a little more follow through.

How was your week?

Jun 10, 2010

Things I Love Thursday


Coffee, campfires, fireworks, friends, family, dogs in costume, photos, exercise, stretching, just the right thing happening at just the right time, TV Shows: Dollhouse & V, reading, learning, checking things off my lists, tacos, cooking, The Kitty, The Puppy, The Boyfriend, the end of particularly horrible work days (weeks...months... lol), irises, the heron I sometimes see in the duck pond on the way to work (a heron! So cool. I don't know what it's doing in the duck pond), ducks and geese, seeing people out walking their beagles, handfuls of M&Ms, getting frees stuff in the mail (books! a magazine! an envelope full of Kotex products!), things covered in melted cheese (bubbly, melty, cheesy goodness!), getting good news, applying for jobs, practicing my interview answers (in case one ever comes my way...), purple, buds on my day lilies, The Sims 3, plaid, sleeping in. 

Jun 8, 2010

On Getting a box full of Books in the Mail

Today I got home from work and there was a package on the counter. It was about 15 inches long and 10 inches wide. I thought the boyfriend must have ordered something. Imagine my surprise to find my name written on the front! I hadn't ordered anything, and although I sign up for a lot of free stuff, it never comes in a box that big. I opened it up an found this:

Awesome but baffling.

Which was awesome, but I was still majorly confused. Who was sending me books, and why? I'm not complaining, but still...it's weird, right? Then, I pulled this out of one of the books:

"Enjoy Your Prize!" - Bookarmy Team

Then I kind of had a light bulb moment. There's this website, BookArmy,(which, by the way, is pretty wicked and you should go sign up if you're a reader) where you can read about books, rate them, write reviews...that sort of thing. I had written some reviews and made some recommendations on the site. About a month ago (almost to the day!) I got a message from the site administrators (or whatever) that I'd won a prize for my recommendations! I wasn't even aware there was a contest going on, so that was pretty cool in it's self. So I fired off a message with my address in it, and then promptly forgot about it. It's what I do. It was a totally awesome surprise, and made my day!

Thanks, BookArmy!

Books I received:

   
And Balthazar Jones and the tower of London Zoo by Julia Stuart, which I can only find on amazon.co.uk, and it wont let me make a picture affiliate link thing for it. Meh, no big deal.

Happy World Oceans Day!


June 8th is World Oceans Day. The concept was proposed by the Canadian government at the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro in 1992. It has been unofficially celebrated every year since, and has been officially recognized by the UN since December 2008.  It's a day to celebrate our oceans and promote ocean conservation. 

The world's oceans are important to all of us. They generate most of the oxygen we breathe, provide us with food and provide us with medicines, as well as potential new medicines. Plus, they're damn pretty to look at. They're also home to some of the most bizarre creatures on earth, such as the immortal jelly fish, the Axolotl, and the Leafy Sea Dragon. Not to mention huge animals like the Blue Whale and the Giant Squid. Oh, you like your animals  more cute and cuddly? Fine, check out this photo of a baby seal. (aww!)

The ocean is particularly important to those of us surrounded (or at mostly surrounded...) by one. I may not live right on the ocean, but I could leave my house and be there in 20 minutes. We are "Canada's Ocean Playground" (according to our license plates). There is no place in Nova Scotia that is more then 67KM from the ocean. It regulates our climate. It provides a source of income for many Nova Scotians. Soon, it may even provide some of our power

In short, the oceans are pretty incredible. 

So, whether you can see the ocean from your doorstep or the closest you've been to the ocean is watching Finding Nemo, have a Happy World Oceans Day! 

Want more World Ocean goodness? Check out these awesome photos on the Flickr Blog and theoceanproject.org for more information on World Oceans Day and ocean conservation.


Books about ocean conservation that I think look terribly interesting:
       

Jun 6, 2010

Week in Review, Week Ahead

Hello and Happy Sunday! Last week, I finished up 4 weeks to a better body. Did I notice a difference? No, not really. But, even so, I know it was good for me. I know I have got to be a bit stronger because of it. Right? Tuesday was the start of a new month, so I spent some time creating some new goals. Or, more precisely, I moved all the goals from last month on to this month, because aside from my exercise goals, I majorly slacked off last month. It's in the past now, so no use dwelling, right. Look to the future, and all that.

Links!:

Thinking of trying some new beers this summer? You might want to steer clear of these 9, dubbed some of the worst beer on earth. I totally agree with Sleeman's Clear being on the list - I bought it once because it was on sale, and never again, no matter what the price.

The title of this next link says it all: Funny and Lovely Animal Photos to Inspire a Great Mood.

7 Lost Bodies of of Work (That Would Have Changed Everything)

How to Forecast Weather without gadgets. Watching animals is a good tip. In the winter, whenever there was an upsurge of birds at our bird feeders, you could bet there was always a snow storm coming.

Woman Sues Google after being hit by a car while using walking directions Wow..just...wow.

The 6 Most Important Things Humanity Just Plain Forgot

Behavioral Cafe: Part cafe, part research lab. Very cool. (via boing boing)

7 Lost Time Capsules - Now I want to make a time capsule.

The secret of the crystal skull The Mitchell-Hedges skull (one of the most famous examples of crystal skulls): Is it a real Maya artifact, or a fake?

Nap Time at the Flickr blog

This week, I want my exercise to not feel so much like exercise. I'm going to tend to my neglected garden and take walks for adventure and photography. Speaking of photography, I need to get on top of my photo editing. Seriously, if unedited photos was undone laundry, I wouldn't be able to get in bed without pushing piles onto the floor.

What are your plans for the week?