interesting website discoveries of late

website 1: wordspy.com wonder what new words are popping up in our pop culture society? they keep track -- they also have all kinds of crazy cool quotes about words and poetry and literature.

Neither is a dictionary a bad book to read. There is no cant in it, no excess of explanation, and it is full of suggestion, — the raw material of possible poems and histories.
—In Praise of Books, 1860

website 2: ihatefinancialplanning.com self explanatory. i love it.

website 3: homestarrunner.com/sbemails looking to waste some time? you need sound though, or it's not funny.

website 4: of course, a mention of poetry daily is required. they're fantastic.

bloggity blog blog blog

cleo-loo dog

this is by far my favorite picture of cleo -- before she was used to car traveling, i drove to indiana with her, she fell asleep watching me drive with her face all smushed in between the seat and gear shift.

the ise group :)

worth repeating

me: how are you?
virginian: well i'm as fine as frog hair split three ways.
me: that's pretty fine.

a spoonful of poetry makes the...literature go down?

this was read at a recent graduation ceremony i attended to honor what parents do for their children. good poem.

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices?

- Robert Hayden

weird stuff for sale on e-bay

Shark Fetus: You could have been the owner of "Jaws Jr." — a shark fetus. No animal was intentionally harmed, the seller claimed. Apparently, a pregnant shark washed up on shore and the seller just knew it was destined for eBay. (Starting bid: $19.95; selling price, $32.) Found on eBay (Universe) by Mark Hartzman (Image copyright Liz Steger 2002)

Stuffed Two-Headed Calf: According to the seller, the two-headed calf was born near the family's Duck, West Va., home in 1955 and given to the family to settle a debt. It's been preserved in a glass case and comes with a letter of authenticity. (Starting bid: $20,000; no buyer.)

Taxidermied Musical Bullfrog: Does PETA know about this? Once a living creature, this bullfrog has been stuffed and posed on a wood block, playing a tiny banjo. "They do not pop up every day," the seller promises. Indeed. (Starting bid: $4.99; selling price: $27.99.)

Absolutely Nothing: Here's a great present for an existentialist — nothing. An entrepreneur from Sedalia, Mo., advertised that he was selling "Nothing! Absolutely Nothing," and giving the proceeds to a local university.
After six bids, nothing sold for $1.03 — which might be pricey, but the shipping, naturally, was free.

Hornet's Nest: It's 22 inches high, 1 foot long and "would make a great piñata," the seller promised. Hornets not included. (Starting bid: $1; selling price: $2.25.)

The Soul of One Human Being: A Kentucky man offered for sale the soul of one of his friends, an atheist. "Wouldn't it be nice to have more than just one soul?" the seller asked. "Perhaps you have previously lost or sold your soul?" Bidding reached 71 cents before eBay closed the auction.

Goat Toenail Bracelet: This bizarre piece of jewelry from Guatemala makes "an eerie noise" when shaken. (Starting bid $9.99; no buyers.)

rain drops keep falling on my head...

actually, not really. i haven't ventured outside. this morning, i took my car in for it's 30,000 mile maintenance ($270, ouch!)- even though i've waited too long and it's actually at 35,000, but who's counting? anyway, the service guy calls me this morning and says they "recommend" a few additional things that he lists off, including replacement of the air filter (listed as toyota's standard maintenance), and replacement of a fog light (should still be covered under warranty) for $210 EXTRA dollars. so i made a few sanity check phone calls to people who know much more about cars than moi, and called back and said... um... not so much.

i fed my plant coffee today

so far, it's looking pretty happy about it. i know i usually am (about receiving coffee that is). our daily afternoon thunderstorm is rolling in. i'm still enjoying being able to spend a full day at work with no school work to come home to!

i love summer.

like i said...

...attention span of a gnat.

the empty 'burg

well, the miniscule traffic that existed for the past 9 months is gone. the students have left the building! which means... we can find places to park downtown (yay!) we can always get a table at rivermill (yay!) we can spend the summer on ian's porch and our couch (yay!)

today also marks the beginning of my healthy eating and going to the gym phase. stay tuned to see how long this phase will actually last.

word!

so i can prevent you people from posting comments post by post. which means i can make ridiculous claims like...

i was a dinosaur in my previous life (stegasaurus in fact)

and you have no outlet for rebuttal. v. exciting

couldn't help it...

had to change it. but change is the only sure thing, so deal with it!

it's almost the weekend. ryan hanlon is almost a graduate of the fine institution that is virginia tech. i'm almost about to graduate.. oh wait, no i'm not. ah well, i can look forward to the weekend at least.

i'm not very witty today. will need to work on that ;)

confession

i'm already tempted to change the blog template. i have the attention span of a gnat.

last week of busy blacksburg

well, at least for the summer. everyone's headed home this weekend, graduation is friday night. normally, i'm totallly excited because blacksburg is such a great and laid back place in the summer. but this year, there are so many friends leaving! for now, i've effectively suppressed any serious thought about the implications of so many of my friends going other places, so i'm still okay. but i will miss them all terribly.

i'll focus on summer blacksburg- which means:

- friday beer tastings and concerts on the lawn (mom and gram, i am definitely talking about rootbeer...)
- caving, canoeing, hiking
- tubing on the river
- grilling and sitting on the porch
- moving to a nice new apartment (yay!)

so lots to look forward to :) tonight, is blue's night at the cellar, so if you're in town, come- and be surprised by how great they are.

wicked crazy wednesday

yep, that's pretty much all i have to say about it. back to work!

snazzy new blog template

now i change my blog with my mood!...expect lots of changes ;)

fly by lawn guy

so... i'm at work. go figure, 'cause it's monday. but the amusing part of all of that is that every 30 seconds or so, the lawn guy flys by the window on his riding lawnmower at 80 mph. i hardly need coffee with this type of excitement around.

speaking of excitement, our CEO is in town tomorrow and i get to have lunch with him! very exciting. not just me of course, there will be 5 or 6 other people there, but the opportunity to forever end my career is definitely there. we're going to make a list of things NOT to say ("so, you make a lot of money- how's that working out for you?")

in other news, my parents are back from europe starting today (welcome home mom and marty!) :) which is good, because i was near overcome with jealousy looking at the beautiful pics from their trip. tulips and castles, oh my!

good quote from prudie

so i'm an avid weekly reader of "dear prudence" on slate.msn.com and thought this quote was worth repeating (or blogging about) :)

"What women find appealing is determined by needs, neurosis, and background."
- Prudie

in other news, i've missed lots of great blogging opportunities as last weekend was extremely eventful... here's the nutshell recap:

- elizabethan period murder mystery costume party
- 80s party followed by several games of blackjack that lasted until 5 a.m.
- riding tandem bikes (in tandem) for 10 miles on the huckleberry trail
- lots and lots of school work as it's the last week of classes. bittersweet, no more homework, but so many people are leaving blacksburg :(

murder mystery success

the murder mystery party was a success! and the butler did it! no actually.. spamlet, prince of hallmarke did it, but whatever ;)