A book meme

This was a dry land. Just a short distance to the west lay the Kalahari, a hinterland of ochre that stretched off, for unimaginable miles, to the singing emptiness of the Namib. If she turned her tiny white van off one of the tracks that struck off from the mail road, she could drive for perhaps thirty or forty miles before her wheels would began to sink in the sand and spin hopelessly.
from "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith

Labels: memes etc., reading

Friday Feast No. 130

Just a strange, low-level, very-stuffy-in-the-morning sort of cold. (knock on wood)

Brown.

I don't know how to answer this question.

Gold Case

Christmas

Please click here to join Nichole's Oscar pool. If that doesn't work, go to http://defectiveyeti.com/oscars/ and enter poll ID 24724. You could win an as-yet-to-be-determined something!

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 129

Oh, there were so many! The French-rolled jeans and the giant, cockatoo bangs; the flannel shirts and the Docs ...

I have no clue.

I think I could do a much better job. No, I know I could do a much better job. The part of my job that I enjoy -- caring for and playing with Piper -- I don't really count as "work." The parts that I don't care for so much -- the cleaning of the house -- I would probably get a 2 in.

It would be great if we could get someone to take over the lease on our apartment. I'd like to move closer to town.

I love to stay inside when it is cold out.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Magic 8 iPod

Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING.

What does next year have in store for me? ... "Waste Time," The Fire Theft
Sounds like nothing will be changing in '07 ...

What's my love life like? ... "Jackie Blue," Ozark Mountain Daredevils
I don't really know what to make of that.

What do I say when life gets hard?... "Why Don't You Write Me?" Simon & Garfunkel

What do I think of on waking up? ... "Kate," Ben Folds Five
Our former neighbor, Kate, moved to Alaska recently. I just heard from her a few days ago. They were having "unseasonably warm" weather -- it was 10F!

Favorite saying? ... "Faraway Cookies," Caitlin McEwan
That's so spot-on it's scary. It's a song about cookies being "so high on the shelf." So we have shortness and cookie-eating. Yep.

Favorite place? ... "Into the Groove," Madonna
Totally.

Drug of choice? ... "Holiday," Madonna
I do love a vacation.

Describe myself. ... "If You Listen," Elizabeth Mitchell
That's not very descriptive, is it?

What is the thing I like doing most? ... "Song for Junior," Beastie Boys
Not far off. Junior and I do play music and dance quite a lot.

What is my state of mind like at the moment? ... "Prime of Life," Neil Young
It has been a nice day thus far.

via Verbatim.

Labels: listening, memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 127

I won't go so far as to say that I "refuse" to miss them, but I really enjoy "Gilmore Girls," "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office." I started watching "30 Rock" recently, too, and it's been consistently funny. I'm looking forward to the return of "Lost," even though I'm not holding out much hope that it's going to get better.

My mother-in-law, Genia. She called last night to tell me that Pictsweet had responded to a letter we wrote about the declining quality of the tiny green peas. (My father-in-law is very serious about his tiny green peas.) Pictsweet sent them four coupons for free vegetables! In my eyes, they've redeemed themselves.

Four. Two for me, two for Alex.

I'd love to have a printer that consistently works.

I had some fantastic crab wontons last night. And Kung Pao Scallops. And tomorrow night we're having bean nachoes, which is another of my favorites.

Labels: flotsam/jetsam, friday feast, memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 126

Orange is a bright, cheery color. So ... bright, cherriness, I guess.

I had recently moved to a new school, and I wanted to make some friends. So, being the wise fourth-grader that I was, I thought it would help if I was mean. I wrote an "anonymous" mean note to a girl that someone had advised me to "stay away from." It apparently wasn't terribly anonymous, though. I got busted. And I still feel bad about writing the note.

Extra cheese, pineapple and pepperoni. Just this week we tried a pesto, red pepper and chicken pizza, though, and it was pretty darn awesome.

No. I don't have any long-winded reasoning. I understand all of the "how could we be the only ones?" arguments. At my core, though, I just don't believe it.

It's cream colored. I want to get some sort of cover for it (a duvet? is that what a duvet is?), but I haven't done that yet.

Labels: flotsam/jetsam, friday feast, memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 125

Alex would vote for Ralph Macchio. The safe bet would be Britney, Lindsay and Paris. But I'm going to go with Matt Dillon. I think it's his year. Again.

Piper's the greatest little person I've ever met. Other than that obvious answer: chocolate truffles; Malayan sun bears, M&Ms, iPods, small things jewelry, twiddlebugs.

I was just working on a post about songs, and there were alot of them on that particular CD that made me want to dance. "Castanets" by Alejandro Escovedo, for example.

I haven't given fonts a lot of thought in quite awhile. I was always fond of Verdana.

What an interesting question! I sent my sister-in-law a quick how-to on how to code hyperlinks just the other day. I don't know that that's really a DIY topic, though. My article would probably have something to do with cooking. I tried to make a batch of DIY Hostess cupcakes, but they didn't turn out so well. They were delicious, but they didn't look like cupcakes at all.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

2006. A retrospective.

Hello 2007!
Originally uploaded by nichole_e.

Labels: flotsam/jetsam, memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 124

Most years we stay home and, if we're feeling particularly festive, we might break open a bottle of bubbly grape juice. I know, we're totally crazy. This year, though, we're actually going out to dinner! And then we'll come home sometime before midnight to toast with the grape juice. We moved back into the Eastern time zone this year, so it'll be the first time in years that we'll actually be watching the ball drop at midnight rather than 11pm. I'm actually pretty excited about that.

Holland. We moved there, and then (a whole week later) we moved back. It wasn't a fun time.

Harbor Island, SC. We had an unexpected vacation at the beach, and it marked the end of a lot of chaos for our family.

I don't normally make resolutions, and I'm hesitant to call this a "resolution" because it seems like it would be too easy to fall away from if I do that. But I'd like to lose about 40 pounds in 2007.

Things fall apart. I know that sounds depressing, but a good part of 2006 felt like we were falling apart. Rest easy, though. We're all better now.

Labels: flotsam/jetsam, friday feast, memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 122

Alex and I watch "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve.

Piper. She isn't terribly discriminating yet. She loves everything.

Cookies.

I'd like to give Tia back to Taina. Tia was with Taina's family for 16 months, and it breaks my heart that she has gone back to live with her birth mother. I can't imagine how Taina feels. I'm in awe of her strength and her faith.

I don't think there's anything I really need, when you get right down to it.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Wiki Wednesday: Arthur Constantin Krebs!

Arthur Constantin Krebs (November 16, 1850 in Vesoul, France - March 22, 1935 in Quimperle, France) was a French officer and pioneer in automotive engineering.

Collaborating with Charles Renard, he piloted the first fully controlled free-flight made in the French Army airship La France, which was designed in 1884. The electric-powered flight covered 8 km (5 miles) in 23 minutes. It was the first full round trip flight with a landing on the starting point. On its seven flights the La France dirigible returned five times to its starting point.

Krebs shared the 1886 Ponti prize of the French Academie des sciences, with Charles Renard, for their contribution to Aerostation.

Krebs inspired Jules Verne, in Verne's novel "Robur The Conqueror" written in 1886, he tells "the striking experiments of Captain Krebs and Captain Renard."

In 1888 Krebs and Gustave Zede designed the first modern French submarine, the Gymnote. The submarine was fitted with the first naval periscope and the first naval electric gyrocompass. The latter allowed the Gymnote to force a naval block in 1890.
From 1884 to 1897 Arthur Krebs modernized the Ville de Paris fire department; not only its equipment but its organisation as well. His work left a lasting impression in this elite corps up until this very day.

In May 1896 Arthur Krebs patented a new automobile, fitted with an electromagnetic gearbox and a front drive-train which recentred itself when the steering wheel was left alone, today this is known as the Castor Angle. Panhard-Levassor acquired a license to build 500 cars under the name of Clement-Panhard between 1898 and 1902 featuring the latter inovation.

Krebs succeeded Levassor as Panhard-Levassor's General Manager from 1897 to 1916. He transformed the Panhard-Levassor Company to become one of the largest and most profitable automobile manufacturers before WWI.

In 1902 Krebs invented the automatic diaphragm carburettor which gave cars continuous power during acceleration providing a constant air-fuel ratio at all times; this also led to dramatic increase in fuel economy.

In 1906 Krebs traveled to the United States of America to plead in the Selden Case, associated with Henry Ford.

Krebs introduced many improvements in car design : the steering wheel (1898), non-reversible steering (1898), engine balance (1898), nickel steel alloys and other special steel alloys (1901), the shock absorber (1906), multi-disc clutch (1907), the electric brake dynamometer for testing high performance engines (1905), the global worm screw differential (1915).

Also, Krebs contributed significantly to improve the Systeme Panhard which became universally adopted before WWII.

In 1909, he became interested in the Knight patent (sleeve-valve engine) and was first in France to build that type of engine which Panhard-Levassor would produce during the thirty years leading up to World War II.

He made contributions to automotive racing with his powerful cars and motorboats.

In 1911 Krebs invented the first elastomeric flexible coupling (cf. John Piotrowski). It is known in French as the Flector joint. This device is still widely used today in industry for power transmission as a tyre coupling.

The truck was meant for military and civil purposes. Krebs designed it in 1911, jointly with the Chatillon Co, the all-terrain truck named Tracteur Chatillon-Panhard, had four wheel drive and four wheel steering. Many of these trucks have been used during the World War I as artillery tractors.

Krebs also utilized his former military membership to supply the French Army with engines and vehicles including the 1904 Genty Armored car, the 1916 St Chamond tank, the Chatillon-Panhard 4x4 truck, and others.

Labels: memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 121

My dad signed me and my step-sister up to work at the GM family fun fair one summer. I think I was 13 or 14. My step-sister weaseled out of it somehow. I ended up working the tic-tac-toe beanbag toss for two whole afternoons. I think I made something like $30. And thus, my career as a carny was born.

I had a miscarriage before we had Piper, and it crushed me. And that's all I have to say about that.
(Except to say this: I don't think this question was looking for that sort of answer. But that's the first thing I thought of. So. I don't think I've ever mentioned the miscarriage on here before, and now I've just sort of tossed it out there and it feels very strange.)

Gosh, I don't know.

I grew up in a pretty small town, so there weren't really many places to "hang out." We spent a lot of time at friends' houses, I guess.

Puppies. And rainbows.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 121

Spanish. We were at the health clinic with Piper this summer, trying to get her shots, and a woman came in who didn't speak English, and apparently no one on staff there spoke Spanish. The receptionist just sort of pointed at a stack of papers, and the woman looked so confused and upset. I wanted to help her, but I don't speak Spanish, so I couldn't. I bought a learn-to-speak-Spanish program a few months ago. It's one of my 2007 Goals.

I watched "Scrubs" last night, so it was probably somewhere on there.

"Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby." We went with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and father-in-law. My father-in-law walked out within the first 20 minutes. The rest of us followed pretty soon afterward. It was so disappointingly awful.

I don't know. Maybe Watch TV in Your Jammies While Indulding in an Ice Cream Sundae Day.

The Will Smith one that I'm pretty sure will make me cry.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Q & A

Labels: memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 119

Yes, once. It's a hazy memory. It was sometime during high school, which was more than 10 years ago now, and all I remember is that it was hard to get the bolt thingies off. (Yeah, that's the technical term.)

Innie.

I can't do that. That side of my brain is still in bed.

I started a new holiday tradition last year that means a lot to me. Last year was Piper's first Christmas, and I went out by myself one day to find a special ornament just for her. I'd like to find an ornament display tree to put up each year with her ornaments, but they're not going to go on the big tree until she has a home and a tree of her very own.

I asked Alex to answer this one. Here's what he said: "If you were a cookie, I'd say you would be a sugar cookie. Because you like to be unassuming and you prefer not to stand out and you want to just kind of remain present but not the focal point." He did not add that I am sweet. Hm.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Wiki Wednesday: Darrell Green Youth Life Foundation!

The Darrell Green Youth Life Foundation (DGYLF) is a faith-based 501(c)(3) organization started by former Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green. The Foundation's mission is to "help children develop into leaders who positively influence their families and communities." Specifically, the Foundation runs after-school and summer programs for elementary school age children that focus academics, friendship, and values. The DGYLF has no formal relationship with the local public school system, but focuses on teaching children age 5 to 11 in reading, writing, math, and english. Funding for their activities comes from other foundations, corporations, individuals, churches, the government, and special events.

Labels: memes etc.

I'm 'Platoon.'

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Labels: memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 118

No. Not without Fox Mulder around to convince me otherwise.

I always said I'd never let my children watch "too much" television. I've found that "too much" is a pretty amorphous term. Most days, Pi watches "Sesame Street" in the morning and a video with Alex after he gets home from work. Under my pre-parenting definition, that would have been "too much." These days, it's just right.

Her name escapes me right now, but it was my fifth-grade teacher. She forced me to memorize the multiplication tables. I think it was the first time I actually applied myself.

Oprah, but only on her day off.

Ice cream sundaes.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Wiki Wednesday: Agent One-Half!

Agent One-Half is an action-comedy film scheduled for release in the United States in 2007, starring, written and produced by Warwick Davis, who is best known as playing in the fantasy film Willow. Davis plays the title character, a dwarf secret agent who attempts to stop the film's antagonist, "The Heel", from sinking California to the bottom of the ocean.

Labels: memes etc.

Self Awareness

You Are a Glazed Donut

Okay, you know that you're plain - and you're cool with that. You prefer not to let anything distract from your sweetness. Your appeal is understated yet universal. Everyone dig you. And in a pinch, you'll probably get eaten.

Labels: memes etc.

Getting to know me

What is your occupation? Mom to Piper.

What color are your socks right now? Pink, yellow and orange stripes

What are you listening to right now? Witty banter on "Gilmore Girls."

What was the last thing that you ate? Caesar salad.

Can you drive a stick shift? Of course! My first car, an '87 Volkswagen Jetta, was a stick shift, so I had to learn.

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Cerulean.

Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mother-in-law, Genia.

Do you like the person who sent this to you? Absolutely!

How old are you today? 28

Favorite drink? Root beer.

What is your favorite sport to watch? Ballroom dancing.

Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes. Last Thursday. Highlighting counts as dye, right?

What is your spouse's best feature? Alex has beautiful eyes. And he's the nicest man on Earth.

If you could have dinner with any historical figure or famous person, who would it be? Bruce Springsteen.

Favorite food? Ice cream.

What was the last movie you watched? "The Departed."

Favorite day of the year? Christmas Eve.

What do you do to vent anger? Eat, sadly enough.

What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbie

What is your favorite: fall or spring? Fall

Hugs or kisses? Hugs.

What TV show would you like to be on? "Gilmore Girls"

Living arrangements? With Alex and Piper.

When was the last time you cried? I don't recall.

What is on the floor of your closet? Clothes

What did you do last night? I read a little, then watched "CSI Miami" and worked on my nanowrimo project.

Favorite smells? Fresh baby and cookies.

What inspires you? My family.

Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Cheese

Favorite dog breed? Dachsund

Number of keys on your key ring? Five

How many years at your current job? Almost 15 months

Favorite day of the week? Saturday

How many states have you lived in? Three

Favorite holiday? Christmas

Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machinery? No.

Who's your favorite NFL team? No football for me, thank you.

Do you have a house phone that is NOT cordless? No.

10 inches of snow or 100-degree weather? Snow.

What would be your dream job? I'm doing it.

Favorite sport or activity to play? Um ... does scrapbooking count?

Favorite type of music? I have pretty ecletic tastes. My favorite is Wilco, though.

Your favorite age? Twenty-eight is going pretty well so far. Twenty-seven had its moments, but it also included the whole Holland thing. So. It doesn't make the cut.

Do you like getting these e-mails? This was a really long one, but for the most part, I do. I'll admit it. I like 'em.

Labels: memes etc.

Four things

Labels: memes etc.

Wiki Wednesday: SuperGrid!

The SuperGrid is a proposed power grid which would use liquid hydrogen both as a fuel source and as insulation around the advanced powerlines so as to cool them down and render them superconducting.

Labels: memes etc.

My Literary Personality

You scored as A coloring book. Children love you--and so do many adults. They find you approachable, simple and friendly, all of which perfectly describe you. Instead of throwing big words around, you communicate in the international language of pictures. In order to be as open as possible, you present yourself simply, allowing those around you to customize you to their liking. Sometimes this results in you turning into a primitive masterpiece, and other times you resemble a schizophrenic's daydream. So long as the one talking to you understands you, you're happy. Zen and the art of crayon-sharpening. A coloring book 54% A paperback romance novel 43% Poetry 43% The back of a froot loops box 43% An electronics user's manual 43% A classic novel 32% A college textbook 25% Your Literary Personality created with QuizFarm.com

Labels: memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 117

Clean baby.

I love to cook, and I like to feed the people I love.

It used to be a pen my dad gave me one year for Christmas, but I rarely write longhand anymore. So it would have to be the computer, I suppose.

I would buy these earrings at Arbor Beading.

No costume for me.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Wiki Wednesday: Matteo Sereni!

Matteo Sereni (born February 11, 1975 Parma) is an Italian football goalkeeper who currently plays for Treviso.
He started his career at Sampdoria and was loaned out to A.C. Crevalcore in 1994. He returned to Sampdoria and only made 10 appearances, before being transferred to Piacenza Calcio in 1997. Here he helped the club avoid relegation to Serie B but in 1998, he transferred to Empoli F.C., where he failed to avoid relegation.
In 1999, he returned to Sampdoria in Serie B, made 75 (out of 76) Serie B appearances. In 2001, UEFA Cup competitor Ipswich Town signed him for €7.5million, one of the highest transfer fees paid by the club. He also failed to avoid relegation with Ipswich and was and loaned to Brescia in 2002.
In 2003, he transferred to Lazio, to compete for number one goalkeeper at the club with Angelo Peruzzi. In 2004, he is the started for the club for both legs of Coppa Italia final against Juventus and played the matches in 2005 Intertoto Cup, where Lazio went out to Olympique de Marseille in the semi-finals.
In January 2006, he was loaned out to Treviso, with Samir Handanovic on loan to Lazio.

Labels: memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 116

Sweet tea.

I don't have a computer desk. But here are three things on the counter where my computer is sitting: Piper's piggy bank; two grapefruits; my address book.

9. There are always those "How does my hair look" or "How is your burger?" moments, so I can't say 10.

I don't think I have an answer to this question.

Money stresses me out; Alex calms me down.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.

Wiki Wednesday: Adolf Hitler's inspection of the German Workers' Party

Corporal Adolf Hitler was ordered in September, 1919 to investigate a small group in Munich known as the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, DAP), which had only 54 members at the time. The use of the term "workers" attracted the attention of the German Army which was now involved in crushing Marxist uprisings. The army assigned Hitler to determine the nature of the DAP and whether it could pose any threat.

On September 12, dressed in civilian clothes, Hitler went to a meeting of the DAP in the back room of a Munich beer hall, with about twenty-five people. He listened to a speech by Gottfried Feder. After the speech, Hitler got ready to leave when a man rose up and spoke in favour of the German State of Bavaria breaking away from Germany and forming a new South German nation with Austria. The enraged Hitler spoke out forcefully against the man for the next fifteen minutes uninterrupted, to the astonishment of everyone. One of the founders of the DAP, Anton Drexler, reportedly whispered: "he's got the gift of the gab. We could use him."

After Hitler's outburst ended, Drexler hurried to Hitler and gave him a forty page pamphlet entitled: "My Political Awakening." He urged Hitler to read it and also invited him to come back again, despite his behaviour.

Over the next few days, Hitler read the pamphlet, written by Drexler, and was delighted to find that it reflected political thinking much like his own - building a strong nationalist, pro-military, anti-semitic party made up of working class people.
A few days later, Hitler received an unexpected postcard saying he had been accepted as a member into the DAP. He was asked to attend an executive committee meeting, which he did. At that meeting he was joyfully welcomed as a new member although he was actually very undecided on whether to join.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler describes the conditions of the party:
"...aside from a few directives, there was nothing, no program, no leaflet, no printed matter at all, no membership cards, not even a miserable rubber stamp..."

Although unimpressed by the current condition of the DAP, Hitler believed it presented him with an opportunity to mould a political group after his own views. In this disorganised party, Hitler saw potential:

"This absurd little organisation with its few members seemed to me to possess the one advantage that it had not frozen into an 'organisation,' but left the individual opportunity for real personal activity. Here it was still possible to work, and the smaller the movement, the more readily it could be put into the proper form. Here, the content, the goal, and the road could still be determined..."

He spent two days thinking it over and then decided.

"... I finally came to the conviction that I had to take this step... It was the most decisive resolve of my life. From here there was and could be no turning back."

Adolf Hitler joined the committee of the German Workers' Party and thus entered politics.

Labels: memes etc.

Friday Feast No. 115

A total of three, maybe. I have a long, long list of blogs I frequent. I don't spend alot of time at each one, but it takes awhile to get through the list.

An iPod Nano, so the Future People can laugh at our bulky, primitive "technology" while they download music directly into their brains. That's right. The future will be creepy. George Orwell taught us that.

I met Johnny Cash's mom at the Johnny Cash museum. That was interesting. I was very young, though, and didn't appreciate it at all at the time.

The Mary Poppins Award, to my sister-in-law. We tease her about being "practically perfect in every way," but I really am in awe at how together she is. She's a stay-at-home mom who homeschools three children, and still she has a clean house and makes dinner most every night. And she volunteers. She's the mom I try to model myself after.

But I worry about her, that she doesn't reserve enough time for herself. So the prize for the Mary Poppins Award would be a housekeeper and a week alone at the Miraval Resort. Obviously, Oprah would be involved in giving the MPA. So my sister-in-law would probably be getting a car and some pretty, pretty baubles as well.

That I'm indecisive. I can't settle on a single favorite. I like purple and pink. And blue. And brown.

Labels: friday feast, memes etc.