Penguin Non Grata

Why, oh why, don’t people use spell check or at least re-read what they post on facebook? Don’t get me wrong – I do not think I’m perfect, nor do I claim to be queen of all things grammar, but I just wish people would try harder! This rant was brought about by a random profile I clicked on (friend of a friend). On this person’s information page, in the “favorite quote” section, was the following: “do unto outhers as you do for them.”

Um, yeah.

I read it a couple of times, ignoring the misspelled word, in an attempt to assure myself that this person didn’t manage to screw up the golden rule AND say it’s their favorite quote. I mean, really?

While I’m on the subject… here are a few more pet peeves I want to get off my chest:

If you post from your cell phone – READ IT before posting! Sometimes it’s hard to even understand what the person is trying to say. I love auto-correct, but you still have to pay attention!

Then there’s the lose/loose (and similar word confusion) issues. If I see one more person say they “want to loose weight” I am going to scream! Also, (and this may make me look like an asshole) if you post your condolences when someone passes away as “sorry for your lost,” please go look for the person that is “lost.” If you find them, yay! If not, then please go back and console the person for their “loss.” Thanks.

This one is a bit of a stretch. I don’t expect many people to understand my irritation with it, but here it is anyway. LOL (and other similar “words”) have been added to the dictionary. Okay, fine… but IT’S AN ACRONYM! What business does an acronym have in the dictionary? Laugh? Out? Loud? All in the dictionary. LOL? Seriously?! Please explain why it belongs. I’d really like to know.

I realize that typos happen. In the grand scheme of things, a quote gone wrong or a misspelled word aren’t huge issues. The problem I have is that people don’t take pride in what they say, or how they say it. Proper grammar and word usage in the English language outside of the halls of academia are becoming a bit lax. Big deal, right? I think it IS a big deal! Use it or lose it! It’s a slippery slope.

/rant

I know it has been forever since I updated. Life has been kind of crazy… good crazy, but crazy nonetheless.

I’ll update on all of that later, but for now I just wanted to share an e-mail I received from one of my cousins. This is mostly for my future reference as I found it to be quite an amusing example of religious hypocrisy. If you live your life by the book… well, I’m sorry, but I can’t agree with you there. It would be nice to turn all my problems over to a higher power to ease my mind, but I don’t think I could be so blind to a lot of the dogma of the Christian faith.

Here it is:

Subject: AN ABOMINATION AS STATED IN THE BIBLE!!!

In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.

The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident, which was posted on the Internet. It’s funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination … End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I’m confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman,
Ed.D. Professor Emeritus,
Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education
University of Virginia

(It would be a damn shame if we couldn’t own a Canadian

I am not an expert at naming movies… but how in the world did this happen?

http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Midnight_Meat_Train/70084798?strackid=7561b3d27bf857a4_0_srl&strkid=2127396557_0_0&trkid=438381

Thursday, April 16, 2009

What did I do today?

• Got an award! Yeah! And this is the reason I am MIA most of the time… but hard work eventually pays off, right?

Picture(s) of the day:

Oh my… It’s pretty sad when you can’t even follow through on a project you assigned to yourself. But really, I’ve been so busy with projects assigned by others that I either haven’t had a chance or just haven’t felt like posting.

So, what we have here is a months worth of photos in one post. For those of you who are following along, sorry for the delay. I’ve been a little uninspired lately and it’s all I can do to just deal with life in general. Overall It’s been a rough month, but an enlightening one… and once I get over this latest speedbump It’ll all be a-ok.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Required job fairs are more fun when you get toys. I always avoid the freebies because I don’t want to look like I’m shopping… but I couldn’t resist this little guy.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I always wondered what Alan would look like as a lion. Cute.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Heterosexual life partner Rachil does not like her picture taken. I am determined though, and WILL get one by the end of the year.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I included a “Big Hunk” in the valentine’s gifts for the girls at work… but did not read the instructions:

Evidently, it is necessary to smack your big hunk. Who knew!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Fun with iPhone apps.

Chewy has her own TV show:

Brittney is a pirate:

Ben is a gladiator:

And I’m trying my best to look like Luigi’s insane cousin:

Saturday, February 21, 2009

I got a much needed haircut today… and there was this lady in Ulta with this tiny pup. I was in the chair and couldn’t get a pic, so I sent LaDonna to snap one. Thanks LD!!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

No picture today. Instead you get a video of a horse, no wait, it’s  a a butterfly and I’m told it very well may be a moth.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Slacker radio gave us a blast from the past this morning…

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

No picture today either. *bad lala!* So, to fill the empty space, I give you Chicktionary. Warning: I’ve been playing it on the iPhone and it’s addictive!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Today we had the first of two baby showers at work. This one was for Stacie, our boss. I know she probably doesn’t feel cute about now… but she’s so adorable with her baby belly!!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

No official pic today… so here’s a blast from the past! Yes, I did attend the prom… but only long enough to take a picture. Yes, the necklace is actually a cat collar that happened to match my dress, and if you could see the shoes… you would know that they were actually white patent rave style shoes with silver stripes. I was so (not) cool. Geez… Anywhoo… the date was my HS sweetheart, Jamie Poovey.

Friday, February 27, 2009

No pic again… and the filler for the day will be a random pic from flickr!!

It’s my dad with his model A truck. My brother and dad are into cars… and this is one of the collection. Cute, eh?

Saturday, February 28, 2009

NOTE TO SELF: In the future, if you think you may fall asleep on the couch… hide the camera from Alan.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

We shall call this one “Self portrait blur no. 1″

Monday, March 2, 2009

No pic again… random flickr picture!! Is this cheating with the whole pic a day? Well, until someone invents a time machine so I can go back and snap a pic… it’ll have to do.

My big brudder and me… aren’t we cute!?

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Surprise! No picture!!

Oh Noes!!! I’m not sure who this is… the disguises are so good! Oh, it’s just Alan and me…

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Baby shower number two was today. Stephanie threw one for Adrienne at California Dreaming. A good time was had AND I got to have my favorite “Hot Vegetable Salad”… noms galore.

Here’s the mom-to-be, Adrienne, opening gifts:

Bill was a trooper, he’s her supervisor and as such was obligated to be the only man at the shower. He doesn’t look too scarred by the event. I imagine some men might enjoy going to lunch with 20 women!!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

No pic… INSERT FILLER!!!

This is an old one… but it was such a great day. Alan and I went for a ride, and then got lost temporarily misplaced on the way back. It was so beautiful that I didn’t want to be “found” again…

Friday, March 6, 2009

Today was just one of those days… I learned something about someone that I suppose I’ve been blind to for a while now. It saddens me, but at least I know where I stand. I will never forget this feeling…

I know it’s not a picture, not really, but it works better than any image could:

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Ikea day!!! The new ikea in Charlotte opened, so while visiting Lissa, Rob, and the girls, I stopped by.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Filler picture: NOTE: this is not mine… but is one of my flickr favorites.

Wrong on so many levels *shakes head*…

Monday, March 9, 2009

No picture today… such a slacker. Another filler pic will have to do. This one is really special to me… It’s my oldest brother, Paul, with my mom. I found out about his existence almost a year ago, and just met him this past thanksgiving. He and his wife are such wonderful people. I’m glad to have finally met them!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Who looks grumpier, Kristen or Grumpy Smurf??

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

No picture today, so I’ll give a shout out to Lego Star Wars. Alan and I have been playing it lately. Love it!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Another rough day today… no picture, but this:

Friday, March 13, 2009

A few of us took a field trip to the new corporate office building today. It is going to be AMAZING!!! I can’t wait to move in.

Highlight: color scheme/overall design of the building

Secondary Highlight: We had to wear hardhats!!!!

Here’s Stephanie, Me, and Diane (the IS – billing crew!):

The rest of the gang (some of the billing peeps) from left to right we have Deborah, Karen (billing mgr), Me, Diane, Vicki, Anitra, Stephanie, and Jessica:

Saturday, March 14, 2009

I found Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse on Hulu today. We watched 4 episodes… I really like it, but am afraid to get to into it. I was so sad when firefly was off the air. We’ll see if this one lasts.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Today’s agenda: Homework. Spring break is over, and it’s back to the grind tomorrow… no pic, but since I’m on the subject… school friend Nick is now featured on the homepage for our college. He’ll probably kill me for drawing attention to this… but he should be proud of himself!! You rock Nick (please don’t give me a cease and desist…)!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

Not much going on today. Schoolwork… and then Brit came over in the evening so I could do her taxes for her. Some of the pictures I’ve posted here have not been the most flattering (sorry Brit!!), so I promised I would put a good one up. It’s uncanny how my camera seems to catch her in JUST the right moment when she has a weird look on her face. This one is MUCH better:

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

I volunteered for the Create IT Computer Camp at school and had a really good time. The camp was for 20 area high school kids, and I was really impressed with how bright the kids were. One of the girls I worked with, Morgan, was so smart. I was talking to her about what she wanted to do in the future, and she told me she would really like to design products… things like cell phones and other tech. I have no doubt that she will be able to accomplish this… she was awesome! Anyway, the camp is really neat. It is the first 3 weekends of February. The kids learn about technology and get to build their own laptop. That’s what we were helping with today, the laptop building. I was really expecting base model machines, but these laptops were NICE. Overall, the camp was a great experience.

Here’s some of the kids after the laptops were built. They were installing windows 7 and Ubuntu on the machines. Morgan is the one in the striped shirt:

Dr. Norris snapped a pic of me, Nick, and Elizabeth. Those of you that have been following the “Year in Pictures” have seen Nick before, but Elizabeth is a new face. Shes the third of the 3 girls that are in my classes. She’s pretty awesome. Then again, most of the girls in our major are.

Dr. B lured us volunteers into the event by promising a free T-shirt, nametag, and pizza for lunch… I pretended to be excited about the nametag, but really I would have done it regardless. This is Carl, with an ironic collar pop under his IT computer camp shirt. At least I’m hoping it was ironic…

After camp, I headed home. Alan was napping on the couch after having breakfast at his mama’s house. I waited until he woke up and then we headed out to Best Buy. LaDonna and Travis were also at Best Buy, so we hung out there with them a few minutes before going to pick up some Thai food for Valentine dinner. Noms! We ate, and I gave Alan his present – A calendar that has a bubble wrap bubble for each day. He loved it:

I inadvertantly discovered one of his presents from me when I was getting a drink from the fridge… A heart shaped cheesecake from Junior’s in New York. Seriously the best cheesecake you will EVER eat. Get one if possible. Anyway, it was sweet of him and even if I have to work it off later… It was quite a surprise!

He gave me something else too – A giant fortune cookie… with a message from him! It even came in it’s own takeout box. Adorable.

Both of the goodies came with messages, but I won’t share the cheesecake one here. Here is my fortune:

And just because I HAVE TO… the key words girl-brain focuses on in that one are “spend the rest of your life with.” Heh.

Later, LaDonna and Travis stopped by. We all ate Cheesecake and hung out for a bit before they headed back home to Camden.

We also took a picture with the iPhones (Side note to Travis: Are you happy now??). They will probably have many play dates in the future.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

Kristen and her Valentines lips… Isn’t she cute!

After work we went over to Brit & Ben’s house for Battlestar. Ben went ahead and gave Brit her Valentines day present… First, the box with more directions: A note to tell her to look in the entertainment center:

So she looked… and she had no clue what it was. I think her exact quote was something like “oh, a white box? What is it?” This was the face that she made the moment she realized it was a Wii:

It was way cute! Then, the hug and thank yous began:

Good Job Mookie!!

Afterwards, we played Raving Rabbids 3. I brought my Wii fit board over in case Brit wanted to play.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Picture(s) of the day:

Bags? Yeah… but they are bags filled with yummy goodies for my work peeps. I love them, so what better time to show it than Valentines Day… or the day before? So this was my project for the night: