Five on Friday: Hank Green Edition

Thanks to Jasmine I figured out what I was doing wrong with the embed thingum. Here are five reasons I love Hank Green... All of them nerd songs.











Visit Trav's Thoughts for more Five of Friday Fun...

The Weekend In Words

So, we left the house about noon thirty on Saturday, which is significant because Andy asked me when we were planning on leaving and I said noon. He said- "no, really, when are you leaving?" By which he meant- "you never leave when you say you are going to". It was important because we wanted to go see his best friend and her family Saturday night.

The most normal friends we have are Andy's best friend, her partner, and their live in gay male BFF: A family that all like and love each other...wouldn't we all like to be a part of that? We had the most awesome evening of BBQ ribs, way to much awesome food, and laughter and stories and jokes and talking until I was just too tired for words.

Next morning Andy went to early mass with his mom. I meant to go, but when the alarm went off I sort of groaned in his general direction and fell back asleep. MIL probably enjoyed me not going along. I know she enjoyed commenting about it. It's nice when I can spread happiness that way.

Then we visited houses all day and took pictures of them. This is part of a marketing thing Andy is doing to help realtors that have so many listings they don't actually get around to marketing them properly. So far, it's really paying off and it was fun to do. We saw some breathtakingly lovely homes with master bathrooms the size of my kitchen, and some homes that earned tags like "TLC" and "flippers dream".

Then we went to a banquet at Buster and Dave's which is an arcade kind of a place. Andy earned an award for being the Most Ambitious Realtor in his company... I can't tell you how much that meant to us. It was really wonderful. After more good food at the banquet we splurged and played games in the arcade. Andy kicked our rears at air hockey and Miss Packman while Jasmine excelled at a racing game that involved making a four wheeled vehicle pop wheelies. I lost everything but had a great time.

We spent the late evening inputting the information we had gathered from the day's picture taking safari and then the next morning we did some sleuthing for a hard to explain thingum on a listing that is supposed to close today (cross your fingers). We had lunch at Taco Bell and then Jasmine and I had to come back home so she wouldn't miss any more school.

And that is how a weekend should be. Need more of that.

Road Trip!

One Single Impression: Fissure

The ceiling fell the other day
on our marriage bed,
and though we washed
the sheets out well,
the wound still sometimes
festers.

We lie awake at night,
stare up at the old lath scar,
and wonder if it's just too late
to call and have it fixed.

Note: I wrote this a very long time ago... This is just what came to mind when I saw the prompt over at Sandy's blog. I'm out of town and wanted to future post my OSI. Will sign the linky over there when I get back. More poems at One Single Impression

Five on Friday: The Fourth

It's Friday! I'm getting ready to go see Andy this weekend so you won't see any new posts from me till the middle of next week. The way I've been posting lately, you probably won't notice. This week's music doesn't really count as nerd music. Some of these songs are really popular. All they have in common, besides being good music with an emotional impact, is that they've been interpreted by Stephen Torrence in ASL. This is really good stuff. Please take the time to watch at least one of these. You won't be sorry.


Unfortunately, I can't seem to embed a player. That might have something to do with people not giving Stephen the credit he deserves for his work, or it might have something to do with my own ineptitude. Here are links. Follow one? For me? Please!

The Lighthouse by Nickel Creek : This will make you cry.

I'm Your Moon by Jonathan Coultan :Nerd Song! A song about Pluto.

Party in the USA by Miley Cirus :The first Stephen Torrence I ever saw. Thanks Whall! It's just fun.

Fireflies by Owl City: One of Jasmine's favorite songs.

I Got a Feeling: Black Eyed Peas: Stephen is joined by Stephen Brackett on this one.

Two More Links:

Find more Five on Friday at Trav's Thoughts

Whall: My conservative blogging friend who introduced me to Stephen Torrence.

My Museum

First, a little explanation. I love You Tube. Seriously, the future of the internet isn't on blogger, twitter, facebook, or any of the new yahoo doohickeys; it's You Tube. I'm not talking about the You Tube you probably know. I don't care about viral videos. I care about video blogging. All the coolest, newest, most creative stuff on the internet right now is there. I'm not making my own videos because I'm older and fatter than almost everybody on You Tube and videos of myself make me nauseous... Mickeleh is older than me. I love him for that. One of his videos gave me the idea for this post.

If you could put together a museum of all the stuff you think makes life worthwhile and all you had to do to make that happen was declare those things as part of the museum, what would you put in it?

Here's a little of my list, not in any particular order. What would you put in your museum?

1. Springtime

2. Fantasy Novels

3. Mountains

5. Dogs

6. Men

7. Flowers

8. The tilde ~ I don't really know what it's for, but it's cute. ~~~

9. Coffee

10. The electron transport chain.

Sarah Palin and the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Dan Brown from pogobat on you tube has shown me the path to enlightenment. I have been floating without a purpose in my life for too long. I now accept the Flying Spaghetti Monster as my savior and call myself a pastafarian. Now that I have done that, as Dan points out, the only logical conclusion I can make is that Sarah Palin is the incarnation of our great lord the FSM.

May he touch you and your life with his noodly appendage as he has mine.

One Single Impression: Mask

Dear Fish

Loved
the feathered mask.
I'll try harder
to pretend
you can fly.

Sincerely,

Bird.

One Single Impression

Presents and Five on Friday The Third

That's what came in the mail yesterday. We had bread for supper with the flavored oils. Mags of MsMaggieMooTalksToYou sent this cake to me because I won a contest, and all of the rest of the goodies were for me and Jasmine just because Mags is the most awesome friend in the universe. That cake looks good? It tastes 100% better than it looks, moist and yummy and rich and lemony. (An Etsy Link will go here when I find it)

Sorry this is such a long post... below is my five on Friday. This is all new nerd music direct from the You Tubes because it just isn't on playlist yet. Every single song is a favorite. I thought new stuff would be nice after last week's walk down memory lane.



Talented nineteen-year-old musician... made this song using sounds made by everyday objects as accompaniment. Seriously good music that doesn't take itself too seriously... and there are no broken hearts involved, even though it's a song about love.


Dan and Dan sing about a British paper. Lots of fun.


I don't even own this game. Just love this song.


Buffy vs. Edward: 'nuff said.


There are all kinds of nerds and I guess Glee nerds are called Gleeks... and I'm a total Gleek.

Edit: I forgot to link back to Trav: More Five On Friday Here

Asterisks are Awesome

It's time for another randomish asterisk post.

***

Afternoon walks are back. It's time to get in shape for backpacking and I want to beat Andy for with my training this year, which, as we all know, is a huge challenge. I love spring and I never like my neighborhood more than when I start my walks in the springtime. I'll try to remember to take my camera along today. The mountains still have some snow on them and they are really nice to look at.

***

I'll get to see Andy soon, so that's something to look forward to. I wish I'd lost twenty pounds or so in the interim... but I'm falling back on some of my old OA strategies. Maybe dieting isn't going so well but I can at least exercise and not overeat. I'll feel better and that will help me look better.

***

I'm expecting something wonderful in the mail today. That would put anybody in a good mood... wouldn't it? Sending out some virtual hugs to the wonderful lady who sent it (((Mags))), and some good vibes for her hot date on Friday.

Wordless Wednesday: I added some words

This is a wild rose from the flattops... 2008 trip. I took this with Andy's camera. I know that because I never did get mine to do that time stamp thing and he doesn't take flower pictures. Feeling down today and a trip through the backpacking pictures gave me a little lift.

I Bet This Meme Has a Name

...but heck if I know what it is. It probably has rules too, but since I stole it from Matt-Man and he doesn't do rules, I don't know what they are.

If I were a month I'd be July. At least half of that month, my spirit is where it belongs.

If I were a day I’d be Saturday. Just me, coffee, my computer and NPR.

If I were a time of day I’d be 4:00 P.M. Just coming in from a walk in the sunshine with Minnie.

If I were a font I’d be Girls are Weird. Love that font.

If I were a sea animal I’d be a manatee named Barbara.

If I were a direction I’d be South because that's where the sunlight is.

If I were a piece of furniture I’d be an easy chair.

If I were a liquid I’d be Diet Pepsi; Lovely sweet and unnatural.

If I were a tree I’d be an aspen... at least then I'd be skinny and a few months out of the year I'd get to be blond too.

If I were a tool I'd be a corner rounder. Useful, but I'd get lots of leisure time too.

If I were a musical instrument I’d be an accordion.

If I were a sound I’d be the gurgling of a mountain stream.

If I were a food I’d be a lasagna; Deep and layered and delicious.

If I were a body part I’d be legs. I'm supportive that way.

If I were a song I’d be House of Awesome by the Whomping Willows.

If I were a bird I’d be peacock and the boys would all be pretty.

If I were a door I’d be a window. (These answers don't have to make sense. I was given no rules.)

If I were a poem I’d be Homage to my Hips by Lucille Clifton.

One Single Impression

These are from two prompts because I got sidetracked and didn't post last week's poem. The prompts were: cognizant and voyeuristic.


Aging Well

An hour before twilight, the sunlight
sometimes becomes cognizant
of everything it touches.


From Viewed to Viewer

I only really watch the tree
when it blooms.

See more poems at One Single Impression. Note: The actual prompt was Vicarious... I only thought it was Voyeuristic. I'm posting this anyway because it still sort of applies. Sorry about that.

Five On Friday: The Second

Anybody can write a song about a broken heart... it takes a real man to write a country song about comma placement. Here are some funny songs from a country perspective. Hopefully there's something here that's new to you, but everybody ought to know Grandpa Jones. Right? The Streak is a song from my childhood and probably has something to do with why I ain't quite right.

Buy a House!

You know you want to... and if you are at all on the market to buy or sell in the Denver area, don't pay a full price commission for full service. Andy offers all the services other brokers offer. He really understands the market and the area, and he costs less... also he's nice to look at, if I do say so myself, and I'd like to be able to lay eyes on him more often.

Here's his link: http://www.andyglazar.com/ There isn't a big wall of text or a video or anything over there. It's a very simple site explaining his discount and what he can do for you.

Child Support Fiasco

Here's what happened: A couple of months ago my ex husband, Jasmine's father, called to tell me there had been some mix up with the child support and he was behind. He apologized, which he totally didn't need to do because it was a surprise to me that he was behind too. The family support people, in their wisdom, were going to take a big lump sum out of the Ex's tax return and he told me I could expect a big check any day. This is really good news, right?

I don't get a lot of child support but we depend on that money, and even though it gets taken out of Ex's check every week like clockwork, I sometimes don't get it like clockwork. It has to go through two states worth of channels and rules and everybody takes a tiny cut of that money that my Ex would gladly just hand to me. A big check would be nice but that tiny trickle of money is very, very important to us.

So, for a month, no child support at all. This meant a lot of belt tightening here. I called the Ex and his wife. They called people on their end and I called people on my end. The deal? Because of some technicality in the way they filed their taxes I won't get that money till the end of August. So, because my ex, who is doing everything he can to be a good father, got behind a little, we went a month with no child support. They tell me the payments should resume any time. I'm not sure I trust them. This system is screwed up.

Open Letter

Dear Church,

Our disappointment in you for not protecting children has nothing to do with our disappointment in you over all of your other policies, including but not limited to abortion, birth control, same-sex marriage, divorce, and women as priests. It's a whole new disappointment and not a smear campaign of any kind. You care about families? You should have protected their most vulnerable members.

Yours, Even So,

Marilyn

Happy Marilyn's Birthday

I thought I'd share with you some of the symbolism of the holiday.

1. Bunnies: They are cute and so am I. 'nuff said.

2. Chocolate: Makes you feel like you're in love, which is how everyone should feel around me.

3. Baskets: I have been called a basket case.

4. Plastic Grass: It just ain't right. See number three.

5. Peeps: Don't dissolve in water. I don't dissolve in water! What a coincidence.

6. Eggs: They are shaped like me.

7. Ham: My mom always said I was the ham of the bunch of us.

8. Easter Bonnet: My favorite form of sunscreen is a hat. Serious UV protection and no stingy eyes or funny smell. My favorite bonnets have very wide brims that are a little stiff. Straw doesn't hold up so well. Cloth is better. Ventilation of some kind is good. I need a new bonnet.

9. Hiding the eggs: really, this is silly. If you're worried about me eating all of something, hide the cheese.

10. Spring: It's a happy time. Today I am happy. Hope you are too.

Five on Friday: The First

Trav at trav's thoughts does this Friday meme where you pick five songs to share with your friends. In the weeks of enjoying the songs my friends like, I have noticed a sad lack of the kind of flavor that a real nerd would add to the meme, and so here are five of my favorites. Sadly, some of my favorites from DFTBA records aren't on the playlist site yet... Still, these are all great songs.

Thanks for all the fish

This is just to inform you that the Hadron Collider caused the world to end yesterday. Appearances to the contrary are only the shadow of your remaining subconscious beginning the first of the classic stages of grief.