30 Day Challenge: Day 16

Good Morning! I'm going to do a real post so this one is just going to be about the 30 day challenge. I skipped day 15, a fanfic because I had no idea what that was and I was so busy yesterday watching Tony Hayward stonewall the  Senate Committee I didn't look it up. 
Buuuuutttt.....
Day 16 is a song that makes you cry, or almost. 
Kind of depressing, I would rather do a song that makes me want to jump up and dance around but that's not the challenge. Drats. 
Even though there are a lot of sappy, sad songs this one always gets me a little choked up. 

Helplessly Hoping

by: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Helplessly hoping
Her harlequin hovers nearby
Awaiting a word
Gasping at glimpses
Of gentle true spirit
He runs, wishing he could fly
Only to trip at the sound of good-bye

Wordlessly watching
He waits by the window
And wonders
At the empty place inside
Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams
He worries
Did he hear a good-bye? Or even hello?

They are one person
They are two alone
They are three together
They are for each other

Stand by the stairway
You'll see something
Certain to tell you confusion has its cost
Love isn't lying
It's loose in a lady who lingers
Saying she is lost
And choking on hello

They are one person
They are two alone
They are three together
They are for each other 

So there you go, a song that gets me choked up. Now I have to go find the tissues. 

Book Review!

Whhhhaaaat?!?! Two posts in one day? Is the world coming to an end? Is this finally it? No dearies, don't fret. Today was rainy and cold so I decided to put away my to-do list and curl up with Gypsy on the couch and finish my book, that I started yesterday by the way. 

If you can't read the quote on the front of the book it says, "An addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece...Sweet." -William Gibson. And it's all true. I wouldn't say it's the best book I've ever read, in fact there are some major proof-reading mistakes throughout the book that drove me nuts a few times. 
The story is about a guy named Stark who was into some dark magic in LA during his teen years. One of the guys in his magic circle decided Stark needed to take a little trip, so he sent him to Hell. This didn't kill him but while there he realized that he was very hard to kill. He was hired as an assassin for one of Lucifer's generals who gave him a key to get out of Hell. When he comes back to Earth eleven years later he finds that things in LA have changed and what follows is a somewhat typical Heaven vs. Hell, Angels vs. Demons free-for-all. It was sometimes predictable, sometimes funny but always entertaining.
I give it 2 1/2 storm clouds out of 4.  

Books, Bikes and Bananas

Ahhh....summer vacay I love it! I spent most of yesterday checking for my grades to post until I realized that it was Tuesday and they post on Wednesday. So I went to the library and finally got my library card and picked up six books to kick off my summer reading extravaganza! Book reviews are in the future peeps! 
I did find out that I get financial aid for the summer which is a big relief because I was wondering what I would have to do to pay for my class. I want to register for another class but the one that I want is full, drats! It's Art of the Western World and offered on-line, plus the mister took this class so we already have the book and he can help me pass it. I'm thinking of emailing the professor or just checking every day to see if someone drops it. Fingers crossed!
To continue my task of the 30 day challenge days 12 and 13 are a fictional book and a non-fiction book. Hmmm...
A fictional book that I like:

T

Saving Fish from Drowing by Amy Tan is a great story. I had never read any of Amy Tan's books before this one but she definitely has my eye now. The story is narrated by Bibi Chen an antiques dealer in San Fransisco who unexpectedly dies before a trip with friends to Bhurma. The friends go on the trip where they misunderstand most of the culture they are immersed in. The story is great and the characters  are endearing, even if they do some really dumb things throughout their journey. 


On the other side of the library a nonfiction book:

I

 I love this book! I had to read it for my Nature and Religion class this last term and it seriously changed my life. Swimme is a genius and the way he tells the universe story and how we came to be is just amazing. It also has one of my favorite quotes in it:
             "Perhaps the entire natural world is a tremendous party, a festival,    and we the long awaited champagne."

Perhaps we are...

Major FAIL!

Oh my goodness I FAIL at my blog this last week! My last class was over on Wednesday at 5:00 and my brain has been on vacation since then. I also did a lot of drinking this weekend so there was a subsequent amount of napping that went along with it. I'll quickly recap:

Thursday: Sold my books back, got way more money than I thought I would so I went and bought plants and the Sims 3 Ambitions expansion pack.

Friday: Played the Sims most of the day. You can do laundry! And be a ghost hunter! I'm a laundry-doin'-ghost bustin' machine!
     *Friday night was Happy Hour, we started at 4:30, by 9:30 the bartender was asking us (my girls and I) if we were driving. Lots of weird things happened that night. Three of us were followed by bicycle cops, a random dude came to the bar to meet my friend (she didn't like him), two drinks were spilled within 30 minutes of each other. The mister and I did go and see Simplistic at The Muse, they were good. Would have been better if I hadn't been stupid drunk, at least it was a good time. 

Saturday: Hangover brunch to watch the world cup game. Amazing food thanks to the guys of the group. Yep, we girls watched soccer and the boys made breakfast. It was pretty awesome. Of course we had to wash down all that amazing food with Mimosas. When I got home I immediately got a blanket, pillows and my iPod and took a THREE hour nap in the backyard. Very nice. Oh, and I got a free bike from my friend Matt! Bonus!

Sunday:Planted my flowers and my strawberry plant. Also started my herb garden.
Monday: Planted my tomatoes. I'll post pictures tomorrow.


So that's it! Now you're all caught up. And that tickled my fancy, day 12 of the challenge! I know, I know it should be like day 16 but it's my blog and I'll do what I want!

30 Day Challenge: Days 9,10 and 11

Geesh has it been a crazy couple of days?!?! The last official week of classes was last week, and now it's time for finals. I'm so excited to be done, but at the same time I just want it to be OVER! I have two finals tomorrow and I'm obviously doing an amazing job at studying while I update my blog. 
Before I get to the actual challenge posts I just have to share what happened last night at the bar! We went to see our friends band, JTT (Just the Tip, insert jokes here....) for their last show in Eugene until August. When we got to the bar the band that was playing was, well, interesting to say the least. The lead singer had a tiger costume on and they were playing some sort of punkish music, more like a "my friends and I are in a band" feel, not like an actual serious band feel. Anyway at some point the tiger costume came off and under that he was wearing a floor length, long sleeved, turtlenecked gold sparkle knit dress. So much better, right? Well the lead singer pointed me out in the bar and started calling me Tina Fey, which is okay by me. Besides the fact that he said it about 10 times and at one point came down into the audience and had me sing a song with him, the lyrics of which were, "life is hard, suck my dick." Yep. It's always an interesting night when you go out in Eugene. So now I have a new nickname and JTT has a new spokesperson in Tina Fey. I guess it could be worse...

Let's get this challenge started so I can go study...

Day Nine is a photo I took:

This was taken at the park behind my house, where Gypsy gets to run and play.

Day Ten was a photo of me taken over ten years ago:

 That's me and my Granny, I've shown this in a previous post. I was 4, notice the nice 1987 mullet?!?! Totally Radical!

Day Eleven is a photo of me taken recently:

 This was taken as part of a group project for my final in Nature and Religion...There are four of us in the original all in a tree.


Okay, now I must study...blerg.

30 Day Challenge: Days 7 and 8

Good morning, good morning! I couldn't post my Day 7 of the challenge yesterday because I accidentally left the power cord to my computer at school. I guess I got distracted after I got my nose pierced. Yep I re-pierced my nose at school, not myself of course! They were having a street fair and one of the piercing studios was there offering free piercings so I got a wild hair and did it between Environmental Politics and Religion. Nice day at school!
Day Seven of the challenge was a picture that makes you happy and day Eight is a picture that makes you angry. I think I'm going to switch these though and have the photo that makes me angry first, then the photo that makes me happy! You know, to end on a good note!

Here's something that should make everyone angry, or scared. It should at least make you think about the food your eating. 

Confused about what you're seeing? These are pictures of hamsters that were fed Genetically Modified soy which is currently 91% of the US soybean fields. The hamsters were fed this soy over two years and three generations. By the third generations the hamsters had hair growing inside their mouths and they were sterile. This study was done by the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and National Association of Gene Security. The actual study should be published in July of this year but you can read the article on the Institute for Responsible Research website here (READ IT!!!). Honestly I'm tired of hearing about genetically modified food being researched everywhere in the world, except for the US. Before I get to intense on this subject let's switch to something happy. 


Phew...
Have you seen any pictures of my Gypsy dog when she was a puppy??!?!? Here you go, puppy happiness:

Puppy Happiness! What did I ever do before her?
So read the article about the hamsters, then look at the adorable puppy pictures, you'll feel better.
 

30 Day Challenge: Day Six

Today's challenge is:
Whatever tickles your fancy

This morning I got up and started a post over my coffee about the epiphany I had last night about the colors I had finally decided about for my living room. I know it sounds trivial, but it's not I swear! And don't worry I'll post that one later, because what is tickling my fancy even more is my new ability to edit pictures! I finally found a program that is easy to use and I have spent the last four hours playing with pictures, it's been a pretty geeky night. 
Here's what I've been up to:

This was my first try...

 The mister and me at the beach a few weeks ago...

 My friend Colleen and I at my birthday partay...

 Me and my friend Dee at my birthday...

 The mister and I on our birthdays, sorry Alex you were cut out...

 This one may be my favorite, even though I cut myself out...

This is when I found the text option... That's me and my Grandma, I was four?

This one I took on a field trip to a burn area, this Trillium was surrounded by dead logs, it was beautiful. 

The program I found is called Picnik. It's not free, it's $4.95 a month or $24.95 per year. I tried it for $4.95 and so far it's worth it, maybe next month I'll pay for the whole year. 

Have a great night! See you tomorrow!