The Perfect Quiz

I thought I found the perfect quiz for me: "What Book Are You?" I thought that I'd be some cool book, which I was both times. (I took it twice because I didn't really have a yes or no answer for one of the questions and wasn't really satisfied with the first result.) The problem is that the descriptions of me as those books suck! It's actually quite disturbing to be told by an online quiz to stay away from children... (Not that I think that online quizzes tell the Truth about me, but they're usually fun and at least a little complimentary.)

Here they are (in order of my quiz taking). You decide.

You're One Hundred Years of Solitude!

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Lonely and struggling, you've been around for a very long time. Conflict has filled most of your life and torn apart nearly everyone you know. Yet there is something majestic and even epic about your presence in the world. You love life all the more for having seen its decimation. After all, it takes a village.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

AND

You're Lolita!

by Vladimir Nabokov

Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real.
Please stay away from children.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Summer Travels

I was going to write about how rainy and cold it is here and how irritated I am at a student's father, but I won't (at least not in any detail).

So I'll write about my plans for summer travels instead. So far, Ian and I have several trips planned:

1) Boston in June--I get to go to Boston for a conference and a little bit of work, but since they're paying for my trip and I'm going anyways, Ian will come with me! We'll get to spend an entire weekend and then a couple of evenings exploring a city that I've never been to, but considered moving to after college.

2) Chicago in June (maybe)--Ian is going to a Holocaust Educator's class/conference/thing at Northwestern for 2 weeks, and if I can swing it, I'm going to try to go up for the weekend in the middle. (So Sara, if you read this, let's try to have lunch!)

3) Berlin/Poland in July--Ian got a grant from the school to go to Berlin and Poland to plan for a class he'd like to teach and to study Holocaust memorials. Which means that all we have to do is pay for my flight, some lodging, and food. I've never been to either place, so I'm very excited. The perks of being married to a foreign language/literature professor...

I think maybe another short trip or two may be in the works...I'd like to get back to NC to visit old friends. Now I just need to find a job that will pay me to travel at my leisure...

Sad News...

It turns out that Carolina's basketball team is going to be pretty thin next year. On Friday, Sean May, Raymond Felton, and Marvin Williams all announced their decisions to have their names put in the draft. This is in addition to Rashad McCants leaving too. And we've lost Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel, and Melvin Scott to graduation. We're going to be lucky to have enough players to even make a team! Although I'm glad that the younger ones will have the chance to fulfill their dreams, what about us??? The fans are surely going to miss all of them playing together, especially after so many bad seasons and then winning the National Championship this year! I guess I was under the illusion that they'd be around forever and they'd just get better and better every year.

I guess we'll see who the real fans are next year...

Grrr...

Maybe I'd actually be able to make things look right if I hadn't taught myself my meager HTML coding. Now the table below looks like crap, but at least you can read the content! So, in the spirit of relaxing on this Friday evening, I'll leave it with its multi-colored look for now. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Update: Well, I got the blue text to go away, but now the pretty blue background is gone. It's not as pretty as it was to begin with, but at least it's not ugly.

New Name II

Okay, so you can't read many of my alternative names below. I'm leaving it up because I'm hoping that some day I'll learn enough HTML coding to fix it. Another new thing for me to do today...

New Names

Since I was complaining that I wanted change and something new, I've decided to do something about it. You're welcome to call me any one of my new names, although my favorites are my fly girl name, my barfly name, and my star wars name (and I absolutely love my band name!):

Mindy's Aliases

Your movie star name: Chips Larry

Your fashion designer name is Melinda Paris

Your socialite name is Mindy Valencia

Your fly girl name is M Wil

Your detective name is Frog Apple Valley

Your barfly name is Cheese Cider

Your soap opera name is Anne Marmoset

Your rock star name is Chewy Sweettarts Train

Your star wars name is Meljas Wilian

Your punk rock band name is The Calm Paperclip

The Amazing Meganame Generator

A New Day

Every spring I am ready to quit my job, move to a new place or town, buy new clothes--just do something new at all. I'm feeling that this week. I know this desire for change is coming when I start prowling the house looking for things to do (and sometimes end up cleaning!). I just feel like I need to get out, experience the new day. I've been trying to do things around the house to help ease this since there's nowhere to go at the moment. Yesterday I babysat for a friend, planted my new flowers, and tried a new recipe (which turned out really bad--I tried to cook kale for the first time).

During the winter, I'm content to sit my butt in front of the TV and veg, but with the beautiful spring weather, I want to be outside, do something new. I went hiking with some friends last weekend, and that eased some of it, but what I really want this time of year is to be hiking all of the time. If only retirement came first in life! :-)

Stealing

I have to admit it--last year I accidently stole a wrought iron plant hanger from Lowe's hardware store. I wanted one, and there were several display boxes on the shelf, many with only one hanger in each one. So, figuring that the box was attached to the hanger, I grabbed the entire box. I paid for the one I grabbed, but when I got home, there were actually two hangers in the box! It turns out that the box was really a display case with several inside each one! It wasn't apparent to me and it obviously wasn't apparent to the cashier who only charged me for one.

I never got around to returning the second one. (I know, I'm bad.) So I decided to use it this year. Yesterday I went to Lowe's again (because now I feel like I need to spend more money there because of my guilt-ridden conscience), and I bought a new hanging planter box and lots of flowers! Woohoo! I love spring! Last year I tried to grow flowers from seeds, but our stairway is in the shade much of the day, so no flowers bloomed. I'm hoping that by buying plants this year, I'll get more flowers. I bought some pansies, some dahlias, some marguerite daisies and some other plants that had no name on them, but are a pretty bright red and yellow. I think I may have bought too many for the planter, but I don't mind...I'll just find another spot for them.

I never really thought much of flowers as a kid (but that could be due to the fact that I grew up in the desert). But they add so much color and happiness to a yard and to a room. So today I'll plant my new little friends. **

**When I was in middle school, my best friend, Julia, and I did an experiment for our science classes to see if plants have feelings. Julia got to be nice to her plants, and I yelled at my plants. Hers turned into almost full-grown radishes. Mine were wilty and puny. Our conclusion was that there was some kind of reaction to our emotional treatment of them. And I just read the other day (I think in Real Simple) that talking to plants really does help them to grow because you emit carbon dioxide when speaking to them. In any case, I like to think of them as my little friends (especially pansies, with their wise little faces).

Blogging Doldrums

Since I've returned from California, I haven't been in the mood to blog. It makes me sad, but I just haven't had anything to say. It worries me...maybe my stint as a blogger is over. My creative (or not-so-creative) juices may have dried up. Nothing seems worth writing about any more...

Or it could just be that I've been insanely busy since I've returned to good ol' Kantuck. In fact, as I write, I'm toggling between this screen and another that's loading (for my job). Maybe when things slow down, my mind will wander again...

Oops! The other window is open...

Ode to Ericka

"Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick." --Gwyneth Paltrow

California, Here I Come

I will be leaving for California for 10 days today--a work trip combined with a little bit o' fun. I get to go to a conference being held in Anaheim and I'll do a little scouting for work in the L.A. area for the rest of next week, but I'll get to hang out with family and friends on the two weekends I'll be there. Woohoo! I'm very excited to be able to go to Danique's bridal shower since I probably won't be able to make her wedding. And I'll get to celebrate my birthday again next week with my parents.

So, who knows how long it will be before I get to blog again. Hopefully, I'll return inspired to write!