tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-334809262024-03-19T06:46:39.636-05:00Singing the MysteryStephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-28904241573112660242009-05-04T08:37:00.009-05:002009-05-04T09:52:58.467-05:00Food AdventuresI've been way more excited about cooking lately. Probably because I have someone to cook with and for a little more regularly now (Yay!). I've been so excited, in fact, that I've started taking pictures of our creations. And I just realized that every picture I'm going to post was made from a recipe by Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero so I figure I better link to their <a href="http://www.theppk.com/">Post Punk Kitchen</a> as a shout out before I begin. Their recipes are all vegetarian or vegan. And AMAZING. There. Homage paid. Proceeding.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafZDLZKZ5obNEzPyDNkxcVlILlMBJTmo8znLwYMcf6Hil1ICgO8FLDGwPj7aE8nxFnTwmN7EhpKtoM4Wy3A0SFRE-ZP5v4ODPP9jbIn_S4JLH7kPbxLYGCzSzBb3MS_gw_Cnr/s1600-h/Food+with+Jake+034.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafZDLZKZ5obNEzPyDNkxcVlILlMBJTmo8znLwYMcf6Hil1ICgO8FLDGwPj7aE8nxFnTwmN7EhpKtoM4Wy3A0SFRE-ZP5v4ODPP9jbIn_S4JLH7kPbxLYGCzSzBb3MS_gw_Cnr/s320/Food+with+Jake+034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331969364651329058" border="0" /></a>This is called Mac Daddy (from <a href="http://www.theppk.com/nomicon.html">Veganomicon</a>). We were eating leftovers yesterday and remarking AGAIN how suprisingly delicious this vegan mac and "cheese" is. It really is. For reals. I made the mac and Jake make the broccoli sauteed with garlic medallions and red wine. Oh! And the beverage is homemade iced tea, my aunt Jackie's recipe, which I've slightly adapted: Start with 4L water in a big pot, boil, take off heat. Add 6 orange pekoe tea bags. Steep overnight (this is an ESSENTIAL STEP). In the morning add one can of frozen lemonade or 3/4 c. Lemon juice and 1 c. sugar (or to taste).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVm2_n28WYWSNBq9NnzmJEiMZIS3WeD2TZ8zs8BTIB4QWwEw2vbpIfcZ3u1vPoRCNLpvxCF7zzZRcOjHIB08xgutJv6EdBl9ZmuYVECNNaYEoem6s8gzSSVce8-HnPzp8kMsJX/s1600-h/Food+with+Jake+032.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVm2_n28WYWSNBq9NnzmJEiMZIS3WeD2TZ8zs8BTIB4QWwEw2vbpIfcZ3u1vPoRCNLpvxCF7zzZRcOjHIB08xgutJv6EdBl9ZmuYVECNNaYEoem6s8gzSSVce8-HnPzp8kMsJX/s320/Food+with+Jake+032.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331971115596164738" border="0" /></a>This is Eggplant Peanut Soup. With chopped up peanuts and cilantro on top. That is all.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span>Here we are making green tea cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes take over the World):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX41fH3l7PtSmGevv7uder7EJq1O9n_5-bR9jSGluqfcxYI_WqEs9IVLTuMMnXpph6Co-Zxf8stiy37v4pBTPMJzv-rk7mIKYARU1ZKaAyPKJQ9N6otZmcbdSsOPJ-igSJpTU/s1600-h/Food+with+Jake+009.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX41fH3l7PtSmGevv7uder7EJq1O9n_5-bR9jSGluqfcxYI_WqEs9IVLTuMMnXpph6Co-Zxf8stiy37v4pBTPMJzv-rk7mIKYARU1ZKaAyPKJQ9N6otZmcbdSsOPJ-igSJpTU/s320/Food+with+Jake+009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331977092121015506" border="0" /></a>I am finishing off the marzipan flowers with a dot of yellow icing in the middle. Notice how Jake is keeping an eye on me. Just in case.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcvdDA7W2AGIbqnvapzCy-pFg7sz6WMUntS18nyDTUcxvIlsBP7FZJg1UuH2b3SquaMz6RK0XWeiVRTw4NMPPiDosd977yScy0G7x0sCbTmfm8_AsByt06iELTC-hS09xEtql/s1600-h/Food+with+Jake+011.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcvdDA7W2AGIbqnvapzCy-pFg7sz6WMUntS18nyDTUcxvIlsBP7FZJg1UuH2b3SquaMz6RK0XWeiVRTw4NMPPiDosd977yScy0G7x0sCbTmfm8_AsByt06iELTC-hS09xEtql/s320/Food+with+Jake+011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331977098577847218" border="0" /></a>Look! They look just like the picture!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYvVogyE64DA3CPwkSZK4-sOuC7dWak6ECUgr4qq8Zi_CKUEq-E3yamVoVOMBphsMKpW8Gp475uMnlP0MF7SUmx_hx9hGb-nJW2EvyYFf7ipKc1QSzn50yHkpEWE58guNsirC/s1600-h/Food+with+Jake+013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYvVogyE64DA3CPwkSZK4-sOuC7dWak6ECUgr4qq8Zi_CKUEq-E3yamVoVOMBphsMKpW8Gp475uMnlP0MF7SUmx_hx9hGb-nJW2EvyYFf7ipKc1QSzn50yHkpEWE58guNsirC/s320/Food+with+Jake+013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331977096511420914" border="0" /></a>We win!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUp-oIEBnRENcc0zPPNDIKtgv87f2_HtsQwlB-MqDHU9UEkmh2uCCaoCGQBOdutFRtZZ7EilD2l9Cu6fc2mjrkgIPIaUXhKV4SiV88g_JNEGROsRKxjz3Hz87hXH_FGDUd3Zaz/s1600-h/Food+with+Jake+020.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUp-oIEBnRENcc0zPPNDIKtgv87f2_HtsQwlB-MqDHU9UEkmh2uCCaoCGQBOdutFRtZZ7EilD2l9Cu6fc2mjrkgIPIaUXhKV4SiV88g_JNEGROsRKxjz3Hz87hXH_FGDUd3Zaz/s320/Food+with+Jake+020.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331980203678325042" border="0" /></a>I dress up as a green tea cupcake.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div>Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-22460067516781506692008-08-30T13:17:00.008-05:002008-08-30T14:04:22.357-05:00Reflections on September plus Some Promised PhotosI realized the other day that two years ago this September I was not happy. At all. Witness me crying into my cereal bowl most mornings. I'm not completely sure why this was happening, but I have a feeling it had to do with not feeling like I had a plan for the future. I was in some temporary jobs (too many of them, and only one of them was good...I will leave those of you who know me to figure out which one that was) and they were too grown up. Too grown up as in, I had to get up before the sun to get to them in time. But! They were also not grown up enough, what with the temporariness and the no future-ish-ness. There were really good things happening in my life, like moving out with two awesome roommates. But I seriously considered moving back home because life was really overwhelming.<br /><br /><div>Fast forward to last September: I came home from running around Europe, getting dropped off in the middle of a forest in Croatia and other such awesome things, with two of my favourite people in the world (hey roomies!), to a job that I had interviewed for on the phone in a small Italian village on a cliff by the sea. Woo! What an awesome sentence. And I was happy.<br /></div><div> </div><div>But not as happy as this year. I don't know, something is in the air, maybe, but I feel great this (gulp) almost September. I've had an amazing year doing a job that I love (mostly because of the people) and taking classes that I love. And I'm lucky enough to get to do that all again this year. And I'm posting this now so that in February, which, despite my kicking and screaming, I have been told we cannot skip, I can look back and remember how lucky I am.<br /></div><div>No more mushiness! Instead! Long promised photos of me interviewing for, and finding out that I got, my job:</div><br /><div align="center">This is the phone, on the busy main street, that I used (I'm not actually talking to anyone yet)<br /></div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240383711675995042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4zWuvzBYyG0Z1c6xmLqS8UIm2-VA_0_opGrc60d_6R-uiOiudeHkvYa42SX5jjsRVdR2e7Tagvt1vPxsGyG6wFpgzx0xd4_uU132CtN3mVd1zj3p-THkflC4dlWP_HLfm-yo/s320/2007-08-08++193++Riomaggiore+-+Steph%27s+phone+interview.JPG" border="0" /></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Here is a more different view (Andrea is taking the photo from our apartment)</div><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240383717502473042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf9sV6TGQn3A8jF7979qkuboWOUHROTEj-1r2NbL1x5tHubCnrb2At4ym4u5rOhfaI13hGBLQUvTBn88wq6bTHtcDPdXGRvAPW8owwsGQF08tXVOaeNQZnwSkZvMn7o0TPl8cN/s320/2007-08-08++197++Riomaggiore+-+Steph%27s+phone+interview.JPG" border="0" /></p><p align="center">What? You can't see me? I am right above the white tenty thing, with the green bar in between my head and my body. See:</p><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240385885176094450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjGlWY-W-gKHuklvlXnVO4nTB3AmCSdmTCZ4A04aLFdCcmsXp2lIRsi9POUYyI1t_e-OfdnQlnogI4ChxXN2bO80xX8RbTN4T1QtwuKm7EBVi8gBm4K3P48oxhVpkjIk6JDx-u/s320/2007-08-08++197++Riomaggiore+-+Steph%27s+phone+interview+(cropped).jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center">This is me in Greece, on the island of Santorini, having just found out I got the job. I am doing "victory arms." Even my hair is happy.</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240383721570084162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims1V-gKndVnlY7uYErPTU4FxaBicClCKuR3wHXkJWl_BnlR8m_XFo9JGyeL-SB48_RbZp2skvOmm0LFtyi8dBN8YQhtwOM8-_mAchtFB_TDO_sYx-ibHps6w8jZyouz-RVaig/s320/2007-08-18++011++Fira+-+Steph+happy+about+finding+out+she+got+a+job+back+home.JPG" border="0" /></p>Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-3483511537210774632008-07-18T18:16:00.002-05:002008-07-18T18:19:48.205-05:00Espresso Fueled Exclamation PointsOh Hai! I have had a lot of espresso today! Because of lack of sleep this week. And I thought, what a great time to post on my much neglected blog because: Look! I'm Zany! And incoherent!<br /><br />Wednesday was the low point of the week. Or actually, maybe the high point. It is hard to classify. I had to basically write an entire paper because I had chosen to write on Pride and Prejudice, so, of course, I had to spend the few days before this reading through the entire novel and making notes INSTEAD of writing anything. I ALSO had a Calculus assignment due. On material I had not learned yet. AND I had to work an eight hour day before I could begin any of this.<br /><br />So! It was 5:30 and I decided I would write until 6 and then have supper. Just before 6, I was nodding off, so I put my head on the arm of the chair I was sitting in, thinking: "maybe I should just jump in bed for a quick nap..." The next thing I know, it is 6:30 and I wake up to find that I CANNOT FEEL MY EAR. AT ALL. No, wait! I CANNOT FEEL THE ENTIRE LEFT SIDE OF MY FACE. Because it was smushed against the arm of the chair for 30 minutes. ALSO: I feel like crap: headache, dizziness etc. (wow, I just realized I'm making it sound like I had a stroke...no, I am fine). I went into Andrea's room to let her know about my woes and flopped down on her bed. We commiserated. She is in the middle of a crazy course and had an insane amount of work as well. Mike, who is also taking the insane course, soon joined us. I was suddenly struck by the fact that I was hungry, but also felt like crap, so I said to Mike, I said: "Mike, I require a smoothie for dinner!" Which doesn't sound funny, but to Andrea and I, in our state of insanity, it was THE FUNNIEST THING EVER. So the floodgates of mirth were opened and I don't think I stopped laughing all night, mostly because I was entirely not ok and everything seemed ridiculous. So that was fun! And I did get my smoothie, although I had to create it myself. AND I finished all my school items, and I did them well. Now, if only I can get the (even more bigger) Calculus assignment done that is due this weekend!<br /><br />I know! Assignment due on the weekend! What?Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-25492532604471096582008-03-20T17:00:00.002-05:002008-03-20T17:10:39.606-05:00Memo to WinterDear Winter,<br /><br />While it is true that many (seemingly insane) people seem to love you, what with the winter sports and all, there are also many people who do not share this love. At the risk of angering the former group, who, being insane, may try to kill me, I have to tell you, with all due respect: You have worn out your welcome. The Southern Hemisphere needs you. It is time to move along. MOVE ALONG. See, we here in the Northern Hemisphere have extended an annual invitation to Spring on the 20th of March. You never leave in time. AND you always come earlier than your standing invitation in December. Autumn and Spring might gang up and cut you, you never know. I wouldn't wait around to find out. <br /><br />In closing, please take your snow, and your cold, and your wind, and your general misery, and get out.<br /><br />With Respect, but not Love,<br /><br />Stephanie<br /><br />P.S. The robins are also here.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-90752611298091480132008-02-11T11:37:00.002-05:002008-03-20T17:00:24.954-05:00How Rude!To not post for over six months without any explanation! Honestly. Bloggers these days.<br /><br />LOTS has happened! So as to not bore you I shall provide a concise, bulleted list: <ul><br /><li>Had random adventures in France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and England.</li><br /><li>Drove in France. On crazy roundabouts.</li><br /><li>Interviewed for job in Waterloo while in small village in Italy. Will post photo of me on pay phone on street corner.</li><br /><li>Got new fabulous job (Youth Program Coordinator at WMB Church).</li><br /><li>QUIT ZEHRS JOB.</li><br /><li>Started new fabulous job.</li><br /><li>Started new fabulous English program.</li><br /><li>Went to see Feist.</li><br /><li>Went to see Hairspray.</li><br /><li>Planned many youth events.</li><br /><li>Planned a ski/snowboard retreat for 50 youth which killed/injured 0.</li><br /><li>Continued to love living with fabulous roomies.</li><br /><li>Wrote many papers.</li><br /><li>Started working at a shelter for the houseless.</li><br /><li>Got married.</li><br /><li>Just kidding.</li></ul><br /><p>One other thing that happened that I could not bring myself to put in a bulleted list is that my dog Riley died. It was five months ago now but I still have a hard time thinking about her without feeling very sad. She was a good friend. And everything still reminds me of her (right Paul?). Mom and Dad got a new puppy and she seems like she might be almost as wonderful, although she has large paws to fill. Her name is Darby. I'm sure I will post more about her later.</p><br /><p></p>Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-69895169330191116142007-07-31T04:15:00.000-05:002007-07-31T04:21:45.937-05:00Bonjour Tout le MondeBonjour from Paris! I wish I could post pictures but I don't know if I am going to be able to. <br /><br />We had a full day yesterday. The highlight of which was Notre Dame. We were there while Vespers was going on and it was beautiful.<br /><br />At supper, we sat next to this young Frenchman who was performing card tricks for our waiter. At one point, he asked the waiter to pick a card. The waiter did and showed it to us (it was the 6 of clubs) then the magician put it under Carley's wine glass, face down. He then riffled through the deck until Carley said stop. The card she stopped on was the three of spades. That card went on top of the wineglass. Then he snapped his fingers and the cards changed places. It was crazy and I can't figure out for the life of me how he did it...unless he has two three of spades cards. It was very cool.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-2788588056671393982007-07-18T08:12:00.001-05:002007-07-18T08:34:26.663-05:00Back from Mars...Just kidding.<br /><br />I have, in fact, NOT been abducted by the aliens that called me on my intercom line. I can see how you would get that impression from my last post followed by six weeks of silence. Basically in those six weeks I have been going insane, supervising registration for a youth short term mission trip to Montreal. Then I went to sign them all in and frolic around Montreal for a while. Now I am back and I am happy to say that I no longer work for MBMSI. Let's just leave it at that. :)<br /><br />Montreal is beautiful and awesome because:<br /><br />1. People speak French. And let's face it: French sounds better than English. <br />2. There are beautiful churches EVERYWHERE. With GOOD ACOUSTICS.<br />3. You can be walking around downtown, minding your own business, and come across David Usher performing in the main street (This happened! I saw David Usher! For free! And he was good! And he even sang some Moist songs! And also that one that is on the radio now, and the one with the opera sample).<br />4. There is a man there who gives away free hugs. I didn't get one, but Kerry did and it looked like a really good one.<br /><br />So, I'm off to Europe in 9 days. I'll be there for a month so my blog will probably be AWOL again. But who knows, there may be some bonus Euorpean posts!Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-59852242812140071632007-05-30T10:45:00.000-05:002007-05-30T10:53:05.121-05:00Scared and FrightenedThe internal intercom line on my phone just rang even though NO ONE ELSE IS HERE.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-58960796233308137422007-05-29T11:53:00.000-05:002007-05-29T12:01:39.018-05:00A New PostSorry for my brief hiatus, I have been running around, frolicking in the springtime, tripping over tree roots, spraining my hand, and generally being spastic.<br /><br />Things I have been thinking lately:<br /><br />1. The new Feist album is friggin' awesome.<br />2. I'm really glad that I only have 20 more days of being an admin assistant left.<br />3. I emphatically do NOT heart <a href="http://www.boundless.org">Boundless.org</a>, despite my group membership on facebook.<br />4. Only one more hour until I'm allowed to go get Starbucks.<br />5. Thinking of your favorite books/movies/etc is really hard. What if I forget an important one and people discover how uncool I am and stop liking me?Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-4382063676932746462007-05-08T19:17:00.000-05:002007-05-08T19:39:23.699-05:00You should probably wear earplugs if you plan to be in my general vicinityI'm going to try to contain myself. I'm going to try to use only one (or maybe two) exclamation points at the end of each sentence. And no ones after the exclamation points. And no all caps. Or italics. Or repeating the key words of every single sentence. Or sentence fragment.<br /><br />Oh to hell with it. <em>IT'S SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1</em><br /><em></em><br />The trees are green... GREEN! With leaves... LEAVES! And in the forest there are trilliums growing... TRILLIUMS! And the air smells like blossoms...BLOSSOMS! DID YOU HEAR ME? I SAID THE AIR <em>SMELLS LIKE BLOSSOMS!</em> Because there are BLOSSOMS on the trees! And LEAVES! And the leaves are GREEN! <br /><br />I used to think that I had S.A.D. but now I think I must be bipolar and my manic/depressive cycle only happens once per year, with the depressive happening in the winter and the manic happening in spring. Because, seriously people, I am SPAZZING OUT. And the 313 people can testify to the fact that when I realize it is spring I SCREAM. But at least I don't pretend I'm a cat. Not that anyone I know does that.<br /><br /><br /><em></em>Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-79927725625082697292007-05-03T09:38:00.000-05:002007-05-08T19:17:03.007-05:00Recipe for InsanityYou will need:<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">1 ceiling full of fluorescent</span> lights (2 or 3 would be enough).<br />1 Computer, noisy.<br />1 Computer monitor.<br />1 window out of which you can see the gorgeous blue sky and sun.<br />1 office chair.<br /><br />Place yourself in the chair directly in front of the computer monitor. Make sure you are close enough to the computer to hear the noise it emits. Look out the window periodically and yearn. The lights will do their thing on their own. Handle them as little as possible. Do not <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">over bake</span>.<br /><br />Right now I need to go counteract this recipe with some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">chai</span> and some Josh <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Radin</span>.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-86553931689053032032007-04-26T14:54:00.000-05:002007-04-26T15:08:24.102-05:00On PunctuationI walk by a sign every morning outside a financial planning place that reads:<br /><br />LIFE TOO TAXING FOR PLANS THAT WORK CALL 123-1234<br /><br />This drives me insane each and every day. This is at 8 am when I am still cranky from the people who insist on talking on the bus ("like, oh my GOD, I can't believe she did that! I was, like, totally wanting to tell her blah blah blah like blah I like this boy blah...like"). I always think to myself: Why would I want to entrust my finances to people who can't even make use of a simple question mark to MAKE THEIR BLOODY SIGN MAKE SENSE? See how easy using a question mark is? I just did it twice in a row. Unless they are trying to say that life is indeed to taxing for plans that work. Meaning that those poor hard-working plans can't possibly handle how taxing life is. That might be what they mean. Rod Burgundy?<br /><br />Another random comment on punctuation: We all understand that a string of exclamation marks conveys a certain amount of excitement in proportion to the number of exclamation marks in said string. Not that I am endorsing such strings (don't worry Amp). But the degree of excitement conveyed can be multiplied by 10 if the string is immediately followed by a 1 indicating that you were so excited while typing that you took your finger off shift too early in an attempt to get to the next word faster.<br /><br />I have to go catch the bus in the rain now and I get to walk past the questionmarkless sign!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-89148735484340280152007-04-19T13:09:00.000-05:002007-04-20T08:56:16.075-05:00Wither the Arts?A couple things have come to my attention lately that make me sad:<br /><br />1. Stephen Harper cares not a whit for the arts. (not that I'm surprised)<br />2. A world famous violinist can play some of the most beautiful music on earth on a Stradivarius (got that? Joshua Bell + Strad + Bach) and over 1 000 people will walk by and NOT EVEN NOTICE.<br /><br />These parts make me happy though:<br /><br />1. Yann Martel is challenging S. Diddy to read a recommended book every two weeks. You can read about this effort <a href="http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/index.html">here</a>.<br />2. A world famous violinist agreed to masquerade as a street musician for <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html">an experiment</a>.<br /><br />Lessons Learned:<br /><br />1. If you ever become Prime Minister please Read Stuff. And appreciate it. Or else.<br />2. If you happen to see any world famous musicians (or, frankly, ANY talented musician) playing on the street, stop and listen. It's for your own good.<br /><br />ETA: ha! I spelt "whither" wrong by accident and I was about to change it when I realized that it is kind of punny!Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-45793490134097590662007-04-09T10:39:00.000-05:002007-04-09T10:53:14.073-05:00Travelling VicariouslyThe past few days have been very busy! I just got back from Rhode Island on Saturday, and left immediately for Botswana. The Rhode Islanders were all pretty crazy. I think they must put something in the water there. Or maybe it was just the people I was staying with. Dorcas was closer to sane than the rest, but Conrad and Abigail, not to mention the DeVilbisses, definitely tipped the scales to Decidedly Insane.<br /><br />Mma Ramotswe and Mr J.L.B Matekoni are much easier to live with. I'm glad I decided to spend the rest of my Easter holiday in Botswana. It is the perfect combination of excitement (with the mysteries to solve), and slow paced relaxation. I highly recommend it! <br /><br />I think I might move on to India next...Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-14225909756203214572007-04-04T15:41:00.000-05:002007-04-04T15:51:43.661-05:00Books and Book BlogsI've been checking out book blogs lately and found one that I quickly became addicted to. It's called <a href="http://50books.blogspot.com/">50 Books</a> and you should definitely check it out. I got inspired and decided to post pictures of what I'm reading, just in case anyone cares.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-28759401503307751462007-03-30T09:17:00.000-05:002007-03-30T11:45:46.757-05:00The Soundtrack of My LifeWhile I was listening to Imogen Heap today I realized that for the second time in a month the song I was listening to described my life (well, actually, a line in the song did, the rest of the song is pretty generic). So, instead of try to figure out which one to declare the official theme song of my life, I decided to create a list of songs that make up the Soundtrack of my Life:<br /><br />1. The line "don't get yourself in situations" from <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/2147426797/Imogen_Heap/I_Am_In_Love_With_You">I Am In Love With You</a> - Imogen Heap<br /><a href="http://losnyder.blogspot.com/2007/01/dont-get-yourself-in-situations.html">Lolo also understands this</a>. :)<br /><br />2. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/1373395083/Dixie_Chicks/Taking_The_Long_Way_Around">Taking the Long Way Around</a> - Dixie Chicks<br />This one is pretty obvious...I can't figure out what is supposed to occur in my life, so I avoid committing to a profession, or to a relationship (although I feel as though I WOULD possibly commit to a relationship if a suitable one presented itself). And the particularities of the song do not correspond to my life, but I <em>wish</em> I was travelling around in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling, possibly one that flew, so I could travel to more places.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/1730278765/Keane/Is_It_Any_Wonder?">Is it Any Wonder?</a> - Keane<br />One of the best lyrics on love I've ever heard: "...love is just a lyric in a children's rhyme." Yes, I'm bitter about love. Who isn't, really? P.S. to my Smug Married friends (<em>especially</em> those of you who didn't date anyone but your spouses, you just won't understand, and that's ok): that was a RHETORICAL QUESTION. Please don't try to contradict me. I know you're blissful, how nice for you. Really, I do think it is nice, I love all of you. But. Don't. Contradict.<br /><br />4. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/10336/Six_Pence_None_The_Richer/Easy_To_Ignore">Easy to Ignore</a> - Sixpence None the Richer<br />While we are on the cynical-about-love kick, I thought I would throw this in. I will stop whining now, I promise.*<br /><br />5. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/good-love-is-on-the-way-lyrics-john-mayer.html">Good Love is on the Way</a> - John Mayer<br />See? I really am optimistic!<br /><br />6. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/28008/John_Mayer/Why_Georgia">Why Georgia</a> - John Mayer<br />He is so wise, especially for someone who also wrote "You're Body is a Wonderland." Which, music wise, I actually like. I really can't bring myself to like lyrics that include the line "bubble gum tongue" though. I'm sorry. I just can't<br /><br />7. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/186464/Peter_Gabriel/More_Than_This">More Than This </a>- Peter Gabriel<br />Peter (yes, we are on a first name basis. I did listen to him in the womb after all) does such a great job of both summing up life and making you go "huh"? If you think you understand what his lyrics mean, you are probably wrong. Which is similar to how I feel about my life. This song blows my mind...<br /><br />8. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/186478/Peter_Gabriel/Signal_to_Noise">Signal to Noise</a> - Peter Gabriel featuring Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan<br />...but this one does even more. Plus the vocals are insano. And what describes me more than insano vocals? I just don't know.<br /><br />9. <a href="http://www.sarahmasen.com/albums/dreamlifeofangels/tracks/She+Stumbles+Through+The+Door">She Stumbles Through the Door</a> - Sarah Masen<br />This describes perfectly how I feel about my faith right now. Some key lines: "on the pages of a memo were picturesque cliches she once called Providence" and "were the angels fighting demons in the corner of the room or was it happenstance?"<br /><br />10. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/57600/Sloan/Take_The_Bench">Take the Bench</a> - Sloan<br />"Take the bench, little girl, and sing your little heart out."<br />Ok, I will.<br /><br />11. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/2147431934/Keane/Crystal_Ball">Crystal Ball</a> - Keane<br />Same ol' "I don't know what is happening" theme. This is pretty much how I feel at all times.<br /><br />12. <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/2147419796/Coldplay/Square_One">Square One</a> - Coldplay<br />I DO just want somebody listening to what I say. THANK YOU Chris Martin of Coldplay.<br /><br /><br />*Except to say that I wish "Paperweight" by Josh Radin and Schuyler Fisk was on this list. But alas, it is not. I am really done now, the rest of the list is not whiny at all. Except the YBIAW part, but John can take it.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-6919754629077944532007-03-13T08:58:00.000-05:002007-03-13T09:11:47.878-05:00And Also: Adventures in LifeYesterday I discovered as I was driving to work that I was an hour late. I had changed all the clocks except for the one on my phone, which is serving as my alarm clock while I am with the animales. So, as soon as I got to work I changed my phone. Done. Problem solved. My boss was not in and I finished all the work I was supposed to so no harm done. Later I told the story to a friend of mine. He was surprised my phone hadn't updated itself. he asked if it had an Auto Update feature. I checked. It did. So I turned it on, to avoid this problem in the future.<br /><br />Today I discovered upon waking that I was an hour late again. I looked at my phone and it had Auto Updated to the old time, probably because they moved DST this year. BAH! So I decided to skip breakfast and got ready super-fast. On the way to work, I decided to get a coffee. Normally I would go to Starbucks, but Tim Horton's was on the way, so I went and ordered a coffee and breakfast, only to discover that I HAVE NO CASH. I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE GONE TO STARBUCKS! So I went in the opposite direction that I should have been going to get to work, and I went to Starbucks and got my coffee. When I got back into the car the <a href="http://www.dixiechicks.com/06_longway.asp">Dixie Chicks</a> were singing "Taking the Long Way". And I realized that, not only did this song pertain to my morning, but it also describes my life. And that actually made me happy. Now I need to go drink my coffee.<br /><br />THE ENDStephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-40501368630612979502007-03-13T08:50:00.000-05:002007-03-13T08:58:03.928-05:00Adventures in House Sitting, Part 2Oh animales, how I love thee, let me count the ways:<br />2: Escape attempts, caused by<br />1: Very large, evil cat, that almost killed the dog (this is not the cat I'm looking after, she is nice, this one was the spawn of the devil).<br />23 hours per day: The amount of time the cat spends purring. Yes this includes when it is right next to my ear at night<br />0: The number of times the dog has to pee when I am at work for eight hours<br />1 or 2: The number of times the dog has to pee at night when I am sleeping for eight hours.<br />0.03: The number of milliseconds it took the cat to jump out of the tub when I turned the shower on.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-90084750488717999802007-03-09T09:32:00.000-05:002007-03-09T09:48:13.214-05:00You Too Can Be Happy For Just $10 000 per Year!I read an <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/03/reversal_of_fortune.html">interesting article</a> yesterday. It is basically about happiness and what we need in order to be happy. Especially interesting (although not surprising) is the fact that although the GNP has been consistently on the rise for the last while, the level of satisfaction people claim to have has stayed basically the same. What I was surprised by is the "magic number" of 10 000. This magic number is the amount of dollars per person per year that it takes to be happy. People who make more than $10 000/person/year (so a family of four would need $40 000) are not happier than those who make only $10 000. That number seemed very low to me...I bet most of the people reading this make more than that (it doesn't count if you are in school!). Also worth checking out is the part about sustainable agriculture...there were some surprising numbers there too.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-58781044634563589462007-03-05T09:14:00.000-05:002007-03-05T09:25:21.972-05:00Adventures in House Sitting, Part 1I am currently house sitting for my boss, who is away in Florida. Where it is warm. And not freezing. Or full of snow...but I digress.<br /><br />The house that I am sitting contains one dog and one cat. We all know how I feel about dogs so I won't gush too much, but the dog is awesome. Not as awesome or as insano as my dog. But awesome nonetheless. The cat is CRAZY. In a good way. She enjoys:<br /><ul><li>sleeping in my laundry.</li><li>drinking from any source of water that is NOT her own water dish.</li><li>batting at the drapes...which she must do RIGHT NOW so she must run across the house and take a flying leap at them.</li><li>purring/licking my face/attacking my feet (which aren't even <span style="font-style: italic;">moving</span>!) whilst I am trying to sleep.</li><li>licking the drops of milk out of my cereal bowl while I am distracted by the dog.</li><li>trying to attack the dog by employing the full body, limbs akimbo, giant ferocious leap but being foiled by (ie <span style="font-style: italic;">bouncing</span> off) the arm of the couch.</li></ul>Needless to say, it has been great fun so far!Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-74028806766060619992007-03-01T10:34:00.000-05:002007-03-01T10:38:23.248-05:00Evangelism Is My Favourite!Sometimes I just can't believe what lengths people go to for the sake of evangelism. But I am extremely grateful that God has a "<a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/blogs/godspolitics/2007/02/becky-garrison-bathroom-humor.html">wonderful, lead-free plan for [my] life</a>." Because, really, who doesn't love a good lead-free plan?Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-36549387159035508182007-02-20T14:13:00.000-05:002007-02-21T08:55:30.555-05:00Time Wasting with BooksVia <a href="http://paulmoffett.blogspot.com/2007/02/time-wasty.html">Paul</a><br /><br />"It works like this: The bolded books are books I've read (and even enjoyed) [but not necessarily] ... italicized books I would like to read, books with crosses are on my shelf and asterisked books I've never heard of. The books that are striked out I am unlikely ever to read. The books listed here that haven't felt the touch of my cursor and remain unedited I could care less or more about on any given day.I imagine the books on this list were selected for their best-seller status or something like that."<br /><br />1. <strong>The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) -</strong>shh, I know it isn't good, but it's a page turner!<br />2. †<strong>Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)</strong><br />3. †<strong>To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)</strong><br />4. <strong>Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)</strong><br />5. †<strong>The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)</strong><br />6. †<strong>The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)</strong><br />7. †<strong>The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)</strong><br />8. <strong>Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)</strong><br />9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)<br />10. <strong>A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)</strong><br />11. <strong>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)</strong><br />12. <strong>Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) </strong><br />13. †<strong>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)</strong><br />14. <em>A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)</em><br />15. <em>Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)</em><br />16. †<strong>Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)</strong><br />17. <em>Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)</em><br />18. The Stand (Stephen King)<br />19. <strong>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)</strong><br />20. <strong>Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)</strong><br />21. <strong>The Hobbit (Tolkien)</strong><br />22. <strong>The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)</strong> - *shudder*<br />23. †<strong>Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)</strong><br />24. <strong>The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)</strong><br />25. †<strong>Life of Pi (Yann Martel)</strong><br />26. <strong>The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)</strong><br />27. †<strong>Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)</strong><br />28. †<strong>The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)</strong><br />29. <em>East of Eden (John Steinbeck)</em><br />30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)<br />31. <strong>Dune (Frank Herbert)</strong><br />32. <del>The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)</del><br />33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)<br />34. <strong>1984 (Orwell)</strong><br />35. <strong>The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)</strong><br />36. *The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)<br />37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)<br />38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)<br />39. <strong>The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)</strong><br />40. <em>The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)</em><br />41. <strong>The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)</strong><br />42. <strong>The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)</strong><br />43. <strong>Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)</strong><br />44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)<br />45. †<strong>Bible</strong><br />46. †Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)<br />47. <em>The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)</em><br />48. †<strong>Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)</strong><br />49. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)</span><br />50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)<br />51. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)</span><br />52. <span style="font-weight: bold;">A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)</span><br />53. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)</span><br />54. †<strong></strong><span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Expectations (Dickens)<br /></span>55. †<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)</span><br />56. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)</span><br />57. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)</span><br />58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)<br />59. †<strong></strong><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)</span><br />60. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)</span><br />61. †<span style="font-weight: bold;">Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)</span><br />62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)<br />63. †<strong></strong><span style="font-style: italic;">War and Peace (Tolstoy)</span><br />64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)<br />65. <span style="font-style: italic;">Fifth Business (Robertson Davies) </span><br />66. <span style="font-style: italic;">One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)</span><br />67. <del>The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)</del><br />68. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) - </span>Currently in progress!<br />69. <span style="font-style: italic;">Les Miserables (Hugo) </span><br />70. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) </span><br />71. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)</span><br />72. <span style="font-style: italic;">Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)</span><br />73. *Shogun (James Clavell)<br />74. <del>The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)</del> (see #91)<br />75. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)</span><br />76. †<strong></strong><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)</span><br />77. <span style="font-style: italic;">A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)</span><br />78. <span style="font-style: italic;">The World According To Garp (John Irving)</span><br />79. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)</span><br />80. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)</span><br />81. <span style="font-style: italic;">Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)</span><br />82. <span style="font-style: italic;">Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)</span><br />83. <span style="font-style: italic;">Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)</span><br />84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)<br />85. †<span style="font-weight: bold;">Emma (Jane Austen)</span><br />86. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Watership Down (Richard Adams<br /></span>87. †<strong></strong><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)</span><br />88. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)</span><br />89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)<br />90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)<br />91. <span style="font-weight: bold;">In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje) </span>- I wish I hadn't read this!<br />92. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lord of the Flies (Golding)</span><br />93. *The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)<br />94. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)</span><br />95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)<br />96. *The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)<br />97. <span style="font-style: italic;">White Oleander (Janet Fitch)</span><br />98. *A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)<br />99. *The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)<br />100. <span style="font-style: italic;">Ulysses (James Joyce)</span>Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-21049722504343424622007-02-15T20:56:00.000-05:002008-12-11T23:00:06.978-05:00Sickness and CD coversI am sick at all times. It's le Poo.<br /><br /><br /><div><div><div>On a happier note, I feel as though I should make a CD because my cousin Jaime just sent me CD cover worthy pictures...which are pretty rare considering I'm not very photogenic. I have my yearbook photos to prove that. </div><div></div><div>We are playing scrabble, it is the summer....yahoo summer.<br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1bruJ-TjI-T3Uq7E9nuyidlLtuucGdfB0MEBsPuyFo6AYPo9PWAZHTi5bGgPbC7903W2h4f2XMd7t4LfLS5KD6Z6l1XFn0OCvITdZnWpwYd3YrX6OHVgIuJF9qV3OGzSUeDA/s1600-h/vasana+pics+008.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5031947503955362946" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" height="199" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1bruJ-TjI-T3Uq7E9nuyidlLtuucGdfB0MEBsPuyFo6AYPo9PWAZHTi5bGgPbC7903W2h4f2XMd7t4LfLS5KD6Z6l1XFn0OCvITdZnWpwYd3YrX6OHVgIuJF9qV3OGzSUeDA/s320/vasana+pics+008.jpg" width="148" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyLHq7DvGOdpO-729LlQW_T4JkFBIny8xsygaX5udb7TyyVhcanYcMNODtYdRUnMV9lZjor_X4LrMYqF6EImo8WiwAjAfprCBhx3buG6IN-zhjvB28jcEw4KWKsdmJ7gjEgYf/s1600-h/vasana+pics+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5031948040826274962" style="CURSOR: hand" height="197" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyLHq7DvGOdpO-729LlQW_T4JkFBIny8xsygaX5udb7TyyVhcanYcMNODtYdRUnMV9lZjor_X4LrMYqF6EImo8WiwAjAfprCBhx3buG6IN-zhjvB28jcEw4KWKsdmJ7gjEgYf/s320/vasana+pics+002.jpg" width="243" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInSFBm0s6qcNqjD9e_4sG7qAuS1XK2fPk3udhBUMPIhaTNZG9dQFF1FsJ7zg_ICUPSTSWdZAIntcHeHg1q4KfTk5a3Hl5vgiwcH7kIess-P3-H1TXDqX568_p50TKYZewLjoV/s1600-h/vasana+pics+021.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5031948444553200802" style="WIDTH: 323px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 229px" height="122" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInSFBm0s6qcNqjD9e_4sG7qAuS1XK2fPk3udhBUMPIhaTNZG9dQFF1FsJ7zg_ICUPSTSWdZAIntcHeHg1q4KfTk5a3Hl5vgiwcH7kIess-P3-H1TXDqX568_p50TKYZewLjoV/s320/vasana+pics+021.jpg" width="191" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></div></div>Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-14521845132517407982007-02-06T09:31:00.000-05:002007-02-06T09:41:11.080-05:00Library ThingMy friend Emily, who works at the Waterloo Public Library (and is awesome, as is my other librarian friend <a href="http://janmoffett.blogspot.com/">Jan</a>), told me about the <a href="http://www.librarything.com/">coolest website ever</a>. You can catalog all your books and create your library online. It is geeky, it is pretty, it is great. For a sample of the greatness and prettiness, see the new addition to my sidebar.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33480926.post-14420001408384508772007-01-25T11:28:00.000-05:002007-01-25T11:41:35.800-05:00Joy Cometh in the MorningOr so they say. "They" being, in this case, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2030:5;&version=9;">Psalm 30</a>, and various songs based thereupon.<br /><br />I am not a morning person. For me, joy <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">cometh</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">not</span> in the morning. Sadness, irritability, anger and other such emotions unrelated to joy <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">cometh</span> in the morning. The ability to Commune With Other Human Beings <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">cometh</span> at around 9am. Joy <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">cometh</span>, at the earliest, 1pm. Unless it is a Saturday, the only day when joy <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">cometh</span> in the morning, when I realize I do not need to get up just yet.<br /><br />There is, however, one hint of joy in most of my mornings. When I walk past a tire store on my way to work in the morning, I am greeted by a large Chow Chow and a small Chow Chow who are tied outside. Occasionally, if he is untied at the moment, the small one will try to accompany me to work. He is my friend. He is <a href="http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/chowchow.htm">puffy</a>. Funny puffy dog=joy.Stephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09913053614181895706noreply@blogger.com8