Picture That Makes Me Happy

Jason and me playing in the leaf pile during my favorite season. Good times, Good memories.

20 Favorite Things

1. Favorite Disney Movie- Beauty and the Beast. Hands Down. Funny enough though my favorite song is from the Broadway show.



2. Pastime- reading. This was not always so. When I was about 12-13 I found the book that took me away from my problems and took me to another world for awhile. I discovered how to travel without spending hundreds of dollars, how to become other people without becoming insane. It was my new love.
3. Yellow butter cake with chocolate frosting. This is my go to cake. I love this cake. When I was little my mom says I always used to get white cake with white frosting (uck), but now I love the rich goodness of butter yellow cake topped with thick chocolate frosting. Mmmmm.
4. My grandparents. They are some of the most giving, understanding, generous, loving people I have ever met, and I am not saying that cause I am their favorite;) They have taught all of their children who have tried to teach all of their children to give of themselves, to always lend a helping hand, and that it is better to give than to receive. They are some of the most amazing people I have the privilege to know, and be loved by.
5. Favorite things- Books! Old, new, borrowed (from a known source such as a friend, libraries gross me out), blue! I love books
6. Animal- Dogs. Favorite particular dog would be my God-dog Kirby Jo. Favorite farm animal is goats.
7. Favorite place I have ever been- Colorado. Up in the mountains, where it is gorgeous and things are so green, and there is still snow in the mountains, yet even when walking around on the snow you can do it in short sleeves in may. Then in town it is warm weather, no snow and life is so laid back compared to Minnesota.
8. Favorite Holiday- It used to be Christmas but I now have to say Easter as I get older I appreciate Easter more and the hubub of Christmas less.
9. place to eat out. I lovelovelove Fogo de chao, but i get crazy cravings for breakfast food from the pancake house.
10. Favorite place I have ever lived would be Cloquet. I didn't want to move there. I threw a huge fit when we did. I was tired of always moving, plus we had to get rid of my dogs (one of which I had had for about 6-7 years. Half my life at this point!). However, once we got there and I had approx. 38-45 anxiety attacks in and around the nurses and the councilor's office I made many good friends and was equally upset when we had to move again 5 years later right before my senior year.
11. Favorite season -Fall! break out the scarves, the mittens, the sweaters, the jeans. I love the changing colors of the trees, the colder weather, the clothes I get to break out, without having to cover up with a bulky jacket, and the holidays of Halloween and thanksgiving.
12. event- The State Fair- In all my remembered years i have never missed attending the state fair. I love just going, walking around, eating the fatty foods, deep fried foods, on-a-stick foods, looking in all the booths, window shopping through the fair, and usually making myself sick on sweet Martha's cookies and all you can drink milk.
13. Favorite Hockey player- Word on the street says that I have several pieces of expensive clothing that would lead one to believe that it is one Backstrom of the MN Wild based on the fact that his last name is written on said pieces of clothing.
14. Favorite comfort food- Mashed Potatoes, gravy,biscuits, and something with chocolate and sugar in it that is not french silk pie.
15. Favorite type of car. I would love to own a Dodge Charger an early 60's or a 70's. I like the modern ones too but the older ones look sweet.
16. Favorite Video game- Mario cart. But i do miss playing sonic the hedgehog on sega. I saw they have a new game for sonic on ds. I might have to invest:)
17. Favorite mode of transportation- riding in a car when someone else is driving. I don't really care for driving, and somethings are to close to fly to.
18.Favorite Job I have ever had would be working at Michaels because more often than not we just goofed off or stood around talking, even with management.
19. Favorite artist- waterhouse
20. Favorite classic novel- Wuthering Heights by Bronte

They think they're so smart and we are so stupid

Have you read more than six of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only six of the 100 books listed here.

Instructions:
• Bold those books you've read in their entirety.
• Italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read only an excerpt.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Well I have read 10 on the list, which really means I have read16 books on the list as they list the harry potter series as one while it is 7 books. Then there were 15 books that I had either started to read and put down or have read excerpts from. I didn't count books that I simply knew the storyline from, because that was over 3/4 of the list and felt like cheating...just a bit.

Favorite Quotes

"As I examine my life through this book, I can't help but wonder if my mother was right. Maybe I really was what I ate. And maybe if she'd let me eat a little more sugar, I'd have come out sweeter."
— Jen Lancaster (Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomanical, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase)

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.
—Erica Jong

He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
-Winston Churchill

Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand.
Origin: Native American

The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe others.
-German Proverb

Don't wish me happiness-I don't expect to be happy. It's gotten beyond that somehow. Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor-I will nee them all.
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Books may be the only true magic.
-Alice Hoffman

Leave A Message...

I will be out of town as of 9 am Thursday morning. I am going to Duluth for the weekend!

Favorite Book(s).

I have four.

Number the Stars.
Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.

Rebecca-

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

So begins the classic Rebecca, the unsurpassed modern masterpiece of romantic suspense — one of the bestselling novels of all time! And so begins the remembrances of the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter, as she recalls the events that led her to the isolated gray stone manse on the windswept Cornish coast.

With a husband she barely knew, the young bride arrived at this immense estate, only to be inexorably drawn into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter, the beautiful Rebecca — dead, but never forgotten; her suite of rooms never touched; her clothes still ready to be worn; and her servant, the sinister Mrs. Danvers, still royal.

And as an eerie presentiment of evil tightened around her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter began her search for the real fate of Rebecca — and for the secrets of Manderley.

Wuthering Heights-

Set amid the wild and stormy Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights, an unpolished and devastating epic of childhood playmates who grow into soul mates, is widely regarded as the most original tale of thwarted desire and heartbreak in the English language.
Sunday Times (London)

The Shadow of the Wind-

In the postwar calm of 1945 Barcelona, ten-year-old Daniel Sempere awakes from a nightmare and, to his horror, realizes that he can no longer remember the face of his deceased mother. In an effort to divert his son's attention from this sharply felt fear and loss, his father, a rare-book dealer, first swears Daniel to secrecy, then takes him to a clandestine library where Daniel is allowed to select a single book.

Entranced, Daniel picks a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, written by the enigmatic Julián Carax, who is rumored to have fled Spain under murky circumstances, and later died. As Daniel begins to search for other works by his favorite new author, he discovers that they have all been destroyed -- torched by a mysterious stranger obsessed with obliterating Carax's literary legacy from the face of the earth.

Though Daniel's copy of Carax's novel is the last in existence, he's unwilling to part with it at any price and dedicates himself to revealing the truth about Carax. Aided in his quest by the good-humored Fermín Romero de Torres, a former beggar whose "difficult life-lessons" enable him to keep a step ahead of trouble, Daniel begins to uncover a tale of murder, madness, and secrets that might best be forgotten. And as he wends his way through Barcelona society, both high and low, he comes to realize that his own part in The Shadow of the Wind is more than that of a mere reader.

Another Favorite!?

Favorite TV show(s).
I actually don't watch a whole lot of tv. Compared to what I used to at least. Now I can easily say my favorite Tv shows are:

The Big Bang Theory. "Bazinga"
Bones
and Leverage

The TV show that I REALLY REALLY like are:
Eureka
Psych
Doctor Who
LOST
and...I think that is all of them...

The top two are the only ones I actually watch when they are on tv and this season they have put them on at THE SAME TIME!!!
The rest of them I will just catch every once and a while or catch up with them on dvd or online. Oh and I will watch Glee online too.

Favorite Movie.

This really depends on how you define favorite.

The most watched-

The Princess Bride. Hands down. I can recite parts of from memory which is extreamly rare for me, but this was when i was younger.

Watched in the theater the most-

Pirates of the Caribbean:The Curse of the Black Pearl

Watched at home the most NOW-

Lord of the Rings-
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
and The Return of the King
Amazing.

The Countdown Begins with Favorite Song.

I got no idea. When I read dawn's post I had to agree, I didn't really have just one either. I do have some that hold a special place though.


I love the sound of Tracy Chapman's voice and the mellow sound of this song. No matter what mood i am in I can play this song.


To me this is an oldie but a goodie. This resonates back to riding in the car with my dad and listening to his radio stations. It harkens back to the feelings of sitting in the backseat of his chevy nova in the summer time and just hanging out.


This was the first song that I ever learned to sing! I used to walk around the house when I was little singing the chorus of this song.


I love the message behind this song, it has become one of my favorites to listen to in the last few years. I heart 3 doors down. They have some great fast on slower songs.

The 30 Day Blog. In 30 Days or More.

Day 1- your favorite song
Day 2- your favorite movie
Day 3- your favorite television program
Day 4- your favorite book
Day 5- your favorite quote
Day 6- 20 of my favorite things
Day 7- a photo that makes you happy
Day 8- a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 9- a photo you took
Day 10- a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
Day 11-a photo of you recently
Day 12- something you are OCD about
Day 13- a fictional book
Day 14- a non-fictional book
Day 15- your dream house
Day 16- a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17- an art piece (drawing, painting, sculpture)
Day 18- my wedding/ future wedding
Day 19- a talent of yours
Day 20- a hobby of yours
Day 21- a recipe
Day 22- a website
Day 23- a youtube video
Day 24- where i live
Day 25- your day in great detail
Day 26- your week in great detail
Day 27- my worst habit
Day 28- what's in my handbag/purse
Day 29-hopes, dreams, and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30- a dream for the future.

Yeah, so I stole this from dawn, so what.

Autumn

Autumn is my favorite time of year. If winter didn't have freezing temps, horrible weather conditions and was basically more like fall; I would like winter a whole lot more too, but it is fall that i look forward to every year.

I love the leaves changing, the colder weather, outdoor activities, such as apple picking, and hiking. The cool nights that bring nice sleeping temps, sunny crisp days that make you want to be outdoors to enjoy the few perfect days our state offers.

Some things I would like to do this fall is:

-to go on a long drive when the trees start to change color, just to drive around for the day on back roads around the St. Croix river exploring and looking at all the different colors.

-Go apple picking a couple of times before the season is over. I love apples from the orchard. They are so much better than from the store. Plus they have the nice gooey apple cinnamon bread at the orchard too.

-Get to the zoo after the leaves change colors.

-Go to the Autumn Festival Craft show at Canterbury Park Nov. 11-14. This is a huge! Craft show that literally takes all day to attend. I go every year.

-Attend the Chocolate: The Exhibit at the Mn Historical Museum on Oct 2. Mmmmm. Exhibit includes chocolate history back to Mayan and Aztec times through today.

That's all I can think of so far, but I know my list will grow.

I Gots One!

So back in 2009 I wrote this post about how I really wanted a Nook, the new e reader from Barnes and Noble. Well I didn't know how I was ever going to afford one. At that time they were 259$. Then they dropped in price to 199$ and came out with a new Wi-Fi version for only 149$. This seemed more manageable... I could do this. I could save that much...maybe. Well one day it got to be too much. I just needed one. So, with some money I had saved, and some money I got from selling some movies and books to a used book store in my area (this almost cut the cost of my Nook in half) I was able to get one!

I love it! Reading on it is so smooth, I can carry so many books, buy books whenever I want to. If I suddenly think about a book I want I just buy it, or add it to my ewish list. I can't tell you the many times I was driving home late from school and I knew that the store was closed and I would want to stop and pick up a book, and now I don't have to!!!

I pre-ordered a book, and the morning it was released i got up and it was right there on my Nook, no getting up, getting dressed and trudging down to the bookstore to buy a copy. I feel treasonous as I write this, as I am a bookseller, but the convenience just cant be beat! Plus, my new cover makes it uber cute!*

*(cover shown above is my new cover)

Here I Go Again.

After a year off, I have returned to school. I have figured it out and if I take my regular 2 classes a semester I will graduate at the end of next fall's semester. It doesn't seem like it can come fast enough, but at the same time it seems like this part of my life (schooling) shouldn't really be done yet. I know right...YET! i have only been getting a four year degree for the last 7 years of my life, how long do I think I can make this last? However, this has become all I know now, and I have always hated change to my life.

This semester I am taking Shakespeare, and The Publishing and Commerce of Books, Yesterday and Today. The second on is online and I took it as my last elective, and so I wouldn't have to drive to the campus this semester:)

I am excited about my Shakespeare class, on the surface it looks pretty easy, 2 essays, one analytical, and one research. My two favorite kinds.

Next semester I am going to take my Capstone course, which is like your big, final, prove you have learned something in your disciple course, before they will let you graduate. My friend Julie is also an English major, and one of our favorite teachers is going to be teaching the Capstone next semester, we are so signing up for that class. Then I just have three of my required classes left and I will be finished.

At this point, it may change as i get into the semester, i just want to complete the work. I am not so concerned about doing everything perfectly anymore. Just keeping my gpa above the necessary line, but not killing myself is going to be my goal to start out!

Tastes of summer.

To me there are certain foods that mean summer to my taste buds. It is not that I can only eat them in summer, but they evoke memories of summers past and they just trigger summer memories.

A ripe watermelon, the perfect tomato, a juicy strawberry, a ripe peach, food off of the grill, potato salad, scotcharoos, lemonade, and homemade ice cream.

Like I said these things are not limited to just summer, though some are ripe in the summer, but some were served at summer picnics when I was young, family get togethers during summer, and summer birthdays. They have come to represent the taste of summer to me. The picture above is probably the best tomato I have ever tasted! I am sad that it is all gone.

Devil Of A Car.

The other day was just kind of a mess. It was the Tuesday that my dad ended up in the hospital. I woke up with the whole day in front of me and nothing much to do except clean out my car (inside and out) hardcore. Then at about 730 am my mom comes rushing into my room with a horrible look on her face telling me that she needed help, dad had fallen again.
Thus started the trip to the hospital that lasted until about 130 I believe. You can read about that here.
After we got back home, I still felt I had plenty of time to clean out my car and shouldn't really waste the rest of the day. So, I changed clothes and took off to the closest Holiday station that had both a car wash and a vacuum. I was just about done vacuuming out my car (including the back-i have a wagon) and I had shut the doors and the back hatch when I heard all the locks repeatedly lock -click click click click click! Now, this had been happening on and off for a couple of weeks but never on it's own like this. It was always triggered by me pushing the button inside the car or hitting the button on my key fob. This time it went off and locked itself with my keys, purse, and phone inside of it!
After cursing at the car for a while, I went into the Holiday station and used their phone to call my mom to bring me my extra keys. After my mom stopped laughing at me...she looked around and couldn't find my keys. I told her to just come and get me and i would look for my keys at home. As soon as I got back in to the apartment I remembered where my extra keys were! They were in my PURSE! In my CAR! Not helpful. So then I had to call AAA (thanks Jess!). I called them and they asked me for my AAA member number! I told them it was in my PURSE! Which was in my CAR! They said that was okay and looked me up using my name and came 30 minutes later and unlocked my possessed car.
So, my chore that should not have taken very long took about 2 hours longer, but boy my car is clean.

Is It August Yet?

While all the other months of this year have flown by, the month of July has just kinda dragged. Now I am not complaining that my summer is taking a while to pass, but I have some cool stuff planned for August that I am excited for!
The first two weeks of my August are jam packed with zoo visits, family parties, friend parties, and more. Then the end of August brings a potential balloon ride (DON'T JINX IT!!), the fair (which I love), and unfortunately school, and maybe more Zoo! While July was not as bad as some of the first months of the year (DON'T JINX IT!!) I am still excited for the approach of August and all it has to hold. It will hopefully bring with it some cooler weather also.

I Want One!

This is a German Short haired Pointer. I want one. They are so adorable. There is a lady that in line skates everyday on the same path that I walk, and she has a brown one and he is so happy about EVERYTHING:) He is so cute. He comes zoooooooming up and around you to say "hello!" with his big doggy grin.

SO CUTE!

Yes, I Went to IKEA Without You...

So, last weekend I woke up and decided I needed a desk. When I sit with my computer on my lap while I am in bed I always end up with a really sore neck. So, that morning I went on to the IKEA website and found a desk that had the dimensions that would fit in my room. Then by putting a desk in my room I had misplaced the bookcase of DVDs. So I needed to buy a more efficient bookcase to store some books and the DVDs. I set off to IKEA and came home with these. The first picture is of the area before-

Then this is the area with the new desk in it! Isn't it puurrdddy?!

Then to solve the homeless dvd and book problem we have the massively tall skinny bookshelf!

It has taken a little adjusting to get used to this shelf, sometimes i see it out of the corner of my eye, and because it it taller than me i think it is a person...Don't laugh;)

Old Books vs. Library Books- According To Me

So the other day my friend was teasing me about not knowing what a library was (it was more involved than that, but would take too long for me to explain for the purposes of this blog). I told him, I don't like libraries too much, because people have read the books before me, putting all their germs and weird stuff on the books. It just kinds creeps me out. It comes down to too many people touching the book, reading it, dripping who knows what on it. I mean, who knows what that stain is on page 137? It looks like chocolate ice cream, or is it blood!? So, I just don't use my library card unless it is for research or something like that. However, not long after I stated my opinion about library books to my friend I got to thinking about old books. I like old books BECAUSE they have been owned and read by other people. They have a history to them that I enjoy holding in my hand, and being able to own and be a part of. Later someone else will own these old[er] books and I will have been a part of these books history. What can I say, another area where my reasoning makes no sense.

Sight Seeing.

I have always wanted to drive around the U.S. in a Motor home. Just take off, and drive around seeing all the sights in one extended road trip. I would see the East coast with Maine's Coast, Boston, New Jersey's Shore, up to New York, down to Philadelphia, Gettysburg, (hitting the places I have missed in between of course). Make my way west with Louisiana, Oklahoma,Texas, and up through Colorado. Head up into Wyoming and Montana, and across to Washington and Oregon, coming down through California, Nevada and New Mexico. When people talk about their dream honeymoon they talk about Paris, Italy, Greece, while I think about driving across the country and seeing the history and landmarks that I have heard about. That is what I would look forward too.

It's THE Bag!

Sorry for the image quality, but I just bought this baaagg! I am excited! I have wanted one of these for awhile. It it a Timbuk2 messenger bag. I heart it! They usually run anywhere from about 75$ up to 130$ for some of the larger bags. I got an X-small bag as I am planning to use it more as a purse and it only cost 57$ on Amazon. Plus I got me some free shipping! Eeeeee! I am excited!!!

I was like, Woah...

This morning the weirdest thing happened. I had the song 'Glitter in the Air' by P!NK stuck in my head all morning while I was getting ready to go to work, no big deal right. Then I got in my car and turned on the radio, and it was PLAYING! I was a little weirded out and sat a little to long at a stop sign as I tried to figure out the chances of that happening. Then I gave up cause I really ceased caring about the mathematics of it and just thought it was kinda cool and proceeded to drive to work:)

Do Any Of These Sound Familiar?

Someone brought the following list to my attention today and I immediately recognized myself from the description in #1, and in some of the following numbers. I found the list to be very interesting. I have highlighted the ones I recognized as myself.

Summary

15 Styles of Distorted Thinking

1. Filtering: You take the negative details and magnify them while filtering out all positive aspects of a situation.

2. Polarized Thinking: Things are back or white, good or bad. You have to be perfect or you're a failure. There is no middle ground.

3.Overgeneralization: You come to a general conclusion based on a single incident or piece of evidence. If something bad happens once, you expect it to happen over and over again.

4. Mind Reading: Without their saying so, you know what people are feeling and why they act the way they do. In particular, you are able to Divine how people are feeling toward you.

5.Catastrophizing: You expect disaster. You notice or hear about a problem and start 'what ifs:' What if tragedy strikes? What if it happens to you?

6. Personalization: Thinking that everything people do or say is some kind of reaction to you. You also compare yourself to others, trying to determine who is smarter, better looking, etc.

7. Control Fallacies: If you feel externally controlled, you see yourself as helpless, a victim of fate. The fallacy of internal control has you responsible for the pain and happiness of everyone around you.

8. Fallacy of Fairness: You fell resentful because you think you know what's fair but other people won't agree with you.

9. Blaming: You hold other people responsible for your pain, or take the other tack and blame yourself for every problem or reversal.

10. Shoulds: You have a list of ironclad rules about how you and other people should act. People who break the rules anger you and you feel guilty if you violate the rules. Find yourself saying "I should..."

11. Emotional Reasoning: You believe that what you feel must be true--automatically. If you feel stupid and boring, then you must be stupid and boring.

12. Fallacy of change: You expect that other people will change to suit you if you just pressure or cajole them enough. You need to change people because your hopes for happiness seem to depend entirely on them.

13. Global Labeling: You generalize one or two qualities into a negative global judgement.

14. Being Right: You are continually on trial to prove that your opinions and actions are correct. Being wrong is unthinkable and you will go to any length to demonstrate your rightness.

15. Heaven's Reward Fallacy: You expect all your sacrifice and self-denial to pay off, as if there were someone keeping score. You feel bitter when the reward doesn't come.

So, what is the point; it's just a list right? Well they say the first step in fixing something is to know what's wrong with it...or something like that. I recognize not just the ways of thinking that I use, but also ones that my brother, parents, bosses, coworkers, friends and family use as well. Does that mean there is something wrong with all of us? Probably:) Just kidding. No, it just got me thinking how many of these are considered character traits Just how many are just personality and how many are harmful patterns of thinking that affect our everyday relationships and how we interact with others?

What I Did On My Sunday Off. (in no particular order)

Wash 2 Loads of Towels
Wash 4 Loads Of Clothes
Wash Sheets
Return Something To Kohls
Go To Walgreens
Take Mail Down To Mail Box
Go To Bank
Pay Bills
Put Gas In Car
Go To Grocery Store
Organize Dad's Pills For The Week
Organize My Pills For The Week
Make Spaghetti and Meatballs
Unload and Reload Dishwasher
Organize Mom's Sewing Table
Make Dad's Lunch
Change Mom's Sheets
Change My Sheets
Wash Dinner Dishes and Tidy Kitchen
Fold and Put Away All The Clean Clothes.
Clean My Room
Clean Out My Car

This Says It All.

I fit firmly in to the last panel of this comic.

Survey Says!

-Do you recycle or don't really care?
I recycle when I remember too. We don't have the option in our apartment building or at work so if there is a place to leave a bottle where I am eating out I will but otherwise I don't.
-When or if you see a homeless person do you pass them by without a thought or do you wish you could help?
I wonder what their story is but I don't really have the means to help them right now.
-Have you ever tossed trash our your car window?
The worst thing I have tossed out my car window is an apple core or my gum.
-When you drive through a poor section of town, what do you think of the people?
They dress different than I do and tend to look much tougher (not that hard).
-Do you believe in anything? What?
Easter bunny
-How old are you?
29
-Male? Female?
female
-When you wake up in the morning what is the first thing on your mind?
"I hope it is not time to get up yet"
-What are you most thankful for?
Good friends and family
-Have you ever said or thought "that could never happen to me" and it did?
nope, when I win the lottery you will all know.
-Do you believe in reincarnation?
no
-Do you have a shoulder to cry on?
Several
-Do you believe that what we do in this life will affect us in the next? (karma)
no, but I used to believe in karma during your life, now I am beginning to wonder.
-Is there one god or many?
I say One.
-Do you give to any charities? Why?
Yes, because everyone needs help every once and awhile.
-Do you think your parents did a good job?
They haven't complained lately, well about that anyway.
-What color are your eyes?
gray blue (really jealous cause my brother got beautiful bright blue eyes)
-Have you ever hurt someone out of spitefulness?
No, I am not too spiteful
-Is honesty always the best policy?
yep, learned that one the hard way
-Were you a friend or a bully in school?
friend
-Does the world owe you or do you owe the world?
neither
-Sunrise or sunset?
I could argue for both, depending on the setting and situation. They both have pleasant memories for me.
-Did you answer the questions on this survey honestly?
yeah, otherwise what would be the point.
-Complete.... If I were an animal I would be....
Furry. not scaly, or feathery. Something furry.
-Complete...If I were a color I would be...
Blue or Green
-Complete....If I could trade places with anyone I would trade places with....
No one I can think of...maybe my brother, i could live out of the house and he could take care of the 'rents for awhile.
-Complete...The one thing I want most for me and my family is....
Good health (yeah right), and some peace.
-What are you listening to?
My mom on the phone with the hospital talking to my dad's nurse.
-What's behind you?
A pillow and a wall in my room.
-Have you ever caught a snowflake on your tongue?
Sure, haven't all Minnesotan children?
-Have you ever laughed til you peed?
No, not that I remember. Maybe when I was in diapers.
-Have you ever swam in the ocean?
No, I don't swim in the ocean. I have been to the ocean, walked in the ocean, but there are too many strange things in the ocean for me to swim in it. Give me a nice pool.

A Nod To The Sister City.

I recently spent some time at the Como Conservatory, mostly cause i had never been before, and discovered that they had quite a relaxing Japanese Garden. I love to walk through large expansive gardens that are done well, but there was something about the Japanese gardens that added a sense of peace.

I might have been the colors scheme. No splashy reds and bright yellows here.

This garden looked more like nature, with a slight hand at landscaping, and the occasional Koi pond for enjoyment.

I felt like if it was not so dang hot out that day and there were not so many strange people walking around, I wouldn't have minded just sitting down on one of the benches and relaxing for a while.

I Want This Bag!

It is made by Haiku. I saw it in a shop up in Dultuh and have been thinking about it ever since. It is a small messenger bag and was bea-u-ti-ful. The only reason i did not get it at the time was because it was...well, expensive. 70$ before tax to be exact. I looked online to see if it was any cheaper and it was not. It was 100$! I just have a lot of trouble spending more than 20$ on a bag because i have so many of them and tend to use them for a short period of time and switch out and switch back so they never tend to get the wear and tear that would warrant spending more money on them, BUT look at it!! IT IS SO CUTE! *sigh*

Haven't Been There or Done That.

There are several places within the continental US that I have always wanted to see but have never had the chance. While my parents moved us around a lot when I was growing up we pretty much stayed within Minnesota and Wisconsin. I have taken a few trips outside this fair state (Mn), but have still not been to all of the areas that I would like to see. I have been to Colorado, Maryland, and just north of Mn, in to Canada. So off the top of my head I have put together a small list of places I would like to see within the Continental United States, whether they are cities, landmarks, or just general areas.

1. The Grand Canyon

While this does strike me as a place that I will get to and take a million pictures of and then be like "okay, i have seen it" I know there will be so many other places in the area that will make the trip worth it, and I have always wanted to see it for myself.

2. Redwood Forests of California-

I have always had an interest in nature, if you don't know this about me, then you don't know everything about me. I would rather go on a hike in the woods than go out to a bar or restaurant. I grew up with a great love of rock climbing in Jay Cooke park, and as a child could never walk outside without picking up a rock to bring home for my collection. So the idea of walking through an old forest that dwarfs me, and just kind of gives you an idea of where you belong in the scope of the world and how amazing nature can be appeals to me.

3. Yellowstone National Park-

Ever since I was little my mother has been horrifying me with stories of their family trip to Yellowstone. That has not stopped me from wanted to go there. One of the things I find so appealing about Yellowstone was what I found so appealing about Colorado when I visited, it is so different from Mn, and from the landscape that I am used to. Even the green of the trees and grass is a different shade. The geology of the land and the beauty that it creates is something that has always pulled me to this area of the country.

4. New Orleans-

I have wanted to visit this city for about 10 years. My beignet craving alone should be enough to get me there some day.

5.Boston-

This city is full of old buildings and history. I would love to visit it and go on the walking tours, the building tours, and driving tours around the old parts of the city.

6.Gettysburg National Park-

While i have been here before the trip was not near long enough to see everything I wanted to see and experience. The only thing I can compare what it felt like to be in the park and on some of the battlefields was the feeling I got when i stood next the the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC. It was an overwhelming sense of something that is so much bigger than you are, and truly understanding the scope of something for the first time with not just your mind but your entire being. The last time I went I didn't get a chance to do any tours as it was SO hot out. I would like to return if for no other reason than to wander to my hearts content.

7. Last, but not least on the list for today's blog, is the coast of Maine. I love the east coast. I think people who prefer the west coast are crazy. The east coast is beautiful, historic, and not on fire or slowly sinking into the ocean like California.

In My Shoes

I have never seen a comic that so clearly describes what it is like to work in a bookstore as this one. The artist covers most topics that I have thought of all the way through the new Nook selling that is changing the definition of what booksellers have to do.

That's What They Said.

-"A mere friend will agree with you, but a real friend will argue." Russian Proverb
-"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." Michelangelo
-"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." Elie Wiesel
-"Given a choice between grief and nothing, I'd choose grief." William Faulkner
-"As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary." Ernest Hemingway
-"An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's." J. D. Salinger
-"Is the chemical aftertaste the reason why people eat hot dogs, or is it some kind of bonus?" Neil Gaiman
-"I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it." Edgar Allan Poe
-"You can be a little ungrammatical if you come from the right part of the country." Robert Frost
-"It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it's one damn thing over and over." Edna St. Vincent Millay
-"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln
-"Bodily decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human contemplations the most abhorrent is body without mind." Thomas Jefferson
-"A good indignation brings out all one's powers." Ralph Waldo Emerson

To Stop, or Not to Stop?

After all of my years driving (not that many really) I have come to the conclusion that as a driver each person is either a stopper, or not a stopper.
Very simply this means if you come upon an accident that has recently happened on the side of the road (you didn't see it, you have just came upon it), you either stop, or you think to yourself "well, that guy there stopped, they don't really need me", or " I will call 911 in case they don't have a cell phone, but I am already passed them...", and "they are out and walking around they must be fine".
This also applies to when people are pulled over to the side of the road with broken down cars. There are stoppers and non-stoppers. Now I don't claim to know what makes the difference between the two people. What makes someone a stopper? Did they have someone stop for them in a moment of need and now they too have become a devoted stopper? Were they always a stopper?
I am not a stopper. I have never had a horrible wreck right in front of me. I do believe I would stop then, but when there are people on the side of the road with flat tires, broken down cars, and other vehicle breakdowns I don't stop. When I see people with vehicular issues such as an accident that is fairly fresh, I don't stop. My main thought is 'what could I do to help them anyway?' I see other people stopped and that is enough for me to keep driving. I was raised in the time of the Jacob Wetterling mothers. Every stranger was a danger to your child. This was carried over into adulthood with some of my generation, especially women, we were told that if you stopped when a car was pulled over to the side of the road it was an easy way to get abducted and raped. Is it no wonder I have never stopped!? What with that thought bouncing around in my subconscious?
So are you a stopper? Or Not? If so Why or Why not?

From Generation to Generation.

When my mother was little, her grandmother taught her how to make fresh bread from scratch. This was something that my mother used to do all the time when I was little. She would bake fresh bread, caramelized sticky buns, and cinnamon rolls, pies and cakes. Then she became sick, discovered that not only was she so allergic to yeast that she should not be touching it let alone eating it, but also that she should not be eating wheat flour products of any kind. So, the baking pretty much stopped. I mean would you want to bake a bunch of yummy food you couldn't eat?

So, this year I have decided to learn how to bake my great-grandmothers bread recipe. Whenever my mother made it when we were little she would make enough for a pan of buns, and for at least two loaves of bread and we were lucky if it all lasted a week. It was so delicious. There is nothing in the world that tastes like homemade bread, this homemade bread.

I have a bit of a head start as I used to help my mother make it when I was younger. I would help her knead the dough, and stir until it got too stiff and she would have to take over.

After I get the bread recipe down, I will have to try to tackle her pie recipe next. It is also a family favorite.

It's Time For Farm Babies!

It is almost time! Time for for Farm Babies at the Minnesota Zoo! Starting April 1st they open up the Wells Fargo Farm and with it the yearly Farm Babies exhibit. Baby pigs, rabbits, cows, sheep, and GOATS! All available to see up close for the month of April! The farm is one of my favorite parts of the Zoo because while the animals are not exotic in any way, you can get up close with most of the animals in this area. Pet a cow, pat a horse, feed a goat, run from a chicken (really- they are freaky lookin). I mean look at this little guy, he is just so cute!

My Unassuming Sleep Positions?

In the past year I have developed some of the strangest sleeping habits.I have always tossed and turned in my sleep...okay flipped rather than tossed. I don't wake up in order to do it, I just flop over from my back onto my stomach. I am kind of a restless sleeper only I am sleeping so I don't notice the restless part:)
Yet this year my tossing and turning has reached new levels. Please refer to the diagrams below if you are a visual learner, or just because they are there. (the white and purple things are my multiple pillows, though I only show 3 here I have 5 regular sized ones and 1 body)

When i start out at bedtime I am on one side of my queen size bed, usually on my back (picture in the upper left), the next time I awake I usually find myself kiddy corner across the bed with my head approx. in the same location (picture in the upper right). That's not a big deal, I am just stretching out right? Just using up the extra leg room available in the bed. There is nothing wrong with that. It is the third position that I find myself in that baffles me. I proceed throughout the night to keep turning further and further to my right until my body is parallel to the pillows and and I am laying with my head (sometimes) on a pillow that I have twisted around to the side and with my feet all but hanging off the side of my bed (pictures are not to scale, duh). The only conclusion I have come to so far is that even in my sleep I am strange.

Some claim that your sleep position tells you something about your personality-

Sleep Position No. 1: Crouched in the fetal position: Shy and sensitive

Sleep Position No. 2: Soldier position flat on the back with arms at the sides: Quiet and reserved
Sleep Position No. 3: On the side with legs outstretched and arms down: Social and easy-going
Sleep Position No. 4: On the side with legs outstretched and arms outstretched: Suspicious
Sleep Position No. 5: Flat on the tummy with hands at the sides of the head: Brash and gregarious
Sleep Position No. 6: On the back with outstretched arms and legs: Unassuming and a good listener

Then I would have to put myself under No. 6 as far as my "style" of sleep. Do the descriptions fit me, yes but so do many of the others. Do I think the way I sleep describes some of my personality? I can see where the correlation would come in, when you fall asleep you are at your most vulnerable, and your most comfortable so ergo the way certain people fall asleep might have something to do with if they are shy, outgoing, calm or nervous people, but sometimes how I go to sleep just depends on how tired I was when I was reading a boring part of a book:)

Back in the Saddle Again

For the past two summers I have really slacked off as far as watching what I eat and exercising and have managed to gain back some of the weight that I had lost:( (about 10 pounds) This past week i made a concentrated effort to exercise and eat better and had some great results. Not only did I have more energy but I also lost 2lbs! Right now I am concentrating on just losing the 10 lbs to give myself a small goal, but my ultimate goal will be to lose another 40 lbs. Here we go!

The Strange Scars of Childhood

You ever have memories from childhood that aren't really bad, you just got mentally scarred by them anyway? Well when i was about 6 or 7 years old I went to stay with my Grannie Annie. She lived up north in Mn, and lived out in the woods. Everyday we would take a looonnng walk down to the main road to get her mail from their mail box, and every day we would pass one of these off to the side of the road up on some saw horses:

Well, for you city folk, this is a salt lick. They were using it on the side of the road to attract and keep deer in the area.

Animals will lick the block of salt (get it, salt lick) which gives them several nutrients. Usually animals find these deposits naturally but people put out these salt licks to attract deer for viewing, photography or hunting purposes. Well after walking past it for several days, learning what it was, I wanted to know what it tasted like. So my grandmother told her trusting, loving 6 year old granddaughter to go lick it! Go ahead and lick where who knows what kind of wild beasts have been putting their mouths! And I DID! BLECH, PETOOOEEEE! EWWWWW!!! I still get the shivers when I think about it! All my mom has to say is "and what did it taste like?" IT TASTED LIKE SALT! WHAT THE #%&9#%@ DO YOU THINK IT TASTED LIKE? Couldn't Grannie just have told me that?! Man o Man!

Bunches o Blogs

These last few blogs were written months ago and were sitting as drafts so i thought they deserved to see the light of day:)

The answer is NO!

I have never been really good at saying no to people, not on really big things. On things like- do you want to eat dinner at a sucky restaurant, no, do you want to go somewhere you don't feel like going,no, do you want to work tomorrow, no. These situations I can say no to. However situations like "we thought we would do [...blank...] instead of our original plan (which would include you doing something that would push you so far outside your comfort zone your insides shrivel up). Is that okay with you?" or Can you do this (huge gargantuan size) favor for me (though you feel uncomfortable doing it)? . Where are my No's then? They have completely abandoned me because i don't want to hurt the people asking me, I feel I SHOULD be able to do some of the things I am being asked, and then I get mad at myself for agreeing, get extremely uncomfortable, upset, angry, and mad for not just being able to say no.

Have I tried to say no in the past? Yes, but as someone who has a need to be liked and have people "not be mad at her",i guess people feel/know that I will back down, because I almost always have in the past. Remember the 3 weddings in one summer anyone? I said no, I cant afford another wedding, but there I was in another wedding paying for alterations, shoes, etc. Granted i didn't have to pay for the dress but still, I had 2 other wedding that summer alone, if I didn't have finance options for those weddings there was no way I could have paid for the alterations to the dress for the last wedding. But, I couldn't say no. When I tried the bride got around me and I agreed.

When i do say no, I feel the need to offer an excuse, why? Who cares why i don't want to do something, why i cant do something. Saying no should be enough some times. I have gotten better, but the big things, the big favors are the ones I still have trouble saying no to. They are the ones that cause me the most grief.

This is how I feel sometimes-



"NO is a very simple word. One syllable. Two letters. A complete sentence. NO is one of the shortest words in the English language, yet one of the most difficult for women to say. We hear "NO!" in our heads while our mouths are saying "YES," "Sure," "I'd be glad to," "Of course I will," or "I wouldn't miss it for the world!" It's often easier to agree than to just say NO.
Saying NO for women can be a genuine struggle because of our deeply rooted need for connection. To be considerate without jeopardizing our well-being or livelihood, and assertive without losing the relationships we value -- these are two of life's most compelling challenges. Sometimes, out of a desire to be helpful or charitable, we choose to say YES even when it's difficult. At other times, we discover that we're too concerned about being liked, loved, or respected to be able to say NO. If we muster the courage to speak up, we tend to be cautious: "my answer is NO...if that's okay with you."

-My Answer is No...If That's Okay With You by Nanette Gartrell MD

Random Thoughts That I Have Thought In The Past Week.

-Half of the time my phone rings it’s not even for me. It’s no wonder I don’t like answering the thing when I hear it ring. It’s depressing.
-I want mountain climbing boots.
-I wonder how many people have died in this building.
-It really bothers me that people can hear other people pee through bathroom doors.
-Whenever someone colors their hair drastically darker I usually think they look more evil the first few times I see them.
-Anyone who honks at me is mean.
-I don’t like crunchy cookies, they break apart and I lose too much cookie in the crumbs.
-I wonder if the inside of my eyeball looks the same as the inside of a fish’s eyeball. Ya know, only bigger.
-Why when I am trying to make a good impression on people do I worry about if there are holes in my socks when the people will never know one way or another?
-I have always thought that my stuffed animals were watching me. I pretend I grew out of it but sometimes…
-I think that a lot of the women who read romance novels are silly, silly creatures (even though it makes up a majority of my library).
-Why do customers ask me a question about the location of a section when I am sitting on the ground and then act shocked and surprised when I have to get up to show them where it is?
-When did 18 become so young?
-When did 30 become so young?
-How come the wind turbine NEVER spins?
-Can you always tell when you have killed a small animal with your car? Like a squirrel, or a raccoon because I would like to know when I did, so I can feel sorry about it.
-Why were the kick balls in gym always red?
-I like buying containers more than I like buying the things to put in the containers.
-I just realized I never actually beat a video game until I was 28.
- I think I sneeze every morning in the winter after waking up and before getting out of bed.

Why I appear

I took a personality test the other day and it was pretty spot on. When it came to how I understand the world around me, how i focus on concepts and stories around me.
 The results said-
You are clearly an iNtuitive


People who are clearly iNtuitives are so focused on the "big picture" that they often overlook the details. Because of this, some people may see them as absent-minded. But don't be fooled: these iNtuitives quickly notice underlying patterns, hidden relationships and ironies that others miss. They enjoy considering the ways people or ideas are connected and are constantly thinking about the future, particularly how to change it.

This is more and more like me as I get older. While i do like to focus on details when I am working on a project, or planning something, I have more and more problems remembering small details like times that movies start, addresses, names, assignments, dates, and things i am supposed to do. This tends to make me look more and more absent minded. At times however I am so busy focusing on what is going to happen at the end of the day or even the week and planning for that that I forget what I am doing until that point.

A Tale of Two Cities

When I was in my Freshman year of College I took a course that I thought would be, well, easy. It was Minnesota History. I thought that I had to know at least some of what they were going to tell me! What I was fascinated to learn however, was the history that had surrounded me my entire life, and that I had failed to appreciate or seek out. About midway threw the semester we came in to class one day and were told we were going to watch a movie about the history of Minneapolis and St. Paul. I have never been able to shake the images of this movie from my mind. The beauty that these two cities possessed at one time was magnificent! They were show pieces in their own rights. This movie is called "The Lost Twin Cities" it's story is also available in book form written by Larry Millet. Both tell the story of how

many of the memorable buildings in Minneapolis and St. Paul have been lost to the wrecker's ball. Millett's carefully researched book is a valiant effort to reconstruct, in words and illustrations, this rich architectural legacy. The author ( The Curve of the Arch , Minnesota Historical Society, 1985) presents an impressive sampling of the vanished buildings of the Twin Cities, tracing their history and including information on who the owners and architects were, how these structures were used, why they were torn down, and what occupies each site today. Lost Twin Cities makes us mourn for the richness that has been lost but also makes us appreciate how much has survived. Highly recommended for anyone interested in urban history.-- H. Ward Jandl, National Park Svce., Washington, D.C.

Here is just a sample of some of the buildings of the time.



It has been years since I have seen this video, but the images of the buildings, the architecture, and the history that was wiped away to make room for modernism still sticks with me making, me wish someone had realized that each building was a monument to what this state, and its people had worked for, and these buildings were a part of the states history.

For the Love of Dragons

BELLYTOP

Bellytop is a 10" long dragon catching up on his email on his bellytop computer. He is available in natural clay with porcelain details and staining for enhancement. $48 + shipping.


Oh I wish I had the extra money! Look how cute this little dragon is while he is surfin the web!

My Summer Vacation (in its planning stages)

I would like to get to Ely this summer. They have The International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center. Here is one of the wolf web cams. The North American Bear Center Has 3 bears and there mission is to educate the public about bears "to advance the long-term survival of bears worldwide by replacing misconceptions with scientific facts about bears, their role in ecosystems, and their relations with humans."

The International Wolf Center is also located in Ely and is somewhere I have wanted to visit for a long time. The exhibit does more than what a zoo would do, number one it has more information about wolves, but it also has more information about the different kinds of wolves from different areas around the world.

The Exhibit Pack refers to the wolves in the main enclosure. Members of the pack may vary as wolves age and new wolf pups are socialized and added to the Exhibit. In early summer of 2008, the Exhibit Pack consisted of Shadow and Malik-two arctic subspecies born on May 8, 2000, and Grizzer and Maya-two great plains subspecies born May 5, 2004.

In early August 2008, Aidan and Denali, two northwestern subspecies, joined the Exhibit Pack. The pups were born on April 27, 2008, at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minnesota.
Exhibiting three subspecies in one exhibit, with three age structures represented, is historic for the Center. This is a great opportunity for visitors to observe the dynamics of a wolf social hierarchy and to learn about the differences of the subspecies.

 While I have always wanted to visit the Ely Wolf center, knowing that there was also the new North American Bear Center in the same Town has made it much more of a destination spot for me this summer.

New Found Interest

I just finished reading the story of Ada Blackjack and her companions on their failed journey into the Arctic. "In 1921, four men and one woman ventured deep into the Arctic. Two years later, only one returned.When 23-year-old Inuit Ada Blackjack signed on as a seamstress for a top-secret Arctic expedition, her goal was simple: earn money and find a husband. But her terrifying experiences — both in the wild and back in civilization — comprise one of the most amazing untold adventures of the 20th century. Based on a wealth of unpublished materials, including Ada's never-before-seen diaries, bestselling author Jennifer Niven narrates this true story of an unheralded woman who became an unlikely hero." While the story of what happened while they were living in the Arctic, and ultimately what happened to each person was very interesting, the author adds more to the story but tying in the families reaction to hearing the news of their son's deaths, and the political reasons that the men were told they were venturing north, followed by the fallout of who was to blame for the complete failure of the expedition, whether it was the man who had arranged it (Stefansson) or the boys themselves were just incompetent. I was amazed by the human spirit that it took  Blackjack to survive not just in the Arctic but the rest of her life as well.                        

Niven has another book, her first book, which was written about another Arctic expedition disaster. This book actually ties into the Blackjack book because one of the explorers, and the man that arranged the expedition in Blackjack's book were also on the mission that takes place in THE ICE MASTER."In June 1913, HMCS Karluk set sail from Victoria, British Columbia; less than six weeks later, the boat was trapped by ice and clearly would not move again until the spring thaw. Stefansson (no hero he) chose a dozen of the best sled dogs and set off "to go hunting," accompanied by his personal secretary, the expedition photographer, and an anthropologist. The ship's captain understood at once that "they had been abandoned." And only days after Stefansson's departure, "a fierce gale carried the ship deep into the heart of the Arctic Ocean." Niven's riveting, hair-raising account is all the more real because she has assembled this astonishing work from the journals kept by the abandoned scientists and crew. Niven's assiduous research and her unprecedented access to the last living survivor as well as to the descendants of other survivors, lend an immediacy and credibility to The Ice Master that are, in a word, extraordinary." I am excited to read this book next in order to understand how Stefansson and Mauer(one of the men exploring with Blackjack and also on the Karluk) came to be in the place they were in the beginning of Ada's story.

Have Many, but Use Few.

So people have always got me journals as gifts. Even when I was little, people would buy me diaries, journals, blank books etc. Don’t get me wrong, I have always loved the idea of journaling. The idea of filling a book with memories and thoughts of times past, reading something from years ago and remembering a single instant that your own words cause you to relive, a strong emotion evoked by the simple retelling of a day that had long since been forgotten and when it maybe shouldn’t have been.


The only problem I have really had in journaling is the ability to follow through, to keep up the writing week after week. Of having enough to say to fill a page, then have enough to write about the next time too.

This Christmas season I stumbled across this:

Keep your memories in line with the One Line a Day: A Five Year Memory Book. A classic memorykeeper is the perfect way to track the ups and downs of life, day by day. The 365 daily entries appear five times on each page, allowing users to revisit previous thoughts and memories over five years as they return to each page to record the current day's events. The beautiful hardcover blue book measures 4.25" x 6.25" with 370 pages.

And it makes me excited because I know I could think of one sentence to write about the day at least, and it holds FIVE YEARS! This is something I am going to have to lay my hands on.