Three Things

1.  I have given up on the 52 Weeks of Happy project.  The remaining however-many weeks of the year will have to settle for Ho-Hum.  ;o)  Ok, ok.  But really-- what I learned from my attempt at 52WoH is that... having one more "assignment" / "obligation" does not make me happy.  Which sort of defeats the purpose of 52WoH.  Which is why I called it off.  (Now, if I could just call off some of the other things that make me Not Happy... like having to clean the bathrooms, for instance...)


2.  Project 365 is still on!  (Believe it or not.)  The photos are all taken, and I don't even think I've missed one (yet).  Many of them are still sitting in the camera, waiting.  ...Oops.  However, one of these days I will process and post them all.  I might even get back into the habit of uploading them in a (slightly more) timely manner. 


3.  Google Reader is going away forever!!!  (Welp, that's it.  It's official.  Google really is Evil.)  I, obviously (or else I wouldn't care one way or the other), am among the apparently dwindling number of loyal users. We have until July to make other arrangements.  The only good thing about this is that maybe it will make me finally get my messy collection of RSS feeds under control.  (Maybe.)  No, but seriously, if I haven't read a given blog in two or three years, I'll definitely at least consider unsubscribing from it. 

Actually, truth be told, I'm kind of looking forward to doing some spring cleaning in the ol' blogroll. Getting it back in hand.  Teaching it who's boss.  Taking it to task.  I'm definitely in "organize and purge" mode, around the house, lately (and goodness knows I need to be).  A little tidying up on the computer wouldn't hurt, either.  Selecting and familiarizing myself with another RSS reader, on the other hand... not looking forward to that. 

Thank You, Mr. Internet

Donald and I were talking only yesterday about how much modern technology has changed the world, even in just the past ten or twenty years.  It's amazing-- and it creeps up on you while you're not watching.

(You know, the fact that Penny's "computer book" is now a very real thing-- only it's not nearly so bulky as hers was.  Or the way we take for granted the ability to research any subject at any time on the Internet... and from almost any place, if you have a smart phone, tablet, etc.  As silly as it sounds, it truly is the Information Superhighway.  Then there's the ease of finding and ordering products online.)

You think you've got a grasp on things.  You think you're aware of just how mind-boggling it all is.

And then you stumble upon Not Quite What the Doctor Ordered, a blog devoted entirely to Dr. Pepper copycats...

And your mind is blown all over again!  ;o)

Mr. Pig!  Dr. Good Guy!  Dr. Whatever!  Mr. Sipp!  Dr. Aahh!

I tried to find a similar blog for Mountain Dew copies, but failed.  This and this were the closest things I could find.  (And there seems to be a Wiki page on the subject.  Of course.  I should have known.)

2012 Blues

Well, given that this is an election year, of course this will be a bad year for randomly, unexpectedly encountering annoying political opinions on blogs (and other places where people express opinions) that are not usually political in nature. 

I know, I know.  How can I complain when I regularly, well, complain about politics on my own blog?  But I do try to keep that contained here on my personal, rarely-updated blog that hardly anyone reads, anyway.  Also, I do it often enough that you really ought to be prepared. ;o) 

There are a few blogs/feeds I read that I know will (at least occasionally) be political in nature-- some more often than others-- and even though I do still find myself annoyed at the opinions expressed, at least I'm prepared for them. (And if I'm having a "don't even look at me wrong" type of day, I know to avoid them until I'm feeling more sanguine.  Or maybe it's the other way 'round.  Don't ruin a good mood...?)  It's more offensive when the blog/feed is usually crafts-centered, for instance, or books-focused, and then suddenly springs a (seriously irritating) political opinion on you out of nowhere.  

Ugh, 2012. 
I haven't really been looking forward to you, to tell the truth, but since the alternative was not being here to see it, we'll just have to make the most of it. 

"Yes! Its Hurts"

This blog post/photo gave me a laugh.  (g)

It's a sticker found somewhere in Stockholm reading-- in part-- "I ❤ Tattoos" and "Yes! Its Hurts".

Yes, I think that falls under both "bad motto" and "bad grammar". 

Snow, Vicariously

While we were snubbed by the Snow Fairy (or whatever it is that brings snow ;o)), Donald's family in Sweden have been dealing with lots of it.

Check out the snow in Ingela's photos on her blog and at Flickr. 

...Wow.  Can you just imagine all the snowmen you could make... all the snowball fights you could have?  (Not to mention the headache of traveling from Point A to Point B!)

When Donald spoke with Jocke a few days ago, he said that on the road from town to Donald's parents' place-- not just their private driveway-road, as I first thought, but the main road-- the snow was piled up five feet high on both sides.  Probably not a good time or place to have car problems.

The Closest Thing. . .

Here's the closest thing we'll get to seeing snow this Christmas. . . ;o) 

Ingela posted some photos of beautiful snowy landscapes around Säffle-- and yummy homemade Swedish Christmas treats, as well! 

At least we can enjoy the snow vicariously (and not even have to deal with messy roads)!

Project 365, Here I Come!

After a while of watching some of my contacts on Flickr participate in "Project 365", I've decided to start my own project. The plan is to take (at least) one photo a day for a year!

I'll be posting the photos on my Flickr photostream (in this set) as well as in a blog devoted specifically to the project. (There's a link to the blog over in the sidebar, too, to make it easy to locate in the future.)

Pointless Babble

Only three rounds of pointless babble this time.

- - - - - - -

1. Does Twitter have a monopoly on "pointless babble"? I think not.

I'm now following The Drudge Report on Twitter-- by far the most prolific entity on my list. One of their tweets the other day was a link to a story about how one study (with a sample of a measly 2,000 tweets, however) determined that 40 percent of tweets are "pointless babble". (Their example of "pointless babble" was something like "I'm eating a sandwich now", by the way.)

Measly sample size aside, I'd say the findings are accurate-- if anything, they may be a little low-- but remarkably unsurprising. Haven't people known all along that Twitter is designed for pointless babble? Or at least that's what I tell myself, since babbling is just about all I do on Twitter-- usually pointlessly.

After reading something like that-- and honestly, even before reading the article-- I think twice before tweeting. This may be difficult to believe, for those of you who either "follow" me on Twitter or read my tweets right here on this blog and see my snoozy observations on weather, how tired I am, or what Trixie happens to be doing at the moment, but I've actually been holding back my most boring tweets. I frequently stop myself in mid-tweet. "Nah. That's just too boring to bother people with" Or-- "I don't want it to sound like all I ever do is grumble, so... (backspace backspace backspace)"...

I wonder how many Twitter users feel this pressure to be interesting-- to stay upbeat (or cool and dark, depending on the personality)-- to censor themselves when they begin to feel that they've been doing too much babbling. (Note that I only insinuated that I feel the pressure to be interesting and upbeat-- not that I actually achieve a high level of interest and cheeriness. Just wanted to make sure that was clear. (g))

As someone who only tweets "on the side" and really prefers a blog for the long haul, my next thought naturally is of the blog. I may curb my tongue (fingers?) on Twitter, but my blog is at least 40% pointless babble, too. I'm going to try to forget I ever thought about that, though, and just keep on blogging away, one tedious entry at a time. The good thing about my blog is that there's no fluctuating "follower" count to avoid noticing every time I log on.

- - - - - - -

2. Trixie may not be destined for print, after all. (Oops.)

I may have spoken too soon about Trixie being in the I Has a Hotdog book. The last e-mail we got on the subject indicated that there's still some chance of the photo not making the cut. (Though they did sound encouraging.) I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

No, this doesn't really matter-- only I'll feel silly for having mentioned it at all, if it doesn't pan out. And it would be fun to see one of our dogs in a Real Book.

- - - - - - -

3. "Island Flyover" is fun.

My current favorite thing on the Wii is the Resort's "Island Flyover" game. It's not a very structured, competitive game, which is probably a big part of why I like it right now. Just between the two three however-many of us there are, I can sometimes be a little too competitive. (No comment necessary, Donald :oP) A non-competitive solo game is a nice break from losing to the meanie computer for the nth time in a row at ping pong table tennis.

For those who don't know, in this game you fly a little plane around the island resort looking for (marked) points of interest and/or popping balloons by shooting them or flying into them. I like games with a little of a treasure hunt in them, and this one is also something where you can just sit back and enjoy the view, too-- particularly once you unlock the sunset and night-time options.

- - - - - - -

The End.

Am I a Hippie?

Rachel's latest entry about this possibly soon-to-be blog-meme made me wonder if I could even come up with enough pertinent facts about myself to do something similar. (I may find myself having to borrow some of your items, Rachel, since they're true for me, too.) So here it goes!

Is Michael a Hippie?

Pros:

1. I have an unconventional name (for a woman).
2. My hair is long and straight, and I hardly ever "style" it with a blow drier-- even less frequently with any other hair torturing device (a.k.a. curling iron, etc.).
3. I haven't used herbicide in our yard for well over a year.
4. I've never shot a gun at an animal.
5. I try not to waste food, electricity, and water.
6. I don't wear make-up on a daily basis.
7. My daily garb is very casual and laid back.
8. I owned a couple pair of bell-bottom jeans, back when they were briefly fashionable again (or maybe a year or two too late for the trend). I still find boot-cut and flare-cut jeans more comfortable than the high-waisted, tight-fitting jeans of my youth.
   
9. I go barefooted most of the time.
10. My husband has facial hair.
11. My husband plays the guitar and the recorder.
12. I love the beauty of nature.
13. I like some music that might be described as "psychedelic" or produced by "hippie bands".
14. I don't particularly trust the government. (I think many of those in charge have nothing more than their own power and glorification in mind, and even when it comes to the "true believers" among them, I don't have faith that they're acting in the country's best interest-- quite simply because I think they're just wrong.)
    

Cons:

1. My so-called unconventional name is extremely conventional for men. (I'm no Sunflower or Moonbeam-Dancer.)
2. I wash my hair every day and occasionally color it to cover my (premature and totally unfair (g)) grays. I have also taken to using Suave's leave-in anti-frizz creme product on a semi-regular basis.
3. The reason I haven't used herbicide in so long is a mixture of procrastination and laziness.
   
4. Once we get a "snake gun", I fully intend to rid our yard of any venomous snake I find.
5. I try not to waste things primarily because I like to save money, not because I think Mother Earth cries when I forget to turn off the lights.
   
6. I do wear make-up when I'm going into public. (Not because I think it's "wrong" not to, but because I'm more comfortable that way. If I had perfect skin, I'd probably never wear the stuff. Alas, my skin is not perfect. The make-up doesn't really completely fix that, but at least it helps.)
   
7. Though they are casual, I usually wear exceptionally normal (ha ha) clothes-- capris (or jeans, in cooler weather) and a (not tie-dyed) fitted tee.
   
8. I go barefooted (indoors) only because it's comfortable and because I can (since I'm home most of the time). When I go anywhere else-- or even just outside-- you can count on it that I'll be wearing footwear.
9. My husband keeps his facial hair neatly trimmed and is wonderfully non-hippie-ish in dress. (Think button-down shirts tucked into trousers.)
   
10. My guitar- and recorder-playing husband is also teaching himself to play the banjo.
    
11. I don't think man-caused global warming is proven fact. (Or, er, they're calling it "climate change" now, aren't they, since some studies indicate that we're entering a cooling phase?)
    
12. I eat meat every day, often twice.
13. There is a leather couch in my living room, and I have owned leather shoes and belts. I bought my husband a leather jacket last winter. Also, I own a coat with fur trim around the hood.
    
14. I remove body hair in accordance with Western tradition.
15. I wear deodorant. (What, do modern hippies wear it, too? Sorry if I've offended.)
    
16. I am politically, fiscally, and socially conservative and attended (the tail end of) a local Tax Day Tea Party, last April.
    
17. I have never used recreational drugs. (I stick with candy, chocolate, and ice cream. And Dr. Pepper.)
18. I believe it is important for our nation to keep a strong military.
19. I don't grow my own food (though I'd like to try growing a small vegetable patch, someday).
    
20. I love (the idea of) the past-- Victorian and Edwardian England, pioneering times in America, the Regency period, America in the first half of the 20th century, and so on. Period literature and mini-series are my favorite escape from reality.
    
21. I am a Christian. (That's not to say that some who identify themselves as hippies are not also Christian, but there seems to be a strong emphasis in hippie culture in general on embracing Eastern religions.)
    
22. I am essentially a traditionalist.
    

What a surprise! I seem not to be a hippie!

Incidentally, I wonder if there's something in the air right now, because just yesterday I read a blog post by someone in Australia (in a totally different circle) about how she embraces many of the principles and ideals typically be found in an environmentalist-- yet she doesn't like the idea of being identified as such. She'd rather people think of her simply as a frugal woman trying to do right by her family and God. I get the sense that quite a few people are feeling this way, lately.

What is the world coming to?

A while back, a link from CakeWrecks led me to Jorge Garcia's blog. (He's the actor who plays "Hurley" on Lost.)

Well, a day or two ago, he posted about a recent hotel room, sharing a photo he took from the tub. (Don't worry, it's not that kind of a blog.) The reason he decided to share the photo was that he found he could see the hotel bed from the tub-- not because the door to the bathroom was open, but because the wall between the bathroom and bedroom was less of a wall than, well, a large window.

If you're intrigued, check out this post (with a photo) and/or this one (with a video).

How weird! Why in the world would anyone design a bathroom with glass walls? It seems more like it belongs in some bizarre art installment than in a hotel room. (Maybe the artist-- er, architect was trying to communicate something about how we lack true privacy in this modern age.)

A Kinder, Gentler Prison Sentence. . .

Good grief.

I just read this entry at "A Swedish American in Stockholm"*, a blog I stumbled upon a few months ago. This particular entry is primarily his reaction to the news of a convicted murderer's escape in Stockholm.

The facts of the case are these:

• The man was convicted of murder and attempted murder.
• He was sentenced to 14 years, but would've been eligible for parole in July, after serving only ten years.
• He escaped while he was out shopping with a couple of "guardians"! (Yes, you read that right. A convicted murderer still serving his sentence was out running a shopping errand!)
  
• The "guardians" were surprised that he ran away (ha!), because apparently he was a model prisoner on his eight previous supervised temporary releases.

Let me reiterate: Good grief!

Well-- but really, it makes perfect sense. You can't keep someone cooped up like that without the occasional treat. You know, a little trip now and then for some variety. A chance to stretch his legs and mingle with society at this most festive time of the year. Keeping him shut away from the rest of the world without a holiday now and then would be inhumane. I mean, it's not like he's a murderer or something. Oh, wait. . .

The article closes with a reassuring message from the Stockholm police representative: The escaped prisoner is not considered dangerous. Well, thank goodness for that, at least! If he'd been one of those dangerous murderers-- one shudders to think what could happen! Of course, you brilliant people didn't think he'd try to escape in the first place, so who are you to say he's not a danger?

Well, I guess it's worth risking an occasional. . . "incident" like this, if it means those cherished prisoners are treated in a kinder, gentler fashion.

*The author of the blog is the son of an American woman and a Swedish man. As he puts it, "born in Sweden, raised in the US", he's now living (and "exploring his roots") in Sweden. His blog is mostly about his experiences as a cultural foreigner in a country where he is technically (not to mention genetically) a citizen. As someone whose potential children could someday be in the same situation, I find this subject interesting. Besides, I'm always entertained by people's reactions to and insights into Sweden. (These days, at least. Before I knew Donald, of course, that wasn't the case. But you'd already surmised that, so why am I still typing?)

Rising Early, Trixie, and GoogleReader Pruning

Don't you just love it when the puppy wakes you up before six o'clock, and then you figure you might as well stay up, since you're awake anyway?

My problem is that (after the first foggy minute or two pass) I'm filled with morning enthusiasm (and I think "hey, this way I'll have a whole hour with the house all nice and quiet-- no distractions!"), only to have that enthusiasm ebb away after a couple of hours unless kept carefully going. I'm just going to have to keep it going!

** ** ** ** **

I am seriously considering taking someone off my Google Reader.

This person doesn't even know I exist (I'm 100% lurker on her blog and only found her through her comments on another blog where I never breathe a word) so there's no risk of hurt feelings. I started reading because it looked like we had some shared interests, and every now and then I do still enjoy her blog, but slowly it's gotten more and more negative-- and not just in the "drat, the cat just puked on the couch" or "I'm so sick of figuring out what to cook every day" way, because heaven knows I can relate to that only too well (well, not specifically cat puke, but you get the point), but more in the "oh my gosh, the world markets are collapsing" and "half my favorite restaurants are going out of business in this rotten economy" way.

I know we're all bound to be negative from time to time. I know I do it, too, though I hope I'm not this bad about it. . . It has gotten to the point that when I saw this morning that she had written a new post, I debated whether or not to even read it. "If it's something about how awful things are, " I told myself, "I'm probably going to take her off my list." Sure enough, it's basically this: "I had a great birthday, but then I heard on the news about poverty and unemployment in my state." (sigh)

Maybe I'm wrong, here, but that just seems like the opposite of "every cloud has a silver lining"-- something like "it's always raining somewhere" or "every day is someone's worst day"-- both true, I'm sure, but not exactly the sort of thing that braces us for our own worst days.

I'm probably too sensitive to this type of thing, lately, but I'm trying to remove the stones from my shoes before embarking on what threatens to be a long, tiring journey, these next few years. . .

(And with that, I have now successfully turned this entry into the very type of entry I myself am trying to avoid! I'm sorry about that.)

** ** ** ** **

Did I earlier write about how nice and quiet the house would be for an hour? Strike that and replace it with something about how Trixie would keep barking every fifteen minutes or so, and then when I would open the crate to take her outside, would just stand there and look at me as though she had no idea what an open door was used for, and what on earth made me think she wanted to leave this cozy crate in the first place? . . . (rolls eyes)

Then, when I finally get her out and deposit her on the kitchen step, instead of getting down to business and finding a parcel of earth just begging to become an impromptu puppy toilet, she became sidetracked-- first by the squeaky chicken Molly left outside overnight, and then by drops of water falling from the roof. She was actually pouncing on them and digging, like she thought the weaselly little things had gone to ground, or something. (Well, I guess that technically speaking, she was right. . .) (She hasn't had much experience with rain, pampered pooch that she is, and she still doesn't really know what to make of falling water.)

Oh, you crazy little puppy!

Everything Depends on Perspective

Donald told me last night that the Swedish media had proclaimed Palin the "winner" of the debate.

--Never mind that the whole idea of anyone winning a debate seems improbable to me. How can you tell? Maybe, rarely, there is no doubt, but most of the time opinions will differ.--

For the Swedish media to suggest that Palin "won", however, I figured the victory must've been fairly unquestionable, because generally speaking, the Swedish media (like most media in Europe, I'd say) tend to slant things toward the Democratic side.

And yet when I visited a few blogs this morning, almost the first thing I saw was a liberal blogger (no-one you know, I'm sure) who had written with an "and that settles that" complacency that while Palin did better than expected, Biden had won the debate.

All I can say is. . . Wow. If you have a more blinding case of left-leaning bias than the Swedish media*. . . you must be democrat right down to the core.

(This is why I think it's mostly pointless for many people to bother watching the debates. If you've already made up your mind, it'll take something incredible to sway your vote-- something much more shocking than what usually takes place at these debates. And if something that big ever were to happen, you'd be sure to hear about it the next day.)

*No offense to Swedes in general, of course. I might say the same thing about the mainstream media of the U.S., actually. But I thought it was more fun to drag Sweden into the brawl. ;o)

Something light (and fluffy, with icing on top)

Well, okay, maybe "light" isn't really the right word. I think that most ideal cakes are supposed to be "light and fluffy", but it feels wrong to describe cake as "light". . .

Hm. Let me start over again.

For a little change of pace, here's a link to a funny blog I just came across this afternoon:
Cake Wrecks!

There are plenty of odd-looking cakes to gawk and giggle at-- and laughter is something I can't get enough of, now or ever.

. . .Now to take the dogs out before they burst my eardrums. . .

BaldwinReport

I thought that local readers-- you know who you are ;o)-- might be interested in this blog that I just found: BaldwinReport.

The most recent entry says that a "county commission projection" indicates that the county's population will double in ten years. (And for those of you not familiar with our area, that's on top of some pretty extraordinary growth in the last ten or twenty years, too.) Frankly, it's not great news, in my opinion. I just wonder when it'll ever stop. Will the continuing influx of all these new people ruin the very aspects of the area that attracted them in the first place? Oh well. It's better to live in an area that's growing than in one that everyone's fleeing, I guess. At this rate, I may end up being a city girl without ever leaving the "country" behind! ;o)