So Excited about This News Bulletin!!

Anybody who teaches that someone is less valuable than someone else is wrong, wrong, wrong, and I'm thrilled that this guy is finally getting nailed for his sinful and revolting use of authority to manipulate and control an entire community.

Thirty Terrible Puns

1. A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backwards poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
6. She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but broke it off.
7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
10. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
15. Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.
16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
17. Every calendar's days are numbered.
18. A lot of money is tainted. It taint yours, and it taint mine.
19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
20. He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
22. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
24. Once you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.
27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
29. Acupuncture is a jab well done.
30. Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

Searching for Friends

I miss college days, when I lived in a dorm full of people that I could sit down with for a moment or for an evening. It was like a friend buffet! It's not that easy anymore.

But yesterday, we went to an afternoon cookout hosted by an old friend of Ian's. They lived on the same hall in college. There were a few other couples there, and it was a really nice, relaxing time. It was nice to be friendly again. And there is a classmate of mine (I am taking an undergrad class this semester) who is being very friendly to me, too.

It's been nice. What a surprise! I like friends.

My Day's Work on Saturday

I had Saturday off at the store, so I spent the whole day doing housewifey things.

First, we went grocery shopping together.


Ian went off to do errands after he helped put all the groceries away. We also had lunch together.

While he was gone, this was what I got done:
1 loaf of bread, baked
4 loads of laundry, sorted, washed, dried, folded
2 lasagnas (with real noodles, not bake-only noodles), compiled, frozen, put away
1 carrot cake made from scratch (it's a layer cake, so I also made homemade cream cheese icing), baked, assembled, iced
1 pot of baked potato soup*, assembled, simmered, partially eaten
about 30 koteletes (yummy panfried meatloaf patties), mixed, formed, fried, drained, frozen
12-13 sinkloads of dishes, washed, dried, put away


When Ian came home, he ironed and helped with the dishes.

So now my freezer is fuller. Yay!

And I calculated that it was an 8-hour workday, but working for your family is immensely more satisfying than working for someone else.
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*Click here for the recipe for that soup! It was awesome, delicious, truly pleasurable.

Baked Potato Soup

Saute one medium onion, chopped, in 3 Tbsp. oil or butter.

When soft, add 6 cups chicken stock or chicken broth, 5 cups baked potatoes, cubed and peeled.

Bring to a simmer, and add 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 cup sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a simmer again, and serve with baked potato toppings, such as bacon, chopped chives, or cheese.

Source: Joy of Cooking

Regarding Reaction Range

The studies are getting better. I have an exam on Friday, so I have been barreling through pages and pages of textbook. In fact, I have a funny quote:

In societies in which nutrition has dramatically improved, an entire generation has grown up to tower over the generation before.... Ultimately, height has genetic limits; we do not see people who are only a foot tall or who are 10 feet tall.

I guess it's funny in context. The book works so hard to be factual and specific and scientific. And here's a little bit of silliness in the midst of all the professionalism. Hah.

Madeleine L'Engle, 1918-2007

I read voraciously when I was younger. I read a lot of silly fiction series, which were entertaining, but the print version of bubble gum and cotton candy.

I also read good books, the print version of a healthy salad, or a balanced meal of grilled chicken, steamed vegetables, and a yummy dessert.

I remember reading and rereading everything of hers I could get my hands on. I even wrote my high school English research paper on her books.

I was captured, fascinated, by her science fiction and her family fiction.

So many of her stories are unfinished. I wish I could read even more. I will miss you.

Scintillating Studies

This is what I have been reading lately. Let this quote also serve as a shout-out to Mr. Morton, my high school statistics teacher.

A correlational study is an attempt to find a correlation, or statistical relationship, between variables, phenomena that change or vary among people or can be varied for purposes of research. Correlations are expressed in terms of direction (positive or negative) and magnitude (degree). Two variables that are related positively increase or decrease together....Two variables have a negative, or inverse, correltion if, as one increases, the other decreases.

Here's another brain-suckingly boring quote ripped from context:

A research design is a plan for conducting a scientific investigation: what questions are to be answered, how participants are to be selected, how data are to be collected and interpreted, and how valid conclusions can be drawn. For of the basic designs used in developmental research are case studies, ethonographic studies, correlational studies, and experiments. Each design has advantages and drawbacks, and each is appropriate for certain kinds of research problems.

Far-away mountain

My dear family,

I miss you.

Mountain Musings

Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of the children of mankind!
In the cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you store them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.

--Psalm 32:19-20