Guilty Pleasures

The topic came up over at Ethos for Watercooler Wednesday a few weeks ago about YouTube Guilty Pleasures. I have to admit that the topic is an interesting one but there is no way at all I can confine myself to just one. Let's face it, I'm an eclectic kinda gal so the things I love have to reflect that. I know that this is a bit past the date but you know what? I'm going to do it anyway!

So, for today, I have a handful of Guilty Pleasures:

#3 This one requires a few things, namely a love of Firefly, a passing understanding of the Simpsons (if you remember the episode this is from, bonus!) and a strange sense of humor.

#2 This one is the absolute favorite of my entire family. All five of the kids sing along in Japanese, how cool is that? There is something in this song that touches me deeply, which it surprising for the closing credits of an anime (one called Clannad). Watch and see for yourself!

#1 This one always makes me smile, mostly because it looks like so much fun to do and also because it's one of my favorite songs by Rich Mullins. What's not to love?

I have...have you?

Don't ask me why but today seems like a good day for a list. Thanks to Brian Stampfl for this idea. Rules are simple, steal this list and put in bold anything you personally have done. When you get to the bottom, add something of your own just to keep this interesting. Have fun!

As a side note, after going through this list, I think it's time to put some things on my to do list. How about you? What item do you most WANT to do?

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s nappy
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten tipsy on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse of both the sun and moon
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had/Have amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted a river
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in a Rocky Horror Picture Show
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept 30 hours in a 48 hour time frame
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read “The Iliad”
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life
151. Taken a ride in the Goodyear Blimp
152. Written a novel

Speak up!

Speak up.
Originally uploaded by Aaron Michael Brown

Wow!

I set a goal. A simple one. Send three writers to a Writer's Conference.

2 weeks.
$2000
$2 at a time.

I certainly didn't expect to get interviewed on the radio!

I'm so excited! This small idea is taking hold. We have a quarter of what we need. I can't begin to thank everyone enough for the generosity and support that they've shown. Wow!

How about you? Care to join in? It's only $2....

Potato Salad Paradox

Mutti's Potato Salad
Originally uploaded by Denni Schnapp

As I child I hated Potato Salad. Don't ask me why. Might have been the texture, the smell..could barely stand to touch the stuff. But for some reason, when it came around at family picnics, I still would put a little spoonful on my plate and gobble it down anyway.

Now, 30 years later, my tastes have changed. I really love potato salad...

...sometimes.

I don't understand it but at some picnics now I"m the first person heading back for seconds on potato salad (especially if it's homemade and has something crunchy in it to make it interesting...but I digress). Other times though, it's all I can do to manage that polite spoonful.

Interestingly enough I've encountered a lot of potato salad people lately which makes me wonder exactly what gives.

I would guess it has something to do with how unique the potato salad person is. They're not your everyday sort of friend. They're the one that serves that certain purpose in your life, that add a little zip and interest to the day. I love them to pieces!

At the same time, being around potato salad people, at least for me, becomes exhausting. Sometimes you just have to reach for the chips. And that's ok too.

Makes you think a little, doesn't it?

Who are the potato salad people in your life?

Taking that Next Step

Last week I accomplished what I set out to do. For those of you not following my Surviving Sainthood blog I drove to my mother's house, a trip of 340 miles one way. This might now seem overly special or noteworthy until you realize one thing about me.

I stopped driving entirely for three years and only in the last six months had I started driving again.

Back when just getting to the store a half mile away was a big deal, driving to my mother's house seemed about as reasonable as a trip to the moon (which, if you believe my husband when he gets on a conspiracy theory frame of mind, never happened to ANYONE...)

The key was babysteps. Starting small. Trips to the store or library. Expanding upon it. Re-learning the intricacies of the expressway. Toughing it out through those white-knuckled moments when I thought the smartest thing to do would be to pull off the road, curl in a fetal position under the dashboard with my thumb in my mouth and wait for help to arrive.

My point is, eventually I did it. I made the trip, not only there but all the way home again a few days later. So what's in store now? Well...

*smiles*

I found a new challenge. I think I would like to someday be able to run a half-marathon. I've been inspired by Michael Hyatt's blog the last month and the more I read the more I think I would like to run. The more I look forward to not just having a strong mind able to tackle impossible drives, but a body that's strong as well.

Maybe this seems like a little goal to the athletically minded. For those of you who don't know me...well I have fibromyalgia. So to someone who spends some days curled in bed, hurting too much to make the trip down the stairs...I might as well be going to the moon.

One step at a time.

...a Different Drummer?

It's Watercooler Wednesday and I am surrounded by music. I live and breathe it. From the moment I wake up I hear it in my head, from my computer speakers, or on the car radio. I play it on the piano, the violin, the harp. I tap out rhythms on the kitchen counter and have been told I sing in my sleep. (I can't help but wonder....in tune?)

Today I moved to a slightly different beat. I woke up with a rhythmic thumping in my heart, in my head. A peek at YouTube named what I heard. The Bodhran.

I live less than twenty miles from the most amazing place...a little store and workshop called Hobgoblin's Stoney End, home of the Stoney End harps The place where my Daelyn (lap harp) was birthed. In the front corner of the store were two towers, racks reaching to the ceiling of round drums. Bodhrans.

I should have known better. I was only going to look today. Find out how much they cost. What they sounded like. Ah but once my fingers touched the stretched skin over the wooden frames I was hooked. And for once, due to some great sales of CDs and books over at Half.com I could afford to make dreams come true. Well this dream at least as a Bodhran is an inexpensive instrument.

So here I sit at my desk, the wooden tipper lying next to my keyboard, the most beautiful Bodrhan in the world leaning against my leg. I'm sure it will take a little time to learn but oh, how much fun to discover this new outlet for my creativity.

Let the music begin!