Forbes is Right

I read a good column today in Forbes Magazine.

It was this month's Fact and Comment by Steve Forbes.

Mr. Forbes opined that the solution to Abramoff-style, felonious lobbying is not more regulation and attempts to keep the money out of politics but rather a decrease in the influence and scope of government.

When government sticks its tentacles into every facet of our lives it is inevitable that its power will be misused. Does it really surprise anyone that there are people who make livings trying to tap into this corruption for their own selfish benefit?

You can read the article here for two bucks or in the current issue of Forbes. I read Forbes at my local library.

The OSFA

Today, Mom, Dad and I went to the UW's Office of Student Financial Aid to see if we could straighten out the problems with my FAFSA data.

We were able to get in and talk to a Financial Aid councilor without having to wait. We explained the situation and the councilor told us that there was very little we could do. Even if we can get Dad's assets properly accounted for, it is too late to change the assets on the FAFSA. He told us to wait until we get the financial aid report and then write a letter to the OSFA explaining the situation. There is a small chance that I might be able to get a little money but he implied that the chances are slim at best.

On a more positive note, we were able to get several brochures about University of Washington scholarships. I spent this afternoon analyzing all of them and identifying which ones I might qualify for. I found several that look like they've got potential. I lack the confidence to say they hold promise.

You've been hearing alot about me lately. If you want to read something more useful, MVB has written a couple of excellent posts on the Scopes Trial. Scroll down on his blog for the first article.

Flyleaf

I have acquired Flyleaf's debut, self-titled album and now consider myself a fan. The heavier music and positive lyrics are pretty nifty. The music video for their song "Breathe Today" is pretty cool.

I used to dislike rock bands headed by female vocalists but over the last year or so I've found several exceptions. Evanescence, Avril Lavigne, Plumb and a few others have caught my ear. I guess that such groups are not non-existant, as I had supposed, only rare.

The Four-Four Meme

I've been getting tagged a lot lately so instead of filling this meme out the normal way I'll answer most of the questions in paragraph form. I was originally tagged by Virginia but I only filled it out half way and never posted it. Now that the Pickle has also tagged me I'll do my duty.

I've only had one “real” job. For the last 4.5 years I've worked for a print shop doing everything that other people didn't feel like doing. Mostly bindery and cleaning.

I usually don't watch movies over and over, however there are a few films that stand out above all others and deserve to be seen repeatedly. These movies include, the Princess Bride, Gladiator, the Patriot, Secondhand Lions.

I've lived my entire life in the same house. It is located in North America, in the United States, in Washington, in Seattle.

We don't have a TV but from time to time I watch TV series on DVD. My current favorite is Firefly. I watch a lot of old time stuff like Andy Griffith and I Love Lucy with my siblings. In the past I watched Babylon 5 although I haven't gotten to watching the last half of season 5.

Our family used to go on road trips. We took a 2-weeker up through Canada, a 1 monther across the North part of the U.S., two years later we took another month long trip through the South West. We haven't done a big road trip for several years. Instead, we went to Six Flags in Chicago this year.

I visit a lot of websites daily. Namely gmail.com, blogger.com, myuw.washington.edu and a dozen or two blogs.

I like variety in my food. Especially, if that variety includes a lot of meat. Steak, burgers, teriyaki, fajitas etc. Cheese is good too a la home made mac n' cheese, Italian casserole etc. You get the point.

For this one I'll tag TBQelite, Emily, QuirkyChild and Neemund.

There is yet Hope

I would like to apologize for the semi-incoherent and whiny nature of my last post. I was a bit flustered when I wrote it and on further reflection I can see that I overstated my difficuties.

I was expecting to get pretty much all of my college tuition paid for by financial aid because my family, while living comfortably, is not burdened with a great abundance of excess money. According to the Washinton State education website our family income is less than a quarter of what it "should" be for its size.

Let me make it clear that I never expected for my parents to pay for my education. They have five other kids to worry about and I'm already absorbing more than my share of their resources. While it might be convenient to have parental assistance in funding my time at the UW it really isn't their responsibility and the struggle to make it work without them is probably good for me.

Unfortunately for me, there is something that makes Dad's assets look to be several times what they actually are. This of course elevates the states expectation of his contributions towards my education from nothing to about $7,000 a year. This means that I won't be able to get any government aid.

Because I was confident of getting government aid I wasn't proactive in looking for private scholarships. I've started getting myself in gear on that front but I'm pretty late out of the gate.

This paints a pretty dismal picture of my ability to fund college but things are not so bad as I thought.

First, there is a good possibility that Dad can get things ironed out so that I can give the financial aid people an accurate picture and get all of the help from them that I originally expected.

Secondly, I've got a bit of money stashed away in nooks and crannies, I've got a job and 8 months before school starts. Even afte school starts there have been hundreds of thousands of people who have been able to work their way through college, I'm not so different from them and I can probably fund my college by myself.

Third, I might be able to get a scholarship. I have pretty strong grades, a 97+ percentile SAT score and teachers willing to recommend me.

Finally, if all my other options fall through, the military has just doubled the potential for enlistment bonuses and is offering loads of college money. As a recruit with a two-year degree, strong test scores etc. I should be able to get a fair bit of money and college assistance out of them. (Up to $40k enlistment bonus, $16K annual salary plus living expenses, $71 in college money and that's not counting any of the special duty bonuses currently available.) The army is a last resort because it would mean taking several more years off of school.

Things could definitely be worse.

The Winds of Change have Blown Me Off Course

Once again the brilliant humorists at Despair.com have managed to perfectly describe my circumstances.

A generous charity has turned unexpectedly and bitten me and it looks as if my college plans are in need of drastic revision and possibly abandonment.

There is yet hope that circumstances can be reconciled in such a way for my designs to prevail but at this time I must tread carefully and plan for the worst.

Hooked!

On the recommendation of Quirky Child I have begun reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I find it most agreeable. While I have never considered myself to be among the fans of romance novels, I find the witty dialogue and vivid charachters to be enjoyable in all their particulars.

Because of the books age, it has passed into the public domain. This means that it is no longer copy-righted and that readers can distribute it freely without obligation to its owners.

I have in my position a plain text version of the book that I am willing to share with any of my online acquaintances. It can be read on screen or printed out according to the preference of the reader. If you would like a copy, you may contact me at your convenience. My contact information is available near the top of the sidebar to the right of this post.

*EDIT*
The comments on this post were not working but thanks to Mr. Bugblaster they have been repaired.

Template Changes

As you've probably noticed I have radically altered my sidebar. I delayed starting the switch until I had things mostly ready but expect slightly reduced functionality and frequent changes for the next week or so. I am hoping to add a whole host of new features as well.

Because of the new aesthetic I won't be displaying all of my blogger affiliates, bands and other links at the same time. I hope to add links to dedicated pages that display complete lists.

I hope that you like the new look. If you have any suggestions for change or new features feel free to comment, email or even IM me.

Oh, one more thing. I've gotten a few disparaging remarks regarding my profile pic, mostly from my dad. He claims that it looks like a mug shot. My response is this:

Sleep Inertia.

Virginia from Ontario asked me a question. Unfortunately, I was cleaning out my inbox and accidentally deleted her message. For most advice columnists this would present a most difficult and embarrassing situation. However, as part of my Dictatorial Assistance Training I was implanted with a prototype Message Recall system that allows me to remember messages with uncanny skill. This amazing technology has allowed me to recover the highlights of her message from my memory (The amazing part is that it actually worked this time. usually it fails me whenever I have something important that needs to be remembered.).

Her message was approximately as follows: “Hey Rabenstrange, Why are mornings awful? Why do I hate mornings so much?”

First, I would like to applaud Virginia for recognizing that mornings are awful. I am continually forced to operate in this sub-optimal range of time and it is refreshing to see that I am not alone in my quest to enlighten the world to the inherent inferiority of mornings. “Good morning.” is an oxymoron.

Lets answer her first question first. Why are mornings awful?

Morning means that night has ended. Night is the best time for doing stuff. Mostly because all the morning people are asleep.

(This poor fellow isn't me.)

Why do I hate mornings so much? The answer to this second question is slightly more complicated.

There are several possible reasons but I think the most likely is sleep inertia. Sleep inertia is a feeling of lethargy, a word which here means slow and draggy, that occurs in the minutes or hours shortly after waking from a long sleep. This phenomenon is experienced because it takes the human brain awhile to adjust from deep sleep to full consciousness.

According to the Roads and Traffic Authority(RTA), which has studied the effect sleep inertia has on drivers, feelings of grogginess can last anywhere from a few seconds to four hours depending on the length of time a person has been sleeping and the stage of sleep they are in when woken.

Another possible reason for your hatred is the knowledge that you have a whole day of work ahead of you. I personally find this sensation rather depressing. I much prefer evenings and afternoons when I am better able to bask in the day's accomplishments and rest.

Plumbing the Great Mysteries of the Bovine Swarm

A few days ago I received these urgent questions from Woody, “Are cows black with white spots, or white with black spots? And beside that, why do they even have spots at all?” I'm sure that there is a terribly important reason for her inquiry. I must apologize for my tardy response.

Anyhow, according to research conducted at the Rabenstrange Institute for Bovine Studies(RIBS), the coloring of cattle depends entirely on the breed.

It seems that most breeds are not black and white but rather brown or some combination of brown and another color. Of the non-brown breeds, there seem to be several that are either solid white or solid black. Breeds with that display hides that are a combination of black and white appear to be in the distinct minority.

At this point in the epic cow adventure I realized that because there are so many breeds, each with its own distinct coloring, I would have to narrow my field of study.

From the subtle intricacies of the original questions and my highly refined knowledge of bovine photography I was able to deduce that Miss Woody was most interested in Holstein cows.

Holstein cows seem to be the most pictured. Their prominence in books, magazines and literature is probably to blame for the widespread myth that all cows are black and white, a preposterous lie undoubtedly started by racist bigots to keep down brown cows.

Once I was able to focus all of RIBS's resources on this particular breed I was quickly able to find definitive answers.

According to this website, Holstein cows are usually white with black spots although black cows with white markings or even white and red cows are not unknown.

The reason for the different coloring is rooted in genetics. The different proportions of hide color is dependent on the characteristics of a given cows parents.

Hopefully this is helpful. It would be tragic if you were condemned to ponder the great mysteries of cattle to the detriment of your other pursuits.

Bad Movie = Bad Move

I got up Saturday morning at 8:20ish to go to a Quiz meet.

Neemund picked me up around 8:45 and we hit McDeath on the way into church. We showed up a few minutes late but luckily it didn't matter. Most of the team showed up about the same time and we got to chat for awhile before things really got started.

I was signed up to serve as an official but I ended up missing half of the officials orientation because I was too busy talking. It turned out to be no big deal because one of my fellow officials was paying attention and was able to tell me my room assignment.

I was an A-1 judge. The day was pretty uneventful for me, except for the fact that we had more than the usual level of contesting. In an unusual twist, we went the entire day without accepting even one contest. After the quizzing finished I assisted in resetting the rooms.

When we finally finished up we went out to see a movie. This is where my day went bad.

Because I missed Thursday practice, I didn't hear that Neemund, Shadow Walker and TBQelite were planning on going to see Underworld: Evolution. They invited me to come along. I was a bit skeptical at first seeing as how I hadn't seen the first movie in the series(Underworld) and I'm not a big fan of vampire/werewolf movies. On the other hand I had heard a lot about Underworld and it sounded really cool.

As I understood it the basic premise involved a war between competing gangs of vampires and werewolves. The movie had lots of urban gunfighting and action and from the talk of my peers I deduced that it was rather like The Matrix meets Van Helsing. It sounded like a recipe for niftiness.

Unfortunately, the sequel was different. I should have been tipped of by Evolution's high rating but I rationalized it away recalling that several of my favorite movies were rated R (Gladiator, The Patriot, The Matrix). I also had the assurances of my friends who had seen Underworld that the rating was based solely on the high levels of action violence and some course language. I assumed that Evolution would be similar but I was wrong.

There are three things that movies get rated for: violence, language and something else.

Evolution had far more “something else” than was acceptable. There were several scenes that required me to close my eyes and ears and look away. While I didn't really see anything really bad(The movies only saving grace was that the “something else” scenes were easy to see coming.) I felt ashamed to have selected a movie that contained such things. Additionally, I thought the fighting was poorly choreographed and more gory than necessary. Due to the low moral quality of the movie it was probably a good thing that I didn't like the plot either. It would be unfortunate to enjoy a movie with that much garbage in it.

The feelings I left the theater with were not my normal feelings of wonder and appreciation but rather the conviction that I should have known better and the determination to never let it happen again. Worse yet was the pang of guilt knowing that if I had listened there was a still small voice warning me away, a voice that was drowned out by my excitement about seeing a movie with the guys.

I should have done my research and checked reviews that revealed the bad material so that I wouldn't have wasted my time, money and put a black mark on my good character.

Next time I'll do better.

Asked Rabenstrange

I was recently asked* “Why do movies portray things so different from what they really are?” Being the ever so indulgent fellow that I am I decided to answer it

So why don't the massive film companies make movies that emulate real life? I think the answer is really fairly obvious. Film companies exist to make money. They might sacrifice the bottom line now and then and produce a stinker to promote their bizarre ideas of social justice but in the end their goal is to be profitable.

Therefore, it follows that film companies for the most promote movies that they feel will entice people to not only choose their picture over other forms of entertainment but also be willing to fork out $6-10 for a ticket. For a movie to be worthwhile people have to see it.

From this we can derive a new question: Why don't people want to see reality?

The obvious answer is that people can see reality anywhere for free. If the viewing public wanted to see teenagers and parents bickering they'd stay home and save $10.

The other answer is that reality for most people is unpleasant. They don't want to see a movie where the protagonist slowly builds up credit card debt until he completely destroys his finances. Watching a teenager slack off in class, fail to get into college and live the rest of her life working for near minimum wage for the rest of her miserable life strikes a little too close to home.

People want to see glamorous people do cool yet impossible things. They want to know that there will be a happy ending. To forget for a few hours, the problems with their own lives and absorb themselves in fictional trials that will be worked out within 2 hrs. That's what people pay to see.

*Actually the question wasn't directed precisely at me. It was posted on a random blog and I decided to use it because they're aren't any cool “Ask Rabenstrange” messages in my inbox.

If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z ; X is work, Y is play, and Z is keeping your mouth shut.

-Einstein

A New Kind of Tag

It seems that getting tags comes and goes in seasons. I went months without getting tagged by anyone and now it seems that everyone is tagging me. I suddenly feel popular.

The latest tag comes from No Average Girl.

Here's how it works. Each taggee downloads the image below and adds their own little piece to the mosaic. The mosaic will probably split off into various version branches but that's alright. To limit splitage, I checked the other people who got tagged by NAG(My, there's an unfortunate acronym.) and used the image that seemed most up to date. You can see my addition in the upper right corner. The arrogant sounding phrase is a reference not to my plans for global domination but rather to Legendary Frog.

Here's the mural:


Here's the contributors so far:
1. ben.run - The Originator of the idea.
2. pm
3. eph2810
4. no_average_girl - The person who tagged me.
5. Wildcard356
6. Rabenstrange - This guys is a geni... ahem, what I meant to say was this is me.


I tag

TBQelite and Virginia.

Steps:
Modify the pic, if possible include yourURL.
Add your name to the list.
Post.
If you're person 10 and/or the space is completely full let Ben.Run know, so that he can see how well his creation worked.

Once you've modified the picture (please save as a PNG to prevent data loss through multiple JPG saves)

Black Monday

I had planned to create a long, thouroughly documented post yesterday detailing the plagiarism, immorallity and bad intent of "Dr." King and explaining why I think he shouldn't have a holiday.

Instead I took advantage of the school holiday to attend a 12 hr. party at a friends house. It was alot of fun and probably a better use of my time than preaching at my small band of readers.

When I got home I attempted to post a more abbreviated lecture but was stymied by Blogger problems. Did anyone else have trouble posting around 2300 PST last night?

Maybe I just wasn't meant to do my post. Anyhow, the information isn't that difficult to find if you're looking for it.

Finally, a blonde joke I haven't heard yet.

Despite the hue of the dead matter that protrudes from my scalp, I find good blonde jokes to be excellent fun. Unfortunately, the people they have sitting in closets writing blonde jokes just aren't as good as they used to be. It's like they ran out of creativity or caffine or something. I never hear one with a new theme, they're just new skins on old jokes.

Imagine my surprise, when I found a blonde joke that was both funny and original. Click here to read it.

Start Wearing Purple!

To properly experience this post click on the link below. It will take you to a site that allows you to choose a song from a list and play it. Choose “Start Wearing Purple”. Then open another window and continue reading while the song plays. CLICK HERE

A few days ago I posted 5 weird things about myself. One of the things that I listed was that I have painted my computer purple. Here's the rest of the story.

My computer's name is Gwen. She is the successor to the beloved MicroftXXX* who died unexpectedly this summer. Her name was inspired by the Jerry Pournelle's novel Star Swarm, whose protagonist communicated with a computer program via a wireless link implanted in his head.

I refer to Gwen as “she” not “it”. I often joke that she's my girlfriend.

Why is Gwen painted purple? Is it an attempt to make her more feminine? Is it my favorite color? Nope. I wanted to paint my case and purple was the only color of spray paint I had.

I painted the case while waiting for all the components for my new friend to arrive. That way I wouldn't hurt anything important if I oversprayed and I didn't have to waste time that I could spend actually using my comp waiting for the paint to dry.

Basicly, I masked off case with newspaper and making tape and sprayed it with ordinary paint. Dad did most of it on the first layer. I did subsequent layers.

Anyhow, here's a few pictures:

Here you can see Gwen's inner workings. Pretty nifty, eh?

Gwen and I are going on a date tomorrow. I'm taking her to my friend and future roomie TBQelite's house for a LAN party.

Is the song indelibly stuck in your head yet?

Preparing for School

According to MyUW, the University of Washington's online service, my application, transcripts and other documents have been received and entered into their computers and are awaiting an initial review by the admissions staff.

While I'm waiting for news from admissions I've been looking into some of the other arrangements that need to be made in order for my UW experience to be as painless as possible. If I play my cards right the UW might even be beneficial.

First on the menu is getting financial aid*. I've got my FAFSA mostly filled out and I'm just awaiting my W-2 and Dad's income info to complete it. I should qualify for just about every program they have to offer being that our family income is significantly less than half Seattle average and a little over half of state average**. Not only do we have lower than normal income we have a lot more than normal people (8 people in the house with two attending college). I'm hoping that in addition to getting money for classes, I'll be able to procure enough from the financial aid people that I can live on campus. Which brings me to my next phase of arrangement.

Living on campus would be nice in several ways. First and foremost it would save me buckets of money on transportation. Parking at the UW is $250 a month. That doesn't count gas or other car expenses. I could take the bus but that looks to be extremely inconvenient as I would have to build my life around a bus schedule. Secondly, living on campus would be pretty convenient. I could just walk to my classes every day. Another factor is that this option provides a stepping stone between living at home and living on my own. Finally, it'll give the family a bit more space and ease my conscience about being a live-at-home slacker.

Wait a minute! What if I get stuck in a room with a hard-drinking international student that doesn't speak English? I've got that problem solved already (I hope). Enter my planned roomie and long time pal Mr. TBQelite. Mr. TBQelite will also be attending the UW (assuming we both get in) and living on campus for reasons similar to my own. According to UW policy undergraduates coming into the UW have first priority on dorms so we should be able to get a double together. I'd feel massively sorry for the third wheel who gets stuck with us in the event they give us a triple.

I've done preliminary research and I think I've identified which of the dorms suits our needs best. The answer being McCarty Hall. The rooms(pictured above) seem to have the best layout, the usual amenities and unlike the other halls McCarty is gender segregated by floor.

The floor plan posted on the Housing and Food Services website looks like this:

We would bring some of our own special furniture and set up like this:

What I mean by special furniture is that instead of normal beds, we would build, hopefully with out dads' (both of whom are contractors) bunks that instead of having a bottom bed would have a desk, thus freeing up a lot of space. As you can see from my diagram that would help remove the crushed milk carton feel (Not that I'm unused to crushed milk cartons, I've shared an 8'x10' with my brother for years. Before that I shared the same room with my brother and two sisters[When we were all less than 10 yrs. Old]). I sure hope that bringing our own furniture will be allowed.

Amenities include:

• Ian's Domain, an Internet café, features high-speed computers with Ethernet connections and a lounge with a big-screen, high-definition TV

• Ethernet access in student rooms

• Main lounge with Ping-Pong table and pool table

• A large study room which can accommodate large groups

• Single-gender floors

• A partially enclosed patio lounge

• Storage locker on each floor

• Loftable and movable furniture in each room

• Carpeted floors

• Kitchenettes, laundry facilities and bike storage rooms
  

I'm a little stressed out about all the details. Your prayers that things would work out towards God's glory would be greatly appreciated.

*Because I'm opposed to government welfare programs it probably seems a little hypocritical of me to be applying for them. But the truth is my parents and I are paying for student aid whether we use it or not. This is our chance to get a little bit of the exorbitant taxes we pay(especially Dad as a small business owner) back.

**By no means at all is this a criticism of Dad. He could be making significantly more than he does now (probably 3x or more his current income) but he chose to give up a high paying career so that he could spend more time with the family. Additionally, despite our lower income we do not experience a lower standard of living. We're just a lot more frugal than we used to be. It's amazing how little a difference the money matters.

Alito Hearings Begin

Today, Judge Samuel Alito appeared before the Senate Judiciary Commitee to begin the Senate confirmation process.

For some strange reason, the hearings began with each of the senators making a speech about what they think of Alito. It seems like the best way to learn about a canidate for an open position would involve letting them talk and possibly listening but I guess the senators all wanted a chance to monologue and hog screen time.

All in all, nothing surprising or important happened during today's proceedings.

One blurb from New York Senator Chuck Shumer's speech caught my ear:

"You give the impression of being a meticulous legal navigator, but, in the end, you always seem to chart a rightward course,"

Could it possibly that following the laws and the foundations laid down by the Constitution will lead you to the right?

Which Video Game Charachter Am I?

I took the Which Shooting Game Charachter are You? test offered by Quizilla. I didn't like the result it gave me and after surveying the list of possible results I decided that the test was dysfunctional and needed improvement. Instead of posting the lame duck answer it gave me, I made my own:


YOU ARE: GORDON FREEMAN



















A rogue physicist with lots of cool guns, a crossbow and a crowbar.

New CD w00t!

My sister bought Sanctus Real's old CD "Say it Loud" today.

It's rather nifty.

Five Weird Things About Me

Virginia has tagged me to list five strange things about myself.

1. I always see strange forms of roadkill when I look at inkblots.

2. I'm not afraid of dying but I'm terrified of being crippled.

3. I bought myself a sword for Christmas.

4. I painted my computer glossy purple.

5. My sisters have undertaken me as a kind of Pygmalion project and instead of resisting I'm semi-co-operating.

To continue the chain I tag the last five people to comment on my blog:

Jessica
MVB
Christy
EJB

*Edit* Whoops! Until Woody pointed it out to me, I didn't realize that Virginia had tagged her as well.

Woody, You are officially de-tagged.

Facial Recognition Software

I think facial recognition software has a long, long way to come.

Danika of Polka Dotted Pickles mentioned a free service offered by MyHeritage in a recent blog post. The service allows users to upload a picture and then their computers analyze your photo and tell you which celebrities you look like. It appears that the MyHeritage people intend to expand the service and add more databases of photos in the future.

In hopes of determining the tests accuracy I uploaded two pictures of myself for analysis. Their computers spit out 10 celebrities for each photo. Only two matches were common to both of my photos.

I'll let you guys be the judge of tests accuracy.

Here's a recent picture of me (one of the ones I uploaded). I took it while photographing the finished gingerbread houses. I think it is a relatively accurate representation.



Now here are the people I supposedly look like.


The first is New Age singer Enya:



The second is gay 1930's song writer Cole Porter (Yuck!):


Do I look anything like either of these people? At all?

Feel free to state your opinion in the comments section or by email.

I was thinking of writing a super brilliant post for tonight. Unfortunatley for you, I'd rather watch Andy Griffith with Dad and the bros.

Starting Again

I am started my Bible reading plan for this year. Every year I read a few chapters a day according to a special apportionment and read through the entire Bible. So far I have read through the Bible eight times. This year will be my ninth.

I am very thankful for my parents for getting me started on this habit. The systematic reading of Scripture has helped me to gain a bigger picture of what the Bible says and what its individual books, chapters and verses mean.

I encourage any of you who have not read through the Bible at least once to give it a try this year. I use the Tyndale One Year Bible. If you don't want to purchase a new Bible there are many reading plans and schedules available online. A simple Google search should reveal a few.

Credit Where Credit is Due

The very cool idea of serving Acquiesce Martini's was not mine. Since it was a great success and seems to have engendered a certain amout of admiration I didn't think it quite right to claim credit for the notion.

The rightful praise belongs to my wonderful(1)*, beautiful(5)* and ever so witty(3)* sister Emily.




*numbers indicate how many browny points I hope to recieve from my sister for each adjective.

The New Year is IN, the Old Year is OUT

Our New Year's party was a great success. We invited a few of our friends and neighbors over for a taco pizza dinner and a few hours of board games.


We played several games. I personally played one game of Cranium, coming in last place and one of LotR Risk which I won handily. Some people played cribbage, Memory and a few others. It was a pleasant evening.


At midnight we counted down the seconds and toasted the New Year with Acquiesce Martinis*. We originally intended to shoot our muzzleloaders (loaded with paper wads) up in the air but ended up scrapping the idea, deciding it was too inconvenient.

I hope that each of you has a wonderful new year.


*For those of you who haven't read the Lemony Snicket books, an Acquiesce Martini consists of a glass of water with a green olive in it. Completely non-alcoholic. Having tried one I can objectively say they are NASTY!