i passed 8th grade math!

It's good to know that, even though I haven't had a math class in... {counts on fingers} ...nine years, I can still pass 8th grade math. :) Mr. Green would be proud.

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

birdwatching: music

I will once again be providing background music for my church's spaghetti dinner this Friday from 5:00 until about 7:00. See the flyer for details.

In other music news, Amy King and I have put together about 50 minutes' worth of music for the season of Lent, in a program we're calling Hosanna! Much of it is choral or piano music that I have adapted and arranged for violin and piano, including the title song based on the hymn "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna." We have a great combination of upbeat, majestic, relaxed, and fun music with an Easter theme. Admission is free and open to the public. We'll be taking a free-will offering and donating the funds to the church, plus we'll have snacks afterward, but we're really just doing this for the fun of it.

Also check out the full-page flyer I put together tonight, and thanks to fellow graphic designer Jason Smith for his feedback on this one (so if there's anything you don't like about it, blame him... meh heh heh). I'll make a color flyer later, but I had to get this one ready for the church newsletter.

Hope to see you there!

Edited to add: I've developed a color version of the flyer. I just wish I had a better inkjet at home.

cancer has become the number one killer disease

A serious reading of an actual term paper by a guy named (no joke) Pisit Pornkitti.

Cancer Has Become the Number One Killer Disease

Enjoy.

alma mater hear us, as we praise thy name...

...make us worthy sons and daughters, adding to thy fame. Time will treat you kindly, and some years from now you'll be ever dearer to our hearts, our university. From the halls of ivy, over to the campus scene, chimes ring out with gladess for our dear Bowling Green. When all is but a memory of the bygone days, hear our hymn, dear alma mater, as thy name we praise.

I visited BG today for the first time in almost two years, since Nick and GT moved away. I found out the Black Swamp Players were doing Anything Goes again, which I had a great time playing the piano for back in 2000 (and it was such a good show, my parents drove from Elyria to see it twice). This production wasn't quite as good; I was glad to see a few actors reprising their roles from last time, and Reno -- aside from her Carrot Top hairstyle -- fit the bill nicely. But the comedic timing and pacing wasn't always there, and that coupled with minimal laughs from the audience made for a less-gratifying experience than 2000. Still, it was nice to see one of my favorite shows and catch up with Bob Hastings, the director.

That wasn't really reason enough to drive an hour and 45 minutes to BG, so I made a day of it by going to the Methodist church I attended while in college, reminded them I used to sing in the choir and announced my triumph over Hodgkin's, then had lunch with Jason and Schutze and finally got to see his new (to me) house.

I had about 15 minutes to kill before church, so I parked near the library and was instantly reminded of the notorious bitter cold wind upon exiting the vehicle. I took a walk through the art building, which had exactly one human being inside. I realized I'd never been in there on a Sunday morning, because I'd always had church, but I figured there'd at least be some Matt Milizia-esque students in there toiling away with no sleep. Then I went across the way to Saddlemire, where the large open room on the first floor is now occupied by a large-format printing services company, which of course moved in a year after I graduated.

After the show, I went back to campus and walked through the student union that opened during my last semester. I got a berry smoothie for old time's sake and stopped to find my brick on the wall (was a graduation gift from my parents).

I didn't really feel anything. I don't think I'm yet far enough removed from college to get all sentimental about it, although I did sing the alma mater as I was coming down Bowling Green Road into town. I walked through the art building and just... really didn't care. But then, I'm not sure what I was expecting to feel. Even if there had been anyone there, no one would have known who I was, and it's not like I'd stand out from people just a few years younger than me. (Plus, I look considerably different without glasses, so I doubt former profs would recognize me, even if they did remember me.)

It was nice to shop at Meijer again, though. :) What a great store. Too bad Giant Eagle holds the market around here so Meijer is afraid to move east. But I'm sure the new Elyria Super Wal*Mart will be just as good... *cough*

johari window

I've succumbed to the latest blog meme-of-the-week: the Johari window. They give you a list of words, and you choose the top five or six that best describe the person. It's interesting to see how people perceive you vs. how you perceive yourself. However, there are a couple synonyms on there (e.g. shy/introverted/quiet, kind/friendly, intelligent/knowledgable), so I think that may artificially inflate the "blind spot." In any case, feel free to contribute to my Johari window.

In other news, as noted in my last comment here, we decided to name the new dog Mandy. {cue Barry Manilow music}

awww whoozha cute doggie?

Yes, YOUzha cute doggie!


Checking out her new territory.


Inspecting the old coffeemaker.


I guess the beagle genes are dominant.

For those confused, we did indeed adopt a new dog. You might recall that Belle, we discovered, had lymphoma and passed away this past September. Mom, the de facto primary dog caretaker, voted we not get another dog. Although it's great to have one around, it can be a pain to feed/walk/cleanupafter them, and any overnight vacations means putting the dog in a kennel. But as my mom put it, "dad kept whining about how we didn't have a dog anymore" and how they'd always had at least one dog since they've been married. So she looked into getting another small beagle as a Valentine's gift.

We found Brigitte on PetFinder and noticed a resemblance to Belle (Brigitte is actually a beagle/fox terrier mix, and as you can see, looks like someone put a miniature beagle's head on Eddie-from-Frasier's body). It turns out that the woman who found her is associated with Erie Shores Humane Society, and it so happens that one of my co-workers is too. She gave us some more specific information on Brigitte's personality and background, and mom and I went to meet her in person (in dog?). She was extremely friendly (and lick-y) and never barked. She doesn't share her humans, however, and when mom was petting her and another dog came up to be petted, Brigitte nipped at the other dog. But since we don't have any other pets, this shouldn't be a problem. (And when she wasn't vying for a human's attention, she was fine with the other dogs.)

Mom and I thought she'd be a great match and arranged for a foster family to keep her until Valentine's Day so we could keep it a surprise. She had already been scheduled for a spaying, dental cleaning, and booster shots for the 14th, so she didn't actually come home until yesterday. To further the Kevin-Bacon-esque connections of this dog, the foster mom is a friend of a friend of my aunt, and she relayed that the foster family simply adores Brigitte and offered to dogsit in lieu of putting her in a kennel when we're away.

We finally got to hear her bark, too. I descended the stairs fairly loudly last night (hardwood steps), and she was awoken from her sleep and barked until she realized it was just me. Besides that, she never makes noise other than an occasional whine and yawn.

We haven't decided on a name yet. Dad veto'd my suggestions of Molly and Penny. At one point he suggested we just keep the name Brigitte (although if he goes with that, I'd at least tell him to spell it Bridget). Mom came up with Lucy or Sally, continuing the Peanuts theme from Belle (Snoopy's sister is named Belle). I jokingly suggested we just call her Belle II, since we named Max II after Max I based on their similar appearance. Unfortunately, all of the non-human names we came up with (Snickers, Copper, Pepper) seem like better names for a boy dog. We tried to think of fictional characters, musical terms, composers, Ancient-Rome-related names (Livia? Hera?), but couldn't think of anything good. I could see her as a Sally though.

Oh, and some odd person rescued a beagle and named it Dipstick. I suggested we name our dog Wiperblade, on account of her constant tail-wagging.

kids with leprosy

First, let me state that this post in no way intends to mock or dismiss the seriousness of children who really do suffer from leprosy. But during church yesterday, when the minister was talking about lepers during the sermon, all I could think of was this little vignette from high school.

For those who don't know, the game of Scattergories involves rolling a 20-sided die with letters of the alphabet on it. Whichever letter turns up is the letter for that round. Each player has a sheet with categories, and must come up with a word or phrase that fits the category and starts with that round's letter. For example, if the letter is "B" and the categories are "school activities," "fruits," and "cars," you could write down "band," "blueberry," and "Bentley." If someone else puts down the same answer, you don't get to count it; you only get points for unique answers. The directions give the example of putting down "knuckle" as a type of sandwich.

So anyway, one fine day in high school, G'COWA (the Grand Council Of Weekend Activities) decreed that we shalt play Scattergories. The letter was "K," and one of the categories was "things with spots." When time was up, we checked our answers.

Me: Things with spots. I got nothing.
Mike: I put down "kids with leprosy"!
Erin: Um... you can't count that.
Mike: Huh?
Erin: Um... I put down "kids with leprosy" too...

Hilarity ensues.

Edited to add: I should note that what made it funny wasn't the fact that it was leprosy, but that two people came up with something so obscure at the same time (generally, an answer like "someone who's well-known" would not be an acceptable answer on an "S" round for the category "well-known individuals," but we were known to bend the rules, such as the time we let Tom put four hotels on one Monopoly property). Along the "kids with" route, I would've thought "kids with chicken pox" would have been more likely.

shelf o' altoids

In a vain attempt to impress Tim Kingman (lord knows why I'd want to do that, as no one impresses the timkingman), I took on an Altoids addiction in the latter years of high school. The only real benefit of this was that I was voted to be the pitchpiper for the Madrigal Singers my senior year, as I was the Keeper of the Altoids for the group. As homage, I have assembled an Altoids Shrine on a shelf in my bedroom over the years:


(click to enlarge)

Front row there: cinnamon/peppermint/spearmint "trio tin," lemon sours, orange sours, apple sours, raspberry sours, "tiny tin," sour apple chewing gum, sour cherry chewing gum, cinnamon chewing gum, peppermint chewing gum, sugar-free "smalls," ginger, peppermint breath strips, and cinnamon breath strips. Behind the breath strips are two tins of "bilingual" Altoids (has English and Spanish labeling and metric measurements, bought them in Florida), and wintergreen Altoids. In the back, spearmint, peppermint (2), cinnamon, and wintergreen Altoids, and "the big tin." As far as I know, the only one I don't have (sold around here, anyway) is the licorice flavor, which I just couldn't bring myself to buy, even just for display. It's amusing to meet people I haven't seen since high school who still associate me with handing out free Altoids (catchphrases: "are you 'in'?"; "huzzah!"). I've pretty much forgotten about it, honestly. Now I carry Eclipse gum instead.

By the way, in the background on the left side is the 7" green translucent vinyl They Might Be Giants single of O Tannenbaum.

i call the snake-tongued one "forky"

Outside my bedroom window when I woke up this morning:

(larger version)
The second one from the right was about four feet long.

Forky:


Sadly, Forky passed away a few hours ago when the whole assemblage came crashing down onto the porch roof.

quote of the day 2

I don't recall who said this, but I've found it helps me avoid procrastination:

"If it'll take less than two minutes to do, just do it."

First off, all y'all get your minds out of the gutter. :) What this phrase helps me with is all the little things that accumulate over the course of a work week. I'll come home on Friday and feel like kicking back and relaxing with a little bit of Civ 4 (where "little bit" = 4 hours), but first I remind myself, "If it only takes two minutes, just do it." So I write that check, take out that garbage, put away those clothes, etc. before I don the crown of Pharaoh Bryankhammen II and conquer Rome. Ideally, I will have followed this philosophy throughout the week so I won't have this pile of stuff to do.

quote of the day

"Family Circus is like saccharin; it's supposed to be sweet, but doesn't taste quite the same and leaves a horrible aftertaste."
--my friend GT

belle the wonder dog

Courtesy of Schutze:

Dog Makes Cell Phone Call To Save Owner's Life

Yes, a beagle named Belle is trained to notice signals that her owner's blood sugar is high or low, and to fetch his cell phone and hold down the '9' button (which is set to dial 911) with her teeth.

So not all beagles are dim-witted and lazy.

GT: Grrrrrrrunt but they still have nnnnnasty brrreath!

animated stereogram

Mid-'90s flashback time: stereograms. Did you know they make these in the animated variety as well? (Warning for you dialup folks: the image is 3.3 MB.) I used to be able to see these things a lot more quickly when I was younger.

ready for spring

I know it's merely February 1st and there's snow in the forecast for next week, but I'm ready for spring. Thus, I've changed the template of my blog to something more appropriate for the weather we had in the latter half of January (what are the chances it'll be 55 degrees four weeks from now when I'm wandering about New York City?).

Maybe it was just part of the whole cancer treatment mental state, but last year, I was tired of the snow as soon as New Year's was over. I know many people who feel that way, but usually I enjoy the blanket of white crystals a bit longer. Bre's annual Tropical Party in mid-February was a godsend last year (she turns up the heat in her apartment and everyone wears shorts, sandals, and Hawaiian shirts). Similarly, my dad always looks forward to those home & garden shows coming to Cleveland, not because he's planning any great landscaping endeavors, but just to see something other than stick trees and blue ice in the middle of winter.

To help get in the mood, take a gander at some of my photography: Nature; "Just Something"; Black & White; Spring Flowers; Riverwalk.

Just over three months 'til Cedar Point opens!