It's Official...

SUPERBOWL XLIV:
Indianapolis Colts v. New Orleans Saints

It's January... time to start the "aquirkaday" blogging year

I have a certain appreciation for bizarre holidays and observances. So this blog is going to focus on the fact that it is International Quality of Life Month and that National Take Back Your Time Week (Jan. 25-29) is once again upon us.

And today is, of course, National Compliment Day, so I would like to take a moment to say that you look really nice. And you smell good too. :D

I'm all work and very little play these days, but since it is, in fact, International Quality of Life Month, I'm definitely making it a point to have a little fun and de-stress time. It would help, too, if the Saints would win the last game of the playoffs today against the Minnesota Vikings. That could definitely contribute to my feeling really, really happy. Brees, I'm lookin' at you.

So maybe that's not exactly a "quality of life" issue, but a if the Saints go to the Superbowl, there will be no underestimating the fierce pride that will well up in the hearts of every single New Orleanian both in the city and beyond (I had to include the "beyond" part 'cause that's where I am at the moment :P). Oh, and I should probably include this short letter to the city I love:

"Dear New Orleans,

If the Saints do make it to the Superbowl, please do not burn down the city. Thanks.

Love, Me"

On another note, I've already been hard at work making sure that I am able to participate in National Take Back Your Time Week, too. I finished planning the entire week already for the French 1010 classes I'm teaching - quizzes, PowerPoint presentations, assignments are posted online - everything! So that's me taking back my time. No last minute stressing, planning, trying to figure out what on earth I'm doing the next day in class... no sir. I'm taking back my time. And I'll have a little extra time to actually focus on reading and doing work for the classes I'm taking so I can finally finish this Master's degree! (And have a little fun too!)

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm getting back to work, so I can watch the game in a little bit...

The 3-Way Stop

One of the things I like least in life is sitting at a red light. I know, I know... "Why so negative, Stacie?". Well, ok, maybe it's not the worst thing ever, but it's just not my favorite. And those pesky left-hand turns where you don't get an arrow to help a girl along and everyone decided that they needed to drive in the opposite direction at that very moment and before you know it your little green left-hand light is red again, which ultimately renders it useless... wow... sorry, I guess I got a little away from myself for a moment there. *Ahem* So, after all that ranting, I made an observation the other day (imagine that...). :)

I was driving down a road when suddenly I came to... you guessed it... a red light. Now, here I was, at the red light, needing to make a left turn, when I realized that there would be no arrow this time either. This time, however, I was content. Why, you might ask? Because, friends, this time I was sitting at the dead end road of a three-way stop, and I knew that when that light turned green, there would be nothing in my way. I was going to make that left-hand turn totally unobstructed, free as a bird. Oh yes...

So what is the moral of the story? the point even? There isn't really one actually. I just really felt vindicated right there, and decided that if all I can do to deal with my annoyance at the "other" left-hand turn traffic signals is to appreciate the ones that actually let me go somewhere, then that's just what I'll have to do.

Have yourself/ves a fabulous Veterans' Day! :)

Remember, bravery isn't not being scared; it's going anyway. Here's to you vets!

Cold Tangerines

Cold Tangerines is a book by Shauna Niequist that I hope to have in a few days but which I started reading (at least the bits that are available) via Google Books. And already I am anticipating a nice dose of perspective to come from it.

The introduction really drew me in. It says,

"This book is a shameless appeal for celebration.

I know that the world is several versions of mad right now. I know that pessimism and grimness sometimes seem like the only responsible choices. I wake up at night and think about pesticides and international politics and fundamentalism and disease and roadside bombs and the fact that one day my parents will die. I had a hard year this year, the hardest I've yet known. I worry about the world we're creating for my baby boy. I get the pessimism and grimness.

And that's why I'm making a shameless appeal for celebration. Because I need to. I need optimism and celebration and hope in the face of violence and despair and anxiety. And because the other road is a dead end. Despair is a slow death, and a lifetime of anger is like a lifetime of hard drinking: it shows in your face and your eyes and your words even when you think it doesn't."

The intro. continues from there, but I can't help but breathe a little easier after just this short excerpt... finally, a book that isn't all doom and darkness, by a real person who is comfortable being honest about the fact that things aren't great in the world but that there is hope and a reason to be joyful. Someone who understands that even glints of hope, optimism, and kindness are a necessary spattering of light splashed on a world that is otherwise sketched with the tenebrous brush of gloom.

That's why I'll make time to read this one... it's overdue yet right on time. And I'd encourage you to read it too. Check out allbookstores.com whenever you want to compare prices on a book like that one - new & used copies - from all different online booksellers. Enjoy! :)

Bottlenecked Ideas

When someone like me who has a whole lot to say about nothing, spending months and months not getting it out in writing is a disaster waiting to happen. It's overwhelming. Every couple of weeks since last October I've considered jumping on and getting some thoughts out, but each time I think about it, the task seems a little more daunting because there are hundreds of ideas all piling up on top of each other and the sum of them all is ZERO!

Ok, that was my opening rant just to get me back in the swing of this, so here goes nothin'...

I have a crack theory about the elusive chupacabra. There is maybe one other person besides you who is reading this blog or will read it at some point, and you two may or may not know what a chupacabra is, so if you don't, I recommend going to Google or Wikipedia (dare I say YouTube) and do some homework because it's major. Or, in lieu of hours of tireless research, I could just tell you that it's a mythological (or is it?) creature that allegedly drinks the blood of goats and leaves them for dead. Now that we've got that cleared up, I made the observation a while back that there are no goats in my neighborhood. And since it has been months since I first made that observation, the circumstantial evidence leads me to believe that, in fact... are you ready?

Cookie is a chupacabra.

Check out this picture:

That's right. Now, I know that there's only the two of you reading, so that's why I can say that here. I don't want it to get out because then there would be paparazzi and tabloid journalists and various other annoyances associated with having a very extraordinary animal living in my home. So, let's just keep it between us, shall we? :)

Lately my Scrabble addiction has not been helped at all by the fact that I somehow won a free membership to Club Pogo - an online games site that features... you guessed it... Scrabble. I just love words and how people use them to communicate. It's just unreal. It's just amazing that we can use all these sounds and shapes, which are all just symbols, to transmit ideas to one another. Wow... I could go there for hours, but I won't because I know you'd spend all your free time reading this and not get anything else done. So, as a service to you, I'll leave that alone.

I'm going to try to be better about this blog thing, but with school starting next week, we'll see how that pans out... So, until the next time!

Ellipsis...

I threw out this word the other day and the person I was talking to didn't know what it was, but surely she knew how to use it...

It's this wee little thing called the ellipsis (...). Here's snippet I read on Wikipedia:

"The triple-dot punctuation mark is also called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot."

Personally, I've never heard of any of these names, except for 'dot-dot-dot', which I reject on principle. I also personally reject the use of four dots. You have to stand for something...

While it may be true that only grammar nerds care what it's called, lots of people use 'em, and they can mean so many different things - here are a few fun uses:

The "suspenseful" ellipsis...

When you see this one, you're supposed to pause for a moment and wonder "Ooohhh... what's the afterthought trailing behind those little dots?" A period just wouldn't be appropriate here. Authors love to use this one.

The "stretch this sound out in your mind" ellipsis...

(See above "Ooohhh..."): Really hear that - ooooooohhhhhhh (it sounds like the 'oo' in goo and not the 'o' in poe).

Then there's the "ponder this" ellipsis...

Or, the "fill-in-the-blank" ellipsis, if you will. Those where right before they appear, you're given an ultimatum: "Would you rather..."

Never underestimate the "hesitation" ellipsis...

You're trying to give someone a hint without coming right out and saying what it is you want to say (I know you never do this, but bear with me here). Like, you're trying to end a conversation because you have something to do, but instead of saying "Hey, I gotta go," you say, "So, I'm about to run to the grocery..." and you wait. Hoping the other person will take that as a sign that you need to scram and not as a new topic of conversation. Oh yeah. You know what I'm talking about.

And I don't know if this next one really counts as an official usage of the lovely ellipsis. In fact, I'm not sure any of the ones I listed do, but oh well. Here's the last one - my favorite.

The "a hyphen just won't do here" ellipsis...

I use this all the time in emails. Sometimes I have two linked thoughts, but a hypen is just too abrupt, too jolting. There's supposed to be a sense of continuity, fluidity... you know, kind of like that. Like, I'm writing about something, and I'm ready to switch gears now, so anyways... oh yeah! Let me tell you about something else...

Kind of like that. And for those of you who weren't convinced before, now you know. I'm a nerd. And I don't mind. :)

(Note on picture at right: I decided to use this photo because it [along with the caption] is multi-dimensional. First note that there is, in fact, a National Punctuation Day. Fascinating. And there in the picture is its founder, who is really much hairier than he should be. But he does point out an interesting phenomenon - it's an epidemic even... why don't companies grammar check their signs?)

Musings on "I'm Gonna Get Fat!" - (with a little aside on Twitter)...

My friend Jay just inspired me with his recent blog post entitled "I'm Gonna Get Fat!" all about how he can't run for 3 whole months (doctor's orders) because of a minor hip injury.

My excuse for not running for 2 weeks now - I'm too busy.

Work is great, school is great, church is great, life is great - it's just that all of the really great things that go along with all of them are really sorta taking up lots & lots of time in my day, and I'm not managing to get it all done.  The problem is I have to figure out a way to find time to start running again because I'm still planning to run the St. Jude half marathon in December... at least that's what I'm told - right, Samina?

So then there's this whole other thing - it's Twitter.  Oh yeah, everybody's doing it.  Soon, people won't have to actually have conversations, they'll just "twitter."  I think we should do a few Twitter groups as some fall small groups at the church.  Honestly, I'm on it for fear of being ostracized by my peers, but I have some Twitter jitters, if you will.  What if I don't update my Twitter status regularly?  What if it kind of falls by the wayside like my blog does (oops)... will I fall out of grace with my followers?  Isn't that whole concept kind of freaky anyway - I have "followers".  The whole thing is just a little weird to me, and I'm not quite used to it yet.  I wouldn't say I'm Twitter bitter.  Maybe it just takes some getting used to...