Happy New Years Day

I would like to dedicate this post to everyone who is willing to acknowledge the fact that New Years Eve is just NOT as exciting as everyone pretends that it is.

Fun For the Directionally Challenged

Merry Day After Christmas Everyone!

I got many wonderful presents this year from many wonderful people (I could go on about my new flannel sheets at this point, but then you would just want to know where they are from and then I would just have to lie to you given the topic of my previous post....)-- However, what I am going to share with you today has to do with this little guy:




That's right, folks.....I am now the proud owner of a Garmin GPS thingy-bopper (that's the technical name, right?). I've only test driven it (literally) once-- on the drive home from KS yesterday. It didn't start out well because as I was pulling out of McPherson, it was giving me very clear, precise directions on how to get out of Kansas City. One phone call to my sister (who then asked Stephen) gave me the critical clue that I had not extended the flap on the back of it thus activating the actual GPS system. (details, details). Once we agreed on my actual location-- my Garmin and I hit it off quite nicely.

You might think that the promise of never being lost might have impressed me most....or the option of finding any kind food joint that fits my fancy at any given location.....or even the ability to play MP3s and audio books to my heart's content....but no. I'm much easier than that.

I am in love with my Garmin because I have the option of being given my directions by a cute Australian guy (ok, I don't know if he's cute or not...but he's Australian and he knows where he's going....so how bad can he be?) or by a bookish yet attractive British fellow (again-- I'm filling in the lines with the "bookish yet attractive" bit-- so sue me). But the bottom line is this-- I can pick what sexy accent I want to listen to! Daily!

I love technology.

An Open Letter to Land's End

Dear Land's End,

Over the years we've had some good times together. You've provided me with several nice jackets that were just as water-proof as you promised, shoes that carried me through Ireland, flannel sheets that made it very hard to get out of bed in the morning.....the list really does go on and on. You've been a good friend, but we need to talk. Our relationship has taken an ugly turn lately. I don't know how else to put this-- so I'll just tell it to you straight. The truth is, you've gotten needy......really REALLY needy.

It seems that not a day goes by that I don't get some sort of new catalog from you in the mail. Monday I got your bedding catalog. Tuesday came your Christmas wish list catalog. Wednesday was a blockbuster day that brought both your men's ware catalog AND your kid's catalog. Thursday things were looking up since I didn't hear from you, but then Friday came. Friday brought 3 catalogs, but honestly I can't even tell you what they were because in my anger I threw them all in the trash before even glancing at them.

Is it possible? Does ANYONE buy enough from you to justify THAT many catalogs? Is there that great a need for waterproof fabics and flannels in this world? Doesn't everyone probably just shop your online catalog anyway? I hate to call you a stalker-- but dude, the shoe is starting to fit. Maybe you're just feeling insecure because of that Eddie Bauer catalog that came last week....but you should take a cue from him. Eddie plays it much cooler than you-- he only sends me catalogs once every couple of weeks. He's luring me in by playing hard to get.

I would say that it's not you, it's me....but well, that's not true. It IS you, Land's End. You and your paper usage are out of control. It is time to do a little more soul searching and a little less tree chopping. Think it over and pull yourself together. Nobody likes desperation.

Maybe after some time apart, we can rediscover what brought us together in the first place.

Sincerely,

Sarah

I Don't Know If This Will Amuse Anyone Else

But here are the top Google searches that apparently lead people to my blog:

1. "How to be mysterious"

No real surprise here......but finally proof that I am not the only one who "secretly" WANTS to be mysterious! I just never thought to google it.

2. "Two Ways to Travel"

I don't even know what this means

3. "Dorky Men"

This one might be my favorite. I just can't decide WHO is googling dorky men. Is it the dorky men or is it the women who love them?

4. "English Majors are Weird"

Clearly, these people have an agenda. I guess I am proving them right?

5. "What car has manly horns"

See! See??? I am not the only person stuck with a girlie, no-good car horn! Sadly, there are no answers to be found here.

6. "Purple Rock Types"

I don't even remember that I've written anything about my purple rock on here, but I guess I have.

7. "10 Things Not To Get A Girl For Christmas"

It's a seasonal google search!

Question of the Day

Hypothetically speaking, just how concerned should you be if you are (gently) told by a 7 year old that you have too much makeup on?

Hypothetically.

Dream of the Future

So sometime in the next year I will most likely be buying a new (to me) car. I've started trying to think about what I want in that car, and here's what I've come up with so far:

1. An intimidating (dare I say "manly"?) car horn. I'm really tired of getting almost run off the road by someone and having my only recourse be to toot my little horn that pretty much sounds like a dwarf jumping on a goat.

2. An engine with some get up and go. Awhile back I was accelerating to get onto the interstate and my friend that was in the car with me asked if I was worried that the gerbils in the engine were going to drop dead from the exertion. It wasn't a very nice comment, but it was rather accurate.

3. A stereo system that allows me to listen to the Beatles. You wouldn't know it, but when you only have 2 working speakers-- you can't listen to the Fab 4 (as well as the occasional Metallica song). Well you can, but it will certainly be a version you've never heard before as half of the singing and instruments are just gooooone.

4. Tinted windows- I'm tired of getting sunburned while driving. There should be special window treatments for freckled albinos, you know.


Now-- I will confess that I feel a little disloyal posting this list since my little Rav 4 has been such a loyal and lasting car (155,000 miles and counting!). I feel as though I am tempting the car fates by critiquing my car and that next week you will be getting a post about how my car died on the way to visit my parents and grandparents this weekend. So let me just put this out there into car land: I love you Rav 4-- with your stupid horn, rodents running the engine, broken stereo, and high level of UV exposure......you've been a good car, and if you could continue being a good car for another year or so, I'd really appreciate it.

HA! Take THAT Skinny Girls!

Study: Curvy Women Live Longer, Give Birth to Smarter Children

Monday, November 12, 2007


Real women don't just have curves, they also are smarter, live longer and give birth to smarter children, according to a new study.

In the research, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and University of California, Santa Barbara, used data from a study of 16,000 women and girls, which collected details of their body measurements and their scores in cognitive tests. The study was published in the journal of Evolution and Human Behavior.

Click here to see an abstract of the study (full study available for purchase)

They found that women with a greater difference between the waist and hips scored significantly higher on the tests, as did their children, according to a report in The Sunday Times Online.


For study purposes, curvy women were defined as those whose waists are smaller than their hips. The researchers suggest that the fat around fuller hips and thighs holds higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for the growth of the brain during pregnancy. Fat around the waist, on the other hand, may have higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids, which are less suited to brain growth, the researchers said.

Waist fat can also be a contributory factor in diabetes and heart disease, which is why curvy women are also believed to live longer than their straighter counter parts, research shows.

Thinner or linear-shaped women lack both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids around their waists and hips, which would be likely to boost longevity, but have little effect on intelligence.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,310636,00.html

One other thought about last weekend-- while in California, I went and saw a movie I'd never heard of called Bella. And you know, it's not often you see movies as original, moving, and authentic as this one. And above all-- it's a non-preachy movie about the value of every life-- even those who haven't been born yet. So, I'd just like to take a moment to encourage you all to go support this little independent movie to show that there is support for these types of films.

Go see it!

Me and The Waltons (or is it The Waltons and I?)

So I went to visit my friend Dara this weekend in L.A. and had an AMAZING time. Too many stories to go into on here, so I'm just sharing the picture of me at The Walton's house which is on the lot where Dara works. I did not, however, tell John-Boy good night, and I am still kicking myself.

I'm Reading Again

I've stumbled on (in a book recommended by a very cool chick) perhaps the best description I've ever found about why I feel the way I do about travelling.

I read it and I thought-- This is it. THIS is why I love to go places. He verbalized something I'd never even been able to fully work out in my own mind.

And now I'm sharing it with you.....



".....I open my journal and stare.....and do my best to fight off the atrophy that comes from seeing things too frequently. I try to shape a few sentences around this tiny corner of Rome; I try to force my eye to slow down. A good journal entry-- like a good song, or sketch, or photograph-- ought to break up the habitual and lift away the film that forms over the eye, the finger, the tongue, the heart. A good journal entry ought to be a love letter to the world.

Leave home, leave the country, leave the familiar. Only then can routine experience-- buying bread, eating vegetables, even saying hello-- become new all over again."


~Anthony Doerr, Four Seasons in Rome

Tunnel Vision

I started thinking on the drive home tonight about how we are completely surrounded most days by people's dreams. That car your driving? There is some car designer man out there that spent countless hours trying to make that car into something amazing.....that car is the manifestation of countless hours of work. And the roads you're driving on? Those are in the pattern that someone, somewhere started imagining one day. And that rotting old house you drive by every time you go to see your grandparents? Some farmer 100 years ago built that with his bare hands and couldn't wait to move his family in.

Every business you go to started off as someone's dream. Every movie you go to started off as a writer's dream. Every song you hear is someone's words pouring out of the radio. Your new dress started as a doodle on someone's notepad. Your old couch was once someone's baby for months and months while it was being designed and developed. This computer I'm on......this website YOU are on......the list is endless.

It is so easy to forget. EVERYTHING is someone's baby-- the product of their hard work. We are all connected....our dreams are all connected by everything we do every day. We are surrounded by the hard work and dreams of people who have a million different interests and most days we are blind to it all. We take it for granted and ignore each other.

Just take a second tomorrow and take a second look at all of the things you look at but don't see every day. It's kind of fun.

Jet Lagged Thoughts

It has not stopped raining in Hong Kong, for anyone who was wondering. It is a little bit harder than a Portland rain, but no nearly so hard as an Oklahoma rain. Apparently I'm quite lucky that it hasn't rained on me this much on previous trips....(yes Mom,I did remember my umbrella). In the reception area of all of the offices they have these handy-dandy little guys that you stick your umbrella in and they come our wrapped up in a plastic bag. They work great unless you havea little teensy travel umbrealla (like your's truly) and then the plastic bag is about 5 times longer than your umbrella.

And who would of thought that a whole paragraph about umbrella's could be so riviting?

Other thoughts:

Lesson learned about Customs line: pay attention to how many agents are working in each area. 4 agents= a faster line than 2 agents. Too bad it took us 45 minutes of standing in the wrong line to figure that out. Bad news? Wasted time. Good news? Once we moved lines a man from Austria got in line behind me who looked pretty cute and smelled even better! And trust me, nice-smelling men are harder to come by when travelling than you might think.

The bacon here still struggles, by the way.

Oh, and also? Watched the new Die Hard (don't think I've seen the other ones, actually) on the plane on the way from Dallas to Tokyo and it made me cry.....sorta. That was odd. Of course, Bruce Willis action movies have a history of that. The thing is, I don't think they were TRYING to make anyone cry. I guess it was just kind of scary/realistic with the KIND of terrorism that was in the movie. That's my excuse anyway.

Jini got moved up to first class (long story involving a lying mechanic, an footrest that wouldn't work, and a clever passenger who walked the fine line between making it clear she was rather put out but was never nasty about it)....so that meant I got two seats to sprawl my stuff over. You'd be surprised how handy that was.

And now I will bring the rambling missive to an end. I know you are all totally enthralled with my update, but I'm sorry people. The fascinating stories must come to an end for now.

So

I'm supposed to be packing.
I leave tomorrow....
And yet I am not packing.
I did start the washing machine....
That's something, right?

Home "Improvement" Question of the Day

Why do "they" use two different types of screws? Are philip's head screws supposed to be more secure? Are flat-head screws somehow more soothing?

WHY are there two different kinds of screws?

I Got Tagged

So, my cousin Emily tagged me for a blogging game-- I think the rules are that I have to post 8 random facts about myself (though I might point out that I am constantly posting random facts about myself....so apparently I tagged myself for this game a long time ago.....)

So here we go:

1. I really, really like the show My Boys on TBS.

2. I took the ACT for the first time in 7th grade. I filled the math portion in by creating a pattern out of the dots.

3. I don't like Guacamole (in fact, I'm not even sure that is how you spell it). I think it tastes like cold mush.

4. I believe in ghosts. At least I'm pretty sure I do.

5. I would sleep on flannel sheets all year round if it was at all feasible.

6. I am a terrible speller.

7. I haven't been able to drink Mountain Dew since my brother told me that it was made of a certain something when we were kids. I'm not telling you what he said it was made out of....and as an adult I know he was lying (sort of like the time he told me I was adopted, or the time he told me that Mom had flown on the space shuttle to the moon when in fact she was at the grocery store, or the time he was showing me how to get to my classes in high school and took me the long way to all of them)-- but I still can't drink the stuff.

8. I've never been to Canada.

A Salutation Like No Other

I like to share stories at times about the crazy and weird emails and calls we get at the office, but the start of an email that I received earlier this week takes the cake. It is officially my favorite "introduction" email ever from someone trying to get me to buy something from them. It's from a fellow named Gaurav, and it begins thus:

"Esteemed, Hope,your day starts with sweet smiles & tender touch of blowing wind. We added new range of........"



As it happens, my day had NOT started with "sweet smiles" OR the "tender touch of the blowing wind". That's never bothered me before, but now I feel I might be missing something.....

Granny T

Not many people can get to the age of 30 and still be able to say that they have 3 living grandparents...but up until last Saturday, I could.

One of my grandmother's passed away on Saturday night-- and thankfully it was a peaceful end to an extraordinary life.

Hopefully she knew what she meant to me, and that I cherish the memories of daisy chains and pick up sticks.....tea parties and the Andrews Sisters......card games and counting in German......purple martins and springer spaniels......christmas ornaments just for me......the list of random snapshots from my time with her could go on for some time.

The way she always put plastic sheets on the bed (under the cotton ones) well into our teens and the way they would crinkle crinkle crinkle when my sister or I would turn over in our sleep. The way she hid my grandfather's sweets in the oven (or at least that is my memory of it-- in retrospect that doesn't seem to make much sense). The time I couldn't wait to show her that I had finally learned to tie my own shoes. The way she had to correct my grammar at all times (an impulse my father seems to have inherited). The way she adored my grandfather even after he was gone.....and after he died, I never heard anyone else call her Dottie. The way she decided a few years ago that she was to be called Granny T after I'd spend 26 years calling her Grandma.

She was a beautiful, complex, intelligent, loving and independent woman. I was lucky to have had her for as many years as I did.



(and by the way-- she would NOT have approved of the punctuation in this post--that thought shouldn't make me smile, but it does)

Today

Today- I am not in a good mood

Today- I woke up thinking about cleaning supplies

Today- I thought a lot of mean thoughts about people I don't know (who may or may not have been driving near me on the road)

Today- I didn't like any songs I heard on the radio

Today- It took very little to annoy me

Today- I forgot several crucial steps while getting ready for work

Today- I didn't pack a single box

Today- I realized my hair dresser lied to me when he told me he trimmed my bangs (or maybe he was just distracted by his glorious plans that seem to involve me painting my fireplace hot pink)

Today- I lived another day of my very blessed life and was rather ungrateful about it. Hopefully when tomorrow becomes today I'll do a slightly better job.

I Could Watch This All Day

Thought of the Day

"Truth is so rare that it is delightful to tell it."

~Emily Dickinson