82 entries from srah blah blah tagged with 'nablopomo':


And, in the end, the love you take/ Is equal to the love you make

I have completed NaBloPoMo! Many thanks to srahfam and my friend Jason, whose time with me was sometimes interrupted by my sudden screams of "Oh god, I haven't blogged yet today! Get me to a computer!" Yet-unguessed lyrics (I'll give you until midnight EST tomorrow night to get these, before I announce the winner and the songs you don't guess): But suddenly I feel the shining sun/ Before I knew it this dream was all goneLong ago in days of yore/ It all began with a god named Thor/ There were Vikings and boats/ And some plans for a furniture...

srah - Sunday, 30 November 2008 - 9:20 PM
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You don't know me/ You don't know me at all

My family went to the Sheraton for brunch this morning, but apparently all of our regular waitpeople had enough seniority to take the Thanksgiving weekend off. Our waitress, rather than saying, "Earl Grey tea all around?" like usual, asked us if anyone wanted coffee. What what what?! What is the point of being ludicrous regulars if tales of our orders and our foibles are spread to most - but not all - of the staff? "She must be new," we concluded. "N00b!" I said to Alfie. "Rookie of the Year," she responded. Then more constructively we determined, "We'll break her...

srah - Sunday, 30 November 2008 - 9:15 PM
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Can I get a toot toot? Can I get a beep beep?

In case you wondered what my reunion was like: Cristal poppin' in the stretch Navigator [Champagne is available for $20 a bottle. Who knew Charley's had champagne? I did not partake.] We got food everywhere, as if the party was catered [We lurked around the food table early in the evening and picked out pizza sticks and quesadillas with individual forks because there were no tongs. Did they ever get tongs? It occurs to me I never found out.] We got fellas to my left, honeys on my right [Sure, if you want to call them that. Both genders were...

srah - Saturday, 29 November 2008 - 6:08 AM
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Now I'm a little bit older/ A little bit bolder/ Never so shy

I'm going to my ten-year high school reunion tonight. I'm keeping my expectations nice and low, since a) ten years might not be enough to make attending a reunion worthwhile and b) there's no budget, so the "hey there's a reunion" notifications seem to have been completely word-of-mouth. Therefore, not only are many people I'd like to see not attending, many of them probably don't even know there's a reunion. Anyway, this should be interesting. I'm going with two of my best and oldest friends, who I've kept in close contact with over the years, so if need be, we'll...

srah - Friday, 28 November 2008 - 8:14 AM
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Thank you for the music/ For giving it to me

Good luck finding something to read on the Internet today. We will have to depend on the rest of the world to create content while America is busy stuffing itself and its turkeys and eagles and seals, etc. So American readers, if you are reading this today, get the hell off the Internet and get back to your patriotic duty of gorging yourself. International readers, if you are reading this today, get the hell on the Internet and write me something to read tomorrow when I'm rolling around and moaning and clutching my swollen stomach....

srah - Thursday, 27 November 2008 - 12:41 PM
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How was I supposed to know/ That something wasn't right here?

I anticipated this voyage home with baited breath. At each stop upon my journey north, I thought, "Michigan! O land of plenty! I return again to feast upon your bounty and to experience the rich culture of my native land!" I brought very little from That Place Below with me on my voyage, knowing that I would be provided for in Michigan. And so it passed that I brought neither shampoo nor conditioner with me. And lo! There was shampoo in abundance, but there was no conditioner to be found, for a terrible creature that roams this land had used...

srah - Wednesday, 26 November 2008 - 8:08 PM
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Baby, have you got enough gas?

I bet gas stations are kicking themselves now for investing so much money in extra fours. (Maybe it will go down to $1.44 and justify some of the expense.)...

srah - Tuesday, 25 November 2008 - 11:23 PM
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No chocolate covered candy hearts to give away

Recently my friends discussed the topic of Assortment Twins and Assortment Compatibility. For example, my friend Jen and I both like the cream soda and butterscotch Dum Dum pops best, so we're Assortment Twins, whereas my friend Jason only likes the fruit flavored Dum Dums, so we're almost Assortment Compatible, except we have to find someone to eat the nasty root beer ones. So Jen and I can compliment each other on each other's great taste, but Jason and I can actually share an assortment. If anyone would like to test their Assortment Twinning/Compatibility with me, here are some of...

srah - Monday, 24 November 2008 - 10:45 PM
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Long ago in days of yore/ It all began with a god named Thor/ There were Vikings and boats/ And some plans for a furniture store

I went to IKEA today to look for a particular object (I'd tell you what, but it's a Christmas present). It's the first time that I've ever done this, as I usually go to IKEA and end up browsing through the whole store, but this time we arrived an hour before closing and weren't sure whether to look in the "kitchen and dining" area or the "cooking and eating" area of the stores, which are on two different floors. I went to the cooking/eating area first, but couldn't find the object anywhere. So I asked two IKEA employees where to...

srah - Sunday, 23 November 2008 - 9:51 PM
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I stumble into town just like a sacred cow

There is a Taco Bell commercial running on TV now that makes me less desirous of eating Taco Bell with every consecutive viewing. Basically the message that I get from this commercial is "Eating Taco Bell makes you stupid." I wish I could find the commercial on YouTube to embed it - if anyone can find it, let me know! It involves three friends at some sort of ranch. One of the friends has climbed into a pen with a raging bull, and is calling for the other two to rescue him. Since neither of them wants to, they decide...

srah - Saturday, 22 November 2008 - 9:54 PM
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Somewhere in space/ I hang suspended/ Until I know/ There's a chance that you care

Still waiting on that call from NASA, although we managed to lose last week when I was in Indiana and win against Minnesota while I was in my apartment building, so my theory about only winning when I'm outside Ohio is now kaput. Perhaps NASA has been following this and that's why they haven't called to offer to shoot me into space for tomorrow's game against Ohio State. Or maybe they're just too busy hunting for lost tools. Alas! I seem to have no control over tomorrow's outcome, so I will just have to hope as hard as my little...

srah - Friday, 21 November 2008 - 11:08 PM
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I'm afraid those things'll harm me/ 'Cause they sure don't act like Barney/ And they think that I'm their dinner, not their friend

This is a story that I made up last night to prove to a friend that he was a terrible storyteller and that I could make up a story on the spot. I am sharing it with you so that I don't have to think of anything else to blog today. I only have so much creative energy, folks! Once upon a time, there was a happy little Tyrannosaurus Rex. T-Rex would traipse gleefully through the forest, stomping on everything in his path¹. One day, just as he was about to trample some protomammal and destroy the potential for all...

srah - Thursday, 20 November 2008 - 5:29 PM
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Her Hitler hairdo is/ Making me feel ill

A couple of days ago, Jamelah posted about her haircare routine and said that one way she keeps her gorgeous communist hair in gorgeous communist shape is to only wash it 2-3 times a week. This is a haircare tip I've heard around a lot, but had never put into action. So I tried not washing my hair on Monday, and I just looked like someone who had rolled out of bed before coming to work. I realize that it takes a while for your scalp to catch on that it doesn't have to produce so much oil, but I...

srah - Wednesday, 19 November 2008 - 6:07 PM
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I must remain in close concealment/ Until I can appear in decent clothing!

Note: If you are reading this in England (or anywhere else where "pants" means "underpants" as opposed to "trousers") you should either substitute "trousers" for "pants" when reading this OR read "pants" as "pants" and laugh uproariously. A few months ago, my sedentary lifestyle and love for ice cream and french fries caused me to have to go pants-shopping, as all of the pants I had were straining at the waist. I bought several new pairs of pants and retired many others. Now, although I am no less fond of ice cream and french fries (and no less sedentary either)...

srah - Tuesday, 18 November 2008 - 6:23 AM
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Can't think of anything I need/ No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound/ Nothing to eat, no books to read

I received an email from my dad this morning: Subject: This is what you are getting for ChristmasMessage body: We saw an ad for this on TV and thought it was much more useful than a GPS When I clicked on the link, this is what I saw:...

srah - Monday, 17 November 2008 - 7:05 PM
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Oh, they say she died one winter/ When there came a killing frost

I always thought that Fraulein Maria was on crack, but snowflakes that stay on my eyelashes are pretty cool. The first snow of the season has arrived in Srahtown, and it's a very calm, floaty type of snow that blows softly on a gentle breeze, but falls mostly downwards. It's more like movie-snow than the sideways biting snows we'll probably have later this season. My usual snow-behavior consists of shuffling around, facing the ground, with all of my body wrapped up in coats and scarves and only my eyes sticking out. Today, though, I turned my bare face up to...

srah - Monday, 17 November 2008 - 5:39 PM
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Every time I thought I'd got it made/ It seemed the taste was not so sweet

I've just upgraded from Movable Type 3.3 to 4.21. It wasn't so bad, except that there was an Apache handling thingy¹ that's been set wrong on my server for months and which I've sort of just worked around, but I finally had to figure out today. And then there's the fact that my MT installation only seems to work properly when the www is included in the URL². If you notice anything that doesn't work, please let me know. I may be implementing some fun new stuff here soon! Update 11/17/08 7:04AM: Comments should be working now! And my stylesheet...

srah - Sunday, 16 November 2008 - 7:40 PM
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I like the girls with the boom/ I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom

I went to a football game today, and had to wait in line to use the bathroom at halftime. Unfortunately, the bathrooms were in Port-a-Potty form, but fortunately there were many of them so the lines weren't too long and moved pretty quickly. There was a couple in front of me in line who I didn't pay much attention to until they went into the Port-a-Potty together. I thought, "Geez, that's weird. I mean, I've been in the situation before where a friend and I might go into a single-user bathroom together, so that we can move things along faster...

srah - Saturday, 15 November 2008 - 9:17 PM
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You can see I'm in no shape for driving/ Anyway I've got no place to go

It's a good thing I went to China in September, or I would have nothing to blog about in November. Once upon a time, I came back to Shanghai from the excursion to Nanjing I'd attended with one of the programs I visited. I arrived back in Shanghai around 4pm, then had to catch a taxi to get back to my hotel during rush hour (I probably should have just taken the subway, but - to my great shame - I never learned the subway system in the whole time I was there) . I stood there with my suitcases,...

srah - Friday, 14 November 2008 - 6:37 PM
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When I want to run away/ I drive off in my car

You may remember, from last year's NaBloPoMo, my training for and participation in a 5k walk on Thanksgiving. My parents, sister and I all participated in Ann Arbor's Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5k Walk/Run on Thanksgiving morning, and it was a nice way to spend some time together and do an activity that we all enjoy, as well as the first time that any of us had walked in a 5k race before. We started out at a leisurely pace, chatting with each other and with the bicyclist who marked the end of the race group, then continued at a...

srah - Thursday, 13 November 2008 - 10:39 PM
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But suddenly I feel the shining sun/ Before I knew it this dream was all gone

I dreamt that high heels Were banned on the campus of Uni I Work At. I had forgotten Till I got dressed this morning; thought, "I must wear flats."...

srah - Wednesday, 12 November 2008 - 10:19 PM
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Just gimme gimme gimme gimme/ Fried chicken

I just got back from a conference in Lexington, Kentucky. If my culinary experience in Lexington is any indication¹, Kentucky is not known for fried chicken or bourbon or anything like that, but Indian food (which I ate twice in the 48 hours or so I was there) and pretzels (which I ate three times). Next year's conference is in Cincinnati, and I have volunteered my advice/help to our local arrangements committee, including the suggestion that our mid-afternoon snack break should involve a make-your-own Cincinnati chili bar and/or Graeter's ice cream. YOU'RE WELCOME, fellow conference attendees. (I am also going...

srah - Tuesday, 11 November 2008 - 6:15 PM
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So I try a little Freddie/ I've gone identity mad!

For almost a year now, I've been planning to dress up as the girl from the Cake song Short Skirt/Long Jacket for Halloween, but when Halloween finally came around, everyone I know was out of town, so there were no Halloween parties to go to. I'm a bit disappointed, but at least I knew that far enough in advance that the only aspect of the costume I'd bought was nail polish for my "fingernails that shine like justice." Next year for Halloween, I want to be either Freddie Mercury or Luna Lovegood. My sister has suggested that I combine the...

srah - Monday, 10 November 2008 - 1:49 PM
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The way you talk, and try to kiss me, and laugh/ In four or five paragraphs

I am going to a conference for the next three days or so. I have no idea what effect this will have on NaBloPoMo, because I'm not sure if I'll have Internet access at the hotel. In any case, I will WRITE something, whether or not I can PUBLISH it!...

srah - Sunday, 9 November 2008 - 2:11 PM
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Picture post!

The song is in the picture, not in the title this time!...

srah - Sunday, 9 November 2008 - 10:23 AM
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Before the cream sits out too long/ You must whip it

Every once in a while, a topic comes up that I am surprised I've never blogged about, because I have some long-held and violently strong emotion one way or another. Micah and I were having a conversation that went like this: @srah: I just remembered that when Thanksgiving happens, I get pumpkin pie! Are we there yet are we there yet are we there yet are we there yet? @jmblya: What's stopping you from buying a pie from the store now? Or making your own? You should never deny yourself pumpkin-based foods. @srah: No, pumpkin pie is more about anticipation...

srah - Saturday, 8 November 2008 - 11:14 PM
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So you think justice has a voice/ And we all have a choice

Oh thank you, Collective, for giving me something to blog about. (Their answers: Heather! Anne!, Abigail!, Kat!, Jennie!)You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?Hmmm. I'm much more relaxed about her now that we're out of that danger, but if I have to blow someone up, Sarah Palin. You can flip a switch that will wipe any band or musical artist out of existence. Who will it be?Kids today... the music all sounds like noise. Back in my day... hold on, let me adjust this ear trumpet...Where were we? Um, the...

srah - Friday, 7 November 2008 - 12:19 AM
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We huddle close, and hang on to a dream

I dreamt last night that I was going somewhere with President-Elect Obama¹ and a big entourage of people in an old jalopy. Something happened (it isn't clear now and I don't remember if it was in the dream) that resulted in Obama hitting his head and being knocked unconscious. He was lying on the floor of the back seat of the jalopy and everyone was trying to wake him up with smelling salts, shaking him, slapping his face, and nothing was working. I said, "Well, this works in the movies," and leaned in to kiss him and when I got...

srah - Thursday, 6 November 2008 - 12:02 PM
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And if I dig a hole to China/ I'll catch the first junk to Soho

It occurs to me that a) I have nothing to write for NaBloPoMo today and b) I have not yet finished writing up all the little notes that I took in China of things to blog about. Now keep in mind that I got back from China over a month ago, so I may be a little fuzzy on what my notes meant... shoes - Um, apparently I wanted to tell you something about shoes, but I have forgotten what. Chinese people wear 'em, if you're curious!"what watch?" - After several days of communicating in broken English, I got the...

srah - Wednesday, 5 November 2008 - 11:43 PM
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I will comfort you/ I'll take your part

If I had thought of this earlier (and if I were sure there wasn't anything potentially illegal about it), I would have liked to volunteer (or organize an army of volunteers) to be a line-proxy for the elderly and infirm (or heck, maybe just anyone!) in high-population areas, so that they could take breaks to go to the bathroom, or eat or sit down. It's been sad to read about people for whom even the early-voting lines were too long, especially since turnout was unexpectedly high (at least compared to past years) and so people weren't prepared enough to vote...

srah - Tuesday, 4 November 2008 - 5:00 PM
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I say vote yes! Vote yes! Vote for independency!

(This counts as a post, right? Especially now that i just wrote some text? How about if I throw in some free stuff you can get for voting?)...

srah - Tuesday, 4 November 2008 - 6:04 AM
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And I hope this message stays in your mind/ 'Cause you almost lost a girl who is right on time

This morning, when I was on my way to work, my car's clock (which is set 10 minutes ahead in order to try to trick me into getting places on time, except it doesn't work because I just mentally subtract 10 minutes automatically now) said 9:07, because I had not yet reset it after Daylight Saving Time ended this weekend. The sun was bright and shining, and when I got to work, there were no parking spaces left. I started to panic that I had, in changing my alarm clock, changed it in the wrong direction, but no, it turns...

srah - Monday, 3 November 2008 - 9:35 PM
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In my shoes/ Walking sleep/ In my youth I pray to keep

I haven't subscribed to any magazines in several years, and I still feel like I've read more "fix your problem area" or "how to flatter your flawed figure" articles than I ever need to read. But you know what I would like to read more about? Why the heck do my shoes always wear out at the back of the heel before they wear out anywhere else? Is it because I'm wearing shoes that are too big, or too small, or shoes that don't flatter my foot-shape? Are my feet too wide or too narrow, or too wide in the...

srah - Sunday, 2 November 2008 - 9:12 PM
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Sing a lonely song/ Of a deep blue dream/ Seven horses seem/ To be on the mark

Starting out NaNoWriMo with a meme! This bodes well for the rest of the month. *rolls eyes* Oh well, it's about time I got around to doing a meme I was tagged for several weeks ago! Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. If you don’t have 7 blog...

srah - Saturday, 1 November 2008 - 10:45 PM
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Qi!

On this, the momentous seventh anniversary of this blog (such as it is) I would like to announce my candidacy for National Blog Posting Month. Our campaign slogan will be: "She doesn't seem to blog all the rest of the year, so maybe she'll have plenty of material saved up for November." The outcome is questionable. During last year's NaBloPoMo, there was a reference to a song from a musical in each post. This year, I'm expanding it to songs in general, which may be from musicals or may be from this thing I've just heard of, called the radio....

srah - Saturday, 25 October 2008 - 10:45 AM
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You can talk and talk till your face is blue, but they still do just what they want to do!

I think that I will not post today, just so that I can lose NaBloPoMo at the eleventh hour! Oh wait. So much for that idea. Despite all my pleas to give someone else a chance, it appears that the winner of the musicals quiz will be my sister. Now to devise a terrible, terrible prize for her to have won!...

srah - Friday, 30 November 2007 - 4:58 PM
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Yes, it came direct from Paris, France

Paris, je t'aime is a ridonkulously huge collection of famous directors (Joel and Ethan Coen, Gurinder Chadha, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Sylvain Chomet) and actors (Steve Buscemi, Other People Who Aren't Steve Buscemi) in a series of short films about Paris. I actually wasn't expecting much, just because I find short-format films pretty hit-or-miss, but it was a cool mix of subjects and directing styles. It's hard to say which one was my favorite because there were so many good ones. The last film is about a lonely American mail carrier who's studied French for two years in preparation for...

srah - Thursday, 29 November 2007 - 7:35 PM
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With a dreamy far-off look, and her nose stuck in a book

What's the deal with polyjuice potion, anyway? In the movie version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the Crabbe/Goyle-polyjuiced Harry and Ron speak in their own voices, though they try to just grunt in true Crabbe/Goyle fashion so that Draco doesn't suspect anything. In the audiobook for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (a seriously over-polyjuiced book, by the way), Fleur sounds like herself when she's been polyjuiced to look like Harry, Harry sounds like himself when he's "Barny Weasley" but they all get new voices when they're polyjuiced into Mafalda Hopkirk, Reg Cattermole and Albert Runcorn, or...

srah - Thursday, 29 November 2007 - 12:58 PM
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I'm full of vitamin A, say!

Make that "C." Isn't it convenient that cold season and clementine season fall around the same time of year? Suspiciously convenient, I'd say. I'm on to you, The Clementine Industry!...

srah - Thursday, 29 November 2007 - 6:30 AM
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I had a dream! A dream about you, baby

I dreamt last night that I was invited to a dinner by a college friend I haven't seen in years. It was a huge dinner and I think it was held at my mom's church. At one point, my college friend attracted everyone's attention and got down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend. "This is stupid," I loudly announced, "They're already married." Then I stomped out of the room. They are married in real life, but they weren't in the dream, and apparently my dream-self was more in touch with the real world than with the dream-world. I...

srah - Wednesday, 28 November 2007 - 11:16 PM
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Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning

I am fascinated by the idea that the words for beautiful (جميل, jameel) and sentence (جملة, jumla) come from the same root in Arabic. Beautiful sentence! This is especially confusing to me because when I hear جملة I keep translating it into French in my head, and I wonder why the topic of jumelles (twins and/or binoculars) keeps coming up in class. Alas, my progress this semester has not been up to the standards of previous semesters. I think that part of this is due to the content: It's a lot easier to make progress when you're starting from nothing....

srah - Wednesday, 28 November 2007 - 10:37 PM
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And we want you to sleep well tonight

I'm tired and I have a cold and I'm tired and also I'm tired. No blog post tonight with any actual content to it! I can't remember thinking or doing anything blogworthy today, except sneezing a lot and drinking more tea than usual. So you just get this lazy cop-out post and a chance to guess another musical. Whee. Some actual content tomorrow, hopefully!...

srah - Tuesday, 27 November 2007 - 11:03 PM
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For he might have been a Roosian, a French, or Turk, or Proosian, or perhaps Italian

I am 2-0 over the last couple weeks in Guessing Whether Someone is Danish or South African. I don't know why I get those two accents mixed up, except that they both have the combination of very good English spoken with a Germanic-type accent. You would think South African and Dutch would trip me up more often, but they haven't so far. I narrowed the Dane down to either South African or Danish before making my guess a couple of weeks ago and did the same with the South African today. If you extend the game to Guessing Whether Someone...

srah - Monday, 26 November 2007 - 5:05 PM
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They're gonna recognize my eyes, my hair, my teeth, my boobs, my nose

When I blogged about how I'd always wanted to Become A Regular Somewhere I completely forgot that my family are already regulars for Sunday brunch at the Sheraton in Ann Arbor. I probably forgot it because I am always trying to forget it. It would be nice if it were because we go there frequently, but it's because we've become recognizable. A few years ago, I was to meet my family at the Sheraton for brunch. They arrived before I did and the host was amused to watch as they danced around the table, trying to decide where they should...

srah - Sunday, 25 November 2007 - 9:44 PM
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Play with appropriate passion

We went tonight to see the second annual Jeff Daniels and Friends concert at the Michigan Theater, which was basically a huge love song to the state of Michigan. The artists were all from Michigan or had some Michigan connection, and were singing or pattering in between songs about their love for Michigan. We were a couple of rows back from the governor. I didn't realize that Jeff Daniels was so into musical performance, in addition to his acting and playwrighting. I'm always rather proud of him, because he's managed to stay true to his Michigan roots and his love...

srah - Saturday, 24 November 2007 - 11:25 PM
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A mezzanine seat to see the flickers

Every year, my mom, my sister and I go to see a movie on the Friday after Thanksgiving. When we first started this tradition, the theaters were almost deserted, but I think more and more people are taking advantage of the opportunity to get away from the Black Friday shopping insanity. This year, our movie was Enchanted, where an animated Disney Princess accidentally finds herself in live-action form in New York City and has to deal with the problems of the non-fairy-tale world. Disney is a pretty safe Thanksgiving Friday choice for us, but after seeing Shrek 3 this morning,...

srah - Friday, 23 November 2007 - 11:50 PM
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I have often walked down this street before/ But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before

My family walked in our first 5k walk today. If anyone had asked us - which they didn't - we were prepared to call ourselves ¡Team Holt!, which had the dual advantages of sounding like ¡Steve Holt! when we shouted and raised our arms in the air in celebration, and also might have led people to believe our name was Holt, lending us an air of anonymity that would have helped when they were shutting down the race route before we were finished. ¡Team Holt!...

srah - Thursday, 22 November 2007 - 11:22 PM
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In the opinion of this court, this child is depraved on account he ain't had a normal home

A couple of weeks ago I commented on an annoying-slash-hilaaaarious conversational habit of mine. I picked up on another one that my sister and I do while we were grocery shopping today: 1: Where is the [X]? (Or brings up [X] in some other context) 2: You're an [X]! 1: I'll [X] you! Such as: Alfie: Where are the cheese and crackers? me: You're cheese and crackers! Alfie: I'll cheese and crackers you! Then when we went to drive home, Alfie unlocked the car and let me in. I reached over and grabbed the keys off her lap and joked,...

srah - Wednesday, 21 November 2007 - 3:58 PM
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'Tis makin' me kind o' sick

Unpleasant: Staying home sick from work on Monday. Worse: Hearing on Tuesday morning that there is a case of bacterial meningitis running around campus somewhere. They've contacted all the students who would have had contact with Student Zero, but I have a feeling that the don't ever ask about grownups whose office they went to and coughed on. I don't have any of the primary symptoms (high fever, headache, and stiff neck) but I did have a few of the secondary ones (nausea, confusion, and sleepiness). My first thought was "AIEEEEEEEE! I have it! I have to go get diagnosed!"...

srah - Tuesday, 20 November 2007 - 6:40 AM
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What's that? Another picture post?

(Guess the musical whose lyric is represented by the picture.)...

srah - Monday, 19 November 2007 - 5:50 PM
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I can neither sew, nor cook, nor read or write my name

This was one of the most productive Sundays I've had in a long time. It helped that I had multitasked by folding laundry and tidying the living room during the football game on Saturday, so that meant I could spend Sunday doing whatever I wanted. I decided that I wanted to make meatloaf, and ended up making meatloaf, mashed potatoes and muffins. If someone would come and do the dishes for me, that would be great. I may be feeling productive, but I'm not that productive. The meatloaf was an interesting adventure. I found the recipe online but there was...

srah - Sunday, 18 November 2007 - 10:49 PM
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I have dreamed thee too long, never seen thee or touched thee but known thee with all of my heart

I had a two-layer dream last night where I dreamt (within the dream) that I was at the opening day of a Beatles museum and I was some kind of special guest. John gave me a tour and a very young George made eyes at me. One of them was in love with me, but I don't remember now which one it was. I must have seen Paul somewhere too, because when I "woke up" from the dream within the dream, I told my mom that I'd dreamt I'd seen all of the Beatles except Ringo. I didn't remember any...

srah - Sunday, 18 November 2007 - 10:17 PM
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I'm just a girl who cain't say no

One really exciting thing about the writers' strike is that I will be freed from my enslavement to the TV. Once they run out of new episodes, I won't have to worry about what to watch and what to tape and what to watch or not watch online. I started to think, at first, that this would be a really exciting time for me, so that instead of this¹:   Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 8 Shouty Man Shouting Into a Megaphone Shoutily (ABC) The Barney and Marshall Show, Also With Other Characters (CBS) A Very Special "Social...

srah - Saturday, 17 November 2007 - 4:14 PM
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Underneath, your blood is blue!

Hail! to the victors valiant Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes Hail! Hail! to Michigan the leaders and best Hail! to the victors valiant Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes Hail! Hail! to Michigan, the champions of the West! GO BLUE! powered by ODEO...

srah - Saturday, 17 November 2007 - 12:05 PM
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And if we all could spread a little sunshine

My most recent listen-in-the-car endeavor is The Lovely Bones, which is an interesting story but very strangely told. I'm not sure now if I would have liked it better if I'd read the text version rather than listening to the audio book, but I suspect that's the case. I have a feeling that the flowery and metaphorical language that bothered me might have been less noticeable if I had read it rather than having it read to me. For example: She asked for coffee and toast in a restaurant and buttered it with tears. - "Snapshots" What? Did she butter...

srah - Saturday, 17 November 2007 - 12:04 AM
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She's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead

Warning #1: If for some reason you haven't seen The Sixth Sense yet and have managed to get through the last eight years without having the ending spoiled for you¹, you might want to stop reading now. Warning #2: The following post makes me sound like a crazy person. I kind of am. I've known more than one person (it's not just you, Jennie) who saw The Truman Show and became convinced that their entire life was a reality show created for others' entertainment. For me, it was not so much The Truman Show but The Sixth Sense that had...

srah - Friday, 16 November 2007 - 12:38 PM
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Overnight, there's been a breathless change in you

Well hello, and welcome to my living room blog. It's a Multi-Stanza Weather-Haiku Extravaganza! And you're all invited! Last night: wore no coat This morning: need light jacket Right now: OH GOD, SNOW! Forty-one degrees Where the hell did that come from? Should have brought a hat What be these white flakes? Be it snow, or do the gods Need Head & Shoulders? Accident'ly punched the microwave. Unrelated to weather, sorry. My hand is bleeding Next time I'll punch you HARDER! Curse you, microwave! Oh, back to weather. Now they're forecasting showers. We'll be wet AND cold. I'm not crying...

srah - Thursday, 15 November 2007 - 10:56 PM
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Another photo post!

Once again, the clue to the musical is in the picture, not in the title. I think this one might be a little harder than last time, but what do I know?...

srah - Thursday, 15 November 2007 - 12:42 PM
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To the matter that you mention I have given some attention, and I think I am sufficiently decayed

Best. Quiz. Ever. Srsly. Your Score: Michelangelo / Rose Your ki is made up of 35% Vigor and 41% Wisdom You're not the Golden Girl who is most inclined to action, but take heart! At least you're not part of the brainiac patrol, either. You are the party animal of the Golden Girls / Ninja Turtle team. Carefree and often lazy, you're the one who will invariably be chosen for the most dangerous duty whenever a zany scheme calls for it. You crack jokes yourself and are the butt of many more, but your actions show that you are capable...

srah - Wednesday, 14 November 2007 - 5:37 PM
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Sometimes when someone has a crush on you, they'll make you a mix tape to give you a clue

Not that I have a crush on Tiff. It's all part of the NaBloPoMo game, folks. ... or is it¹? Anyway, it's time for Volume 2 of Tiff's Great CD Swap. I found myself unable to make one good mix CD of love songs, so I've made two bad ones instead. The first follows my November theme, and the second one is full of the most clichéd and/or sappy love songs evar. Read on for playlists! ¹ Yes, it is....

srah - Tuesday, 13 November 2007 - 12:22 PM
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This is what the British population calls an elementary education

Well, that's a bit disappointing....

srah - Tuesday, 13 November 2007 - 7:02 AM
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Yet there's the bold, brave spring of the tiger that quickens your walk¹

I am now in training for My Very First 5k Walk, which I will be doing on Thanksgiving morning with the rest of my family and maybe my best friend and her boyfriend and my cousin and her wife. And by "in training" I mean "I bought some new shoes! I will probably spend most of the next two weeks 'breaking them in' while sitting on the couch." ¹ Oh, I should mention that I may repeat musicals this month. Which I may or may not have done above. Surprise!...

srah - Monday, 12 November 2007 - 8:38 PM
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Beautiful girl, you're a lovely picture

We had our yearly photo session this weekend to take a picture for the family Christmas card, just as we've done for the last 28 years. Wow, that's a lot of years when you write it down! As usual, Alfie and I insisted on taking some joke pictures and messed up many others by having no idea what we were doing. Hansel and Zoolander we are not. As usual, we fervently wished that our parents would choose the joke/outtake photos over the serious pictures. And as usual, the parents prefer the serious ones. So we'll be sending out this one:...

srah - Monday, 12 November 2007 - 12:17 PM
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Today all my dreams will come true

I dreamt last night that I was in a Catholic church, dressed in a frumpy dress and a choir robe, and everyone was expecting me to help with Communion. I don't know why, because I'm not even eligible to take Communion in a Catholic church. I complained loudly about this but no one cared. Someone asked me if I was a novitiate¹, which offended me no end. I shouted, "No! I don't know why I'm dressed like this!" Then later they made me hand snacks out to the old people and children in the congregation. These horrible kids took all...

srah - Sunday, 11 November 2007 - 7:33 PM
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Rip! Rip! Rip the chipmunk off the field

Go Blue! (No, there is no real content to this post. What am I, a football blog? Kittens!)...

srah - Saturday, 10 November 2007 - 8:04 AM
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Hey mister, she's my sister!

If my sister loved me like she ought to, this is how our conversations would go: Me: Do you like sibling? Alfie: I don't know, I've never sibbled. Ha ha ha ha ha! Instead they go like this: Me: Do you like sibling? Alfie: ... no....

srah - Friday, 9 November 2007 - 10:06 PM
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What's it gonna take to stop the scabbers?

'Tis Thursday and I am therefore struck with the weekly conundrum: do I watch 30 Rock tonight and watch Ugly Betty online this weekend or do I watch Ugly Betty tonight and watch 30 Rock online this weekend? But now there is the added complication of the writers' strike. In the interest of supporting the writers, shouldn't I make a statement to the network by avoiding the online content for which they don't get paid? Geez, I think I'm actually going to have to find a blank tape and use my VCR like some kind of caveman. What have you...

srah - Thursday, 8 November 2007 - 7:31 PM
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I started life as an orphan, a child of the streets

Every one we capture says he's an orphan. The last three ships we took proved to be manned entirely by orphans, and so we had to let them go. One would think that Great Britain's mercantile navy was recruited solely from her orphan asylums - which we know is not the case.-Frederic, The Pirates of Penzance But what if it were the case? I like to imagine the Pirates of Penzance capturing the HMS Pinafore, only to find that it is crewed by orphans from the workhouse in Oliver!, all barely able to dance a proper hornpipe because they're suffering...

srah - Wednesday, 7 November 2007 - 7:15 PM
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What's that playing on the radio?

It looks like WOMC finally read this post I made back in 2005 and bowed to my wishes. Too bad for them that I've moved to Ohio, almost exclusively listen to NPR and have developed new local radio nemeses down here. Someone come down here and get the Shrieking Woman off my pledge drives!...

srah - Wednesday, 7 November 2007 - 5:26 PM
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Well-bred and mature, and out of her mind!

If you ask me "Where does [X] come from?" even (or especially) if [X] is an inanimate object or an abstract concept, there is a 95% chance that I am going to respond, "Well, when a mommy [X] and a daddy [X] love each other very much, they hug each other in a special way..." It's just what I do. Your only hope, your only savior from this predetermined line is that I might actually know some piece of trivia about where [X] comes from and feel a need to tell you the real answer. Only my love for trivia...

srah - Tuesday, 6 November 2007 - 5:26 PM
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Kind Captain, I've important information

I have been tagged, so I bring you: 7 Random And/Or Weird Facts About srah When I was in elementary school, our music teacher, Mr McDonald (who had an imaginary friend named "Boo-Boo McGillicuddy") was the one who introduced me to Oliver! (and therefore to my first fictional-character crush) and I have the impression that he had us sing an awful lot of Three Dog Night. I don't know if it was part of the district-mandated curriculum for elementary-level music classes, if it was in our music book, or if Mr McDonald was just a huge fan of Three Dog...

srah - Tuesday, 6 November 2007 - 12:16 PM
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You, you will be mean/ And I... I'll drink all the time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40k7SkXi3Rc I just came across this video on the preparation of absinthe (how do I find these things? I don't even remember) and it reminded me of our parties back when I was living in Vichy. I tasted some absinthe at one of those parties, but it didn't make much of an impression. For one thing, about 4.5 years later, I don't remember what it tasted like. For another thing, even when I came home from the party that night, I blogged about tequila and Michigan accents instead. It all seems like so much work, with the special flatware and...

srah - Monday, 5 November 2007 - 10:51 PM
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I couldn't care less what she'll wear or what she looks like/ It all depends on what she cooks like

I made brownies this weekend, and they got a little overdone, which makes me sad. Why is it that when you burn brownies, it's the edges (the best part) that get burnt, and the middle (the second best part) is just fine? I am going to invent brownies that finish cooking in the middle first, leaving tender, chewy delicious edges no matter how long you cook them for. What's that? My baking ideas aren't based in reality? Well, um... LOOK OVER THERE! *runs*...

srah - Monday, 5 November 2007 - 5:43 PM
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He tucks it right under his chin

I don't really have a preference between sleeping on my left side, my right side, my back or my stomach. I've slept in all of those positions at different times, and done just fine. When I was a kid, it didn't matter what position I was sleeping in, but it did matter very much that the covers were covering my neck and both of my ears. In any kind of weather, I would wrap the covers around my face so that they tucked under my chin, and then I would be safe. I'm not really sure what I was afraid...

srah - Monday, 5 November 2007 - 7:05 AM
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And a fellow would know that his darling/ Had heard ev'ry word of his song

This is another one of those posts that probably only one of my readers will understand and/or care about, but here goes. In the song "J'en ai marre" by Alizée: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVlrqTw7wjM There's a section of the chorus that goes: J'en ai marre de ces cyniques Et dans les prés les colchiques J'en ai marre d'en avoir marre Aussi (I'm fed up with these cynics And the flowers in the prairies And I'm fed up with being fed up Too) The song is about Alizée listing off all the million different things she's sick of, and talking about how she's only...

srah - Sunday, 4 November 2007 - 10:23 PM
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The clue is not in the title this time!

It occurred to me this morning that my breakfast came from a musical. So you get a visual clue today instead of lyrics. I'm shaking things up around here. Guess away!...

srah - Sunday, 4 November 2007 - 9:02 AM
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Something has changed within me/ Something is not the same

O hai. I decided to change the rules again. It's now no longer "best out of 30" but "best out of however many NaBloPoMoLolCatted posts there are by the end of the month" because it occurred to me that I might want to write posts with titles from musicals more than once a day. Um... like I just did. So have at that....

srah - Saturday, 3 November 2007 - 10:12 PM
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Chicks who did kicks aren't kicking anymore/ They're doing choreography

I went to the Diwali festival tonight to see the festivities and eat the food. The dinner, which was heavily subsidized by Associated Student Government funding, only cost $2 to ticket-buyers. So while not free Indian food, it was pretty darn near to free Indian food. I was almost moved to tears¹ by the Classical Fusion dance done by the Rec Center class. I have been taking the half-hour per week classes offered by Employee Health and Well-Being², and these ladies (a different class, but with the same teacher) meet for an hour a week to learn and practice their...

srah - Saturday, 3 November 2007 - 7:37 PM
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A person can develop the flu/ The flu, a hundred and three point two

[Note to those of you who have suggested themes/lyrics: I am going to try to use your suggestions, especially when my everyday life doesn't inspire me. Just because I haven't used them yet doesn't mean I won't. Keep suggesting!] The yearly question once again raises its head: to flu shot, or not to flu shot? I've gotten by without flu shots for my whole life so far and don't usually get hit very hard in flu season (just enough to take a sick day off work and some time to take care of myself), but on the other hand, I...

srah - Friday, 2 November 2007 - 7:10 PM
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OMG! A contest! OMG!

Since all of my NaBloPoMo post titles will be lyrics from musicals this year, I have decided that I will also have a little contest to encourage commenter loyalty and return visits and ROI and consumer cromulence and other boring business terms that I am pretty much just making up now. So on each NaBloPoMo post (identified with the Official NaBloPoMo Lolcat), you are invited to guess the musical that the title comes from. The person who guesses correctly (first) wins! Yay for you! Then at the end of the month, whoever has won the most days out of the...

srah - Friday, 2 November 2007 - 4:57 PM
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My future, I hope, will be/ In the home of a brave and free male

As you may know, if you are stalking me and/or following me on Twitter¹, I went to Indianapolis for a conference last weekend. At the conference, I went to a session about why more females than males study abroad, and how this can influence study abroad marketing efforts. This session has been bothering me ever since, because the presenter had interviewed female study abroad students and had discovered that one reason a lot of females (at her university, anyway²) study abroad is that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do so. This is one thing that we try to point...

srah - Thursday, 1 November 2007 - 5:20 PM
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National Very Busy Month

If I am going to participate in National Blog Posting Month (post every day for the whole month of November) I am going to need some help around here. Any ideas? I've got a post brewing for today (and hey, doesn't this one count?) but you may have noticed that I don't necessarily come up with something to write about every day. So suggest away! What has worked in the past that you'd like to see more of? What are you dying to know more about? I still haven't really decided whether I'm doing National Novel Writing Month this November...

srah - Thursday, 1 November 2007 - 7:18 AM
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