Minimates

Look what my nephew did:





They were playing ring around the rosie. He got a kick out of the Spiderman with backpack.

Nerd, Geek, or Dork?

I usually call myself a geek, but according to this I'm a nerd.

Pure Nerd 78 % Nerd, 34% Geek, 34% Dork

For The Record: You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 86% on nerdiness You scored higher than 41% on geekosity You scored higher than 59% on dork points

Based on the definitions, I'm both. I'm a geek about math.

Clear Skies

Sending hope and prayers to Louisiana.

First Day of School

Today went really well. The kids were quiet. The seventh graders knew more than I anticipated. The day went by faster than I expected.

Now if I could only get the other math teacher to stop being such a complainer.

Rest

Today is it- the last resting day for awhile.

I'm trying to get things done- unpacking and putting things away- organizing things that have been neglected- paying bills and writing letters.

I want to have a more peaceful year.

Another Batch of Ariziona Pictures

Yesterday I got some really great potato pictures thanks to an enthusiastic niece and a kind tour guide. I haven't done anything with them yet and I still have some Arizona pictures, so I'm going to give you a batch of those for now.

I'm wondering if I should save some of the pictures now that school is back in session. I'm bound to get busy. I'll think about it. Til then, here are some new pictures in no particular order:




















Not sure why this one is so tiny- maybe potato was embarrassed about being in the ladies' room.

The Story of My Life

I missed my blog's birthday.

I always miss birthdays. I'm such a guy in that way.

Anyway, a very happy birthday to my blog! At least I'm in the right month!

Who's Going to Win?

My fiance and I love toys. We have them all over the house. Our problem is the whole collecting business. We don't sell our toys, but it's hard not to think about selling our toys, especially when we look on ebay or read ToyFare and find out how much some of these toys sell for. The thing is, what fun are toys when they're in the box? Yet that's the only way to make money from them.

I found this set of toys for my fiance's birthday. If any of you have tried to find any versions of little kid Yoda (by Playschool), you know how difficult it is. I had been looking for months and months. A few days before his birthday, I found these- the only pack in the store.

My fiance left them in the box for the night. The next morning I found them fighting on the windowsill in the bathroom- the box in the trash. Lately they've been trying to knock each other off the top shelf in our living room. They have way more fun like that- outside the box.

Escape

Today I don't want to read a sad story about someone who died. I don't want to hear the latest news on Iraq. I don't want to think of anything heavy today.

I'm craving the kinds of books I read as a kid or a day with my Barbies all spread out in the living room.

Some days are like that.

World's Smallest Museum

This has been a busy week. Here's another Arizona picture to tide you over.

Wait til you see what my nephew did to my minimates!

Wizard World Chicago 2005

Now that google is showing results for Wizard World, I thought I'd mention that my August archives have about 10 picture-ful posts about the convention.

Happy viewing!

Interesting Question

This is a survey question posed in a newsletter I subscribe to:

Do you think that Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a son killed
in Iraq, should have the right to speak against the war?

I'm guessing it's very poorly worded. I've avoided the Cindy Sheehan controversy, but I'm pretty sure that everyone has a right to speak against the war. We do still have that right, don't we?

Turn on CSPAN

A man named Philip Murphy speaking on behalf of the Center for American Progress is speaking on education.

It involves a $379 billion dollar federal commitment.

Update: See how your state is doing educationally here.

My Little Squirt

Can you believe my stepmother did that to him? And you thought I was the meanie.

Good Reading

The day before my trip, I read a book called Codex by Lev Grosman. It's not literature, but it was interesting enough to keep me up until the wee hours of the night finishing it.

The weird part is that my first day in Arizona, my dad mentioned every part of the book: adventure games, archiving and book preservation, codes, fantasy stuff. The book has LAN parties, strange characters, mystery, literature. It was an engrossing read.

I do need to warn that the last few pages really disappointed me though I appreciated the idea. I like more closure.

Happy Reading!

Read With Caution

A great example of how numbers can tell us whatever we want:

Pickles Will Kill You!

Every pickle you eat brings you nearer to death. Amazingly, the "thinking man" has failed to grasp the terrifying significance of the term "in a pickle." Although leading horticulturists have long known that Cucumis sativus posseses an indehiscent pepo, the pickle industry continues to expand.

Pickles are associated with all the major diseases of the body. Eating them breeds war and communism. They can be related to most airline tragedies. Auto accidents are caused by pickles. There exists a positive relationship between crime waves and consumption of this fruit of the cucurbit family.

For example ... Nearly all sick people have eaten pickles. The effects are obviously cumulative. 99.9% of all people who die from cancer have eaten pickles. 99.8% of all soldiers have eaten pickles. 96.8% of all communist sympathizers have eaten pickles. 99.7% of the people involved in air and auto accidents ate pickles within 14 days preceding the accident. 93.1% of all juvenile delinquents come from homes where pickles are served frequently. Evidence points to the long-term effects of pickle eating: Of all the people born in 1869 who later dined on pickles, there has been a 100% mortality. All pickle eaters born between 1879 and 1899 have wrinkled skin, have lost most of their teeth, have brittle bones and failing eyesight -- if the ills of eating pickles have not already caused their death. Even more convincing is the report of a noted team of medical specialists: rats force-fed with 20 pounds of pickles per day for 30 days developed bulging abdomens. Their appetites for wholesome food was destroyed.

In spite of all the evidence, pickle growers and packers continue to spread their evil. More than 120,000 acres of fertile U.S. soil are devoted to growing pickles. Eat orchid petal soup. Practically no one has as many problems from eating orchid petal soup as they do with eating pickles.

Great Beauty

It's back to school for me tomorrow, but I have lots of wonderful new potato pictures to post. I was blessed to see some very beautiful parts of Arizona and also to see some unique artifacts.



It was lovely!

Another Trip

Yes, I'm going away again. This time I'm off to Arizona to see my dad. I will have computer access this time, but I'm not sure if I'll be posting. Have a great weekend.

For a special treat, I give you the top of my fiance's computer as of December 2004:



And that's just part of it!

The Commercial Closet

Believe it or not, I discovered this website because it was mentioned on adoption.com.

It's about how gays and lesbians are treated in advertising. Interesting stuff.

No-Fly Infants

Caught this story on the news tonight:

Children and infants are not able to get boarding passes because their names match those on no-fly lists. This could be easily corrected by checking passenger birthdates, but no one has bothered to do it.

Go figure.

Scare Bear

Someone mentioned these when they noticed the Ugly Doll hanging from my purse. I love Ugly Dolls (more on that later). The Scare Bear folks had a booth at the comiccon so I picked one up. They are cute.

Weekend Away

I'm off to visit my sister and my daughter this weekend. The picture is from Chicago. The bye was done by someone unknown, we just added the potato.

Hey, How've You Been?

I'm heading out to see an old friend tonight. We were friends back in junior high. It should be a good time.

Updated Thing Collection

I even dug out my Mighty Beans Thing. My fiance and I bought tons and tons of Marvel Mighty Beans just so I could get a Thing.

Wishing he was still in Chicago meeting superheroes at Wizard World.

Taking A Break

I want to make sure that anyone who wants to see the Wizard World pictures gets a chance to see them, so I probably won't be posting for a few days. I will be checking in so feel free to leave comments.



If you were directed just to this post, please go to August 2005. It's pretty much full of pictures from the Chicago convention.



Have a fun week everyone!

I Wanna Be a Superhero!

You didn't think that was it did you?

Here's the rest of the characters from Wizard World Chicago:







































I loved seeing all the people dressed up. As I said in the last post, many thanks to everyone who agreed to pose with my potato. It was great fun.

I hope to see you at next year's Wizard World.