Happy New Year!

Beat everyone at Trivial Pursuit (like I did on Christmas).



Spend the night with your sweetie.

Thing, Thing, Thing

My new collection:
Can you spot the new ones?

Where's Potato

Sad Story

I heard this on the radio on my way home this morning.

Rescue workers were searching for the body of the policeman. They found the body of his partner, but were concerned about finding the other body because they were searching in the water and the weather kept changing.

The two officers drove off a bridge the other night because they didn't realize it was open.

They were going to the bridge because the warning lights had stopped functioning and they were suppossed to prevent other motorists from driving off the bridge.

Potato In Salem: Volume 14 (18)

We witnessed the sweetest Random Act of Kindness today. We went to IHOP and some of the kids had balloons. A very young girl started crying when hers popped. Immediately, a little girl (around 4 years old) from another table walked over and gave the crying girl hers. It was so sweet.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

I hope that everyone is having a great family evening. Sweet holiday wishes to all of you.

More NYC (2)

This next one is potato posing with some turtle from the Dark Tower books.


These trees were beautiful:

Last night, the whole neighborhood went caroling. It was really neat.

Merry Christmas Diamond

BOSTON - Imagine one man's surprise when he opened his car
door to find a diamond ring resting on the seat. The $15,000
diamond engagement ring, left by an anonymous gift-giver, was
accompanied by a typed note. "Merry Christmas. Thank you for
leaving your car door unlocked. Instead of stealing your car
I gave you a present. Hopefully this will land in the hands
of someone you love, for my love is gone now. Merry Christmas
to you," it read. The man was at a train station when he found
the three-diamond ring with a white-gold band on his seat.
He reported the incident to police, and decided to keep the
ring after a jeweler appraised its value at $15,000.

Can you imagine? Merry Christmas, indeed.

Thanks to Bizzare News for the story.

Going Too Far

Transit token-scalping hot in Atlanta

Atlanta's rapid transit system is prosecuting a man for
giving away a token, which could send him to jail for a
year. A state judge ruled last week there was enough
evidence to proceed against Donald Pirone, who was arrested
and handcuffed at a train station Nov. 30 for allegedly
scalping a token. Pirone, 42, said he was simply trying
to help when he gave a token to a passenger who was having
trouble getting a token out of the machine. He said he
didn't ask for money, but the passenger gave him $1.75,
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Officials with
the MARTA system contend the charge against him is in line
with a 1992 state law that prohibits passengers from
selling tokens. However, state Republican Rep. John
Lunsford has filed a bill to strike down the statute,
which was enacted to prevent scalpers from stockpiling
tokens before MARTA raised fares, then selling them at a
profit. "So many times, we do things with unforeseen
consequences, and I believe that the original intention
was all well and good," he said. "I consider the arrest
of the gentleman to be an abuse of that power."

I can't stand it when I hear stories like this. People get away with actual crimes every day while resources are wasted on incidents like this. Plus, people are afraid to be kind. Grrr.

Thanks to coffee break for the story.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a terrific holiday.

Also, it seems that the Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays madness is going on again. My position hasn't changed. I think a lot of people on both sides are ridiculous.

And Stacy, I hear you about being liberal and christian.

Olive the Other Reindeer

We just caught the end of this on Cartoon Network. It's so funny. I so need to buy it.

More NYC

NYC

Just some pics.

New York, New York

New York was good. We definitely learned that it's a bad idea to go there the weekend before Christmas. I feel bad for anyone who lives there. The crowds were unbelievable. We didn't shop at all because we couldn't get into anything. We made the most of it though and the weather was good.

Potato In Salem: Volume 13 (17)

A day late, but I'm here. Four more days of work. I really need the vacation.

Checking In

Christmas Shopping: done (aside from one trip to the movie theatre)
Wrapping: 90% done
Parent-Teacher Conferences: done
Final Paper for Class: 95% done
Packages mailed: all
Cards sent: all
Emails answered: none for about a month
Calls made: see above
Time I've been going to bed all week: 7:30 PM
Free days til Christmas: one
Stress Level: through the roof

Sorry I've been MIA (and Dad I hope you're reading this because yes I do intend to reply to your email). Despite the fact that this holiday is my most organized yet, I'm spent.

And Stacy, I didn't forget about the ornaments. I even took a picture. I was sadly mistaken about the style. I'll keep an eye out though. My mom always says this is the best place to find old stuff like that because we have basements and attics.

I'm beyond tired. The only reason I'm still up now is that I needed to finish wrapping. I'm leaving tomorrow for a weekend away with my niece and nephew and part of the weekend is a Christmas celebration.

Anyway, I hope everyone in cyberspace is doing well. I'll be back soon.

Potato In Salem: Volume 12 (16)

Hopefully I'll get a chance to post about last night. It was wonderful.

Don't mind the weird numbers. The pictures in between are a bit too gory for the holiday season. I just want to remind myself.

The Story of Potato

Some folks have recognized him, but not many realize that potato is an actor. He plays a really crappy character in an otherwise fun children's show.

The character's crappiness landed potato on a clearance rack where I bought him for $1.99. He's listed on ebay as a rare toy- rare because he didn't sell. I can't find potato merchandise anywhere.

Above is his yearbook picture. He looks so clean and cuddly.

My New Favorite Blog

Go here for cool stuff and funniness. I just wasted at least an hour on it.

On the Shelf

I hereby volunteer to recreate Barbara Ehrenreich's experiment in Bait and Switch. I do this not because I didn't like her experiment, but because I represent the opposite of all the things she felt hindered the experiment.

She's written another great book that makes you laugh even at a topic that isn't humorous. She's amazing.

I particularly recommend her conclusion. If you are someone who can't devote the time to read the whole book, read the conclusion next time you're in the bookstore.

I would make her president.

Sweetness

One of my students was involved in a serious accident two years ago. She had never mentioned it until the anniversary this week. Her mother lost control during a winter storm and they went off a bridge into the water. They were very lucky to survive. Despite or possibly due to this, she is the cheeriest kid I know.

We had a bad storm today. Alternating snow and rain making the roads very slippery. Our school lost power at 2 and it stayed like that for the rest of the day. Around 3 all remaining kids were brought downstairs while parents came in. After 3:30 dismissal, I was urged by staff to go home because I have a decent drive and the weather looked bad. That student was still there.

She asked me to drive slowly. She said that she had almost died in a storm like this and that she really liked me and wanted me to be safe.

I promised to drive slowly.

Dear Peter

The duet was a blast. Plus, it netted me some compliments from the musicians in the crowd. A repeat would be wonderful. After that, we can play backgammon so I can beat you.

I hope your birthday was terrific.

Survivor: Guatemala gossip

I want Steph to win. She's the only reason I tuned in this season (and I still haven't been consistent).

Of course I'm bad luck, so she's doomed. I did, however, wish for Rupert to win All-Stars. Though he didn't win, I wasn't alone and he did win Viewer's Choice. I was thrilled for him.

I did lose some respect for Steph over the car issue. I thought Cindy was a complete jerk for taking the car. Not only that, I really thought she screwed herself by being selfish. To top it off, she did nothing but rub it in everyone's face after she came back.

It's been interesting to hear the comments of the cast-offs. The last few have shown a complete lack of class and have made me glad they got voted off. Cindy was no exception.

I can't wait til next week!

Great Marketing

I am every company's dream. I have incredible brand loyalty. If I find a brand or store that I'm comfortable with, it takes a lot for me to change (of course, it's quite a compliment if I do). I've been known to drive 5 towns away just to use a certain laundromat or bank or dentist.

I also love Christmas shopping. I normally hate shopping, but I love buying Christmas presents. Every year, I say I'm going to do my shopping online, but I never get to it on time. For some unknown reason, I did this year. I could be done shopping (though I know I'll get a few more things) and I did 90% of it online.

Where did I buy everything?

Amazon.com. I don't care that they're a big coorporation. I know I could have saved a few bucks here and there. The thing is, most of the savings were minimal and I loved being able to buy everything I wanted from one place that I've had a positive history with as one big purchase.

How did it happen?

They put all the magazine gift lists on their website with links to the products on their site. That's how I ended up buying everything from them.

So my thanks to Amazon for a stress-free holiday.

Potato In Salem: Volume 11

I had so much fun last night. I went out with an old friend and we played a bunch of games of backgammon after our travels. I won every game. Go me. I want to have a board game night.

Potato Meets Goulet

Wait'll you see his new Christmas sweater. We took him out to dinner last night and wanted him to stay warm.

View With Caution: 74 Bands

Though this is being posted all over the web as 75 bands, the official (larger) picture (and contest) can be viewed on heavy.com. Virgin records is running a contest for an alienware computer. You need to find the 74 bands or artists featured in the picture. There is a clearer picture here, but the left side is cut off.

It's great fun, but a huge time filler.

Post your thoughts below. Also, there are a bunch of lists floating around the internet so don't worry about giving someone an edge. The contest ends December 31.

Cool commercial here via llamame lola. It has additional clues and fun to figure out.

The complete verified list can be found here. Good luck!