I've been awarded "Lens of the Day" at Squidoo!

My main computer hobby these days is creating "lenses," or single-page mini-sites, over at Squidoo. These lenses are great for me, because I like lots of different things, and the lens-building interface is very easy to use. I can delve into whatever my subject du jour is, organize everything I find, and share it almost instantly. I have been doing a few lenses per week lately, and I have to say I think I'm addicted. But that's my problem, not yours. :-)

I've lost count of my lenses, but I think I have about 25 active ones right now, [edit: I counted, and it's 41 as of today. My habit is worse than I thought!] with more on the back burner. I'm very excited that one of them, the Pumpkin Carving Video Showcase (doesn't that sound fancy?) was awarded the coveted "Lens of the Day," by the Squidoo gods on October 29, 2007. It's a collection of the best and most popular pumpkin carving and other pumpkin-related videos on YouTube. It's truly amazing what some people can do with a simple gourd. One guy carved Princess Diana's face into a pumpkin. Seriously, that's art. I can manage some triangles for the eyes and nose, and a zig-zaggy mouth, but that's about it. And for people who are more about pumpkin destruction than pumpkin art, there's a section on pumpkin trebuchet (punkin chunkin) videos. Fun, fun!

My own turkey tale: misadventures in roasting

I know it's not even Halloween yet, but with the kids' school "fall" parties (they don't call it "Halloween" anymore, apparently) finished up and Christmas merchandise already showing up at Target, I can't help but think ahead a bit.

I've been putting together a page on Thanksgiving recipes over at Squidoo. It's been a lot of fun researching the various ways of preparing turkey, carving turkey, mashing potatoes, etc. It has me reminiscing about my first Thanksgiving with my husband, and that always makes me laugh. So in the interest of sharing a smile today, here is my personal, embarrassing turkey misadventure story. Enjoy!

We'd been married about six months by our first Thanksgiving together as a married couple. We lived in an apartment with a small electric oven. I was so excited! You know... "Look at me! I'm such the little wife cooking for my new hubby..."

I roasted a turkey, fixed up the trimmings, complete with cranberries from a can and Stove Top stuffing. When it was finished, he carved up the bird, my manly husband, and discovered something strange inside the breast. What the heck?! Did we get a defective turkey?!

We examined the pale, wrinkled, alien membrane, and figured out that I had forgotten to remove the bag of neck and giblets before I cooked the turkey. Yes, the bag of turkey guts was still inside, like an unexpected prize inside a cereal box. But instead of a super secret spy decoder ring, it was a baked bag of neck, gizzard, liver, and heart. Now, I'm sure that lots of people love to eat those parts, but we are not those people. I was quite embarrassed, especially when he told his mother about it. Fortunately, I have an excellent sense of humor. ;-) We still laugh about it!

And in case you're wondering, the rest of the turkey was fine. We still ate it, we're still married, and we're still laughing about it, twelve years later!

Ways to maintain a healthy level of INSANITY

I got this in an e-mail from my mom, who got it from her sister... Isn't that how it always goes with these lists? Anyway, I thought this was funny, so I'm putting it here, so you can laugh too. Heaven knows we need more chances to laugh!

19 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4.. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds"

7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8. Don t use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat with a serious face.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

Who is Ed Helms?

I am a big fan of "The Office," and I am especially entertained by the character Andy Bernard, played by Ed Helms. I have not been a loyal watcher of Jon Stewart's "Daily Show," (it's on too late for me) so I hadn't seen much of Ed Helms before his part on The Office.

If you haven't seen The Office, you are missing out on some good laughs. If you like sharp humor, sometimes uncomfortable politically incorrect situations, and interesting characters, you will love The Office. You might want to give it a try.

So as I was saying, I didn't know much about Ed Helms. His character, Andy, is very annoying. He's a huge suck-up. He breaks into song without warning. He brings his banjo to work. He has a problem with anger management. Get the idea?

I was wondering about the guy behind it all, so I did some research. Okay, I say "research," but you know what I mean is, I typed "Ed Helms" into my search bar. What I found out is that he is from Atlanta, went to college at Oberlin in Ohio, did stand-up comedy, plays in a bluegrass trio, was on The Daily Show, and now he's on The Office. I put all the details together on a Squidoo page, if you're interested in learning more about Ed Helms and Andy Bernard. It includes some of my favorite scenes from The Office, and a link to his band's site. Enjoy!

I like Japanese game shows

I came across this clip from a "Human Tetris" Japanese game show. It is silly and fun, and I think it's hilarious. What does that say about me?

I want Yoda on my iPod

As you know, I just got a tiny new iPod Shuffle for my birthday, and I love it! I want to hug it and squeeze it, and I will call it George. uh... So I was browsing for iPod stuff, like a little protective case, to keep it from getting scratched up. Well, I was not prepared for the amazing selection of iPod accessories Out There! One of my favorites is this cute little Yoda case for the old Shuffle design. Yoda! Since I'm addicted to Squidoo these days, I made a whole page on all the iPod stuff I found, in case you're curious.

If it's yellow, let it mellow...

In honor of "Blog Environmental Action Day" (who comes up with this stuff, anyway?) here is a bit of wisdom that was passed down to me by a family friend when I was a kid. We were visiting a lake cabin with a small septic tank, and were advised not to flush the toilet or put any more water down the drains than absolutely necessary, lest we all find ourselves in a stinky, mucky mess. We were given simple instructions on how to do this:

1. If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. I believe this is self-explanatory. Once, out of habit, I flushed on a yellow, and was met with "I hope that flush was really necessary," when I came out. I was embarrassed for having forgotten the rule, and said, "Yeah, it was," which was equally embarrassing to admit.

2. The shower had a push-button faucet, like a public restroom. One push would turn on the shower for maybe 30 seconds. Each person got two pushes worth of water per shower, which worked like this: Push once to moisten body. Lather up. Push to rinse body. Get out of the shower.

I guess if we all used these Cabin Bathroom rules at home, we'd both conserve fresh water and minimize the amount of dirty water going to treatment facilities, which would be a really good thing for the planet. :-)

Stephen Colbert on Letterman

I loved this interview with Stephen Colbert on David Letterman. It was interesting to hear Stephen speak in his more "real" voice, as opposed to the ultra-conservative pundit he portrays on The Colbert Report. He talked about trying to earn a living building futon frames, being a dad to three kids, and a bit about his new book, I Am America (And So Can You!). The book even comes with a sheet of stickers!

Yes, I am proud to be a geek

One of my hobbies is putting silly slogans on shirts and stuff. Before I had kids and replaced my hard-earned college knowledge with the lyrics for all the Wiggles songs, I was a scientist. And even if I can't remember Avogadro's number anymore (it has nothing to do with guacamole - I remember that much), I still get a giggle out of math and science related jokes. Here is one especially for fall - it is "pi" season, after all! And I love pie!

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm one of those people who enjoy having birthdays. Yes, I'm getting older, and yes, I have more gray hair than I did a year ago, but I still think birthdays are fun. My family got me a pink iPod shuffle, which I LOVE! And my kids are working on another "present" for Mommy, which is not arguing for the whole day, and doing what I ask without having to be asked multiple times. We'll see how they do! My dad used to ask us for the same thing on Father's Day or on his birthday, and we thought it would be so much easier if we could just get him a "real" gift. I guess you have to become a parent to understand what a "real" gift is, on so many levels!

Gratitude journal: It's my birthday, and I get to eat cake!

That's so true!

I love this "Life Lesson" figurine from TLC/Discovery Channel because it's so true! I never get to go to the bathroom by myself. Even if I close and lock the door, I have little people standing outside, talking to me through the door and poking things underneath it for me to see.

I know I'll miss it all someday, though, and when they're grown and gone, I'll wish for their little fingers sticking through the space under the door, just to get my attention.

Gratitude journal: My kids love me so much that want to be near me, even when I'm on the toilet.

Gratitude

I read in the Reader's Digest that gratitude can help you be more healthy, less stressed, and more optimistic. People have been studying how gratitude affects a person's well-being, both physically and mentally, and it seems to be quite a powerful force for good. Not only does it help a person feel better personally, but people who live gratefully are more likely to help others, which makes other people feel better, too.  So it becomes a big, beautiful circle of gratitude. I like to think of myself as a grateful kind of person, but the scientists that did the study suggest keeping a gratitude journal.  Apparently, taking time each day to remember and write down things for which you are grateful, helps you become a happier and healthier person. I will give this a try. And I will incorporate my gratitude journal into my blog. Feel free to comment and add your own "grateful moments" as well.  Let's all get happier together!

Another colorful necklace, in many shades of blue

Here is a beautiful necklace in shades of blue. I combined light and dark purple amethyst, tri-hue blue tanzanite, clear quartz (it looks like ice droplets to me), faceted cathedral beads, and sterling silver. I made this during the last (I hope) hot weekend of fall, in anticipation of the crisp, cool weather that should be on its way in October.

I've been feeling colorful lately

Well, been staying indoors to beat the heat and humidity lately, and I've done a couple of designs with lots of color! Here is one that has lots of juicy green and orange, including peridot and citrine, and sterling silver. It's a 20 inch necklace that will not be ignored! It may look good enough to eat, but it's not edible. :-)

The Great Pumpkin - smells like childhood!

I grew up in rural Wisconsin in the 70s, and we didn't have cable television. That means it was a really big deal when the Charlie Brown specials were on. Back then, the only time I could see cartoons was on Saturday mornings, unless you count Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Mr. Rogers on PBS.

Anyway, even though we have The Great Pumpkin on DVD now, and can watch it any time of the year (and we do!), it's still a special thing to see it on the network. It doesn't matter that I'm 30-something with kids of my own. When we sit on the couch to watch Linus in the pumpkin patch, it's almost like being a little kid again. Thank you, Great Pumpkin, sincerely!