I should do it more often, because so many things happen in my life that I want to remember but I forget all about them later, but sometimes I remember to take “notes” and draft a text message in my cell phone. The problem is that even though I take these notes,  I often forget that I did. I’m awesome like that!

I thought that I would “clean house” today and share a couple of these notes:

The first one is just one word “fantabulousticulous”. I am not sure who said it (or why), I can’t find it in my email…it must have been on Facebook! I took note of it because it made me smile.

“My heart is beating like a jumbo drum” which are misheard lyrics to a song that kept coming up on Starr’s playlist (usually heard through the walls/floor as she is cleaning or primping and I am in another area of the house) and I wanted to know what it was, but I forgot to ask until just now. “It’s Jungle Drum” she says (she was in the other room when I asked, and I could hear her rolling her eyes when she answered!). Okay, well, that makes sense.

“Jungle Drum” – Emiliana Torrini

“Racer X, Bear Republic Brewing Co.” A beer that I recently tasted and liked.

” ‘Hikes Around Fort Collins’ – Melodie Edwards” a book I saw at the bookstore. I wanted to buy it, but wanted to make sure that I didn’t ALREADY OWN IT first! I just checked, and I don’t.

“I want to squeeze his cheeks! And when I say ‘squeeze his cheeks’, it’s more like marry him!” Starr talking about some cutie, I didn’t take note of who. I need to take better notes!

“If a guy is treating you like he doesn’t give a shit, he genuinely doesn’t give a shit. No exceptions.” A quote from the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You” and something that I need to remember.

“What do you think about when you look at the camera? — The depths of hell!” A question posed to Michael Proietti, who is noticably uncomfortable in front of the camera,last Sunday on The Next Food Network Star…and his answer which voices the exact way I feel about cameras!

For a nearly two weeks, I had been  receiving and ignoring daily calls from Nielsen Ratings. I would look at the caller ID and shrug and walk away. They kept calling. Apparently, my input was crucial! Last week I finally picked up the phone.

“We at Nielsen Ratings would like you to participate in a survey about your television watching habits. Would you be willing to participate?”

“Sure.”

“What types of  television programing do you and your family watch?”

I laughed, “Um, many types?”

She wanted clarification,  “soap operas, comedy, sit-coms, drama, news?”

Okay, “among others we tend to watch dramas, reality TV (totally Starr!! *cough*) and the news.”

“That’s fine, I can record those answers. Thank you for participating in our survey today.”

I laughed out loud, they have been calling my house every single day and they had one non-specific question? “That’s it?!”

I heard her giggle, “yes, well, some of our surveys are longer than others.”

One of those Facebook memes going around my circle these days:

The iPod Game

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Put your iPod or other music player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
* I added an mp3 link when possible. The links without a play button (like this –> “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” – Vampire Weekend) will take you to a place where you can hear the song. Sadly there were a couple songs that I couldn’t find at all.

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Rattlesnake Charm (Dream Machine) –Sean Hayes

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Sex and Mayhem –Devastations

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Say What You Want –Texas

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
No More Running Away –Air Traffic

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Red Light –Jonny Lang

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Superstar (Carpenters Cover) –Sonic Youth

WHAT IS 2+2?
Kid Fears –Indigo Girls

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Don’t Dream it’s Over –Crowded House

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Eleanor –Low Millions

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
The Way We Get By –Spoon there is a free download at betterPropaganda!

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
When I am Gone –Sparrow House

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Postcards From Italy –Beirut

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO (hear) AT YOUR WEDDING?
Waiting For the Sun –The Jayhawks

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Oxford Comma –Vampire Weekend again there is a free mp3 at betterPropaganda!

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
If You Fall –Azure Ray

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
The Very Thought of You –Billie Holiday

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Love Revolution –All Mighty Whispers

WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
In the Time We’ve Got –The One AM Radio

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Over My Head (Cable Car) –The Fray

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Double Vision –The Ponys

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Happy –MaryKate O’Neil

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Coffee and Cigarettes –Michelle Featherstone

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
There’s a Girl –The Ditty Bops

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Solome –Van Elk

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Won’t Be Long –Ferraby Lionheart

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Precious –The Pretenders

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Goodbye –Elephant Parade

WILL YOU POST THIS?
I am Not My Hair (Konvict Remix) –India.Arie feat. Akon

Borrowed from Jason at The Jason Show (Happy 40th Jason!). Unfortunately, I celebrated my 40th just a short while ago…but thought I would play along anyway!

Do you think you’ve really lived so far? This is a list of 100 activities–some I have experienced (in red), some I have not (in black).

*I am enjoying listening to Heather Browne’s (I am Fuel, You are Friends) DJ set while I personalize the list.

2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band–does singing into my hairbrush as a teen (or last week?) count? Thought not.

6. Bathed in a river
7. Been to the Taj Mahal
8. Walked on a glacier in Alaska
9. Caught and held a snake
10. Spoke in front of a big crowd–hopefully I will never have to.
11. Bungee jumped
12. Had a whirlwind love affair that broke your heart

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch–I am not sure what this means. I draw. I’ve created all kinds of things..from scratch.

18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train

22. Hiked to base camp on Mt. Everest

25. Watched an animal being born
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Learned a foreign language
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

31. Trained a dog to do cool tricks
32. Been on a cruise–Northern Europe
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors–if I knew where they were from, it might help. But non-specifically, I have visited England, Ireland, Germany and France among others…so I think I have the majority of countries covered, but not specific towns etc.
35. Seen an Amish community

37. Won over $1000 in a raffle or lottery–*crosses fingers and checks latest Powerball numbers* …um, no.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke–and I never will.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

44. Visited Africa

46. Broke a bone
47. Started your own business

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the Eiffel Tower

52. Kissed in the rain passionately–I feel like this should be a definite yes…but sadly no.

55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Joined a prayer group
58. Taken a martial arts class–I hated it.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen

62. Gone whale watching–I haven’t been on a “whale watching” trip/cruise, but have watched for and seen many whales from land and while on our cruise.
63. Received flowers for no reason

65. Gone sky diving–and I won’t.

68. Flown in a helicopter

72. Pieced a quilt

74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London–saw the guards, but not the changing.
77. Broken something extremely expensive

80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Got a tattoo

85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House

89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous

94. Toured the UN
95. Hiked to Machu Picchu
96. Swam in the Indian Ocean–no, but I have in the Mediterranean Sea.
97. Conversed with someone when neither of you spoke each others language–not really “conversed”, but yes.

100. Acted in a play–does the first grade Thanksgiving play count? Otherwise, no…by choice.

How many of these things have you done?

I received my second bill with a Where’s George stamp last week. The first bill that came across my path wasn’t actually mine but a one dollar bill that my dad received as change while on Holland America’s ms Prinsendam near the islands of French Polynesia. He brought it to me December 2003 and I entered it into the Where’s George data base. Since then that one dollar bill has had a total of zero hits. Zero, in five years.

Last week while out for a glass of wine with a friend, I received my second Where’s George bill. A five dollar bill. This one has been hit twice since it was originally entered just this past December. All of the hits are from here in town.

So, perhaps this Where’s George bill will see more action, and possibly make it out of town someday!

Go, Abe, see the world!

Last year I couldn’t make myself send out our usual holiday cards. I wasn’t in the mood. It was hard to pretend that the holiday was anything other than something to suffer through in light of our year. I did write a short note that I emailed to those people on my card list who I had email addresses for and I attempted my first digital scrapbooking project that I sent along with the letter.

I am in very much the same emotional hole this year as I was last year. However, Starr thinks that we need to send out cards. She says that I need to stop moping around and participate in life. “We don’t want people to think we don’t care about them.” She even bought cards for us to send, because she knew I wouldn’t do it myself. So we will do it.

Today I need to compile my recipient list, address envelopes and write a short letter. However what I am doing instead is browsing blogs…being oh so productive as I avoid the task. As usual.

While doing this, I found the video below at Pastor Ryan’s blog This is Reverb:

wingsuit base jumping from doubleA on Vimeo.

I have officially added “wingsuit base jumping” to my It Looks Wicked Cool, But There is No Freaking Way Will I Ever Try That list.

I watched the series finale of Boston Legal last night.

I will miss it.

And I will miss texting about it with DJ.

Checking in on the most visited posts via random Google (or other) searches. It’s not really fair to the awesomeness of my newer posts *eyeroll*, but since I started tracking those sorts of things these are the top five visited individual posts on this blog:

#1 Someday My Pain
Bon Iver‘s video for his song “The Wolves (Act I and II).” The title of this post is from the first line of the lyrics of the song.

#2 Inside Me There’s a Sad Machine
See, you Google “Inside me there’s a sad machine” and this post is number two. Maybe it’s the post titles that catch Google’s attention? The title also comes from the first line in this song, which is also featured: GfC by Albert Hammond Jr. also of The Strokes.

#3 Real Men Wear Kilts
Mmm. Kilts. I get all kinds of hits with all kinds of searches for this one. So, I am definitely not the only one who likes kilts! Which makes me feel better about the whole thing!

#4 To The Sky
I said in this post that Starr was going to be mad at me for posting her version of this song. She doesn’t yet know that I have. She knows about the blog, she is allowed to view it, but she is too busy to check in very often. She would be mortified to know that people searching for “Carl Strommen, To The Sky” and variations land here and listen to it all the time.

#5 Draw Me
This one I really don’t get, but it gets regular hits. My crushed artistic dreams, and a turtle…I think it’s the turtle they are after.

I showed this video to Starr the other day thinking that it was kind of humorous. Well, now she can’t stop watching it and all the other Get Your War On videos. I might just have to stage an intervention. So I thought I would share it here.

I have finally succumbed to the cold that Starr has been suffering from for the past few weeks. Yippee! I truly thought that I might just escape it…I was wrong!

Here are two things that I found online recently:

The first is pretty darn cool:

A Wichita, Kansas preacher says he will not remove a message on his church sign that says President-Elect Barack Obama is a Muslim.