Thaumaturgy

See that word?
The one up above.
Yeah, that one.
Isn't that an awesome word?
Have you ever seen it before?
I never have - it's totally new to me.
It came into my email inbox via an ad for a local private school.
Guess you can tell who had the public school education since there was no thaumaturgy involved in a certain person's high school education (that would be me).
Want to know what means?

The act of performing miracles; specifically magic.

I keep wanting to spell it differently, like with "therm-" instead of "thaum-".
I'll have to get over that if I want to add this word to my vocabulary.
Anyway, it's Friday, and hopefully I'm off to see a free French movie tonight on campus.
If I go, I'll blog about it tomorrow.
No frogging or finishing for me this week.
I'm still trying to work out things from before.
It's hard when all the knitting you do is on the weekends.
I wish I had time during the week to knit, but it's so darn cold all I want to do is get into bed and sleep.
Well I am anemic, remember?
For now I'll leave you with a fun Meme that I stole from Wendy.
No hard words in here.

Your Name - Julie
Four letter word - jive
Boy name - Javier
Girl name - Jamie
Occupation - janitor
Color - jade green
Beverage - juice
Something found in a bathroom - Jacuzzi
A Place - Joliet, IL
Reason for being late - jacked car (or carjacking - whichever you prefer)
Food - Jujubees (this is a candy, that is considered food, right?)
Something you shout - Jackass!

"J" is a cool letter, but not a very relevant one in our lexicon.

P.S. I wish that I had known the word thaumaturgy earlier in the week, so that when I went out to dinner with Sheri and Jean we could have talked about it. What fun that could have been!

Do-Re-Me, me, me, me....

I got this from Kat:

1. Five names you go by

a) Julie
b) Julia (really, this is not my name, please, people, stop calling me this)
c) Cool Jule (but really only by my brother)
d) Mooooommmmmmm
e) Beatrice (like Kat, this is my bar name, and my kids laugh when I tell them this - personally I was excited when Prince Andrew named his daughter Beatrice - I thought - they're doing this for me!)

2. Three things you are wearing right now:
a) black pants
b) black sweater
c) DH's socks (and boy is he pissed)

3. Two things you want very badly at the moment:
a) to win the lottery
b) for my paper to be completed

4. Three people whom I would like to see fill this out:

Anyone who is blogless or who has a blog - I'm fascinated

5. Two things you did last night
a) Watched a movie
b) Worked on my paper

6. Two things you ate today:
a) Corned beef hash (from a can...well, and cooked, I mean I didn't just eat it from a can)
b) Do-Si-Do cookies

7. Two people you last talked to on the phone:
a) My son
b) My mother

8. Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
a) Work on my paper some more
b) Go to a chorus concert

9. Two longest car rides:
a) Wherever I'm trying to get to
b) Whenever I'm heading home from where I've been

10. Two of your favorite beverages:
a) tea
b) milk

AND ANOTHER:
Bold the things you have done, unbold the things you have not done.
I have…

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (I'm thinking Rock Band counts here)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (All of them, thank you very much)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo (See #3)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (whilst 7 months pregnant, thank you very much)
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Skied a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors (the country, yes)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (will this ever happen?)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (Can't anymore, though - Mad Cow disease exposure)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp (and never will)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (only one, the pinkie toe - how obscure, right?)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (throughout the years, book by book)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club (do you mean like Book of the Month? if not, then no)
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person (it's my dream!)
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (sure, Class Action lawsuits)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Ridden an elephant

Copy Cat! Copy Cat!

I was reading Caroline's blog and saw this quiz and decided I must try it.
Once my results came in I had to share.
So I'm being a copy cat today.
So sue me.
(Not really.)

Of course it doesn't hurt that Caroline gave us all a freebie answer for one of the questions.

Ha!

Want to find the answer?

Read her blog.

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, and Eight Random Things

Today is someone's birthday!!!
Happy Birthday Gayle!

And today is also the anniversary of a good friend -- he's spent 30 years in the Marine Corps - started out a private and is now a colonel. Imagine that. And still a great leader and deep thinker. Happy Anniversary!

Now I've been tagged by Caroline (who I'm beginning to like more and more as time goes by) to dish about myself and provide you with eight random facts.

Here are the rules:
Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged write a blog post about their own eight random things and post these rules. At the end of your post you need to tag eight people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

It's a stretch to find eight interesting/semi-interesting facts. I mean honestly, eight?!?! I would prefer ten, I like to keep things well-rounded. Here goes:

1. I once ran the Marine Corps Marathon without training for it and I finished it.

2. Every town/state/country I go to I always imagine living there – some places pass muster, some places I can’t wait to leave. I'm still undecided about where I'm living now.

3. I love the smell of cinnamon or apples, spicy smells, but I won’t burn candles with those scents in the summertime -- I reserve those smells for the fall and winter.

4. I’m not as smart as I think I am, but I’m not as dumb as I play at being.

5. I clap every time someone gets Double Jeopardy on the show Jeopardy. It doesn't matter where I am because with true Pavolovian training, I clap.

6. DH was deployed for the Gulf War when I was pregnant with SN2. I wanted to go into the delivery room alone so that way I could talk sh*t later on about how I did it myself. O-Lan from The Good Earth was my role model, I really wanted to be like her. But DH came back in time so I was never able to test my mettle. Dang it.

7. I obsessively check my shipping status on amazon.com once I've ordered something. Ask Kat, she'll tell you. I look several times a day, as if it's going to magically get delivered quicker.

8. I know the words to almost every song that comes on the radio. Especially the ones from the 70s. I've even had people ask me about that. It's a gift. Too bad my singing voice is not.

And for a bonus let me tell you a little story that I thought about tonight while I was driving up to the Devil's Store (help me stay away!) and a Who song came on the radio and at the same time the Sabres were working at losing game one in the series.

I went to Buffalo to see The Who during their farewell concert tour in 1982 and when they performed the song Love Reign O'er Me and Roger Daltrey sang "Rain on me" it actually began to rain. It was magical and I'll never forget it.

Now I must tag eight people, but because I'm not a stickler for convention, and I consider myself a paradox on my good days (wanna-be hippie yet rabid conservative), and a total piece of sh*t on my bad days, I may just be a hippie today and break all the rules and not tag anyone!

That's what I am going to do, because it's late at night and I need to get to bed (10:00, ohmygosh! past my bedtime!).

Seriously, post your eight random things, and we'll all be over later to check them out.

Tschuss!

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Six Weird Things

I've been tagged by KnittyOtter and I feel compelled to comply because she's just so awesome (you are!).

Here are the rules: "Each player of this game starts with the "6 weird things about you." People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog."

Oddly enough, I'm having trouble finding enough weird things about myself to complete this list(ha ha!). So really, if you feel the need to contribute weird things about me, by all means go ahead, but I know you'll have trouble, because I may be whacked and a total dork, but I'm not weird!!

1. Eggs. I am very particular about my eggs. I cannot stand for my eggs to be cold. If I could eat them straight from the frying pan I would, because I hate it if my eggs get cold. And I get very angry if anyone gets in the way of me eating my eggs after they have been sitting on my plate for more than a minute. Now if I purchase them from somewhere that I don't expect to be fresh and hot, like the hospital cafeteria, right Sheri, then I will get them scrambled and cover them with ketchup. (I don't like buttering cold toast either - the butter must be placed on the toasted bread as soon as it is finished toasting so that it has an opportunity to melt into the toast.)

2. I like to eat the food on my plate one item at a time. Normally I'll start with vegetables first, but I also factor in what I will eat last since that is the taste I want to have in my mouth when I'm finished eating. And yes, Jean, the foods can touch, but only sometimes. If I am at a buffet I do not like my food items to touch. I like for them all to have their own little spot on the plate. I'll go back for seconds and thirds just so my food doesn't run into each other.

3. I have intellectual crushes on writers. I'm just a dirty whore, I know, but sometimes I just can't help becoming attracted to someone through their words. I believe we've already discussed my fascination with Albert Camus, but I also like Gilbert Highet and H.D.F. Kitto. And no, I don't look at their pictures, I read their words. Much more effective, because their looks? Meh. Their brains? Oh yeah, baby.

4. I abhor having my picture taken. No really, I really hate it. With a passion. I wish that I were as photogenic as my children, but I think I look goofy and dorky (and gigantic) in every picture, except for some that were taken in 1996. Yes, for a short period there I actually peaked.

5. I follow stories in comic strips and certain tv shows to the extent that I feel anxiety for them. I know they are not real people. I can't help it. I get too involved. What will happen next in For Better or Worse??? This is why I don't follow a lot of soap operas, because I know I'll become addicted and filled with anxiety. It was wrenching for me to move up here and not be able to watch EastEnders anymore. I've got history with that show - I've been watching it since 1992!! Literally. So I try not to think about it and how I don't know what is going on. It's difficult. I miss Grant! (If only I could access the Buffalo or Syracuse PBS station.)

And if my kids are reading this, they can stop right now. Good-bye!

Psst. Are they gone?
Okay good.
Here's that last one.
6. Beer makes me horny. And you know I have to be careful when I drink it and read Camus. ^_^

Now I'm supposed to tag six people. That may be difficult, so let's see, I'll choose three and then three other people can chose themselves. But let me know who you are!! Here goes: Kat, Micky, and Jennifer.