Amazon is very strange sometimes... I mean, usually the emails they send me make sense - they recommend a book by an author that I've expressed interest in. But today...

"Hey, you like books, you've bought books in the past, so we recommend this book because of your interest in... books!!!"

Seriously, don't need a book on the history of my last name (although my mom would probably love it), and how exactly does that relate to any of the books I've bought on Amazon in the past (all of which have been music books and princess books)?

Andrew and I just spend about 10 minutes trying to come up with 17 different kinds of meat he could use in one dish. The remarkable thing is how seriously he's taking it...

Andrew: I mean, I could use like, elk or bison or something and be really technical but I kind of feel like that's cheating.
Me: You do realize that this doesn't actually matter, right?
Andrew: I don't want to use dog, because they eat that in like, China... *16 animals later* Do people eat hippopotamus or elephant?
Me: No...
Andrew: I could use like, FROG!
Me: Yup. There you go.
Andrew: I feel like I accomplished something today.

91 words

Speedtest

This is a vast improvement over how fast I used to type when I was 12. Also, I believe this means my mom owes me $6 for an improvement of 30 words/minute.

I can't believe this:

http://www.grothmusic.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/p-C469-470132.html?L+scstore+bzsd2505fffcc2fc+1191252213

I just say the headline "Tiger Wins FedEx Cup" and my first thought was, "Haha that's pretty funny.  How could a Tiger win a title in a sporting event?"  And then I remembered that Tiger is a person...

Visited US States Map from TravelBlog


I really just need to get to the west... I've got everything east except vermont and maine!

I got flicked off by an old woman three times today - once because I didn't let her merge when she was slightly behind me with no turn signal on and I let the car in front of her go, once because I stopped at a stop sign, and again when I was going only 3 miles above the speed limit.  This was on a residential road.  It was pretty awesome, she was waggling her middle finger at me and then she drove by and glared and flicked me off again, to which I responded with a smile and a wave.  Seriously, what was she hoping to accomplish?  Life makes me laugh sometimes :)

If I had money, I would open a five guys in evanston within walking distance from campus.  It would be a gold mine!  All there is now is a BK and a new "uber burger" which is just not very good - the patties are clearly frozen.

We have a reception site! Yeah!

And I have a dress! Yeah!

In my house the only spankable offense will be wanted to play clarinet or flute. Seriously, if my kids want to play those I'm sticking a horn or an oboe in their hands and gosh darnit, they better be happy!

The high is supposed to be above 30 for at least the next 10 days!!! Maybe all this snow will finally melt!!!

Sometimes I think it would be rather interesting to follow a package on its journey - look at this package tracking! My package must have seen some amazing things and met some really great people on its way to chicago! Perhaps love was in bloom at one of these packing stops - forbidden love, maybe between a bubble envelope and a cardboard box. What would their parents have said? Ah, but it was not to be. Next stop: Evanston recycling plant.

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
CHICAGO,
IL, US 02/16/2007 7:06 P.M. DESTINATION SCAN
02/16/2007 5:48 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
HODGKINS,
IN, US 02/16/2007 4:25 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
02/16/2007 4:04 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
MAUMEE,
OH, US 02/16/2007 12:52 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
02/16/2007 11:54 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
NEW STANTON,
PA, US 02/16/2007 7:51 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
02/16/2007 4:26 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
PHILADELPHIA,
PA, US 02/16/2007 12:03 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
PHILADELPHIA,
PA, US 02/15/2007 10:43 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
LAWNSIDE,
NJ, US 02/15/2007 10:12 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
02/15/2007 8:14 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 02/15/2007 10:26 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

I'm pretty sure Marina is the only one who will appreciate this :P

Edit: I just realized that this is the first time I've posted since November, and I'm posting about a package. Goodness, I'm lame!

Who remembers a 4 1/2 year anniversary (in his words, 54 months :P)?

I have the best fiance ever :)






(he sent flowers, it's not just that he remembered, :P)

Looks like in the battle of the QBs, Peyton Manning is once again victorious!!!

1. I like my choir a lot :)

2. One of the choirs at our concert tonight sang "Jubilant Song"
I thought, "well, maybe I didn't like this sophomore year because we were bad at it" and then I heard it and thought, "no, it's just an ugly song"
and also thought, "they really weren't much better than we were..."
Oh, the memories :P Honestly, TJ choir really was very good back in the day

I just found out that Crate and Barrel lets you register for any sort of celebration... 

Christmas, Easter, birthdays, federal holidays, HERE I COME!!!

When I'm a high school choir director, I will NOT gossip about my students' voices behind their backs to other students or their siblings. 

Yet another reason why a performance degree DOES NOT qualify one to teach.

Back in VA until the 9th, hopefully visiting UVA this weekend? It's up in the air though, because I'm really only home for one weekend and I dunno if the fam wants me around then...

1. HOW THE HECK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO SING THE PLANET SONG WHEN PLUTO IS NOT A PLANET??? I feel like my entire childhood has been taken away...

2. Wow. Read this article:
http://giamusic.com/music_education/feierabend/articles/intelligence.html

Too lazy? Well, the gist of it is that musical aptitude (and most likely other aptitudes in gardner's theory of multiple intelligences) goes WAY down between the ages of 5 and 6 if a child is not being instructed in music in his or her school, and keeps going down until the age of 9 after which point such aptitude CANNOT be recovered! No matter how much musical instruction a child has after the age of 9, if he or she did not begin with a small foundation, his or her musical aptitude CANNOT be increased.
However, musical aptitude goes WAY up between the ages of 5 and 6 if a child is actually receiving musical instruction, even if it's just a general music class in their school.
AND the study wasn't done on younger kids because they aren't in school, but the results are most likely the same.

Moral of this story? Start your kids on music EARLY if you want them to ever have a chance to pursue it!

Moral #2? DO NOT cut early childhood music programs from public schools! Kindergartners need music more than 5th and 6th graders, and if anything's gonna be cut, don't take away the babies' music!

Zoltan Kodaly says kids should be started on music in infancy. You're not being asked to train a baby Mozart, but give your kids a chance in a world where so much more emphasis is put on linguistic and mathematical intelligences than musical.