Volunteer, Advocate, Trekker.

Merry Christmas blog-followers, as I was telling Angela the other day -- this year has been so busy with things to do it's almost like I'm too busy living life to blog about it. A dilemma I'm certainly happy to suffer from! I just hope that I remember to enjoy the moment, if I am not documenting them quite as diligently. The family got together for Christmas at Grandma's yesterday, and the immediate family is all here at home today. David got mom and I gifts for the first time in more than 10 years -- and he got mom cash "to make up for all the years he forgot to get her gifts." Which I thought was bizaare, and I don't think mom quite knows how to react to it, but I'll make sure she spends it on gifty-things for herself. It just seems to go against tradition to get your parents cash for a gift ever. Even gift cards are pushing it, if there isn't some level of thought put into it. Like, "I got you this giftcard to [store] because I know th...

If you're like me, when you go to Barnes and Noble - you want those classic book cover posters on canvas they hang near the ceiling. If you're very like me, you've asked how to purchase them, or where to buy them, to no avail. I'm not sure why all these pictures are such bad quality... And because I'm me, I never gave up on Googling those things -- for years now I've been trying to find them, and the internet is filled with deadends . A lot of people who, like the Victorian House from Sabrina , are trying to answer you without really understanding the question. Without further ado, our website of the day is Candlesbook.com -- the website where you can buy the canvas posters! There are actually a bunch more options than just what Barnes and Noble have purchased, too. Only downside is the canvases of the size at B&N are over $100, and my poor budget can't afford that.

For the longest time, I thought leadership was not really a “skill” or “trait.” I thought it was just a thing you displayed, it wasn’t really something you learned or had to learn, kind of like quickness or bravery. You did something quickly; you were brave in a situation; you lead a grou p to a place . But the more I see groups of people from the outside looking in, the more I realize that not everyone is cut out to be a leader. Not everyone wants to be a leader. And being a leader really is a skill in itself. Saturday, the old Circle K gang got back together for one last hurrah – we had not assembled in that manner in probably 2 or 3 years; sure there have been the occasional parties, outings, or other events, but this was something different. I think part of it was also the fact that Sarah is moving to Connecticut. But it was interesting to see still how we all interacted, what roles we all played in the group dynamic. We started off at Spaghetti Warehouse (where the ...

Okay, time for another search of the internet: there are two Television shows I really liked in the early '90s that I cannot for the life of me remember any solid details about. Name That TV Show #1: Art Show Guy! It was probably on PBS ( the Cleveland station of which was WVIZ ) in the early 90s, but definitely had the film quality of being filmed in sometime between the late-60s and early-80s. If I had to guess, I would say average it out in the 70s somewhere? But it was just a late-40s-ish white guy, with curly brown hair, doing art projects on a desk between him and the cameras only angle. I seem to remember my Dad telling me that this guy was actually his Art teacher in school, which if actually true, suggests it was locally based (Dad went to school in Parma.) I remember one episode had him painting a picture with a watered-down glue, and using different things to pour on it and stick to it (like coffee grounds.) The downside of blogging like this is that I do not have a p...

Okay, let's start with the fact that I HAD NO IDEA NETFLIX'S KIDS SECTION was a different database of movies/TV shows than normal Netflix. I totally thought the kids section was just the kids movies you can find in the "normal" section, with all the bad movies removed. Turns out there are a BUNCH of things that don't come up on the normal section! Including the two Brave Little Toaster sequals, Arthur, Ahhh! Real Monsters, Clockstoppers, and well, a bunch of other things! For my purposes, I've decided to watch my favorite movie that I do not own: Clockstoppers. Which I haven't watched in like, 9 years probably. Point, Snap-Autoupload, type in price in the box write? Um, no. Also he's collecting checks he gets... those poor people trying to balance their books! Hold on a second, that's not how uploading works!! ...and that's not how eBay works!! ...and that's not how checks work!! UGGH. I give up. Woah. That was weird. It sou...

Here I am trying to write about a Netflix-ervention, and I'm having trouble because I'm distracted by Netflix! What better metaphor. Well, for the last month or so, I've been trying Netflix and I gotta say it's AWESOME! I ended up having to cancel the Blockbuster subscription because there are no more Blockbusters within a hundred miles of here, and it just wasn't worth it anymore.  Alas, I am a big supporter of brand loyalty but Blockbuster just couldn't cut it for me anymore. Picture of the Day: While I haven't been playing Star Trek: Online , they've expanded into Utopia Planitia Ship Yards and created a bunch of class development patches which I think are pretty cool.  I threw in the modern day Intrepid's patch, and the 2150s Intrepid patch. Quote of the Day: Is there anything worse than realizing how good a show is after it's already been canceled? That is how I feel about Better Off Ted . I've been slowly making my way t...

Acknowledging for a just a second I've fallen behind on blogging a lot in the last month, much of that month has included watching 30 Rock on Netflix. And I just wanted to take a second to talk about how amazing-awesome Jack Donaghy's office is, because I've searched the internet and I can't find enough highlighting it. The Hidden Bathroom The first season of 30 Rock Jack has a different office set-up, that isn't really the reason I'm writing this blog - because I really truly loved 30 Rock second season on. I think the hidden bathroom might have been in the pilot actually? Here's the hidden bathroom really highlighted in the second season episode "Ludachristmas." Jack's mother, Colleen, uses the bathroom leading to her eavesdropping on plot device plot device . I don't think we ever actually see the inside of the bathroom, this is probably the most we see. The Hidden Tie Cabinet I don't think this cabin...

Ha, while aimlessly googling for Urban Exploration sites in Cleveland, I came across this nugget. « Reply #4 on: December 11, 2009, 02:05:34 AM » I don't get why so many people are into "exploring" old, rundown, dangerous buildings.  To each his own I guess...but it does provide some nice vantage points for viewing the skyline! Read more: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,21538.0.html?PHPSESSID=5c716a8d759441f461e99a77ec590c66#ixzz2HDLrMKkm eh, ih, ouh, Whaaaat? I have to admit, in all my travels, never has anyone really questioned the awesome of exploring abandoned buildings. People have questioned the safety (Brit), the scare factor (Patsy), whether it was personally for them (Jen), but everyone seems to get why *I* and my compatriots enjoy doing it. But setting that aside for a second, let's address this fair question. The question isn't so much "Why explore abandoned buildings?" as "Why is exploring aba...

Well, this morning has been a slower start than I was hoping. I thought I had a meeting as early as 10:00 am but it looks like it was actually another day so I have just kinda been catching some TV movies. The "Saturday morning cartoons" really sucked -- there's some modern version of Yu-Gi-Oh! that looks ridiculous. Flipped through channels, found Top Chef: Seattle . Moved on to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure , and now onto Legally Blonde . This movie is filled with actors and actresses from other things. The guy from ALIAS, the mom from Two and a Half Men, the split-personality woman from Heroes, and other characters look vaguely familiar. Haha, this movie is surprisingly entertaining after twelve-ish years. Oh hey, and the one guy's ex-wife is Aunt Vesta from Sabrina! She's wearing almost the same outfit, actually. How odd is that? And talk about giving me hope: Elle was a fashion major and went to Harvard Law, as an Education/Poli-Sc...