September's Links to Love

Artsy:

A necklace for math lovers.

I like this confetti on a roll. I think they should do the same with flowers.


Music:

Lovely collection of indie music called "Watch, Listen, Tell."

The Jewish wedding toast that makes me want people to step out of their comfort zone for me some day (even if you sound like the groomswoman):



Why not combine great music with a cute story of a new mom?




Yes, I Love Technology:

The German attitude about internet privacy that I will never understand.

10 forgotten, simple GMail tricks.


Literary:

Just in case you weren't sure, I am a firm believer in the Oxford Comma (because I verbally make a pause between items in a list, don't you?). How about you?

Ten rules for writing fiction part I. Part II.

Wordplay: the free online Spanish vocabulary builder.

Best opening novel lines.

Preserving an author's personal library.


Mormon:

I can't believe I watched this whole thing, but I loved seeing these out-of-control British kids in a Mormon household for ten days.

An Axe commercial that's obviously trying to make fun of Mormon missionaries, ha ha:



Call for submissions: Mormon Women on Marriage.


Random:

Types of summer tan lines (I'm probably the second to last because I'm anti-cancer.)

A crazy hike to a Chinese teahouse.

I want these reusable material sandwich/snack bags. I vow to only use them some day.

106-year-old Utahn.

Bruder Fingerle Interview.

A picture that looks like a Greek version of Bruder Heidler.

The Webers, who would be everyone's family if they could.

Tony Danza as a high school teacher.

Remembering Leonard Skinner, the teacher behind the band's name.

Corn sugar=high fructose corn syrup. Don't be deceived and spread the word! And don't forget that they feed corn to cows to fatten them up faster.

Make your own non-sugar ketchup.

Online museum of useful things.

I'm not a fan of most beards, but this is a bit funny. (I do, however, like the slightly scruffy look.)

What is "Alzhiemer's"?

A classic interchange at the doctor:

• Doctor: Now did you have Alzheimer's in your family medical history? You kind of marked on top of it here.
• Michelle: Oh, I did? Let me see.
• Doctor: [Shows Michelle the paper.]
• Michelle: Oh, I was just correcting it because "Alzheimer's" was spelled wrong.
• Doctor: [Chuckle.] Oh it is? I didn't even notice that. [Another chuckle.]
• Michelle: Yeah, I kind of edit everything. Ha ha.
  

Wherein I Complain About Green Things

I'm pretty sure I've talked about vegetables before, and that I will talk about them again. But just in case I didn't say it before, I don't like vegetables. And every time I discover one that I think is okay, I find out it's a fruit, like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash. So now I just categorize fruits and vegetables together and the word "vegetable" describes the ones that aren't very good.

Did you know I couldn't tell the difference between a zucchini and a cucumber until I worked at the Farmer's Market and had to ask people which one they meant? (I still can't tell right off the bat.) Or here's one: I have no idea what an artichoke heart looks like, about how much it would cost, how to prepare it, or what it tastes like.

But I'm pretty sure that artichokes are like salads in their need to be disguised in order to be edible.

Everyone: "Try this salad. It is soooo good."
Me: "Umm, I don't eat leaves."
Everyone: "You can't even taste the leaves."
Me: "So why should I eat them? And no, I'm not going to drink some of your dressing."

(P.S., just to add to the negativity here, let me just say that my opinion of dressing is this: "Let's take all the worst things we can find in our cupboards and mix them together and eat them on leaves--vinegar, ketchup, nuts, mushrooms, red onions, eggs, etc.")

Anyway, so aren't artichokes those ones that people dip in butter?

I don't like butter. (See? I'm not just anti-vegetable.) So, the natural conclusion would now be: I don't like artichokes.

Your Footprint

I just took this human footprint quiz. Twice. First, I entered the typical answers for my time living in the U.S. Then, I entered in answers about how I live in Germany. Although Americans are obviously going to lose here, keep in mind that if I had lived on my own in the U.S., I could have been making different decisions about my footprint, whereas living with parents means that their footprint is yours.

My American footprint (living at home): if everyone in the world lived this way, we would need 4.6 planets and I would personally need 20.6 acres to take care of me.

My German footprint: if everyone in the world lived this way, we would need 2 planets and I would personally need 9 acres.

Take the quiz. And see what you can improve on.

Leipzig's Livability

Did you know that Leipzig was rated the 68th most livable city in the world? And in 2009, the city was rated 35th for social, cultural, and economic innovation. Also, the 2010 eco-city list put Leipzig in 41st place.

Looking at some of the other cities, I personally would rate Leipzig above many of them.

There's a good recycle program (though the littering attitude is pretty lame).
Healthy food is very available (though I'll never understand the smoking percentages).
The music scene can't be topped.
The history is fabulous.
The education is great.
The buildings are beautiful.
Clara-Zetkin Park and the canals are a favorite.
The doctors are good.
The city is bicycle-friendly.
The public transportation has won awards for having a great system (and rightfully).
The population isn't overwhelmingly enormous.
The city center is nice and compact.
Schleußig is a great alternative area.

Etc., etc., etc.

Ich liebe Leipzig!

Will You Ever Be 97?

Well, isn't this exciting? September's got some great birthdays in my family. Today, Uncle Al turned 97. Here's an old photo of him at EPCO.

And Jeff's birthday is this week, too. Yippy.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy 55th birthday to my Dad. (Please don't miss that link--the picture is classic.) Now he can get a senior discount at Arctic Circle and Denny's. What a great reason to live.

Do me a favor and let anyone in the Utah bakery/produce/store/restaurant/cafe/frozen yogurt industry know about his company and how awesome he is.

Mary J. Wanna

After weeks of being sick, I've been diagnosed. And apparently marijuana is my best option. I've never heard that one before. I wonder what the Church's stance is on that? After all, every medicine could be misused; every medicine has side effects. So does it only count as an illegal drug if it's something you smoke? What about inhalers?

Bet I'm going to get a bunch of interesting traffic because of this post.

My Seester and the Utah Ute Football Team

I am sooooooo proud of my sister. She is one of those people who has found their calling in life. For years, she has followed school sports, taped ankles, taken score, arranged music, iced, etc. And now, she is in the Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) at the university of everyone's dreams (or of the university that should be the one of everyone's dreams), where she has been assigned to work with the Ute football team. Wow. It's like she's sold her soul because it takes so much time commitment. But you know what? The whole family is proud of it. And for her first game of the season, she decided she'd rather be on water duty than anything else so that she could watch the entire game (and rush onto the field during time outs).

May I just tell you how exciting it is to see her on the field? Look at these! (Look for her blond hair, red shirt, white towel at the hip, khaki shorts, and a black fanny pack.)

Check her out on the sideline:



Here she is circled for your convenience:




Or how about on the field?



And circled again.




At second 25 you'll see her blonde hair right as Blechen intercepts at the sideline:




Here you'll see her emerge, celebrating with a water bottle in hand, from beneath number 75 (who is behind number 93) starting at about second 1:36 (oh, and for a laugh, check out the awesome ballet kick at second 15.):




What about at second 44, when she's jumping up and down because she's so excited?

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Or here you see her starting at second 22, walking to the right, where she ends up right behind the ref and then goes to offer someone water. Then again at 35 right behind the orange marker, again walking to the right. And another angle of her celebrating the interception at 6:03.




Oh, the excitement. You get to hear her say things like, "That was my receiver!" or, "I gave a bored football player the Cosmo bad girl special magazine to read today. He flipped through it for a minute and then said it wasn't his thing." Ha ha ha.

Then, during games, you hear things like, "Sic, give 'em better water!" or, "Just take the water! Stop ignoring her!" or, "She just gave water to Bergstrom!"

I think football just got even more interesting. Go Sica!

"Pearls Before Breakfast"

The fabulous idea to place a world-known violinist in a Metro station and see what happened combined with a wonderful writer captured me in this article 2007 Washington Post article, "Pearls Before Breakfast." I don't claim to be very knowledgeable about music, but being kind of in the dark about who wrote it and when and what's it called doesn't seem to take away from my ability to enjoy a lovely classical concert. No, I wouldn't have recognized Joshua Bell This is actually the first I've ever heard of his name. But would I have noticed the violinist? I don't know. I'm glad this article points out we need to slow down and appreciate beauty a little.

Turns out there's a YouTube video to it, too:



And I had to look up the music mentioned in the article, too:










Wow.