Yes, These Things Are Dumb...

72 Project: Day Twenty-One

...but I have nothing to post, so I resort to stupidity. For all of you out there who think I am too liberal, here is proof that I am not. In some cases only 75%, which seems like hardly enough at all. I should be ashamed.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 10% Conservative, 90% Liberal Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal Defense and Crime: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

How Can You Refuse Bonnie Raitt?

72 Project: Day Twenty

So, maybe I'll try to end my benign neglect of this here blog thingy. Who knows. My two or three readers may have been wondering if this year's 72 Project would end at 19. (Coming next year -- The 19 Project: Slacker's Delight!) Let's see...there are 74 days left in 2007... what are the odds that I will post something on 52 of those days? Stop giggling, Lulu.

But I will post something today. This video is making the rounds, but putting it on here is the very least I can do to help the cause. Watch if you haven't seen it, and spread the word.

Take Anything You Want

72 Project: Day Nineteen


If you plan to travel to the States, there are a few phrases that will help you get through the normal day-to-day activities, and make your stay here much more pleasurable. And remember, learning is always easier in an 80's-style aerobics class.

More Fancy Eatin': Thursday's Combo Plate

72 Project: Day Eighteen

See, Unnamed Committee Member?

72 Project: Day Seventeen

It is too valid to compare previously unrelated things. Dammit.

Professor Sees Parallels Between Things, Other Things

AUSTIN, TX—University of Texas professor Thom Windham once again furthered the cause of human inquiry in a class lecture Monday, as he...

We Should Have Looked To Elvis For The Answers

72 Project: Day Sixteen

I always love a good, concise explanation. Take the evolution issue, for instance. Who knew the answer could be found in our own cupboards?

And just to prove how close to god Elvis was/is, consider how his favorite sandwich perfectly melds the evidence demonstrated above with indisputable further proof.

Adventures in Camp

The 72 Project: Day Fifteen

A few highlights of our weekend in the Jemez mountains.

We met some wildlife. Like this unidentified blue beetle:



And this wee horned toad:



Fingers courtesy of Your Mom's offspring.

We stayed in 5-star accommodations:



No, seriously. This palatial estate is huge in contrast to the backpacker model (categorized as a 2-person, but those 2 persons need to be about the size of the smaller Olson) that had been in use for quite a few years prior to this excursion. Your Mom has finally admitted defeat in the age-of-body/creakiness-of-joints-vs.-size-of-tent battle. At this rate, an RV could be in my future. Heavens.


And we visited my favorite place to see faces in rock walls (other than Labyrinth):



Faces everywhere. No drugs needed. (or maybe it's just me.)

Another Reason Not to Eat Eggs

The 72 Project: Day Fourteen

Geological Contractions

The 72 Project: Day Thirteen



While driving back from Moab, UT, I found myself both amused and baffled by this. (Click photo to enlarge.) I know what they had in mind, and yet...

Yes, I am something of a crusty grammarian.

And This Is Where I Will Be Cheating A Little

The 72 Project: Days Four Through Twelve

In the spirit of those wee little chunks of tropical fruit, here are a few tidbits from my recently ended (more's the pity) Pacific adventure. Roughly corresponding to the actual days on the island, I'm counting each tidbit as a "project day," because I can.




Your Mom wasn't entirely sure she would like Waikiki, having heard it was tourist-packed and very commercial. And while it was both of those things, waking up to this view was surprisingly tolerable.




Hotel lobby: growing pineapples in captivity.




As a desert dweller I'm fairly familiar with particular kinds of fauna: centipedes and scorpions, sure; jellyfish, not so much. Who knew that box jellyfish invade the south shores of Oahu nine days after every full moon? Despite the warning signs dotting the beaches on those days, there were nearly as many swimmers and surfers in the water as on the jelly-free days. The invasions last 2-3 days, and because visitors don't want to lose precious beach time on their all too brief vacations, there are lots of victims. 160 people were treated for stings on the first 'jelly day.' Wise and elderly as she is, Your Mom chose to watch from a safe distance.




One of Waikiki Beach's requisite parrots.




Other birds provide excitement at the many outdoor eateries.




On the other side of the island, life is somewhat less cosmopolitan. (Click photo to enlarge.) We didn't venture inside, so I cannot say if the store lives up to its name. There's a roadside memorial at the lower right hand corner of the photo, one of several I spotted, all at least as elaborate than those here in NM.




Sugar mill ruins on the windward side. Lost fans might recognize the area; Hurley's golf course was filmed nearby.




We hiked the Leptospirosis trail.




One of many inviting north shore beaches. This is the sort of image that will haunt Your Mom for months to come. She's such a sucker for sand without goatheads.

Where I've Been

The 72 Project: Day Three



Grading Papers, best method.

Departmental bullshit. 'Nuff said.



Allergies.



But on the plus side: trotting out the big fiddle more often, tearing up fingers more as a result (seriously massive strings). Good anger management therapy -- more fun than a punching bag.

Right On Schedule

Day Two of the 72 Project.




Company for breakfast.

The 72 Project: Setting A Low Bar

I've been enjoying various folks' 365 Projects -- a photo/image/tune/song/poem/short story/etc. a day -- the past couple of years and occasionally entertain notions of doing one of my own. Given my apparent inability to regularly post anything at all on here, however, it always seemed an unlikely endeavor. So I'm going to attempt a modified version, the 72 Project. I figure that since I've had this blog for two years now, largely ignoring it, and have posted a whopping 53 times, which ends up being an average of 7.25% of the days in those two years (who said I can't do math), I could probably commit to keeping up that pace, at the very least. Yes, 7.25% is an embarrassingly low number, even for me, so I've decided to aim high, closer to 20% (which would technically be 73 days, but Your Mom's from the class of '72...and it contains digits of the low percentage, so 72 it shall be). Radical, I know. I'm worn out thinking about it.

So, consider this Day One. The entry: a roadside attraction in Aztec, NM, photographed on a fine, sunny Sunday in February (the one that happened two days ago). I'd been meaning to take a picture of that for a long time.