the curtains wrap around her form

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 20:13:09 GMT

dear bedwebs

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:46:05 GMT

I'm moving into an unfurnished apartment soon. I have a futon, but I'm looking to upgrade. Where should I buy a bed? Ikea? Craigslist? Treasuremart?

dear lazywebs,

Sat, 13 May 2006 15:13:55 GMT

What's the difference between thinking and feeling?

Domino's Farms (attn: kitten)

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 14:09:14 GMT

Whilst engaging in my usual procrastination & looking up what wikipedia has to say about Ann Arbor, I came across an interesting tidbit about Domino's Farms, that ominous petting zoo/slaughterhouse compound located on Plymouth Road:

...Ave Maria School of Law, a Catholic institution established by Domino's Pizza cofounder Tom Monaghan, opened in northeastern Ann Arbor in 2000. There were plans to establish Ave Maria University on land occupied by Domino's Farms. However, due to conflicts with local zoning authorities, the new campus is under construction near Naples, Florida...

Now, I know this sounds weird, but C. and I have always been intrigued by Domino's Farm, so much so that I even tried to get a job at the petting zoo in the summer of 2004, just to see what the hell goes on behind those tidy white picket fences. I didn't get the job (I doubt it would've been much better than Sweetwaters), and C. and I sort of dropped the whole matter after that. Maybe we became interested in that graveyard in Dixboro? At any rate, stumbling across this little piece of information rekindled my quest for knowledge! And so I did something I should've done ages ago: I googled Domino's Farm.

HISTORY of The Farm

Domino's Petting Farm, opened in 1984, is a living symbol of our appreciation and commitment to the farming industry and to the values evident on a traditional farm. The farm serves as a historic tribute to the farming past in the Ann Arbor area.

The Petting Farm barn was built in 1925 by a local family, the Zeebs, and was once part of a working farm. Their property and buildings were purchased by Thomas S. Monaghan to make way for a large office complex to house his pizza empire in the early 1980's. He named the complex Domino's Farms. It is approximately 280 acres and the petting farm uses 25 acres of that property.

In 1984, when building construction for the offices began in earnest, the farm barn was moved to its current location across the street. In 1998, Domino's Farms sold Domino's Pizza but retained the name, Domino's Farms.

Many guests assume that the farm is subsidized by Domino's Farms or Domino's Pizza. However, Domino's Petting Farm is a non-profit 501(3)c and operates on its own. We want to thank you, our visitors, who contribute to our operating budget. Your continued generous support allows us to present this unique opportunity to the community.

Of course, you all know that Thomas Monaghan is a hard-core Catholic fundie who's notorious for funneling Domino's Pizza profits into anti-abortion campaigns, right?

At any rate, this explains why the Domino's Farms compound feels like, well, a compound. In a David Koresh sense, I mean.

George W's BRAIN CHALLENGE!

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 02:16:49 GMT

Whitehouse.gov's kid's site has a fun-facts section aboutt George W. In addition to fun facts about our leader, kids can attempt George Bush's BRAIN CHALLENGE:

Brain Challenge

What was President Bush's favorite subject in school?

Where did President Bush attend college?

How many Presidents served before President Bush?

What was President Bush's job before he became President of the United States?

Name two of President Bush's goals for America.

Challenge Question: What is the meaning of working together in a bipartisan spirit?

Share your answers with a parent, teacher or other adult.

Answers? Anyone?

homunculus

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 00:52:38 GMT

Doctors have transplanted pig valves into human hearts for years, and scientists have injected human cells into lab animals for even longer. But the brain poses an additional level of concern because some envision nightmare scenarios in which a human mind might be trapped in an animal head.

What do I do if my human mind is already trapped in an animal head?!

heroic!

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 20:28:19 GMT

Woe! I am addicted
To browsing okcupid.

fanksgivin

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 23:46:09 GMT

Jill's coming to Scotland tomorrow. We shall celebrate Thanksgiving in high style, my friends. Anyone have a good vegetarian stuffing recipe? Truth be told, I really liked that stuffing Chef Lynn made...

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:18:34 GMT

Snuffleupagus
You scored 64% Organization, 76% abstract, and 35% extroverted!

This test measured 3 variables.

First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean.

Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type.

Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself.

You are mostly organized, more abstract, and more introverted.

I bet you didn't think you were Snuffleupagus. Let's find out why.

You are both somewhat organized. You have a good idea where you put things and you probably keep your place reasonably clean. You aren't totally obsessed with neatness though. Alloyius Snuffleupagus (and all Snuffleupagus') is not sloppy by nature, but he moves so incredibly slowly that it is impossible for him to be totally organized.

You both are abstract thinkers. You definitely are not afraid to take chances in life. You only live once. You may notice others around you playing it safe, but you are more concerned with not compromising your desires, and getting everything you can out of life. This is a very romantic approach to life, but hopefully you are also grounded enough to get by. Some characters may be fooled by Snuffy's slow nature, but deep inside he shares the same dreams and desires as his best friend Big Bird. He demonstrates this best when he plays his snuffleflute.

You are both introverted. Snuffleupagus is very shy and mostly only interacts with Big Bird. It takes patience to spend time with him. For whatever reason you are uncomfortable in social settings. You probably have one or two people that you are close with. You'd rather do things by yourself and you dislike working in groups.

The other possible characters are

Oscar the Grouch

Big Bird

Cookie Monster

Ernie

Elmo

Kermit the Frog

Grover

The Count

Guy Smiley

Bert

If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback! Also if you want to tell me your favorite Sesame Street character, I can total them up and post them here. Perhaps your choice will win!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 64% on Organization
You scored higher than 97% on concrete-abstra
You scored higher than 3% on intro-extrovert

Link: The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test written by greencowsgomoo on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

no snow day

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 13:59:53 GMT

It's freaky to think it's snowing back home. The sun is out here & the sea is blue. The first light frost was on the grass this morning. A gritty little rain fell the other night, and I thought it might be sleet, but I was wrong.

I am in a foreign land.

I just wrote a cruddy paper. I need to graduate & stop kidding myself...

why I love the ny times sunday book review

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 08:57:04 GMT

On the other hand, there's also plenty to be annoyed about. The most obvious problem with "Good Poems for Hard Times" is that it proposes that "the meaning of poetry is to give courage." That is not the meaning of poetry; that is the meaning of Scotch...

riffing on euziere's meme entry

Sat, 12 Nov 2005 22:41:58 GMT

One Word
Describe me in one word - just one.
Comment to me, then post this entry to your Live Journal and see how many strange things people think about you.

(you get extra points for a verb or noun)

ps: I want to do a Prague post, but I'm too tired. I've posted a bunch of pics on my blog.

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 17:40:01 GMT

I arrive in Prague, meet Jill at the Metro station, and what's the first thing we do? Why, we go to see BOB FUCKING DYLAN, of course!

Bob Dylan. Czech Republic. And potato pancakes. Oh, yeah.

More detailed update when I'm not paying for my interweb time.

Kutna Hora tomorrow, C. Round my house.

thanks alot england

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:37:55 GMT

My dear friends, allow me to present...Bagpuss.

sick day

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 22:48:05 GMT

This is the first time I've been sick, like qualifiably sick, in a while. Maybe a year. I even managed to avoid getting sick while I was working on my thesis. I have time to be sick now, I guess, so that's what I'm doing. I haven't had a sick day in a long time. I'm trying to do it right. I made cinnamon toast, for instance.

It rained steadily all weekend. When it rains here, you can smell the sea in the air (a green mass) and the seagulls roost on the roofs of the apartment buildings.

I huddled under my university-issue cotton duvet and listened to episode after episode of This American Life. You know how you give a puppy a clock, a waterbottle, and a blanket? I think this is my clock-waterbottle-blanket cure.

(Just one more before I go to sleep...!)

Sat, 22 Oct 2005 10:58:04 GMT

Could someone with a digital camera post pictures of the fall colors back in Michigan? I want to see what's going on. The trees here just sort of give up & drop their leaves without a fight.

it figures

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 20:03:55 GMT

you are michael.

Who in East Quad are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

damn proud of my new recipe

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 17:20:41 GMT

SWEET POTATO, AWESOME STYLE (version 1.0)

Take a sweet potato. Bake it (I suggest a method that doesn't dry out the potato...maybe in a paper bag in the microwave?)

Split the potato down the middle.

Slather a lot of creamy peanut butter on the potato halves (a more sugary brand would probably be better).

Add hot sauce to taste.

Bon apetit.

ps: Some minced green onion would probably be good on this, too, but that's purely theoretical.

ramblin

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 16:49:48 GMT

Birds I spotted on my treacherous cliff rock walk:

oystercatchers
curlews(!!!)
great blackbacked gulls
eiders (male and female)(the male is black and white with a pale green patch on his head)
turnstones
cormorants

I also made more zucchini bread. I'm really digging bread baking.

The cliffs are amazing. Didn't find mussels, though. Well, I found four, but that doesn't count.

we been talkin bout jackson ever since the fire went out

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 00:38:46 GMT

...that's when I knew I was in the clutches of THE PIRATE CAPTAIN OF THE INTERNET.

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 00:10:51 GMT

from now on

we only blog

in color

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 19:42:22 GMT

This old lady sat down at my table when I was in this coffee shop today...I guess it was tea time because the room became very busy all of a sudden. She ended up telling me long stories about her life, including about when her husband died three years ago. I couldn't hear alot of what she was telling me...her voice was very quiet and the room became very loud (conversation, teacups), so I kept smiling and nodding. Eventually, she gave me her name and phone number & told me to come over to her house for tea sometime. Her name is Nanette.

Thu, 15 Sep 2005 21:29:00 GMT

Bye, guys.

our romance, honey chile, it's through

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 23:00:13 GMT

I'm in A2 tonight, tomorrow, and a little bit of Wednesday morning. After that, it's back to SL and packing. I'm leaving for reals this time, guys.

Contact me if you want to hang out. (I'd throw a shindig, but I don't really have a space to call my own out here...)

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 13:38:49 GMT

I hate angsty posts. I feel better now. And Avery Hopwood's friend Marjorie just gave me some money for a poem, too.