A Little Imagination, a Double-Helping of Ambition, and an Industrial-Sized Roll of Toilet Paper

I was once told that it was impossible to eat seven Saltines in a minute, and after a few attempts, I was able to prove them wrong (as well as ensure that I’ll never want to eat a Saltine again). I then proceeded to lick my elbows and say "toy boat" ten times quickly. It's all possible, even though many don’t believe it.

However, there’s one challenge I have never been able to figure out – how to fold a piece of paper more than eight times. I have heard it stated as fact that one cannot fold a paper in half more than eight times, because the doubled and re-doubled paper quickly becomes too thick. This reasoning had always seemed pretty odd to me – what was this magical property of hardened tree pulp that caused it to stop folding after so long? Thanks to a student named Britney Gallivan, it turns out that this impossibility is just as mythical as not being able to lick your elbows

Read the Full Article at Damn Interesting

A CONVERSATION WITH YO-YO MA

From April of 2006,
Enjoy!

QUOTE

When we sing, we announce our existence…Communal singing is a way for a group of people to announce that we're here, this is real. The people who come into that space, as long as you are singing, cannot change the air in that space. The song will maintain the air as your territory.

Dr. Bernice Johnson. Reagon
(of Sweet Honey in the Rock fame)

YEAH BABY!
A full time pay check (and paid health insurance) is a lovley lovely thing!

RANDOM BICYCLE THOUGHTS

I’m not really a Tour de France aficionado.

But my brothers are – so by virtue of osmosis, I am an interested spectator. (Besides, the Tour is way more interesting that all that world cup who-ha, or the baseball stuff, or just about any other stupid sport!) Anyway, because I have nothing else to offer, here are my random Bicycle/Tour musings.

1. The last 10 minutes of a televised race are interesting (real live races are much more fun! I like to go to Phil's races and ring jingle bells as encouragement!)

2. Only July 1, I wanted Rasmussen to win the tour (really, I wanted him to win last year, but this year would have been good too!)

3. Today, I’m really happy for Floyd Landis (go USA!)

4. Phil says that Floyd has the same type of bicycle that I have (something about triangles – I know he doesn’t have one exactly like me, ‘cause I have an older mountain bike with under-inflated tires. The underinflated tires drive my brothers crazy, but makes riding in the forest preserve much less bumpy).

5. All of my bicyles have been used and refurbished. The pretty purple one of my childhood was pulled from my grandfather’s garbage route, as was the dorky gold one of my teenager hood. My current (under-inflated) mountain bike is one that Jon outgrew and permanently loaned to me. I think it’s a little big (I really have to stretch for my toes to touch the ground) but the brothers say I really ought to have it set up higher.

That’s it.
Boring? Yes.
Maybe I’ll get interesting tomorrow

SUMMER LIST - Update on Progress

Girl Scouts
* Take my older girls on a weekend camping trip
* Take my younger girls to a summer symphony concert CANCELED
* Go camping with another GS troop who needs an extra adult


Move
* Find the perfect apartment Done!
* Pack (ugh)
* Move
* Unpack (ugh)


Extraneous Fun
* Take newphew to the zoo (to see sea lions)
* Pay off that darn Stafford/Ford Loan WHOO HOO!
* Work parties (which include theater, jet sking, and a dinner cruise!)
* Full Time Employment !!
* Mountain bike adventure
* Go shoping for new bread machine
* Find a few private students for fall


Educational
* See Body Worlds exhibit
* Write diversity statement
* Storytelling workshop - Registered for Aug.
* Yoga workshop Registered for Aug.
* Franklin Covey workshop Registered for Aug.
* Think about stuff for fall (class/workshop/etc.)
* Think about getting published


Book List
* Beloved
* Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
* Spells of Enchantment : the Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture
* The hero project : 2 teens, 1 notebook, 13 extraordinary interviews


Movie List
* Firefly
* Posession
* The Language You Cry In

RECOMENDATIONS
part four of a long neglected series

1. Phillip Glass Violin Concerto - You must listen to the second movement.
(Do it now!)
Brother Phil heard it on the radio the other night, fell in love, and introduced me this masterpiece.
(Not bad for a trumpet player, eh??)


2. Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springsteen - this has been mentioned on NPR a few times,
And is closely related to a project I'm doing for work.
My boss gave me the CD and said "Listen"
(I'm very glad I did!)

Your local library ought to have a copy.
If they don't, it is your civic duty to kindly request that they add it to their collection.
(If you happen to be a general music teacher you MUST buy this album!)



Recomendations is an ongoing series where I tell you what I think you should do. (Yes, I'm being bossy under the guise of helpful-ness. Sneaky eh?)
Past episodes in the series are avaliable here ,here , and here

Ex-boyfriends in Heaven

Ex-boyfriends never go to hell,
no matter how many times
you suggest it. No, they ascend straight
to heaven, where they speak French,
wear matching socks, and always,
always arrive on time, with a full
tank of gas and a bottle of wine.
They never curse your cat
or your mother, never call you up
drunk doing Arnold Schwarzenegger
impressions, never say Hey Rita
if your name is Tammy,
never say Hey Tammy
if your name is Joan.
They're better trained than dogs
and they smell better, too, better
than Twinkies or camellias, better
than anything on earth. Once
in a while, they take a holiday,
drive their Porsches down
through the clouds
in one long line and ring
the doorbell in your dreams,
offering tender apologies, tender
chicken cutlets, tender love.
But before you take one sack
of groceries, before your lips
graze a clean-shaven jaw,
before you let one polished
Oxford loafer through your door,
remember that as soon as they cross
the threshold, the truth will slip
in behind them: ex-boyfriends only
exist this way in heaven, or
whatever you want to call it,
their new lives without you.

by Gwen Hart from Lost and Found
As read on Writer's Almanac this morning

HORRAY FOR STUDENT LOANS!

On December 31, 1999, I wrote a check to pay off the last of my Stafford Loan. (I imagined my great great grandchildren asking how I celebrated the millenium, and me telling them how I paid off part of my brain, bought a blender, made a celebratory orange julis, and went to bed early!

Today (July 10, 2006) is equally historic because I just wrote a check to pay off the last of my William D. Ford Direct Loan! I celebrated with a piece of carmel coffee cake while watching Little House on the Prairie with my grandmother.

And, if all goes according to plan, the Perkins Loan will be paid by mid-2007, and I will be the proud owner of my undergraduate education (worth every penny!)

AT LEAST IT ISN'T A VIOLA JOKE!

Three musical instruments are sitting in a bar and, after a few drinks, they begin boasting.

"I don't want to brag," says the first, "but I'm a drum. And drums, as I'm sure you know, were the first instruments in the history of the world, used not only for music but also for long range communication and even to motivate soldiers in a time of war. Just about every style of music uses drums of some sort -- hell, there probably wouldn't even be music it if wasn't for us."

"Drums are great, if you only want to play one note," the second instrument cuts in. "But as piano, I have 88 keys to choose from. Most of the great classical music was written with me in mind, and even today my cousin, the keyboard, is central to the creation of modern music."

"Don't talk to me about modern music," scoffs the third instrument. "I'm a guitar, and while you old-timers may have been big in your day, it's the 21st century now. And it's guitars like me that have made rock & roll the most popular music in the world today."

The second instrument sizes up the third skeptically, and then says "What are you talking about? You're not a guitar, you're nothing but a small harp."

And the third instrument leaps off of his stool and shouts, "Are you calling me a lyre?!"

via Defective Yeti

MUSIC MAJORS NEED I-PODS

If Radford University's music majors don't already own iPods, they'll need to get one before classes begin this fall. The ubiquitous iPod -- the most popular accessory on college campuses -- will become a required tool in these students' course of study in the coming school year.
Full Article

Such a good idea!
Granted, I did the music major thing back in the dark ages (mid-90s)
So all my listening assingments were copied onto tapes
(Wow - I feel old)

Anyway, I'm not all that excited by ipods, but I would LOVE to have an mp3 played loaded with all those music history/literature listenings.
I'm a little jealous of Radford students!

via NYCEducator

YEAR OF LIVING GENEROUSLY

For 12 months more than 300 of us, spread all around the country, are attempting to support and inspire each other in a Year of Living Generously. It’s everything from putting a plastic brick in the cistern to reduce water usage, signing up as an organ donor, neutralising our air travel, switching to fair trade products or sharing a meal with someone outside our ‘comfort zone’. Read more about the project...

Via

TRIVIA

Did you know the English language has 2-3 times MORE words than any other Western language?

Neither did I.
But it must be true, I read it on the internet!

CLEANING WITH RECKLESS ABANDON

There comes a point in a person's life
When one realizes that one has too much stuff
And when such a person faces a move
One is inclined to gid rid of said "stuff"

If you have ever wanted something that belongs to me
Now is the time to ask for it
'Cause there 'aint no way I'm moving all this stuff