Chasing Inspiration

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Something Fun for the Girls

A friend sent me a You Tube link and I had to share. At first, it was just funny and cute. And then it made me think about women and how we can objectify men just as easily as they objectify women. Fair? Probably not. But hey, at least we're all equal opportunity objectifiers.

Still, the You Tube clip was cute so I have to share.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Freedom And Books

I snitched this from April, a good friend of mine. Because she's intelligent and wise, I thought I might follow suit.
April's goal is to read the most challenged books of 2006. She's thinking of making this a yearly goal. Which is admirable. I always say that it's a good thing to expand your mind and to expose yourself to differing views and opinions. That doesn't mean you have to agree with those differing views. Here is the ALA's list of the 10 most challenged books of 2006 and why they were challenged:
  • “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;
  • “Gossip Girls” series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;
  • “Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;
  • “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
  • “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
  • “Scary Stories” series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;
  • “Athletic Shorts” by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language;
  • “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;
  • “Beloved” by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group; and
  • “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.
I think freedom is important. And we should have the freedom to read what we want. I also think that parents should have a say in what their children read. I read a lot of adult fiction when I was in middle school. My mom read it along with me so we could talk about the books and she could answer my questions, when she could. I think this helped me to develop good critical thinking skills. And an appreciation that not everyone has the same experiences in life.


Monday, January 21, 2008

And It Just Gets Better


Sometimes you shouldn't get out of bed. Or turn the computer on. In my case, it's turn the computer on. I've had my lovely Apple G5 for a couple of years and it's been one of the best computers I've ever owned. It's never crashed. Never shut down without warning. It behaved wonderfully for those two blissful years.

So imagine my surprise when I logged onto my computer yesterday and my dock was gone. For you Windows users, the dock is the shortcuts bar. And the finder windows didn't work properly. I couldn't drag and drop anything! I totally freaked! I hadn't backed up in a few months - okay six months. So I tried to back up files and such, which thankful I was able to accomplish. Then I made an appointment at my local Apple Store to have them figure out what was causing my computer to hate me so.

Long story short, they work miracles there! I'm all up and running again with a few minor things to update or change. Not too shabby. I still ::heart:: my Mac. But I never want to go through that again!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Laughter

I snitched this from my friend. I know April won't mind cuz she loves me like that.

This was timely as I was in desperate need to find something to laugh about. And along comes this gem. There's something about a baby's inhibited laugher that makes the worst days seem gloriously bright, don't you think?

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Guess the First Line Quiz

I got this quiz from a friend on Live Journal and since my LJ friends can't guess the songs, I thought I would post this little quiz/meme here. Good luck!

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.

Step 2: Post the first line from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.

Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.

Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!

Step 5: If you like the game post your own.

There are a couple in here that I'm not sure everyone will get, and there are a few that are from popular songs. Or at least popular artists. It's quite the sampling.

1. You see her, you can't touch her
2. I see a home in a quiet place, I see myself in a strong embrace
3. It's really over, you made your stand
4. Now Smackwater Jack he bought a shotgun
5. Are you ready maybe, are you willing to run
6. Pack up all those phantoms, shoulder that invisible load
7. If the night turned cold and the stars looked down
8. The bravest thing I've ever done was to run away and hide
9. The heart is a bloom, shoots up through the stony ground
10. Please come now I think I'm falling, I'm holding to all I think is safe
11. Stand at the window, pull back the lace
12. I think I've already lost you
13. You don't have to give me rings on my fingers
14. Business as usual, just what's on your mind
15. We'll be fighting in the streets
16. Since then I never fell helpless, recess, this mess if you do
17. I know you think that I shouldn't still love you
18. I see her as a little girl hiding in her room
19. Yeah baby, yeah I've been drinkin'
20. What a minute man, you mispronounced my name