Silver Linings Playbook

I finally watched Silver Linings Playbook tonight, after months of wanting to see it.  Amazing!  Heavy.  But amazing!

On another note, it's such a wonderful feeling when you look at your week's to-do list and realize you made it through all but two items...and that was rather ambitious to have to those on there to begin with.  But hey, the week ain't over yet!

Supernatural: As time goes by

Another time-travelling episode!  Only this time Sam and Dean aren't the ones time traveling!  Their paternal grandfather comes crashing out of their closet asking for John Winchester.  The boys are not very accommodating in the beginning, I love Sam's line, "when we come crashing out of your closet, you can ask the questions."  We find out why John's dad left him and his mother so many years ago and, as with most Supernatural episodes, it's a downer with a twinge of hope.

Can't I finish my dissertation in peace?!!

Of course in my last semester at the University, the University decides to now require us to log into VPN before access our office computers remotely... even when we're on campus.  I had to go all the way to campus just to figure out why I couldn't connect to my office computer. 

Bit by bit (put together) in time will become a mountain

Sometimes you come across something that is just so perfect for what you're going through at the moment, that is what happened when I came across this quote, "Bit by bit (put together) in time will become a mountain." I have had a lot to do lately.  My grandmother recently passed away and as a result of her illness and passing, I've had to put some research related work aside.  On top of that, I've had to add a lot of family related work to my plate, and a very close friend had a milestone birthday in the midst of all this.  I haven't had time to exercise in a week, or relax and decompress.  I've realized again how important my one day a week to have no obligations and just lounge about the house in my pajamas is to me.

poems

Farewell to Thee! But not farewell To all my fondest thoughts of Thee; Within my heart they still shall dwell And they shall cheer and comfort me. Life seems more sweet that Thou didst live And men more true Thou wert one; Nothing is lost that Thou didst give, Nothing destroyed that Thou hast done.

Anne Bronte

You can shed tears that he is gone, Or you can smile because he lived, You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back, Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left. Your heart can be empty because you can't see him Or you can be full of the love that you shared, You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember him and only that he is gone Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on, You can cry and close your mind be empty and turn your back, Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

Life is but a Stopping Place

Life is but a stopping place,

A pause in what's to be,

A resting place along the road,

to sweet eternity.

We all have different journeys,

Different paths along the way,

We all were meant to learn some things,

but never meant to stay...

Our destination is a place,

Far greater than we know.

For some the journey's quicker,

For some the journey's slow.

And when the journey finally ends,

We'll claim a great reward,

And find an everlasting peace,

Together with the lord

Author unknown

Our father kept a garden 


A garden of the heart
He planted all good things


That gave our lives a start



He turned us to the sunshine


And encouraged us to dream


The seeds of what we'll be



We are our father's garden


We are his legacy

Love is like a butterfly; it goes where it pleases 
and pleases wherever it goes.

Must see video!

So touching, make sure you have a box of Kleenex next to you.

Here's the full version, but low quality:


Here are the 5 individual parts, better quality:

Updated Winter 2013 schedule

It's that time of year when shows start getting canceled.  This Winter season is the end of Don't Trust the B in Apt 23 and Ben & Kate.  So, here is my updated schedule:


Bold indicates when the shows comeback from their breaks.

Monday

Revolution 10/NBC 3/25

Tuesday

8pm: Hart of Dixie CW

9pm: New Girl FOX, Go On NBC, Happy Endings ABC

9:30pm: The New Normal NBC, Happy Endings ABC

Wednesday

8pm: Arrow CW
8:30pm: The Neighbors ABC

9pm: Supernatural CW, Psych USA 2/27, Modern Family ABC
9:30pm: Suburgatory ABC

Thursday

8pm: Vampire Diaries CW

9pm: Office NBC

Friday

8pm: Nikita CW
9pm: Spartacus Starz, Grimm NBC 3/8

Sunday

6pm: Walking Dead AMC 2/10

8pm: Once Upon a Time 8/ABC

Interesting article on fashion

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21151350

Buttons!

I don't know how true this is but...:
http://www.primermagazine.com/2010/field-manual/why-do-men’s-and-women’s-shirts-button-on-different-sides

RIP

Amazing cat!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/one-cats-incredible-journey/?src=me&ref=general

Handiwork

I replaced my interior car door handles today!  It only took about 45min to do all four.  The dealership wanted to charge me $200.  Outrageous!  I ordered the handles from Amazon.  Here's the website where I found the instructions on how to do it: http://www.instructables.com

Whine wine

Sweet wine is for sissies!!  And dessert.  Come on people, if you're having a wine and cheese party, get the real stuff!  You need drier wines to balance out the richness of the cheese.

http://www.foodandwinepairing.org/wine_pairing_board.html

You're welcome!

PhD Comics: Fandom

Interesting video on fandom:

It's not lying, it's simply omission

An e-mail from my department regarding an upcoming prospective student luncheon:

"...We want you to be honest but please don’t list complaints about every little glitchy thing about the school (not that there are any, right?! =D)…so be honest as well as professional.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask!"

Little Mosque on the Prairie

I saw a commercial for the show, Little Mosque, while I was watching another show on Hulu.  It's hilarious!!!  It's a Canadian show with 6 seasons that aired in Canada (the show ended after season 6). The entire series is now on Hulu. It's a comedy about a community of Muslims living in a small town in Canada. No one is spared in this show, it pokes fun at the irrational fear of Middle Easterners and Muslims post 9-11, Muslim men for their view on women, Muslim women who want to force their view on other Muslim women, and feminist Muslim women.  I couldn't stop laughing!!  If you enjoyed Outsourced, then you'll enjoy Little Mosque!

http://www.hulu.com/little-mosque

21 day challenge

Last year I started reading the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  

Handy!

One of the things I want to start doing is becoming more handy at fixing things.  I don't want to rely on having to pay people outrageous amounts of money to fix trivial things.  My dad is my motivation for this.  As with many things, my parents are my motivation to be better.  My dad is not handy by any stretch of the imagination and he's also lazy when it comes to certain things, he'd rather spend hundreds  of dollars paying someone to fix something than do it himself.  Now, I'm not talking about rebuilding a transmission, but recently the cheap plastics, namely my door handles, used in the interior of my car have been cracking, I have had the car for more than 11 years so it is to be expected.  So, I went down to the dealership and got the parts number and found them for cheap on Amazon.  I also found a website with step-by-step instructions with pictures.  The whole thing will only take about 10 min per door.  One dealership wanted to charge me $90 for labor, another wanted to charge me $200!!  And that was when I thought I only needed to replace 1 handle!  So, I ordered the parts from Amazon and will install them myself! :) 

Phooey to goals!

Nothing kills goals and progress like taking a nap :-\

But then nothing brings them back to life like finally getting feedback from your advisor on a chapter you sent 33 days ago, but who's counting :-\

Jack Reacher

Entertaining movie, with action and a nice crime mystery element!

An honest dentist?

I went to a new dentist today for a cleaning.  I went in expecting to have to buy a new night guard for grinding.  Instead, the dentist was honest and said my current one was fine and didn't need to be replaced yet!  Honesty is always refreshing :)

I'm speechless!

So, one of my advisor's students has been absent pretty much all of last semester...turns out that student had a very serious medical condition and out advisor knew from day one about the situation.

Grad students are rolling in dough!

So as part of my "RA" duties, I handle reimbursements and workshop/meeting event planning for my advisor.  Here is an e-mail from someone who attended a meeting last semester and waited 3 months to follow up on his/her reimbursement.

Interesting...

A fork that tells you to slow down: http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/hapifork-vibrates-eat-too-fast-220734667--abc-news-tech.html

Even more reason to not breed

Yikes!  They are like little alien death monster parasites: http://gma.yahoo.com/mom-nearly-dies-twins-amniotic-fluid-leaks-her-221624179--abc-news-health.html

Django Unchained

I watched Django Unchained tonight.  Surprisingly not that violent for a Tarantino movie!  I liked it!  I don't know why he insists on acting in his own films (aside from Pulp Fiction), he needs to realize that he is a director and a writer but NOT an actor.  He should stay BEHIND the camera.  That being said...enjoy :)

Games

I really don't like games that use the 3-D joystick!  I grew up playing 2-D games and 2-D is the way I want them to stay!  I also don't like games that make me have to aim at shoot or that have people shooting at me all the time!  They are too complicated!!

Everyone should have one:

http://www.caringinfo.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3289

Read it, fill it out, keep it in your wallet with your insurance card.

Goals

Today I finally took a class that will help with my long-term goal of owning my own business.  It's a 40hour certification class.  I was initially apprehensive about taking the course because of the cost, but I'm glad I did.  Now I'm less afraid of going after this dream :)

Ve don't YouTube in KAOS!!!

Some of Seigfried's best moments:


Trivia: King Moody, who played Shtarker, was one of the actors that McDonald's used for Ronald McDonald on their commercials.

Happy New Year!!!

You know, people don't say happy New Year like they used to anymore.  You don't really hear people saying it in stores or on the streets.  Kinda sad.  Well, here I am saying it to all of you, happy New Year!!!!!!

from: http://raptorsrepublic.com/2013/01/01/happy-new-year/