Sunday, April 5, 2009

Things I've done...

The things I have done are in bold...

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself art from scratch (Does knitting count?)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (indoor)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie (My voice has...)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (Not officially, but I did see a whale in the sea once...)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

100. Rode an elephant

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

My dissertation



created at TagCrowd.com


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Whole lotta changes goin' on...

Long time, no post. But a lot of exciting things have happened. I won a fellowship (a Distinguished Teaching Award!) for next year, so I can complete my dissertation. My husband and I lost a bunch of weight and completely changed our eating habits. I finished my career as a TA. And we recently got back from Paris!

But my most recent change is a new haircut:


I'm still feeling a bit anxious about it, because it's a pretty big change for me. I haven't ever really been daring about my hair. But I like it.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Knitting Marathon!

Long time, no post. But I am glad to be back with a great announcement.

I'm helping my friend Michelle with a fund raising knitting marathon for her upcoming service with Mercy Ships. Mercy Ships is an organization that provides medical care, surgery, dental care, and job training in underprivileged countries. She will serve on a hospital ship for 6 months while it is docked in Liberia. She needs to raise $5500 to pay for her room, board, and vaccinations. (See www.mercyships.org for more info.)

So, the knitting marathon will take place on Saturday, February 16th from 11am-9pm. I will be knitting for as many hours straight as possible (with a maximum cap of 10 hours -- which I will totally do, of course! :)). I am currently seeking people to sponsor me by the hour! (I have already found a good number of people to sponsor me, very exciting!)

Also, during the marathon, I will be knitting hats and booties to donate to Stitches from the Heart, which donates hand-knit items to hospitals to give to premature babies and newborns from needy families.

All are invited to the marathon event, where we will have snacks and movies and fellowship and good times. Stop by whenever you want and say hi, or meet some new folks. For really exciting times, come by in the last hour and cheer us on!

To read more about this in Michelle's own words, go visit her blog: http://livinlavidaliberia.blogspot.com/







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Saturday, November 24, 2007

For Rumple: The Greatest Cat of All

It can be very difficult to explain to people who aren't pet owners how deeply a pet can impact your life, how entrenched they become in your routine, your conversation, your language. How they really are a (not merely "like a") member of the family. And how difficult it is when it comes time to grieve them. Rumple was born on our front porch on April 9, 1993 - I was 13, my brother was 8, and my sister was 6 - and she grew up with us, then watched us grow. She was with my family for 14 and a half years, and left us quickly and without suffering from heart failure and old age.

There are so many things that made Rumple wonderful. Her "vices" - fatness, laziness, bossiness - were just as special to us as her "virtues" - intelligence, empathy, beauty. She learned how to sleep heavily and snore from my brother; she used to make sure my sister got up on time in the morning to get ready for school. She would come spend time with us when we were down; she kept my mom company, and she loved sharing a good nap with my dad. She would sit with us as we listened to music and conduct the beats with her tail - sometimes she would even cue in the odd cymbal crash or brass hit. She liked the big band/swing my brother listened to when he was younger, and thought that the Mozart I listened to was alright, but much to our chagrin she had a weakness for smooth jazz that we couldn't change. She tolerated my brother's trumpet practice to the best of her ability - as he improved and his loudness increased, she would give him a long look and leave the room when he got out his trumpet; but then wait outside his door until he was done. She broke her front left leg when she was younger and had to sport a big purple cast for a few weeks. After the cast was removed, she used to guilt trip us into letting her in the house by sitting at the sliding glass door and pathetically lifting up her paw. (She eventually stopped when she figured out that we would just let her in anyway - we could never deny her anything.) She was a big cat - 22 pounds at her height - and she ruled over the other cats with an iron paw.

She totally changed our language and ways of communicating. She had many names - like Boom-Boom, The Woo, Fats, Baby - and these names were applied to everyday objects and actions. Even my car, by virtue of being large, rounded, reliable, and gray was dubbed "Rumple II" in her honor. Every time anyone in my family sees even the make and model of my car on the road, we point it out as a "Rumple" car.

When I was 14 years old, in my 9th grade English class we had to write a series of poems, each one focusing on a different method (meter, tone, rhyme, etc). My poems were a collection of works based on our cats; since it was like a little photo album, I kept it when I threw away all my other high school stuff. Here is the one I wrote about Rumple. I won't change or alter or correct anything - (being a humanities grad student, it's difficult to not fix my written language!) - I'll just let it stand. We loved her; I loved her, and I feel so blessed that we had her in our lives.

Rumple
I, the beautiful Queen of Cats,
Rule on high over my siblings.
A first-born perfectionist, yes,
I am a model for felines.
For very few cats can achieve
The wondrous stature that I have.

My fur is the color of snow
As well as a light, cloudy sky.
I move daintily on my toes,
My tail in the air, higher than
That of any cat you will ever know.

I am the most intelligent,
My brain capacity is more
Than any human genius can
Or will ever have in their lives.

I, Queen of Cats am very
Loveable. I love a pat or
Good exchange of conversation.
I listen intently, my eyes,
Such as I have, look at you
As you speak, my little ears up,
Catching every word so as to
Make a good comeback, as every
Good little queen does, for I am,
No exceptions, the very best
In the line of felines or the
Human race, the very best Queen
Any human or cat can have.


Rumpleteaser Marble Replogle
April 1993-November 2007

Monday, November 19, 2007

Happiness

Advertising my happiness!

As many of you readers out there know, my husband writes music for small independent films. It's been a long difficult road (and that's certainly not to say that we've made it yet, either!) There were a few years back there where he lived off of top ramen. But good news is here, and we are celebrating! On November 20th (tomorrow), his soundtrack to the film Journey From the Fall is being commercially released. His first soundtrack release! Yay! Journey From the Fall, which tells the story of Vietnamese refugee families that fled to America during the Vietnam War, received standing ovations at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The soundtrack can be found at MoviescoreMedia.com, either as a download or as a CD.

The DVD for the film is available at Amazon.com, Borders, Netflix, and Blockbuster Online. More info can be found at www.journeyfromthefall.com -- click on "DVD," which links directly to the page on any of these retailers/rentals. (btw, my dear husband is on the "behind the scenes" extras on the dvd, yay!)

:)

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Because I don't have other things to do...

I am now on Ravelry! You can find me there as complainr. I haven't done any setting up since I got my invite yesterday; but I forsee a weekend sucked up by the Ravelry black hole...