Grace in Small Things: Day 6

1. Snow Leopard arrived in the mail today!


2. vegetarian Mucho Burrito (the only Mucho Burrito in the province is right by house and for this I am truly thankful).


3. a safe trip home from the farm (there was a near mishap)


4. my parents were able to come with me on my trip (on Thursday it looked like I might have been going on my own)


5. crisis averted: I do not have a cold

Grace in Small Things: Day 5

1. little girls who hold hands when they sleep


2. church service with many talented singers. It is nice to blend in rather than stand out.


3. Grandma's Saskatoon Berry Pie


4. being barefoot in the sand


5. knowing all the good jokes kids like


6. conversations with teenage girls about hockey

Grace in Small Things: Day 4

1. chocolate cookie dough


2. weeding barefoot


3. my dad covered in pets: two dogs and a cat


4. large dust clouds created by brushing off dirt from children


5. a giggling small child putting her toes under running water


6. children so well behaved that you can nap while babysitting


7. picking up where you left off with friends you don't see often

Grace in Small Things: Day 3

Apparently my bedroom at my grandparents' house is close enough to my uncle's house to connect to the Internet. Who knew? It is slow but better than nothing. So.....

No interruptions in the thankfulness! I had a fair good day and I'm excited for the weekend so this will be fairly easy:

1. Grandma's Shepherd's Pie


2. Finally having the time to read the special Mythbusters Edition of Popular Mechanics


3. Making a powerful ally and the potential for more


4. A job with flexible hours


5. Company for long trip (especially when I'm so tired).


6. Internet access when I thought there would be none!


7. People who help even when it is not in their job description


8. Access to a computer program that lets me finish tasks in hours rather than days. O brave new world!

Enough for now, lots more to be thankful for tomorrow...

Grace in Small Things: News

I'm away this weekend at my grandparents' farm so I will not be posting for GiST until Monday due to lack of Internet access. I plan to keep track of it everyday and posting them when I get back.

Who knew?

You can reset an IPod by holding down the menu and select button for 6-8 seconds.

I connected my IPod to my computer last night to charge it. This morning I discovered that the computer had not recognized the connection because the IPod was stuck on the menu screen. I only knew how to reset through ITunes so I did a little digging.

In other Apple news, I pre-ordered Snow Leopard and it should be arriving early next week. It only costs $30 for those who are running Leopard and there are some improvements that I am seriously interested in. Some Adobe CS 3 users are upset right now that Adobe tested compatibility with CS 4 and not CS 3. Some software magazines are testing it and so far there are no problems. I'm going to wait to install it until after the first OS fixes and I've heard more about compatibility with the programs I use.

FANGIRL INVASION Part 1 - The Changing Face (and Sex) of Fandom

Newsarama.com : FANGIRL INVASION p1 - The Changing Face (and Sex) of Fandom

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Grace in Small Things: Day 3

Even more reason to concentrate on thankfulness: I'm cleaning up a bureaucratic mess at school and a friend of the family passed away.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9 (New International Version)

1. Chili cheese fries


2. The bus running later than I am


3. Dad waiting for me so I can have a ride to work


4. Teen-aged boys helping a blind man onto the bus. There is hope for the future!


5. Meetings that run on time and go better than planned

Is Twice Removed Still The #1 Canadian Album?

Is Twice Removed Still The #1 Canadian Album? | CHARTattack

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Worst.Introduction.Ever

Ask an average person whether he can draw an Indian tipi [or teepee] and he will say "Why! Of course!" There is no "of course!" about an Indian tipi unless you are an Indian learned in the old ways or, like the anthropologists Reginald and Gladys Aubin you have spent years studying tipis all over North America.
- THE INDIAN TIPI- Dorthea Calverley

Grace in Small Things: Day 2

I almost forgot! I had the list created but almost forgot to post it:

1. flip flops (something I am thankful for about 6 months of the year)


2. the smell of the farmers' market


3. catching up with friends who live far away


4. finding my bus pass


5. 20+ minutes to wander around Victoria Park on a beautiful day while I wait for my bus. One of the few moments in the day I had a chance for any semblance of serenity.

Don't Copy that Floppy

I found a software piracy PSA from 1992 called Don't Copy that Floppy.

What you can look forward to

• M.C. Hart kickin' it to you public service style


• Possibly the longest rap song of all time.


• Sweet computer graphics


• Reminiscing about when a computer game was less than 1.44 MB


• Hot computer nerds ("You had me at Dungeons and Dragons!")

Julia Stiles Cares About The Environment More Than You

Tough and Rumble

As I eluded to earlier, I had a rough day. To be more specific, a brief klutzy moment caused a rough day.

I had my first chiropractor appointment in 5 weeks this morning and on my way back to work I decided to pick up a sandwich from Italian Star Deli. On the sidewalk right outside the store, I tripped on the uneven sidewalk and fell hard. I scrapped both hands and knees. The welts on my knees were so big, I had a hard time driving home to clean up. Still determined to go inside, I entered the store bleeding, barely able to walk and growing increasingly nauseated from the pain. I quickly grabbed a sandwich and a ginger ale for the nausea (which the owner was kind enough to open for me). This year has been a rough for Janny:
A Little Banged and Bruised - January 12, 2009
My life as a character in a silent film - January 16, 2009
Ok, Maybe I Should Have Stayed in Bed - July 2, 2009

Grace in Small Things: Day 1

I've taken up Schmutzie's call to arms and am starting Grace in Small Things. You'll notice the new badge on the right. I was planning to wait until the new school year and my blogiversary to start but I've had a bad day (more on that later).

1. Band Aids with duct tape technology


2. An opportunity to see good friends (even if they call me Lettuce)


3. Italian Star Deli sandwich for lunch


4. Chubby cheeked baby on the bus


5. A beautiful, sunny day that looks like will turn into a beautiful, sunny week


6. My chiropractor is back from vacation

Classic Janny: The Falconer

So you want to delve into the mind of Janny? I have no idea where I come up with some of this stuff, you've been officially warned:

Very late at night, back in January 2006 I wrote some bad but in a good way, beatnik poetry.

Knowing what I know now

I posted A Gentle Reminder: Narnia is Not a Real Country on January 4, 2006

A financial new agency reported that Narnia representative Susan Aslan walked out of World Trade Organization talks. The story was picked up by several other news agencies.

The Lion, The Witch and The World Trade talks (from The Age)

A couple weeks ago I watched a documentary about The Yes Men who

are a group of culture jamming activists who practice what they call "identity correction" by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organizations. They create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they want to spoof, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, symposia, and TV shows. - Wikipedia

The documentary focuses on them poses as the World Trade Organization. I wonder if they were the ones behind the Narnia "talks"?

The virtual end of online anonymity

Schmutzie was interviewed for The virtual end of online anonymity - The Globe and Mail, topic near and dear to many of us. Earlier this week I came across Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test? and what should come up when your name is googled:

1. Does not lead to something controversial like arrests
2. Leads to profession-related discussions and commentary on other social media sites
3. Leads me to their online blog, webpage or social media profiles
4. Doesn’t come up blank

The gist of the over 1400 results of an internet search of my name:

• math education website I work for


• math conference papers and proceedings


• my conics webquest


• a petition to keep Arrested Development on the air

My reason for blog anonymity? Like most, keeping my personal and professional lives separate.



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Classic Janny: Memories from My Sister's Wedding

My sister had a horrible cold in the days leading up to her wedding. She was so ill she couldn't drive herself anywhere or finish any of her errands on her own so I was her helper. I had a little notebook with our list of errands so I started to record the pleasant things we saw to help put her in a better mood. I finally posted these notes about 5 months later.

Classic Janny: Lego Janny on the Beach

My sister wrote me a story about me being a character on CSI:Miami. She was inspired by my Lego effigy.

Classic Janny: Further Proof Why Lyn and I Are the Fun Ones

Lyn and I sat for a good portion of the evening being ignored by all of Maryanne, Ky and their friends. Life is what you make of it so Lyn and I took off to take silly pictures around the city. In Vic Park at the statue of Sir John A MacDonald, I took a picture of Lyn hugging the statue. As she was getting ready to take my picture she told me "Do something funny" so the logical course of action was to knee him in the groin (because I'm classy like that). She laughed so hard she could not take the picture. Once she regained composure, she took the picture then cops drive by. This got us laughing even harder.

Let it be said I have not lived a dull life.

Classic Janny: The Proust Questionnaire - Oct 2005

I started to answer the questionnaire before my hard drive crashed. I'll have to try to start it again sometime soon. I'd like to answer it every couple years to see how I've changed.
My answers from 2005

Cuteness Explosion

Orphaned hedgehogs adopt cleaning brush as their mother | Mail Online

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An Approximation of Me Trying to Tell My Parents About My Camping Trip

Not an exact transcript
Janny: I want to tell you about my camping trip.
Mom: Let's look at Michael's wedding pictures again. We stayed up late last night looking at all of them.
Janny: I climbed a mountain.
Dad: Michael's special special*
Janny: I was in a cloud on a mountain peak.
Mom: Look how cute Allie is
Janny: I cut myself on a hunting knife and bled my own blood.
Dad: I look bow-legged in all of the pictures
Janny: It rained almost the whole time we were there.
Mom: The [brother's in-laws]'s are all shorter than us.
Janny: Some of my friends left early because of all the rain.
Mom: There are 25 pictures of the groomsmen play fighting.
Janny sulks away in frustration






*My grandma once told me "Janice, you're special but Michael is special special". Nothing stings more than a grandma burn.

Twice the Work in a Quarter of the Time

I discovered last week how little work my co-worker has done over the summer. She had an opportunity to compete in an aquatic sport at the international level so you quit her job with one month to go. I was given her projects* to finish in addition to my own**. I have gotten more done in the last week than she did in the 3 months she worked for the website. May I also note that I got more done in a week working 2 hours a day than she did in working 8 hours a day over 3 months.



* most of the images needed to be redone because they were either poor quality or photos we are not legally allowed to use.
** most of which needed to be redone due to the hard drive crash.

Nerdy girls everywhere just got really excited

Exclusive: 'Caprica' snags James Marsters! | Ausiello | EW.com

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The Guild - Do You Wanna Date My Avatar

For those who love "The Guild"...

Things to Be Thankful for After a Weekend of Camping

In no particular order...

1. Hot water from the tap
   
2. My bed
   
3. Being barefoot
   
4. Arriving home safely
   
5. A warm, dry place
   
6. Not having to wear 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, 1 bunny hug, 1 Norwegian sweater and 3 pairs of socks to bed
   

Stories to follow...

Best Road Trip CD Ever!

It has yet to be created and I need your help! What is your favourite music to travel to?
Some potential ideas:
Free Bird - Lynard Skynard (obviously)
After the Goldrush - Prelude

So far this is going to be really short.

I have a great desire to find the middle of now where

It is times like these that I wished I didn't live in the city...

Perseids: "Last Chance" for Best Meteor Viewing Tonight

Daily Show Routs Brian Williams, Nightly News - mediabistro.com: TVNewser

Daily Show Routs Brian Williams, Nightly News - mediabistro.com: TVNewser

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somethings never change

Lessons learned at age 27: three cubed - April 29, 2005.

Things I learned this year in no particular order:
1) I am a music elitist.
2) There is no media conspiracy.
3) Some battles are not worth fighting.
4) Forgiveness is a choice you continually have to make.
5) You cannot lighten hair dyed black.
6) Life is never what you expect it to be.
7) God will humble the proud heart.
8) Patience is easier said than done.

I'm sure I learned some other things but I can't think of them right now.

I learned a lot that year. Yay me! Those were some rough years I went though but I know they were necessary.

I am so wise

As I repost from angelfire, I cam across this gem:

"Laziness is the true tie that binds."
- December 2, 2004

Brute Force Method

I finally gave up on trying to export my angelfire blog. As far as I have read it is not possible. I've been experimenting with wordpress to combine my blogger and angelfire blogs but no such luck. I have resorted to copying and pasting old blog posts into blogger. Ten down, 684 to go.* Hopefully soon I will have all 5 years and 1200+ posts on one blog.









*Umm, gross.

Breaking Hearts and Pushing Carts

Tonight I busted a shoplifter at Walmart. So why was I suspicious?

Out of place object or person
Man appeared to be homeless -- did not look like he had bathed in a very long time.


Unexpected behaviour
Man was kneeling in a very close to a wall and had taken three shirts off the hanger. One was bunched up in his hand as he looked at the others carefully -- he did not look like the comparison shopper type.


Gut feeling
I know guilty behaviour when I see it. As my sister and I walked by, he kept on looking over his shoulder at us with a panicked look on his face. When I first saw him he looked like he was trying to tuck the bunched up shirt under his own shirt.

As I left the store I told an employee what we say. He grabbed a co-worker and they went to the men's section. As we were walking out the door, the co-worker was calling for the manager over the intercom.

Exclaim News: Sloan’s Chris Murphy Struck by Drunk Driver in Hit and Run

In case you hadn't heard.

Exclaim News: Sloan’s Chris Murphy Struck by Drunk Driver in Hit and Run

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