Randomness

A lot of thoughts pop into my head, and I'd like to share some of them with you. Alone, these thoughts probably make for a terrible blog post. Together, they hopefully make for a not as terrible blog post.

- Many restaurants sell boneless wings or chicken. Have you ever seen boneful wings or boneful chicken on a menu?

- According to the list of the most popular male baby names born in the U.S. in 2007, Sean finished #76 with 6,216. Jesus finished #77 with 6,203. Sean > Jesus!

- In Saturday's mail, we received not one, not two, but SIX grocery circulars for Safeway. Did the mail carrier have extras and just wanted to give us more or was Safeway's plan to give everyone multiple circulars?

- How many Bring It On movies have there been? There's a new one coming out on DVD this Tuesday. It seems like one or maybe even two would have been enough.

- Why are there massive wildfires in California every year?

- I follow the Pirates more than any other Pittsburgh sports team, but I write about them less than any other team. However, I'll try to make up for that by posting this amazing picture of Andrew McCutchen after hitting a game-winning home run last week.



You want more don't you? Well, how about a few links for your day:

- Art Rooney passed away twenty years ago. Behind the Steel Curtain has a nice tribute.

- Captain Easychord is quitting fantasy sports. Meanwhile, I'm preparing for my second, third and fourth fantasy football drafts. [Corsairs Affairs]

- Indiana University is moving its 2010 home game against Penn State from Bloomington, Indiana to FedEx Field just outside of Washington DC. That kind of takes away any type of home field advantage. [DCist]

- Look for a real-life R2D2 to be off the market if Steve won the MegaMillions on Friday. [Steve Is Alive]

Photo by Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

2009-2010 Ted Marshall Open (TV Death Pool)

The 10th edition of the Ted Marshall Open is accepting entries between now and August 31. I think I would now classify myself as a Ted Marshall Open (formerly Alison LaPlaca Open) veteran as this will mark my fourth year in the contest. After an impressive debut in 2006-2007 where I finished sixth out of 100+ entries, my luck was not as good for 2007-2008. However, I rebounded with a top 20 finish this past season. If only CBS cancelled Gary Unmarried... Well, there was one huge positive that came from last season: I (finally) successfully predicted that According to Jim would not return!



If you want to enter the Ted Marshall Open, it is extremely easy to do so. Click on the above link and select ten television shows that you believe will not return for the 2010-2011 television season. The difficult part is picking the actual shows. It was easy to know that ER wouldn't return for this season. However, will the new CBS drama Three Rivers make it to next year? Is Heroes D-U-N done or can the show return to its first season excellence.

For more information go to the Ted Marshall Open website. Good luck!

TMI Thursday: Not a man?

I have a fear of Home Depot. I’m positive that the security cameras can sense my anxiety as I walk through the door. It is an intimidating place filled with supposedly useful but mostly confusing items. As part of our home renovation, we took a field trip there recently. I tried to act like I knew where things were located and could effortlessly tell the difference between a lug nut and, um, something similar to a lug nut, but I had no clue. Our first stop was to get new kitchen and bathroom faucets. There were many options, but we sailed through (mostly since my wife priced and selected them on a previous visit without me). However, we quickly learned from the sales representative that we also needed to buy some faucet connector wire things (technical term). They went into the cart. The next stop was to pick up a five-pound bag of non-sanded grout. No problem. Well, except that they only had 10-pound bags. That’s fine. Well, except that I was looking for white grout, but there were at least 15 different colors that were all variations of white. I bought the bright white variety. Over an hour later, we were done.



A few days later, I needed to return to Home Depot to pick up more paint. After waiting over 30 minutes to be helped (don’t go to the paint department at 9:00pm on a weeknight), I confidently asked for two galloons of Glidden Cinnamon White paint. They then asked what type of finish I wanted. I panicked. I went in a completely defensive mode by saying, well, they didn’t ask me that the last time I was here. The patient Home Depot guy told me that I should just check the can I had at home. I panicked again since the can was already trashed. He then asked whether it was eggshell, semi-gloss or flat. No clue. Fortunately, I called home and learned it was flat. I told this to the Home Depot guy and pretended that I knew this all along.

As you can probably tell, the entire point of this post is that when it comes to home repairs, I know nothing. I can change a light bulb, but beyond that, I am useless. Does this make me less of a man?



(I was really trying to find a picture of Milos from "The Comeback" episode of Seinfeld to insert here. Instead, I found a picture of George from the same episode. Plus, I'll share this quote which seems appropriate.)

Another game for Milos!! He's not a man, this Jerry.

Please make sure to visit LiLu for more TMI Thursdays. Plus, you can click here to see all of my TMI Thursday archives.

Facebook Warning

If you are on Facebook and friends with your boss, you probably shouldn't write about your job



Quick story to go along with this. I worked with a guy from England, and the word "Wanker" came up in conversation one day. Another woman thought the word was cool and said it all day. The British guy kept telling her to stop using the word it since wanker is not a friendly term, however, she continued to say it.

I didn't say that it was a good story, just a quick one!


h/t Rob

Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers & More

The folks at Yinz Luv released their first video of the 2009-2010 Steelers season featuring an interview with Steelers' Hall of Famer Jack Ham. Enjoy!



In addition, here are a few links to check out:

PittGirl is back with a new site! [That's Church]

Cotter's Meeting People is Easy is terrific as always [One For The Other Thumb]

A live report from the building of a home for the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in DC [The Blog at 16th & Q]

Finally, I'm reluctantly on Twitter now. Feel free to follow. [seansramblings]

Toll Booth Bathroom Question (Trivia Tuesday)

Trivia Tuesday is taking a slightly different form today. There is something I have wondered about for years, and I hope that you can assist me in answering the question. There are hundreds if not thousands of toll booths throughout the country. For every major toll plaza area such Breezewood on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, there are smaller booths with only one or two attendants like those on the Dulles Toll Road or in New Jersey (I believe the Garden State Parkway, but I always get the New Jersey toll roads mixed up). For these smaller booths, where do the attendants go to use the bathroom? It's not like they can leave and use a McDonald's or Wendy's around the corner. (Or can they?) I don't recall seeing Port-a-Johns outside the booths either. Does anyone seem to know? I guess I could ask an attendant someday but I just drive right through now with my E-Z Pass.



In unrelated news, I am now officially on Twitter. As I mentioned previously, I have no idea how often I will post, but my guess is it will be rather infrequently. With that ringing endorsement, feel free to follow me at seansramblings.

Kids Quotes

If you need a laugh, try reading through these children's science exam answers

Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?
A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?
A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A: Premature death.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? ( e.g., abdomen)
A: The body is consisted into three parts -- the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the boraxcontains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does 'varicose' mean? (I do love this one...)
A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarian Section.'
A: The Caesarian Section is a district in Rome

Q: What does the word 'benign' mean?'
A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.



Kids Are Quick

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?
CLASS: Maria.


TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.

TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it!

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.

TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I.'
MILLIE: I is..
TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.


Have a great weekend!

TMI Thursday: Back to Basics

If you searched through my TMI Thursday archives, you would probably find bathroom stories more often than any other topic. I haven't shared a bathroom incident as part of TMI Thursday for several months (I think), so it's time to go back to my TMIT roots.

Bill Russell, a member of the Boston Celtics, an NBA Hall of Fame and one of the greatest players in basketball history, was famous for throwing up prior big games due to nerves. If he didn't throw up, legendary coach Red Auerbach would order Russell to go back to the toilet. However, this TMIT is not about Bill Russell.



Although I have been a soccer referee for at least a dozen years and worked hundreds of games, I still get nervous before matches. Unlike Russell, the nervousness manifests itself through another orifice. Before I leave my home prior to soccer games, I regulary need to use the restroom to "drop a deuce." There are days where I need to go multiple times before I leave. I don't remember if I had a similar reaction when working as a ref in high school, but it's a given that I'll need to plan for some bathroom time prior to nearly every game I work.

I also tend to use the restroom prior to all of my ultimate frisbee games too. Since I'm (not so) slightly changing topics, I probably had my best game ever as an ultimate frisbee player yesterday. I scored five points/touchdowns (I was basically Cris Carter; all I did was catch touchdowns) and threw a hammer for another point. It's too bad that I'm missing the tournament this weekend since I think my team has a great opportunity to win (not that me being there would make or break our chances), but also since Wednesday was my last time playing with a fun team.

Please make sure to visit LiLu for more TMI Thursdays. Plus, you can click here to see all of my TMI Thursday archives.

Fantasy Football Question

It's question day here at Sean's Ramblings! As a hypothetical, let’s say that someone has the #3 pick in an upcoming fantasy football draft. Who should this brilliant and fascinating person select with this pick? Maybe a better question is this: who would you rank as your top three fantasy players to start this season?

The scoring for this league is fairly standard: 6 points per TD (passing, receiving, and rushing) and 1 point per 15 yards rushing or receiving. This is not a point per reception league.

As a side note, why does every fantasy football magazine create their top 200 list based on 4 points per passing TD? I have never participated in or even known anyone in this type of league.



(Carson Palmer is not a top 3 pick.)

2010

According to my abacus, the year 2010 is less than five months away. Therefore, I think it’s time for us to have a serious discussion to decide the fate of the world. A bit strong? OK, we need to come to a consensus about the proper way to say the upcoming year. The past decade has been relatively easy. We (or least I) always say Oh-8 or Oh-9. What happens next year? Should we say Twenty-Ten; Two Thousand Ten; Oh-Ten; simply 10; or is there another alternative I’m missing?

Discuss.

Trivia Tuesday

I know that you know your current events. Today’s questions focus on how well you know events that used to be current.

1. Who was Michael Jackson’s doctor?

2. Who scored the first touchdown for the Steelers in Super Bowl 43?

3. Who won the PGA’s U.S. Open in 2009?

4. What is the name of South Carolina’s governor?

5. What is the name of Alaska’s current governor?

6. Who won the 2009 Australian Open (please identify the men’s and women’s winners)?

7. Name the four teams in the 2009 NCAA Men’s Final Four?

8. What is the Octomom’s real name?

9. Name two DC area restaurants where Barack Obama visited to eat since being elected President.

10. Name one concert I attended in 2009.

11. Not including Laos since there are multiple possible pronunciations, name the four one-syllable countries. (This question has nothing to do with current events.)


As always, please leave your answers in the comments section and do not use the internet to search for answers. However, you can search this blog to assist you in answering #10. Good luck!

Dude! (and links)

I called a 16 year-old "dude" this weekend. I don’t use that word very often and it was certainly the first time I ever said dude in my role as a soccer referee. After I called a foul on this player (we’ll call him Steve; I have no idea what his name is), his opponent gave him a slight push. Nothing major and I thought the game would continue without any problems after I stopped anything from escalating at the scene of the crime. However, before the game restarted, Steve continued to talk trash at the opponent including asking him if he wanted a tissue for his tears. (I’m guessing Steve has waiting months to use this line.) And that’s when it happened. I went up to Steve and said, "Dude, calm down." He did calm down slightly, and fortunately, his coach substituted him out about a minute or two later.

Not the greatest story to start your week, so I hope these links will make up for it.

Bram interviewed Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Franco "Dok" Harris (part 1; part 2) [The Pittsburgh Comet]

Now that he's no longer working for NBC, Jerome Bettis returned to the NFL. Sort of. [D.C. Sports Bog]



Relive Tecmo and Cotter's trip to Steelers training camp. [One for the Other Thumb & PSAMP]

The Burgh Blog is returning on August 19! [The Burgh Blog]

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins logo is awesome [This Is Getting Old]

Igloo Dreams has done an amazing analysis of all of the Three Stars from this past NHL season. Although I linked to the article about whether the MVP should be awarded using the Three Stars system, check out the entire series. [Igloo Dreams]

It's game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. What should I wear? Oh, how about this Winnipeg Jets jersey? [Empty Netters]



The World Police and Fire Games are coming to Reston...in 2015. [Restonian]

I think the Sports Chick should publish her undergrad thesis on baseball wives. [Sports Chick Blog]

Help the Western New York economy by going on a road trip to see the Pitt Panthers battle Buffalo (not the Bills). [Cat Basket]


Finally, I signed up for Twitter so that I could follow a friend. I'm not sure if I'm going to actually Tweet or not, but if I do, I'll let you know.

Happy Birthday Ziggy

Even though we got him from a shelter last November, today is Ziggy's actual birthday.

Here is a picture of Ziggy when we first got him:



and today:




Today, our boy becomes a man. (Well, kitten becomes a cat.)

Brief Steelers-Cardinals Notes

I refuse to write a thorough post about a preseason NFL game. While I plan my entire schedule around Steelers games during the regular season, I will only watch preseason games if they are on national TV (meaning that the game is on TV in Washington) and I have nothing else planned. Anyway, here are my notes from Thursday’s Steelers-Cardinals game:

* Isaac Redman > Frank the Tank

* I’d love to give Ziggy Hood a lot of credit for his sack, but the Cardinals offensive line didn’t try to block him.

* Limas Sweed made some nice catches. It will be interesting to watch the battle for 3rd receiver between him and Shaun McDonald.

* What an interception by Anthony Madison! It’s too bad the interception didn’t count due to a lousy pass interference penalty.

* I think we’re going to like having a healthy Daniel Sepulveda this season.

* Myron Bell, I mean Joe Burnett, made a nice interception and put a great hit on a Cardinals defender trying to down a punt leading to a touchback.

* If there were any thoughts of kicker Piotr Czech him making the team if Jeff Reed gets hurt, he’s D-U-N done after missing a short field goal wide left. OK, his 44-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter was fine.

* Where do you draft Cardinals running back Tim Hightower in your fantasy league? He’s the #1 back and looked solid against the Steelers’ first team defense.

* James Harrison had six tackles in just over a quarter of work (if that). I think he could be a good football player!

* We all know the former Steeler players and coaches on Arizona, but they may also be the University of Pittsburgh West with former Panthers Larry Fitzgerald, Tyler Palko, LaRod Stephens-Howling and Gerald Hayes.


That's actually more than I thought I would write. Maybe I'm already in regular season form! (or not)

TMI Thursday: Blisters

I have blisters on the bottom of both of my feet. Since it is TMI Thursday, I could share pictures of my feet, but I like you and want you to come back. Anyway, I believe that the cause of these blisters is new cleats that I bought in early July. I figured that the blisters were fairly natural with the new shoes during the first few times I wore them. However, after wearing the cleats on about ten occasions including Wednesday night (with a two week break from the last time I wore them), my blisters are worse than ever. I even had a bloody sock courtesy of one of my blisters after last night’s impressive 11-10 victory ultimate frisbee victory. (Take that Curt Schilling!).

Since I have frisbee games on Friday, Monday and Wednesday and am working as a soccer referee on Saturday and Sunday, I could be in a lot of pain over the next week. Plus, I really don’t want to go through a half-dozen bloody socks, unless of course, they are going to the hall of fame. Therefore, I’m writing to see if anyone has any suggestions about how to treat blisters. My feet, my socks and I would be extremely thankful!

Make sure to visit LiLu for more TMI Thursdays. Plus, you can click here to see all of my TMI Thursday archives.

Notes From Portland

Although I’m now home, here are my experiences and thoughts from visiting Portland, Oregon:

I started the trip by flying from Washington Dulles to Dallas to Portland where after leaving the airport, I saw signs for The Dalles.

Unless someone was having a joke at the expense of some tourists, people in Portland pronounce Couch Street, Cooch Street.

People in the Pacific Northwest love their bookstores. I really enjoyed The Elliot Bay Book Company in Seattle last year, but Powell’s Books laughs at EBBC. Powell’s may be the greatest bookstore ever as it is also the largest bookstore in the world. I made two separate trips there and could easily have gone back a few more times. I restrained myself by only buying two books, and I plan on visiting the Fairfax County Public Library soon to check out at least six more.



We decided not to eat at restaurant that had Chicken Butt Kabob on the menu.

Did you know that Portland is Soccer City USA? I heard it on a commercial, so it must be true!

This could be something for TMI Thursday, but I feel like it is part of my Portland experience. I stayed at a fancy hotel with turn-down service and a personal wake-up call where they would ask if I wanted room service and/or a weather report. Very classy. So what do I do? Clog the toilet. Not so classy.

We stumbled into some type of bike race through the streets of Portland on Friday evening. While talking among ourselves about what we were witnessing, a guy replied that it was a bike race. Really, Lance Armstrong?

Portland seemed to have a lot of homeless people who look like they are in their 20s and appear to be waiting for a Nirvana concert. It seemed to be a lifestyle for many of them. I’ve never seen this in any other city.

The big story when I first arrived in Portland was that a star was in town. Who knew that I was so big in Oregon? Oh, someone named Eva Longoria-Parker was also there.



If you’ve visited or lived in Portland, was there anything that I missed? Is the street name reference above really called Cooch?

Trivia Tuesday: Aesop's Fables

I'm back from Portland (more on the trip tomorrow) just in time for Trivia Tuesday. Listed below are the morals of 10 fables by the Greek writer Aesop. Your challenge is to identify the title of each fable. To make it not impossible, the titles (A-J) are listed after the morals:

1. Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.

2. Slow and steady wins the race.

3. It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

4. Those who want too much lose everything.

5. Little friends may prove great friends.

6. The evil doer often comes to harm through his own deceit.

7. I’ll be they’re sour!

8. Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed.

9. Persuasion is better than force.

10. People often begrudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves.


A. The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
B. The Dog in the Manger
C. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
D. The Boy Who Cried Wolf
E. The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
F. The Lion and the Mouse
G. The Fox and the Grapes
H. The North Wind and the Sun
I. The Tortoise and the Hare
J. The Ant and the Grasshopper

It's a nice little multiple choice game! As always, please leave your answers in the comments section and do not use the internet to search for answers. In case you are wondering, we scored 8 out of 10 missing only #1. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Pittsburgh Penguins Job Opportunity

Have you dreamed about being a public address announcer at the Civic Arena?* Well, here is your opportunity. According to the position description, "the Pittsburgh Penguins have created a new position for a second public address announcer. The person in this position will work alongside the Penguins' current PA announcer, in an auxiliary role, during all home games at Mellon Arena. This is NOT a full-time position. This position is responsible for the in-arena sound associated with Penguins home games in the Mellon Arena."

Some of the duties include:

- Establish signature calls and traditions for Penguins fans.
May I suggest "Buy Sean a drink and get his kitten Ziggy one too," or "Call Arnold Hill from Swissvale."

- Announce all Penguins pre-season, regular season and playoff home games.
You would get paid for this!

- Utilize voice inflection and enthusiasm to increase fan spirit.
Let’s get ready to rumble has already been taken, but use Michael Buffer as a guide.

More information about this position is available on the NHL Hockey Jobs website.

By the way, if you learned about this position from here and ended up getting the job, please feel free to send a few tickets my way as a thank you.


* I know the venue has been called Mellon Arena for years now, but it will always be the Civic Arena to me.

Silly Quiz

Here's a little quiz to start your week.

This quiz aims to test your innate intelligence by posing a series of questions involving tricky travel situations. Answer these to determine your overall rationality, logic and intelligence...

84% of the world!

Quiz by Tripbase

Please feel free to share your results in the comments section. This does not replace Trivia Tuesday, which will be back, appopriately, tomorrow (Tuesday).

Sunday Video

Whenever there is video of a soccer referee being chased by players, the video will be posted here.



I really wish that there was audio to the video. Actually, I probably wouldn't understand it, so ignore the last sentence.

Oh, stepping on your opponent definitely warrants a red card.


h/t Kevin

To Do Tonight

If you're in DC join LiLu, Lexa and Restaurant Refugee at a Blogger Happy Hour at 7:00. I'd be there, except that I'm in Portland.

If you're in Latrobe, join Cotter and Tecmo for Steelers training camp. I'd be there, except that I'm in Portland.

If you're between Baltimore and DC, visit Tiny350Z at the Animal Resource Foundation to adopt a pet. (Click on the link to see cute dogs & cats and Tiny's volunteer experiences.) I'd be there, except that Ziggy is keeping us busy enough.

Finally, one year ago yesterday, I received the following messages based on a Craigslist inquiry:
"The only catch to it you have to get me messy."
"Ignore the messy part but you have to toilet paper my house."

Neil Diamond was also involved.

Fairfax Rap with a Pittsburgh Twist

I feel like this is something that would be on Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies, but since this covers the rap battle between Arlington, VA and Fairfax, VA, I needed to post it here. I love the fact that a Troy Polamalu jersey is prominently featured.



Your move Reston, Herndon, Springfield and Chantilly!

TMI Thursday: New Dishwasher

To celebrate our five-year anniversary, we bought ourselves a brand new dishwasher. We're so romantic! With the new dishwasher comes a new challenge: how to load said dishwasher. I posed a question a few weeks ago about the proper way to load silverware, but that’s not the challenge. I now need to figure out the proper way to load dishes and glasses. Anyone who has ever been to my home or office knows that I am not a neat freak. Papers and newspapers tend to pile up, and I always have clean or at least semi-clean clothes amassed on my dresser (or at least until Ziggy knocks them over). However, I think I have an obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to the dishwasher. I need to figure out the perfect way to fit the maximum amount of cups and plates into the dishwasher, but they cannot touch. In my mind, touching glasses could break. This may be illogical and unrealistic, but it’s my dishwasher, so it’s my rules.



This leads me to the second part of TMI Thursday. I came to the realization of my dishwasher obsession during a graduate school class titled Women: Leadership and Empowerment. In my last quarter of grad school, I needed only a few classes to graduate. To make the quarter easier, I decided to take three classes instead of four, but the catch was that one of the three classes – you guessed correctly, it was Women: Leadership and Empowerment – was 5 credits. A five-credit graduate level class is an insane amount of work. What was I thinking? (Fortunately, Education & Spirituality was an easy class where my final paper focused on how I like the ocean.) WLE consisted of nine people, 8 women and me, and the female instructor. It was awkward at times, but for the most part, it was an enlightening and interesting class. Plus, I never had to speak for all men or defend the male gender. Anyway, one of the few portions of the class I remember eight years later was a discussion about loading the dishwasher. I think the topic was something about gender roles in the home, and I mentioned that I was all about the dishwasher. I think I endeared myself to some of my classmates at that moment.

If you’re wondering how I have handled the new dishwasher so far, that is to be determined. The dishwasher was delivered yesterday and I haven’t used it yet. Depending on when you read this, I am either on my way or in Portland, so I won’t start obsessing about the dishwasher until week. Don’t worry though; I will have plenty of posts over the next few days.

Make sure to visit LiLu for more TMI Thursdays. Plus, you can click here to see all of my TMI Thursday archives.

Oliver Onion Inspired by Ryan Clark

What a hit!



Besides the hit itself, my favorite part of the video is watching George Washington take a quick look at his fallen comrade and then decide to keep running.

I wonder if this video will be as big in Taiwan as the last video I posted from a Pittsburgh Pirates game!

Trivia Tuesday: Music Edition

It's fine to thank me. Go ahead, I'll wait. Last week, we attended a different trivia place than our usual spot, and if I went with their questions, this week's Trivia Tuesday would have been about vitamins. It was awful. Therefore, I created my own trivia questions. Originally, I was going to post questions from songs and have you answer them. For example, I was going to take the lyric "Why would I lie?" from the song She's a Beauty by The Tubes and you could give reasons why you would lie or why the singer would lie. We can still do that, but this is another option. I've included eleven songs below; your challenge is to name the artist (or feel free to answer the questions posed).

1. Who let the dogs out?
2. What is love? (Baby don't hurt me)
3. Why does love always feel like a battlefield?
4. Why can't we be friends?
5. What would you say?
6. How will I know if he really loves me?
7. Don't you want me baby?
8. Who am I to disagree?
9. Are you gonna go my way?
10. How do I live without you?
11. What's love gotta do with it?

Here are some bonus made-up lyrics:

What would Jessie's girl do?
Can you spell bananas? B-A-N-A-N-A-S

As always, please do not use the internet to search for answers. Leave your
answers in the comments section below. Good luck!

Penn State's Terrible Schedule (or Reason #441 Why Penn State Should Play Pitt)

With the college football season about one month away, I figured that now
would be an appropriate time to write about the 2009 season. Specifically,
I'm writing about Penn State, who is considered to be one of the country's
top teams and a National Championship contender. Let me save everyone the
discussion now. If Penn State is undefeated several months from now, they do
not deserve to be ranked among the top few teams. May I present exhibit A to
the jury? (Yes, I'm playing a lawyer here today).

Penn State has 8 of its 12 games at home including its match against the
other Big 10 favorite, The Ohio State University. In fact, Penn State
doesn't leave State College until their fifth game of the season against
Illinois, and 6 of the team's first 7 games are at home.



Exhibit B: The non-conference schedule.

Penn State's first three games are against Akron (5-7 last season), Syracuse
(3-9) and Temple (5-7). In mid-October, they host Eastern Illinois (5-7), a
1-AA school in the Ohio Valley Conference. Is it even possible to schedule a
weaker non-conference schedule? I guess you can give Penn State credit for
scheduling a Big East team, except that Syracuse finished 2007 at 2-10; 2006
at 4-8; and 2005 at 1-10. Oh, they do have former Duke basketball player
Greg Paulus, so maybe that makes everything okay.

Exhibit C: The non-conference schedule of other top teams.

I know what you're thinking. Yes, Penn State is not facing the top
non-conference competition but they need to focus and prepare for the Big 10
season. Well, let's look at the non-conference schedule of other top
schools:

- USC travels to Columbus to face Ohio State
- Alabama meets Virginia Tech to start the season
- Florida ends the season against its rival Florida State
- Oklahoma begins the season with a home game against BYU, who went 10-2
last season, and later travels to Miami to take on the Hurricanes.
- While the non-conference schedule for Texas is similar to Penn State, at
least they play a road game at Wyoming.
- Finally, Utah, the team that ended the 2008 season at #2, plays at Oregon
and home against Louisville.

I think the title of this post shows where I stand. I am a University of Pittsburgh fan and really want Pitt and Penn State to start facing each other again. Pitt-Penn State used to be one of the best rivalries in college football, but it doesn't exist anymore. Joe Paterno has built an amazing football program and given so much to the university, and I know that this sounds mean, but they probably won't play Pitt again until he dies.



I'm not suggesting that Pitt is currently on the same level as Penn State, but they would be an upgrade over Temple and Eastern Illinois. To look at it from another perspective, if a team from the Big 12, SEC and Penn State all finish the season with one loss, Penn State won't be in the national title game. Based on their schedule, they shouldn't complain.


Update: I started writing this post last week and posted it Monday morning. I just noticed this afternoon that the Post-Gazette wrote a similar article about Penn State's schedule yesterday starting with this:

Penn State is poised to make a run at its second consecutive Big Ten Conference title this season.

But the Nittany Lions' soft non-conference schedule -- ranked second-worst among BCS schools by The Sporting News -- could make it hard for them to contend for the national championship.

Sunday Morning Video

A conductor in Lithuania created an orchestral piece to accompany Nora, the piano playing cat. Enjoy!




Nora was also featured in this week's Entertainment Weekly. She's almost as famous as Oprah!