Chuck is saved!

Ok, so this is now officially yesterday’s news, but I’m still happy about it. 😉

I *heart Chuck. In its odd little way, it helps me get that Alias fix I’ve been missing. It has a cute, nerdy lead! It has ass-kicking spy stuff! It has Adam Baldwin, whose awesomeness cannot be rivaled! It has Captain Awesome, and Gift Shop Girl from Scrubs. It has a theme song by Cake! And the finale? The finale was jaw-droppingly amazing.

Chuck is fun, clever, well-written, and genuinely emotional, and it’s definitely become one of my favorites. I look forward to its return…hopefully in a time slot where it’s not against everything the world loves (seriously…it was up against House, Dancing with the Stars, and the CBS Monday comedies. Gee, I wonder why the ratings suffered?).

So, um…get yourself some DVDs. Netflix them, whatever. Then watch Chuck when it comes back next year!

And the winner is…

Samantha!

We ended up not choosing any of the suggested blog names (although I did quite enjoy them!) None of them felt right, so we’re continuing to consider our options. Samantha won in a random drawing

Sam, since you’re local, the prize options are a little more open than they would be otherwise. Let me know if there’s something in particular you’re interested in. 🙂 I’ll make sure I blog the finished result, with pictures.

Contest update

Sorry, folks. I was out of commission there for a while, and I’ve been desperately trying to get caught up with life.

Rand and I will have to confer on the blog name possibilities. I will make an effort to do that this weekend. If we don’t choose one, I will draw a random winner on Monday, May 18. (Oh, and if there’s anyone out there who still wants to participate, let me know. I could probably be persuaded to accept some late entries.)

I have lots of things to say, and very little energy/motivation to say them. So on that note…onward to Friday!

Blargh

That’s how I feel right now.

I woke up yesterday with a scratchy throat. I woke up this morning feeling mildly icky, but not icky enough to warrant staying home. I’ve been consuming liquids like a madwoman all day.

Since sometime this afternoon, I’ve been sneezy/sniffly with a bit of a headache. I did have a slightly high temperature a while ago, but I think it’s gone now. I’m pretty sure we’re dealing with a run-of-the-mill cold and not ZOMGswinefluPANIC!!! (If I call in sick to work, by the way, I’m supposed to report whether or not I have “flu-like symptoms”)

I did somewhat prepare for the possibility of being out tomorrow…right now, I’m thinking it would probably be a good idea to stay home and rest and not continue to infect people.

Yeah. Anyway.

Don’t forget to enter my name that blog! contest. 🙂

Name that Blog! (deadline extended)

Thanks to those of you who have entered my Name that Blog! contest.

I’ve decided to extend the entry deadline until the end of this week–midnight on May 8th. I’ve also decided that in the event that we don’t choose any of the entries, I will select a random winner from all the participants.

Please leave entries on the original post, linked above. Thanks!

Name that blog! (a contest)

*UPDATE*

deadline extended to this Friday, May 8

As you may recall (or may have noticed), I’ve been having a bit of a blog identity crisis for a while now.

I’m not closing up shop, but I do have a new blog project in mind…something that I hope will get my blogging juices flowing again. Rand and I have been talking for quite some time about starting a pop culture/entertainment blog. We’ve got lots of ideas. What we lack, however, is a name.

I am notoriously terrible at naming/titling things.

So I am turning to you, dear readers. Can you help me name this new blog? If you provide us with a name we like, I’ll send you a prize!

Here are my options for prizes:

1. I just discovered that I have an extra copy of On Writing

2. If that doesn’t do it for you, how about baked goods? I have a few options of things I think will mail well, which I will offer the winner.

That’s it! Contest starts now, and ends…let’s say May 4. 😀

Birth order quiz thingy


You Are Likely an Only Child


At your darkest moments, you feel frustrated.

At work and school, you do best when you’re organizing.

When you love someone, you tend to worry about them.

In friendship, you are emotional and sympathetic.

Your ideal careers are: radio announcer, finance, teaching, ministry, and management.

You will leave your mark on the world with organizational leadership, maybe as the author of self-help books.

In fact, I am an “oldest” (of two), but I’ve always suspected that I had more than a little “only” in me, as I was 7 when my brother was born.

Books read in 2009 (update)

I’m not sure where I left off last time, so here’s the updated list. 😉

1. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy–Ally Carter
2. Dead Until Dark–Charlaine Harris
3. Sweethearts–Sara Zarr
4. Rise and Shine–Anna Quindlen
5. The War at Ellsmere–Faith Erin Hicks
6. Life as We Knew It–Susan Beth Pfeffer
7. The Walking Dead–Robert Kirkman
8. Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover–Ally Carter (ARC)
9. Paper Towns–John Green
10. Ironside: A Modern Faery’s Tale–Holly Black
11. Jinx–Meg Cabot
12. Persepolis–Marjane Satrapi
13. Persepolis II–Marjane Satrapi
14. Pants on Fire–Meg Cabot
15. Hitman–Garth Ennis
16. The Little Prince
17. Heart-Shaped Box–Joe Hill
18. Romeo & Juliet*
19. Julius Caesar*
20. Alis–Naomi Rich
21. Flashforward–Robert J. Sawyer
22. Living Dead in Dallas–Charlaine Harris
23. To Kill a Mockingbird–Harper Lee*
24. The Fantastic Four–Mark Waid (2 volumes)

*Books I’ve previously read, but am teaching

Gale Gand’s Brunch! recipe review

brunch cookbook

My friend Stephanie offered me the opportunity to receive a copy of this cookbook in return for trying a recipe and posting a review. I agreed. I mean, who doesn’t love brunch?

When I flipped through the book, there were plenty of recipes that sounded interesting to me. Since I’m not a big fan of eggs, they were mostly of the sweet variety. Ultimately, though, my love of ginger won out and I decided to try the Ginger Scones with Peaches and Cream.

I had never made scones before, so I figured it would be an adventure!

mixer!

As always, I was very happy to have this at my disposal. Oh Kitchenaid mixer, what did I ever do before you?

The recipe was simple enough and easy to follow. When the time came for me to “use a biscuit or cookie cutter” to cut out the scones, I had to improvise. Luckily, I had a small round Rubbermaid container that was perfect!

scones going in the oven

The recipe said to bake for 15-20 minutes. I set the timer for 15, checked them, and left them in a little while longer. I’d say they were in for about 18 minutes.

scones fresh out of the oven

Mmmm…I found the scones themselves *very* tasty. The bits of crystallized ginger are perfect…and although the recipe didn’t call for it, I added a bit of ground ginger as well. Like I said, I love ginger.

I made the whipped cream as instructed in the recipe. It has sour cream in it, which was interesting. I found it to be somewhat like clotted cream. I had to use canned peaches rather than fresh, because fresh peaches are a little hard to come by this time of year.

ginger scones with peaches and cream

The flavors were interesting together, but as I said, these scones are very good by themselves as well!

Rand agreed. He said I could go into business selling scones. 😉

I would make these again, and look forward to trying some of the other recipes.

That word, you keep using it*

Dear Internets,

I’ve ignored this for as long as I could. Something has to be said.

“Begging the Question” is a specific logical fallacy in which the person presenting the argument assumes what they claim to be proving. There are a whole bunch of sites where you can look this up. Here is an example:

Paranormal phenomena exist because I have had experiences that can only be described as paranormal.

(Skepdic.com)

I also like this definintion from Fallacyfiles.org:

The phrase “begging the question”, or “petitio principii” in Latin, refers to the “question” in a formal debate—that is, the issue being debated. In such a debate, one side may ask the other side to concede certain points in order to speed up the proceedings. To “beg” the question is to ask that the very point at issue be conceded, which is of course illegitimate.

Begging the question does NOT mean to raise or ask the question, like in this headline:

Latest Internet Fracas Begs the Question:
Who’s Driving the Internet Bus?

Okay? Can we all move on now?

I’m guessing not, but I had to try.

Thanks,

eringoblog

*I do not think it means what you think it means.