random thoughts for the night

What do I want to be when I grow up? A famous writer. I want to be someone who is quoted. I love quotes. I spent a little too much time today looking at quotes.

As a random side note: quote is a verb and quotation is the noun so really what I should be saying is that I love quotations but since it is socially acceptable to say quotes instead, I will do that, but I do still feel slightly bad about it.

Anywho, the best quotes are ones that make you think.

"There is no harder thing to give up than the thing that was supposed to make you happy." -Robert Brault

So true. Whether it be a relationship or a career.

We are all so scared of change. I'm including myself in that "we" even though I try not to do it. It is just human nature.

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Not to completely change the subject but we live in such a weird paradox. On the one hand, we are part of this giant cosmos and live for such a short little blip of time that we can say, "Our problems don't matter at all in the grand scheme of things, so don't worry about them." Yet on the other hand, that special moment you had today where you looked at something beautiful and thought, "This moment is truly a gift" did matter. That is what makes life matter.

So which is it? What matters?

Does it matter what matters?

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By the way, I often hate blog posts like this where the writer seems like they are trying to be all deep and are tackling life's serious questions. I'm not. Just rambling about the thoughts popping into my head.

stop procrastinating

I love yoga.

I know this.

It isn't like I forgot this.

Yet I stopped doing yoga for YEARS! Over three years.

And I just got back into it. I finally stopped putting it off and saying, "Yeah, I should really start taking yoga again." Instead I actually started taking yoga again.

And I feel great! My first class I didn't feel great. My body had to get used to using all these crazy muscles again.

But now I feel great. I am looser. I am stronger. I am standing straighter.

Hells yeah!!!

It's just a good reminder that I should a) always take yoga and b) stop procrastinating because it feels so good to do the things that you want to do.

iTunes doesn't totally suck

So I got my iTunes account hacked into earlier this month. Not sure exactly when. I lost all my music. Which as you can imagine made me quite sad.

However, I got to re-download all of my purchased songs for free! So it wasn't a total loss.

And they did send me very chipper and nice emails trying to help me.

Yeah for people not totally sucking!

And I had one of the most polite bus rides of my life tonight. People were helping each other and moving out of each other's way and standing up so women with children could sit. It was AMAZING!!!

Great America

Do you know what's fun?

Six Flags Great America.

This was the closest I have ever come to puking from a rollercoaster. I am going to blame it more on my lunch (who eats salad at an amusement park?!?) rather than the actual coaster. And I did have to skip one of the rides (I patiently sat to the side while the others went on Superman) as I waited for my stomach to settle.

But not even a little rain could ruin our day.

With the park rented out for my sister's company party, we breezed straight to the front of the rides with practically no wait.

We rode the American Eagle backwards which is by far the scariest ride- not because of the loops or dips, but because you are constantly afraid that THIS is going to be the moment it falls apart.

They had the Little Dipper set up which they had bought from KiddieLand when it closed and reassembled. It was a piece of my childhood and it is nice to see that it hasn't disappeared.

And I had the best funnel cake of my life. Seriously. After the last funnel cake I had I wasn't even sure I wanted one, wasn't even sure I still liked them. Oh, I do! This was the bomb.

And I got to spend the day with my boy and sister and awesome cousin Julia. Life doesn't get much better than this.

work it, girl!

I joined a gym today.

Not being a member of a gym was obviously NOT working for me.

Sure, I play vball and soccer once a week. I jog outside a few times. But I also have a boyfriend that feeds me delicious foods and quite frankly, I have been packing on the pounds.

Sometimes you need to admit that you can't do things by yourself. I don't think I can lose this weight by myself. Being motivated to push myself really hard while working out has never been my strong suit.

So I joined the new fancy gym today and it ROCKS! And has lots of great classes and amenities. Though it no longer offers fencing which is a bummer because I would have loved to have taken that. And I already took my first class. Which was tough but didn't kill me. A few more classes like that a week and I will start shedding some of this weight!

Yes, Michigan! The feeling's forever!

Hi again! It's been awhile. Just got back from vacation. Which was perfect. We went up to New Buffalo, Michigan which is a touristy little resort town on Lake Michigan. Not a lot going on there and NOTHING going on there in the winter. But our hotel room had a big ol' jacuzzi tub and a fireplace and a view of the lake, not to mention the most fabulous robes I've ever put on. I'm not a big robe wearer, but apparently that's because all I've ever worn before were crappy robes.

These robes make you feel like royalty. We looked them up when we got home-- they are $175 a piece! Insane!

Our first day there happened to be in the 80s which was perfect, warm enough that we even braved going swimming in Lake Michigan. It's so much cleaner on that side of the lake! We splashed around for a few hours and had a gay ol' time.

Thankfully we did that the first day because the second day was 70 (and then dropped a little in the afternoon) and a bit overcast. Bad beach weather but perfect for wine tasting!

And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the wine in Michigan- both red and white. Not the best wine in the world. But definitely drinkable. Enjoyable even. And we got to go from winery to winery on a luxury mini bus so we didn't even have to worry about driving drunk or getting lost. And we now actually have a full wine rack! I don't remember the last time that happened.

I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things. My mind is still on vacation. But I'm a happy camper. It was a perfect little getaway that was less than two hours away.

&

Fascinating...

What character was removed from the alphabet but is still used every day?

September 2, 2011

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Johnson & Johnson, Barnes & Noble, Dolce & Gabbana: the ampersand today is used primarily in business names, but that small character was once the 27^th part of the alphabet. Where did it come from though? The origin of its name is almost as bizarre as the name itself.

The shape of the character (&) predates the word ampersand by morethan 1,500 years. In the first century, Roman scribes wrote in cursive, so when they wrote the Latin word et which means “and” they linked the e and t. Over time the combined letters came to signify the word “and” in English as well. Certain versions of the ampersand, like that in the font Caslon, clearly reveal the origin of the shape.

The word “ampersand” came many years later when “&” was actually part of the English alphabet. In the early 1800s, school children reciting their ABCs concluded the alphabet with the &. It would have been confusing to say “X, Y, Z, and.” Rather, the students said, “and per se and.” “Per se” means “by itself,” so the students were essentially saying, “X, Y, Z, and by itself and.” Over time, “and per se and” was slurred together into the word we use today:ampersand. When a word comes about from a mistaken pronunciation, it’s called a mondegreen. Find out why here.

(The ampersand is also used in an unusual configuration where it appears as “&c” and means etc. The ampersand does double work as the e and t.)

The ampersand isn’t the only former member of the alphabet. Learn what led to the extinction of the thorn and the wynn.

Are there other symbols or letters you would like to learn about? The most popular choice below will be our focus in the near future.