I Guess Its Just the School Marm in Me

I freely and proudly admit to being a bit of a word snob.

Yes it is true, I corralled a large group of people to join me for the Spelling Bee (!) at a local pub. {The weird thing was that almost everyone I invited showed up and brought more people. Who knew that a spelling bee would have such a pull??}

I find men with highly developed vocabulary and spelling skills to be quite hot. Likewise, men who might be hot to start with, and whose aforementioned skills prove to be inferior, quickly become not-so-hot.

I will also admit that, right or wrong, I tend to make character assumptions based on pedantic capabilities.

To further solidify my place as a grammar geek, I relish taking out my red pen when colleagues ask me to proof-read their corporate propaganda.
Perhaps I missed my calling...

Here are a few blog offerings that get off on other people's ignorance and fully entertain me.
Red Pen, Inc.
The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

Tragedy Strikes the Holy Family (and friends) - OR - The Virginless Birth

I have been on a quest to develop a collection of "ethnic" Nativity Sets... a divergence from the traditional glued-on-straw creche that we usually see with a cherubic blond & blue-eyed baby Jesus, and Mary and Joseph. As you might (or might not) guess, these can be a little hard to come by. So imagine my DELIGHT when I happened upon an ethnic nativity scene from Target.com at 75% off! woo hoo! It was perfect! - see picture to the left.

Today I just opened it up. I lovingly unwrapped each piece from their cushy protective wrapping and started to assemble my own ethnic holy family. There was first a docile looking donkey, an equally humble bovine, and a baby Jesus with outstretched arms. Yes, it was looking amazing, and larger than I thought it would be, too! Joseph, Kings 1 & 2 both made their appearance, and then that was it... there was nothing left in my box!!!

Um, how do you have a HOLY FAMILY NATIVITY SCENE without the VIRGIN MARY!?! I'm sorry, but this does NOT work. (There was also King 3 missing, but he is much more peripheral and I don't really care about that as much.) I immediately called Target to inform them of this tragedy and to explore my options for recovering the renegade Mary. They informed me that they were out of stock and that all they could do was to offer me a refund for the missing Mary.

Still sad, I am $5 richer. Which I guess is enough for me to buy a beer to nurse my sorrows with and to try to overlook the fact that Mary and King 3 have run away together. This Holy Family looks pitiful, the feminine presence is conspicuously missing.
This is NOT how the story is supposed to go...





I guess I now
have a Peruvian
version of
Three Men and a Baby...

The Awkwardizer

May I please take this moment direct you to my most favourite blog ever...

(drum roll please)

www.awkwardthingsisaytogirls.com
start with "its not a date"

I stumbled upon this delicious treat a few months ago, and proceeded to use up hours of work time (heh heh heh) digesting Justin's literary gems all gleaned from his seemingly endless personal experiences. I love that a) he knows how to spell, b) he is a vocabulary rock star, c) when I emailed him saying that I loved his blog - he emailed me back!, and d) his stories are quite painfully endearing!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

(Justin, if you ever read this, I would love to have an awkward moment with you!)

I Heart Tracy Jordan

Is it bad that I have a TV crush on Tracy Jordan? Somehow I'm not sure its "good."

a cure for S.A.D.

Maybe its the Seasonal Affective Disorder, the endless drizzly days, or just a general and pervasive sense of ennui that I feel right now, but in an effort to combat the winter blues I'm composing a list of things that make me happy.

1. for the past 3 days I have heard a bird chirping in the morning outside my window.
2. It was sunny this morning. The crisp air, and warmth of the sun took me back to days in Germany on the lake shore.
3. Dark Chocolate
4. Aveda tea
5. good conversations
6. Butterflies
7. Observing the better points of human kindness and generosity
8. Praying for random people just because I feel compelled to
9. Films with a good plot and nice resolution at the end
10. the book - Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende- it was delicious writing!
11. dancing
12. Ray LaMontagne
13. my "little felon"
14. good $ales
15. new fingernail polish
16. when someone remembers an important day! like my birthday!!
17. new beginnings
18. old friends
19. hearing other people's stories
20. my favorite blog - awkwardthingsisaytogirls.com
21. local indie bands
22. a fine, handcrafted Stumptown latte
23. walking barefoot in the grass
24. getting a letter in the mail
25. taking communion
26. fortune cookies