1500 Calories

While I am prepping to sit and write my very interesting and engaging thesis tonight, I leave you with this.

Talk amongst yourselves,

Normal Girl

Reading

Something weird and scary happened to me tonight. I was in the airport waiting for flights to be resumed after some bad weather. Not wanting to read anything scholarly, I moseyed into the bookstore to buy something else. I looked at all the books and magazines and not one thing appealed to me. Not a single thing! What is that??

I have not read any fiction in ages, just texts and research. Has school ruined me for reading junk???? I can hardly stand the thought! What will I do???

Tired of reading to learn and yet I must!

Normal Girl

History Buttoned Up

I am spending a couple days at the office of Blumenthal Lansing this week. You know them, they sell buttons, and have been selling buttons since 1877. So, I am in Carlstadt, New Jersey and the office is across the street from the big warehouse where they make the Macy's parade floats. No sightings yet, but I am watching. Word is they are making a new Santa float.

It has been an interesting and enjoyable week. The walls of the office hold the history of buttons. It is fascinating. There is a display case like this for each decade, and then some.

Each has a short history lesson.

The pearl buttons are my fav. Buttons really used to be works of art. Look at these amazing things!

For sure, I do not have a garment that could manage these, but aren't they gorgeous?

One hallway has magazine ads from all eras. This one from the 50s.

This one from 1970. Apparently any dummy could sew on a button in 1970. These days, I am not so sure. I think I knew more people that cannot sew on a button than can.

Anyway, it has been so very interesting to see where they have been and where they are going.

Normal Girl

Hotel Happiness

Here I am in Somewhere, NJ. It is making me happy to get to stay in my favorite hotel chain of all time, the Residence Inn. This one is very nice, nicer than my house. And I can turn the air conditioning on as much as I want without worrying about the electricity bill.

Hotel with a sense of humor...

Fun with buttons tomorrow!

Normal Girl

The New Jersey Look

I am off to New Jersey tomorrow. I might come back looking like this. Loving that super bump it.

Normal Girl

These are Classes I Can Get Into

Myth and Science Fiction: Star Wars, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings

Centre College

Tiny Centre College makes their second appearance on our list, this time with a class focusing on contemporary epics. Students not only study Stars Wars, The Matrix, and The Lord Of The Rings, they also discuss television shows like Star Trek, Stargate, Dr. Who, The X-Files, and Babylon 5. The course weds these modern day tales to classical myths, showing that many of the narrative devices and patterns employed then are still used in today’s epics.

Seriously. Stargate and Star Trek? I would get a A+. I am ready to take the final exam right now.

The Science of Superheroes

University of California at Irvine

Students at UC Irvine can learn about physics by using familiar superhero icons such as Spider-Man, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. The professor teaches the physics of flying and fluid dynamics using Superman as his example, and the students also learn about super strong spider silk as used by Spider-Man. The professor explains it saying "It gives me a chance to talk about real science but in a context that is very familiar to the students".

The Art of Walking

Centre College

This might sound like the epitome of college fluff, but it’s actually a class dealing with Immanuel Kant’s "Critique of Judgment". The course offers a mixture of lectures and walks around the Danville, Kentucky area including strolls through "nature preserves, battlefields, cemeteries, the nearby Shaker Village, campuses and farms". Students are also given freelance walking assignments in addition to more traditional college work like reading and term papers.

Philosophy and Star Trek

Georgetown University Philosophy classes often use pop culture to start discussion, there are even plenty of books out there with similar themes as this college class (here’s Seinfeld and Philosophy for instance), but still, when it comes down to it, this course and the philosophical under trappings are just being used as an excuse to talk a little Star Trek. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. >>> Course Listing

Learning From YouTube

Pitzer College This college course literally involves watching YouTube videos to study the impact on culture that the video sharing site has had. Students also upload their own videos to the class YouTube channel. The teacher started the course after being "underwhelmed by the quality of the video content on the site". You can actually see some of the classes if you’re so inclined, here’s 10 minutes from their November 16, 2007 meeting. >>> Pitzer Class YouTube Channel

I am apparently getting much too serious a degree........where are these classes at my school?

Normal Girl

Brilliant Inventions....Not So Much

I am not sure why I like these crazy things. They are designed by completely right brained people who don't have an ounce of left brain. And they make me laugh!

hahaha...

This would work, don't you think??

I had a shower in a hotel room in Germany once that looked just like this. And it was right in the middle of the room, not in the bathroom.

On what planet would someone wear this?

Is there anybody you like this much?

So pretty....because lipstick is so hard to get on.

For driving? Because what happens when you turn?

Makes me want to go to the invention drawing board,

Normal Girl

Homework Boycott Movie

I have never watched this movie, I think because I am not a Nicole Kidman fan. But, so many people have talked about its wondrousness, that I scheduled it tonight for my no homework night. I love a musical!

OK, what am I missing? I am almost an hour into it and am thinking about turning it off to read.

Normal Girl

Dragging!

I just turned in draft 1 of the first section of my thesis. I have been sitting at this table for 10 hours. And almost that much yesterday. This cartoon describes how I feel exactly.

Normal Girl

Painted Pots

Remember when I was doing a project for these people? Here is my project amongst the projects of the other designers on their web site. You can see we all had the same palette. Funny how most of us went with something floral...maybe because it was for spring. They are all pretty cute, wouldn't you say? Wouldn't you like to have the whole collection on your patio?

So, now, they are letting me audition for a steady part time gig with them. Nothing big, but every bit helps, right?

I am still laughing because I am not really a painter, but I have played one on TV!

Normal Girl

Tornado? So What?

It is tornado season here in Michigan. The sirens went off this weekend at 11pm, but we were lucky. Where my sister lives, 30 minutes from here, they were not so lucky and they spent the night in the basement.

This might seem weird, but tornados remind me of dance recitals.

Growing up, dance recital time was always early June, during tornado season. It never failed, that during the recital, or during rehearsal for recital, we would get bad and scary weather, and we would all end up sitting in the hallway of the high school.... with no electricity, covering our heads, waiting for it to pass.

One year, the weather hit during the recital. My sister's class was mid-dance, on stage. She was young, maybe 8 or 9. Miss Eleanore (dance teacher) told us so many times that nothing should make us stop dancing once we were on stage, that when the lights went out, those 8 year old troupers kept right on dancing. When the generator lights came on, there they were, still dancing through the dark, with no music. They got huge applause for their guts and presence of mind. I thought they were great. No screaming or crying, they just kept right on doing what they were supposed to do. Luckily, they got to start again and do their dance in the light with music.

Thank goodness, what a waste of perfectly cool sequined dance costumes that would have been.

Stay safe and keep dancing!

Normal Girl

All I Need

A rainbow and ice cream, what else do you need? Maybe a fuzzy kitten or puppy?

I kept referring to this photo last night when I thought I was breaking out in hives. The thesis has me a little stressed.....

Normal Girl

Girl's Night to Glitter

Went to Girl's Night In tonight at the rescue mission. And we glittered! We had a special, non-messy craft for the kids. But, did they want to do it? NOOOOOO. And by the end of the night we had glitter everywhere. How cute is this girl with the beautiful eyes?

We made little notebooks and those fun pens where you attach a flower to the end of the pen. And of course, we added glitter to everything.

When in doubt, glitter!

Normal Girl

My House Gremlin Loves Glitter

Dear Little Gremlin,

Now I know that the things I hear in the middle of the night are you misbehaving someplace in the house. I am setting up the Gremlin-cam. Watch out. What is up with the turquoise glitter glue splatted all over the wall in the basement? That wall is not even close to the work table. How you did it so nothing got on the floor, or the furniture, but only on the wall is beyond me. Your skill for hijinks is amazing.

If you will clean up some messes instead of make them, I will make you some rice krispie treats.

Love,

Normal Girl

P.S. You have a great sense of color.

A Little Light Reading

There has been no easing into it, I feel like I have been thrown into the deep end while taking a nap. Surprise! Since I have a big chunk of my capstone project (fancy word for thesis) due next week, I have been researching as fast as I can.

Before I start writing, I have to read at least this: 3 books, 32 journal articles, and 2 projects written by other students who have graduated from my fine institution.

It is weird to me that a thesis is mainly a re-hashing of other people's work... with some of my own ideas thrown into the mix.

I would appreciate tips from any of you who have done this already!

Normal Girl

The No Sag Diet

I am a study eater, so I should weigh 2343 pounds by the time I finish this thesis. But according to Maxine here, maybe I will look younger.

Normal Girl