Uh-Yuh

I have a small obsession with accents. There are some I love, some I hate, and I love talking about cultural differences in speech (as you'll see from the beginning of the above video). I was inspired by this blog, which was interesting to read/watch, because the author is Canadian (so there are definitely a few differences in pronunciation). I know my accent probably doesn't come out as strongly in this video, but seriously, you get me going (especially at work), and the New England-y sounds come out. I can't say I have a Mass. accent any more, but my way with words hasn't quite formatted itself to the Mainer ways, so I tend to just say I sound like I'm from New England.

Anyway, go ahead and take a listen and let me know what you think! Oh, and please excuse the sort of creepy internet stalker lighting, my webcam blows.

Maybe A Cool Idea

When my family first moved to Maine, we lived with my grandpa for a year. He lived down a dirt road, where the houses were spread out, most of the neighbors were gone during the year, and the road ended at a nice sandy little beach. If that doesn't sound enough like a kid's dream land, get this: there were these really pretty little paths that snaked through the woods, starting just after my grandpa's house and ending just before the lake. What's more, they were open to the residents of the "neighborhood", so it was perfectly fine for me to run up and down those paths by foot or bike as much as I wanted. They were maybe the coolest part of living with my grandpa (besides, you know, getting living with my grandpa--who is, coincidentally, really cool).

The reason I bring this all up is because I would really love for their to be paths on our property. You see, we have about three acres going here, and while much of it is opened up (and filled with crazy huge gardens that are going to take the rest of my life to tackle), we have nice little swaths of woods that are within our property line on either side of the house. 

Wouldn't it be neat to create a little path that travels along the outskirts of our property, line it with pretty shade-loving plants, and maybe even lanterns and solar-powered string lights? I think that would be so freaking awesome! It also might make us the coolest house to hang out at in the world. It has such a wimsical fairy-Harry Potter-Midsummer's Night Dream groom to it. 

Okay, as if I wasn't convinced before, I am now. We're totally doing this. 

Get Out the Vote

I've been interested in politics for as long as I can remember. I recall a pretty heated debate between my neighbor/early childhood best friend, Tim, over which presidential candidate was best: Bill Clinton or Bob Dole. I was for Clinton, all the way (after a brief entanglement with Ross Perot in our second grade classroom elections), and Tim was a Dole devotee. I'm pretty sure the argument went something like this:

Me: Well, my parents are voting for Bill Clinton, because he's the president!
Tim: Bob Dole's better!
Me: No he's not! Bill Clinton is better!
Tim: Bill Clinton has a big nose!

I'm sure you can all tell who won that argument.

My interest for all things poltical only grew from there, and eventually I stopped liking certain politicians just because my parents supported them (though I've always hung to the left of things, much like my parents). While next year's elections are, well, a year and more away, that hasn't stopped me (or the media) from thinking about who is running for president and who I'm going to vote for.

Like a lot of people, I've pretty much only looked at the candidates from the two major parties. While I love the idea of there actually being a third (or fourth or fifth or sixth, etc.) party out there, I haven't had much faith in the actual electability of a third party candidate. But my feelings are starting to change on that front. To me, elections are more than just voting for choice #1 or choice #2, it's a chance to really see what you believe in, where you want this country to go, and what you can do to be proactive.

So, one of the ways I'm learning more about myself as a voter and what's important to me as well as the many different candidates out there, Democrat, Republican, and otherwise, is through this non-profit site, glassbooth.org. Basically, you take a quiz on where you stand on particular issues and the site matches you with candidates who's views are similar (they've taken the quiz as well), in addition to quotes and voting records backing up those views.

In a word: Amazing.

Even if I don't end up voting for the candidate I most closely matched up with (Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party, if you're wondering), it's awesome to know more about who is out there. The site also gives you other candidates you match up with, though maybe not as closely.

And for the record, I'm not being perked or something by this particular group--I just think they are really, really cool and am always looking for ways to expand my knowledge of who's out there and wants to run our country.

New Hairs

So, my hair was starting to get kinda funky. After I had Lizzie, I started highlighting my hair, because the color changed (I was pretty light to medium blond before and then I went to a more dull, dirty blond after I had Liz). It had been a while since I had last highlighed my hair (I think since December or January), so it really needed it. Plus, I wanted a cut. My hair had been the longest it's ever been since high school (down past the middle of my back), and while I love my long hair it's NOT accomodating with a little kid, a busy life style, and a husband who moves like he's tackling cattle or something in his sleep and my hair gets caught up.

Anyway, to get the point, I chopped off some hair and lightened it.

So, we went from this (I get that it doesn't really show the whole deal):

This is actually "put together" for me this summer. I couldn't do anything with my hair except throw it back in a ponytail or braid.

To this (really grainy webcam picture):

Don't ask what happened to my face--I look like I'm halfway between having a stroke and posing for an awkward professional photo, BUT doesn't my hair look rockin'?

Grocery Bag Snobbery

I'm obsessed with those plastic-y reusable grocery bags that everyone seems to have now for toting their groceries around in lieu of the very disposable and environmentally un-friendly bags the store provides. I bring my own large collection (really too many for any amount of groceries I usually buy) every time I shop, a little gargantuan sense of pride and maybe a little bit of snobbery, my nose up-turned at those who are still shlepping those flimsy and oh-so harmful plastic bags you get if you don't bring your own bags.

But, really, I'm a huge poser. We don't recycle (I'm to lazy to find out what we're supposed to do with our recyclables in this town). I used to have a compost bin, but it was a miserable failure (I'd like to try again, though). And we suck at turning off lights and conserving anything. Those damn reusable bags are the only things that are keeping Captain Planet coming down on my litter bug butt.

What's more, one of my major motivators for buying these bags is that they're adorable. Our grocery store chain sells a huge variety of the bags in all sorts colors, patterns and with lots of cute little illustrations. One of my favorites has a recipe for pie on it. It's awesome.

So, yeah, big poser. Hipster level posing, for sure. Yet, I still feel really great when I leave the grocery store with my from-home bags filled with food. Maybe it's my still somewhat self-absorbed 23-year-old brain that's obsessed with my "image", and these bags somehow contribute to that. Maybe it's the cutesy homey-ness of colorful bags filled with all sorts of tastey things. It's probably a combonation of the two.

I have to wonder to myself--should I go the next step and start a real recycling project in our home? Should I resurect the compost bin? Should I maybe finally go downstairs and turn off the den light that's been on for about a week (yeah, I really should, if only for our electric bill)? I do believe in the idea that we are meant to be caretakers for the earth, but I'm not, at best, a consistent caretaker of my home, I don't know how I'm going to take care of the earth, too.

Well, I've got my grocery bags for now. Maybe the next step is right around the corner.

Sooo Cool!!

So, I am pleased to announce that I am typing this post straight from...my brand new iPad! I have basically been dying for one of these since they came out last year (and even more so since my mom got one for her birthday). I am a ginormous Apple fan, but the laptops run a wee bit too high for my price range, at least for right now. So, I figured if I was going to indulge and still have some cash left over, this was the way to go.

Okay, so here are the pros and cons so far:

Pros:
It's super easy to use. Basically, if you can flip a light switch, you can run an iPad.

There are tons of awesome apps and a variety of different things you can do or have you iPad become (T.V., personal planner, child's entertainment system, e-reader, iPod, and the list goes on).

It's totally addictive and just plain fun to use.

It's a device that makes going paperless in many aspects of your life super easy.

Cons:
There are some small limiting issues, like the inability to access websites that use flash.

Frankly, Blogger kinda sucks on here, because I can't mess around with text editing or insert pictures. Wordpress is better formatted for iPad both in viewing and in blogging. Blogger better get on board soon, or might make the switch...

Because the iPad is more for the consumption of information versus the creation of new material, some features are limiting. It's not as if I'm this top notch web designer or something (not even remotely close), BUT the option is always nice.

Overall, the iPad works for most of the things I do on my laptop, so this works for me and I'm really happy to have it!!