Gretch-a-sketch (old)

Happy Pi Day, everyone! I adore pi. I was totally in the MESA club in high school. I also adore pie! In fact, my very first top three list was about my favorite types of pie. (They happen to be cherry, french apple, and pecan.) What's your fave?

Top three: Ways to celebrate Pi Day involving pi
1. Buy a pi shirt! This one's my favorite.

2. Watch the original pi rap. It's also a very funny spoof of the old PBS kid's brainwashing educational show Zoom.

3. Indulge your inner nerd with a math movie. I recommend Stand & Deliver, Mean Girls, and The Absent-Minded Professor.

Top three: Ways to celebrate Pi Day involving pie
1. Buy a pie shirt! This one's my favorite. (Alas, it's sold out, so you'll just have to admire it and pray Threadless reprints soon.)

2. Consume lots and lots of pie. Lots. Start with making Martha Stewart's cherry.

3. View. Swoon. Repeat.

Q tagged me for her book title meme, which goes as follows...

"Write the first word in the title of the book you’re reading right now (if you’re reading several, please just choose one). Then format the first word so that the letters have a separate line (yes, you’re right: an acrostic poem type thing). Choose a phrase for each letter that describes the book. Characters, places, and even types of food is fine. It just has to be something from the book."

So, I choose "The Power of Logic, 3rd Edition" by C. Stephen Layman himself!

Proofs
O statments = particular negatives
Well-crafted argument (cue Law and Order sound)
Equivocation is an ambiguous fallacy.
Really don't want to do my 85 question assignment for this class, hence the procrastination!

P.S. I'm really proud of my logic/blog (blogic!) pun in the title.
P.P.S. I tag Chilly, if she feels so inclined.

If my computer short-circuits in the next little while, it's because I'm drooling over these utterly fantastic shoes. Only Miu Miu could make this look super-classy and not like someone took a bedazzler to some strappy sandals.
(Image courtesy of {this is glamorous} )

…at our ward talent show. I usually call these “lack thereof” shows, but there were a few gems.

1. First, there was the girl who played/sang Regina Spektor’s Music Box. Really superbly good. I love that song.

2. The PCA (Polynesian Cultural Association) dancers performed this dawesome Tahitian dance thing. There was more hip shaking than I think most of the very, very Mormon boys in attendance had seen in their entire lifetime.

3. The highlight was a live action version of Snape and The Mysterious Ticking Noise. The timing wasn’t perfect, but the girl playing Dumbledore had me in hysterics.

In honor of middle name day, I thought I'd share a short story about mine. When I was thirteen, we were having a family New Year's party and my asthma was all out of whack because of our new kitten. I went to the garage to mope and get away from the party and there was no evil cat hair in the garage. Plus, I was thirteen, so mopiness came with the package. At one point in the night, my Uncle Tom came in to check on me and informed me that at this age my middle initial stood for Angst, and not Alice. It did not make me feel better, but looking back he was entirely correct.

Fun fact 0ff the top of my head: Hermione's middle name is Jane and Ron's is Bilius.

1. Live in New York. What young, single adult doesn’t want to spend some time trying to make it in the Big Apple? I just adore a penthouse view! Darling, I love you, but give me Park Avenue. (Other options I'd consider: Chi-town or Seattle)

2. Be in a band. There’s a lot I have to do before this can happen (i.e. get an electric guitar, find people to be in the band, and actually get good at the guitar) but it’s all doable. We don’t have to be great, just good enough to play a few gigs. That’s all I ask.

3. Road trip! Dude, if this isn’t a Stuff White People Like entry yet, it should be. I never got the whole “road trip” experience in high school, so I’m just waiting for it to happen in this era of my life. Preferably SoCal, but at this point I’d take anywhere warm and sunny, like St. George.

(Because sometimes a “Top Three” just doesn’t cover it.)

1. Aragorn—Rough, tough, and devastatingly handsome! Faramir has much better taste in women, but Aragorn’s got his destiny all figured out. Did I mention how hot the Strider persona is?

2. Atticus Finch—Honor, thy name is Atticus! He’s not a perfect father, but he knows that. Great vocabulary, wisdom up the wazoo, and a dead shot with a rifle. Southern charm has never seemed so…legal.

3. Edward Cullen/Jacob Black—I couldn’t decide which one to list, so I don’t know how Bella’s going to decide which one gets to be her bf. (Really, we all know who she’ll pick, but the drama isn’t over yet, oh no.) Killer good looks (pun intended, of course) are only a small part of the package with these two.

4. Gilbert Blythe—Okay, this is where I have to ‘fess up and say I’ve only ever read the first Anne of Green Gables (and even that one’s a little hazy, since it’s been so long). Even still, Gil entirely deserves a place on the list, because I’ve seen the movie enough to warrant a spot. He and Anne are the ultimate in Canadian love stories (probably ‘cuz they’re Canada’s only love story).

5. Han Solo—Totally a book character, trust me on this! Han mellows down as the years go back, but his relationship with Leia grows even stronger. It’s interesting to see him domesticate and deal with real-life responsibilities. Annnnd my nerd quota went up about 50 points right there.

6. King Zachary—Kind, noble, and probably gorgeous to boot. His devotion to his country is boundless. Karigan needs to get her stuff together, because Zachary is a man among men.

7. Laurie—I hesitated not putting Professor Bhaer here instead, since I’m much more like Jo than Amy. But it’s Laurie I fell in love with first and continue to fall for time and time again. Laurie’s got passion, which is very high on my list of attractive features *and* he’s musical.

8. Mr. Darcy—He is imperfect on so very many levels, but you know what? None of that matters. He’s Mr. Darcy. The fact of the matter is, he and Elizabeth truly love each other and make each other happy, despite their differences.

9. Peregrine—Looking over this list, it’s clear I have a thing for royalty. I also better explain just who this “Peregrine” guy is. He’s the man-of-all-trades in M.M. Kaye’s absolutely delightful story The Ordinary Princess. Him and Princess Amy, while both quite “ordinary” apart, make a remarkable couple. (See also: Geric, from The Goose Girl)

10. Robin Hood—In the many adaptations of this story, the one I think of most is Robin McKinley’s version. Robin Hood perfected the “scoundrel with a heart of gold” persona long before all the others—and believe me, there have been many since. His other good qualities include vision, loyalty, and a sense of skewed charity.

Others that almost made the cut: Rochester, Knightly, Matthias (on account of being a mouse and all), Nathan Steed, Fred & George, and Arthur Dent.

Any you agree/disagree with? Who'd I leave out?

No, this is not the sweet blog post I teased about last time. I just needed an excuse to use that blog title.

In other news, I'm playing around with the formatting. (Duh, Gretchen, as if they couldn't tell?)

One more random item: Is there a blog that showcases blogs with only one or two entry? Like, where the author started one and then didn't return? For example, I came across this one yesterday (set the world on fire, huh?) and I wanted this to be my original domain, but noooo, it was taken.

That is all.

Okay, so I'm working on this really super cool blog post, but it probably won't be done 'til the weekend.

In the meantime, here are some baby panda pics. Jamie may have her new corgi, Dooce has Chuck and Coco, Britney has 15 baby tigers (side note: that's an SNL clip, so watch at your own risk), but I so want one of these.

1. Generic emotions with no explanation whatsoever. “Blanky McBlankerson is happy/sad/excited/tired/etc.” Yeah, good for you. At least use a bit of interesting vocabulary in there. I’d much rather read something like “Blanky likes using words that make her sound pretentious, like ‘pretentious.’”

2. Observations on the weather. Chances are, most of the people in your network live where you live, and therefore don’t need an update! And if they aren’t in your network, they don’t care.

3. Write something about “what I’m doing right now” and take it literally. Examples include “doing homework,” “going to bed,” and the like. I mean, other than the fact you’re obviously on facebook instead of working on an assignment, this is another good instance of me not caring.

P.S. Acceptable updates include quotes, funny stories, links, pointed observations, song lyrics, pithy social commentary, or telling me you’re auditioning for Jeopardy! (That last one is totally true for one of my friends.) Also, no offense if you actually do these things, just don’t expect me to any time soon.
Oh! You can also now find me on Twitter. This means the Billy Joel feature is gone, but I’ll make sure to include some choice lines from the Piano Man occasionally.
I’ve gotta run. I’m busy, it’s snowing, and I have really got to get going on reading that chapter…