Thursday Thirteen #23: Favorite Commercials

I watch commercials less often than I have in the past even though I watch more TV these days. I usually use time during commercials to do things or read email, but every so often I still find a favorite. Here are 13 of my all-time favorites.

You may notice a musical theme with a lot of these commercials. I'm a musical person, so these are the types of commercials that tend to stick with me. Most of these I remembered, but I rounded out my list by searching online (I refused to put in more than 3 PC/Mac commercials since I've already done an entire TT on those).

Thirteen of Michelle B's Favorite Commercials 1. Cingular Misunderstood Commercial 2. HP Picture Book Commercial (2 versions!) Original Later 3. HP Out of the Picture Commercial 4. Gap Mellow Yellow Commercial 5. PC/Mac Cancel or Allow Commercial 6. PC/Mac Fatal Error Commercial object height="355" width="425"> 7. PC/Mac Webcam Commercial 8. Honda Cog Commercial (a Rube Goldberg machine) 9. Target Good Buy Hello Commercial 10. Target "Less" Commercial 11. Folgers 80s Christmas Commercial 12. Hershey Kiss Christmas Commercial 13. Lost in Translation (I hadn't seen this one, but I found it online and it cracked me up!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Photos of Sophie & Ron!

I've said this before, but I just have to say it again. Taking photos of cats is anything but easy. Sophie and Ron are challenging enough if they'd cooperate because of their color (Sophie so light and Ron so dark), but they rarely cooperate.

Ron is particularly challenging since he just loves attention. If I get close enough to get his picture, he comes up to rub against me as soon as he notices me. Add to that the fact that my auto focus doesn't focus well on him (I think it's because he's black) and that just makes it even more fun! I'm nowhere near fast enough with the manual focus because as soon as I get focused he's moved enough that I need to refocus. Argh!

And Sophie, well, she's so light she blends in or blinds you when the sun reflects off her fur. She has beautiful blue eyes, but when using a flash, she gets terrible red-eye. And she's not usually very happy with me when I continually shoot flash photos of her. See the examples below if you don't believe me!

Shots of Sophie

I thought she looked so cute on this chair. If only it weren't for that dreaded red-eye and her impatience with my flash. Can you see the difference in her expression between the photos?

Here's the 4th photo I took

Below is the 18th photo I took (and yes, I took more than 18). This is her "If you take one more *&%@ photo with that *&%@$ flash, I'm going to jump off this chair and bite you!" look. I've seen it a lot. I think it's more obvious in the bigger picture (click to enlarge it).

One of the latter photos that was better with the red-eye

I generally have better luck when she's sleeping since I don't have to worry about red-eye. Sometimes I wake her up though...

Here she is asleep on the sofa

After a few shots, she woke up. I can just hear her saying "Are you at it AGAIN?!"

And here she is less than a minute later back in almost the same position she started in.

Here are a few more of her curled up in another chair from last March (2007)

And some of her in a pink basket my mom bought for her. Of course, she didn't get in it until my mom put other stuff in it (after Sophie had ignored it for months). She climbed in right on top of a doll and curled up LOL!

Here are the few decent shots of Ron I got recently

Ron sitting in the garden

Ron on the prowl in the garden

Ron curled up on the sofa one night

Monday Music Mania: BBMak

This week's artist is BBMak, who are actually no longer together as a band. I have very fond memories of BBMak that are partially non-music related. Because of BBMak, I met some of my closest online friends. BBMak also provided me with the opportunity to visit the infamous Viper Room during their launch party for their second album. It was quite an experience.

This week the playlist is from imeem since I had better luck finding songs there. As always, enjoy!

Thursday Thirteen #22: Thirteen Things on My "Bucket List"

I've thought about starting a "Bucket List" ever since I saw the previews for the movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. After seeing the movie last weekend with my parents, I decided to make it my Thursday Thirteen this week!

Here are 13 things from my "Bucket List" (i.e. 13 things I want to do before I die)...

Thirteen Things from Michelle B's Bucket List 1. Take flying lessons. I go back and forth between fixed wing air plane and helicopter lessons. I never really thought about helicopters, though, until my first helicopter ride back in 2001. I loved it! 2. Fly a fighter plane in a simulator. Though I never wanted to join the military, I always wanted the chance to fly a fighter plane growing up. I used to watch the Iron Eagle movies over and over! A flight simulator is about the closest I'm going to get! I feel so weird having 2 flying things on my list since I'm a bit afraid of heights. I do love to fly though (and am perfectly fine on commercial flights). 3. See the Matterhorn in Switzerland. I've been to Switzerland, but didn't make it to the Matterhorn. 4. Travel to each of the 50 states. So far I've been to 22 (not including those that I've only seen via their airports). A couple I've only driven through and made brief stops, but hey, as long as I've stopped and not just flown over, I've counted it. 5. Take a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands stopping at each one (for photo ops!) I've been to Oahu, but not any of the other islands, so I listed it separately from #4. 6. Make a meaningful difference in some one's life (even if I don't know it!) 7. Inspire someone who previous didn't like math to enjoy math and maybe even think of a math related career. (A difficult one, but hey, I'm thinking big!) 8. See the pyramids and other ancient ruins in Egypt. 9. Visit the ruins at Machu Picchu. 10. Own my own home. I've always wanted to own a home, but living in California, that was just a distant dream because of the cost of homes. Now I'm in Arizona, and it looks like it may happen before the year is out. Now I just have to find the perfect house for me:-) 11. Own/Lease a Porsche...at least for a short while. A Porsche Carrera has always been my dream car, but my practical side says it'd be a nightmare to own one. I'd be so paranoid for someone to scratch it or steal it. Not to mention the repair costs. But at least for a short while, I'd like to own my dream car before I die :-) 12. Do something on a grand scale to thank my parents for all their love and support throughout my life. 13. Write a book about my family history.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

My First Sale! (and other random stuff)

As I mentioned before, I decided to open a Cafe Press store (http://cafepress.com/michellebphotos) recently using some of my photos. I figured that since I've gotten a lot of compliments on my photos, I would make the products available for those who want them.

I was so excited last night when I logged in to my account and found out I made my first sale back in February! I didn't realize it earlier because it takes 30 days for the commission to post.

I hope business will pick up, but this sale was pretty much luck. The person found my stuff through a search of all products on Cafe Press. There are so many items and so many sellers, it can be difficult to be noticed.

I pretty much stink at promoting myself and my stuff. I included a link to my shop in my Holiday Letter in December, but I felt guilty even then. I hate feeling like I'm pushing stuff on people. I am so not a natural born sales person. I'm thinking of getting some business cards printed (probably one of those free trial sites at first). Who knows...

And for those interested, I ordered the photos on canvas this last weekend. For size reasons, I decided on the Butterfly (rather than the Bird of Paradise) and the two sunsets. Then I got a call yesterday from Canvas On Demand about using custom sizes for the sunsets to better fit the proportions!

I was happy to hear this because in discussing photos to use with my Mom, we worried the Bird of Paradise wouldn't translate well if anything had to be cropped to make it fit the canvas. So we decided on the butterfly instead. Now I know that if I want to get the Bird of Paradise in the future, I can just ask for a custom canvas size!

I've forgotten to post Monday Music Mania for a couple weeks even though I have posts just waiting to be posted. Monday just comes and goes before I realize it! This is why Wordpress would be nice. I could schedule in advance! Oh well. I do plan to do a Thursday Thirteen this week and I have lots of pictures to go through. I hope to post some of them soon.

Have a great week!

Happy Pi Day!

Today is Pi Day--as in pi, the Greek symbol used in math, not the pie you eat!

Why?

Because the date is 3/14 and the approximate value of pi is 3.14!

It wasn't until I started teaching and one of my students told me about it that I began to celebrate pi day. I've even read about one teacher celebrating with her class specifically at 1:59pm (because pi to 5 digits is 3.14159)! In fact, in doing some research for this blog post, I found a site that does a Pi Drop at 1:59pm on 3/14. To see the replay of last year's Pi drop click here. You can watch this year's live drop on the site at 1:59pm today!

Pi is a number that many mathematicians and even many of my students find intriguing. As a result of questions from students, I did some research to discover that the "World Record" for digits of pi calculated is over 1 trillion digits.

You can learn all sorts of fun facts about pi at the Joy of Pi website (which is based on the book of the same name). I got the pirelated cartoon created by John Grimes below there as well.

I hope you have a wonderful Pi Day!

No Thursday Thirteen This Week

As the title indicates, there'll be no Thursday Thirteen for me this week. It's been a crazy one since I posted last week's TT.

I was actually in Arlington, Virginia at a conference when I posted it. I hadn't been feeling well before I left, but was feeling a bit better until the long day on Thursday. Since Friday, I've been feeling pretty blah until yesterday. That plane ride home was miserable and I spent Friday night through Monday in bed.

I made my way to San Diego (from Phoenix) yesterday since this week is my Spring Break. I haven't had time to come up with a new TT this week, though. I'm planning to have a new one next week.

Hope you are all doing better than I have been this last week. I still have papers to grade, my taxes to finish, and my class reunion book page to finish before Sunday. Yikes!

Thursday Thirteen #21: Favorite Misheard Song Lyrics

I love music, especially singing along in the car. I must admit there are times that I don't know the lyrics and make them up. A few years back, I bought 4 books by Gavin Edwards on misheard lyrics. Many of them crack me up, so I decided to share 13 of my favorites with you. I find them even better when I sing the misheard lyric in place of the correct one in my head.

I'm convinced people pay no attention to song titles or they'd know some of these lyrics LOL. The correct lyrics are noted after the misheard one and the song it comes from. I have many more favorites, so I may post more in a future TT someday down the road...

Thirteen of Michelle B's Favorite Misheard Song Lyrics 1. You make me feel like a rash on a woman. From Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin (Correct lyric: You make me feel like a natural woman) 2. Wake me up and pour me cocoa. From Wake Me Up Before you Go-Go by Wham! (Correct lyric: Wake me up before you go-go) 3. I'm the leprechaun gangster. From Here Comes the Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze (I've blogged this before and had multiple hits from searches on this phrase LOL!) (Correct lyric: I'm the lyrical gangster) 4. Sweet land of liberty, Off-key I sing. From My Country 'Tis of Thee (Correct lyric: Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing) 5. Wake up, I might sit on you. From Got My Mind Set on You by George Harrison (Correct lyric: I've got my mind set on you) 6. Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul. From Drift Away by Dobie Gray (Correct lyric: Give me the beat, boys and free my soul) 7. Let's give them something from Taco Bell. From Something to Talk About by Bonnie Raitt (Correct lyric: Let's give them something to talk about) 8. Take me down to the prairie dog city. From Paradise City by Guns N' Roses (Correct lyric: Take me down to the paradise city) 9. I got shoes, they're made of plywood. From You're The One That I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (Correct lyric: I got chills, they're multiplying) 10. Sweet dreams are made of cheese. From Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by the Eurythmics (Correct lyric: Sweet dreams are made of this) 11. Totally blitzed by a fart. From Total eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler (Correct lyric: Total eclipse of the heart) 12. Take your pants down and make it happen.From Flashdance...What a Feeling by Irene Cara (Correct lyric: Take your passion and make it happen.) 13. Baking Carrot biscuits. From Takin' Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Correct lyric: Takin' care of business)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Monday Music Mania: Maroon 5

I've posted about my love of Maroon 5 a few times on this blog before, but I just couldn't leave them out of my Monday Music Mania posts. They're pretty well known now. When I first discovered them, they had more of a local following out in the LA area.

The first time I heard a Maroon 5 song was live at the Roxy in LA. They opened for Michelle Branch (who I was there to see). I remember going home and looking at their website and being so bummed that they album didn't come out until June and here it was only February!

It's been years since Songs About Jane came out, but I still love it just the same. Their new album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, is a bit different, but I still love it. I've mixed songs from both albums in the playlist below. Enjoy!



I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

Thursday Thirteen #20: "Famous" People I've Met

I took this TT idea from Nicholas, who used this idea last week for his Thursday Thirteen. You may have noticed that I put "famous" in quotes. That's because many of these people aren't household names, but it's the best I can do:P

Thirteen "Famous" People Michelle B has met 1. Tiger Woods when we were freshmen at Stanford. We had freshman writing class together for 2 quarters. He was known then, but nowhere near as famous as he is today. We walked home from class together sometimes and would say hi when we ran into each other on campus. He's a nice guy! And yes, that is a picture of us; taken our freshman year (after a track meet). 2. Robert Weir who is a 3-time Olympian and even held a world record at one time (in the 35-pound weight throw). He also played pro football in Canada. Robert was my throws coach in college and I'm lucky to say he is still a friend :-) Some of my fondest (and wackiest) memories of my time at Stanford involve Robert. 3. Ste McNally from BBMak (a band who is no longer together). I've actually met all 3 members of the band, but I've only really spent time chatting with Ste. 4. Maroon 5 (the original members) at a private show back when they first released Songs About Jane in 2001. They mingled with the small group of us before the show (we were all eating pizza). I'm a bit shy around people I don't know though, and well, I wasn't really sure what to say! I definitely enjoyed the music! 5. Fred Savage in a tipsy moment in college at Stanford (he was tipsy, I wasn't:P) Just in passing though. I can't even remember where I was going, but it was late one weekend night. He said hi and stumbled by on the sidewalk. 6. Jimmie Walker who is most known for his role as JJ in Good Times. I met him at LAX a few years ago while we were waiting for the same flight to Salt Lake City. We chatted on and off for quite a while. He was debating whether or not to volunteer to give up his seat when they announced the flight was oversold and we discussed the pros and cons. We both ended up on that original flight. He's a very nice, down-to-earth man! 7. Steve Garvey (who played for the San Diego Padres) at the Hard Rock Cafe in La Jolla at one of my birthday parties growing up. My friends made a big deal of it. They went over and got him to sign my birthday card. I was so embarrassed that I spilled my water in my lap! 8. Dan O'Brien. Yes, I know you're asking yourself "Who?" He's an olympic decathlete and the first person whose autograph I (myself-- not my friends) ever asked for (at a track meet in college). It was so embarrassing! I had a hat that he had signed that day up until a few years ago. I let my mom to sell it at a garage sale. 9. Mark Madsen (basketball player who has played for the Lakers and currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves) while at Stanford my senior year. We had a class together and chatted casually from time to time. 10. Alex Smith (QB for the 49ers) when he was in elementary school and I was a junior in high school. We both grew up in Bonita, California. I went back to my old elementary school as part of a chemistry outreach day and he was running around on the playground when I was making oversize soap bubbles with the kindergarten kids! He definitely won't remember LOL. I had a couple classes with his older brother, Josh, in 8th grade. I had a major crush on Josh back in my junior high (and I suppose even high school) days. 11. Christ Draft who currently plays for the St Louis Rams. We were set up on a date for a "screw-your-roommate" type date while at Stanford. "Screw-your-roommate" was Stanford speak for set your roommate up on a blind date and pray s/he doesn't kill you afterwards LOL. The whole dating (really non-dating) phenomenon is legendary at Stanford. Anyway, Chris was a good sport about the "screw-your-roommate" date and is an all around nice guy. 12. Condoleezza Rice when she was the Provost at Stanford and I was an undergrad there. 13. Summer Pierson who may not exactly be famous yet, but she's got a significant following in certain circles :-) Along with being my best friend, she's the Scottish Highland Games Women's World Champion (for both 2007 and 2008), and a 2008 Olympic hopeful in the discus! She's been to the past 2 Olympic Trials and represented the US in the Pan American Games in Brazil last summer. For a shot of her in mid-spin throwing the discus, click here.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Photo Poll Winners!

The results of the photo poll are in! Thanks to each and every one of the 33 people who voted. In terms of the photos, it was very close between photos 1 and 4 (the two sunset photos). In fact, it ended in a tie! Coming in next was the bird of paradise photo followed by the butterfly photo. I've decided I'm probably going to use both sunset photos for a photo canvas and possible the bird of paradise as well. At least that's the plan for now:)

And now on to the winners! I am going to try to contact you, but if your name is listed below and you haven't heard from me, it means I don't have your email address or any way to contact you. Please email me your snail mail address so I can send you your winnings:) If the prizes are still unclaimed on March 8, I'll draw again.

Winners

• Robin wins the oversized 2008 wall calendar of Scenic California Photos
  
• The Mama Bear (Penelope Anne) wins the set of 6 (different) sunset mini posters
  
• Anne wins the set of 6 (different) floral/garden mini posters
  
• Elizabeth wins the set of 6 Hawaii photo coasters and 9 photo stickers
  
• Kathy wins the set of 6 Floral photo coasters and 9 photo stickers
  
• Kelley wins the set of cloud notecards, a butterfly photo pillowcase, and 9 photo stickers
  
• Di wins the set of 16 photo postcards of places I've been around the US and 9 photo stickers
  
• The following 5 people win the set of 9 photo stickers:
• Heather M
• Vonne
• Jeff
• Skittles
• Jill S.
  

I've reorganized and added some products to my Cafe Press Store (http://www.cafepress.com/michellebphotos), so feel free to check it out. I've used many of the photos from the poll on various products!

Oh, and I skipped my Monday Music Mania post this week, but it will be back next week!

Photo Poll Results Coming Soon...

Okay, so the photo poll is over and I need to post results and draw winners. It's been a busy day today, and I'm headed off to bed. I promise to draw the winners and post them when I get home from work tomorrow (well, really later today since it's already after midnight). If you're looking for results, check back a bit later!

STICKY POST: Photo Project Poll

NOTE: SCROLL DOWN TO SEE LATEST POSTS. This post will remain at the top of my blog until February 23 even if I post other stuff after this goes up.

Update: Thanks to everyone who has voted so far! Keep the votes coming:) And remember to comment here on the blog or email me to be entered into the contest!

Help! I'm terrible when it comes to making decisions. I waffle for ages and it drives me (along with everyone else in my life) batty!

I've been wanting to create a photo canvas through Canvas On Demand (http://www.canvasondemand.com) for years. I finally made one of our family cat (who we lost in October) for my family members as a Christmas present.

Now I have a coupon for $25 off another canvas, but I can't decide which photo to use! And of course the coupon comes with an expiration date. So instead of waffling any longer, I decided to enlist help via my blog.

I've narrowed down my choices to the 10 photos in the poll below. You don't even want to know how long it took me to narrow it down that far:P Anyway, I'd like your input on which photo to use. So if you could take a look at the photos in the poll and then vote for the one you think I should use, I would truly appreciate it!

And to show my appreciation, I'm going to give away some of the various photo gifts (created with my photos) that I have floating around my apartment. More details after the poll!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Edited to add the two things below:
1. If for some reason you can't vote in the poll, feel free to either comment with your vote (letting me know that the poll wouldn't work for you so I count it manually) or email me your vote at lilikoi44@gmail.com
2. If you'd like to enter the contest and can't comment for some reason, please email me at lilikoi44@gmail.com and I'll be sure to enter you!

Wait! Don't leave yet...Here are the details on the photo gift give aways:
I'll give away the following in a drawing on February 24th (the number of people I'll draw for each one is noted in parentheses):

• Oversized 2008 wall calendar of Scenic California Photos (1 person)
• A set of 6 (different) sunset mini posters (1 person)
• A set of 6 (different) floral/garden mini posters (1 person)
• A set of 6 Hawaii photo coasters and 9 photo stickers (1 person)
• A set of 6 Floral photo coasters and 9 photo stickers (1 person)
• A set of cloud notecards, a butterfly photo pillowcase, and 9 photo stickers (1 person)
• A set of 16 photo postcards of places I've been around the US and 9 photo stickers (1 person)
• A set of 9 photo stickers (5 people)
  

I'm using the poll as an easy way to count votes (and praying that it works without any technical glitches), but I'll draw for the photo gifts on February 24th based on the comments on this post (one entry per person) so that I have the names of the people participating. Your comment doesn't have to be long or profound; even just a "Hello" will do:) I'll post the winners here, so please be sure to check back so I can get your contact info if you win:)

Thanks so much for stopping by and helping me make my decision!!

Thursday Thirteen #18: Thirteen TV Shows I've Watched the Last Week

I'm a total TV junkie! I can find something to watch on TV at almost any time of the day (even with the writer's strike!) I've been bummed by the lack of new shows lately, but at the same time, I've discovered some great new shows and even re-discovered some old favorites.

I decided to dedicate this week's TT to my love of TV. Here are 13 of the TV shows that I've watched in the last week.

Thirteen Things about YOUR NAME 1. Smash Lab. I just discovered this show and I love it! I even added the Smash Lab blog to my links! 2. Myth Busters. I'm so glad I've had more time lately to watch this show. 3. Lost 4. Kyle XY 5. Wildfire 6. Medium 7. Monk 8. Psych 9. Stargate Atlantis 10. Kim Possible-- the episode where the evil nemesis is the Math-ter! 11. George Lopez 12. Murder, She Wrote 13. Walker, Texas Ranger. Cheesy and *very* annoying at times, but the GTE building in Irving, TX where I used to work was in the episode and I just couldn't help watching.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Monday Music Mania: Seal

Seal has been one of my favorite artists since I was in high school. I still remember going to see him in concert with my sister the summer after my freshman year in college.

I had a hard time finding MP3's of some of my favorites from his album Human Beings, but I have plenty of favorites to go around! I wanted to focus on Human Beings because I think it's one of his lesser known albums.

As always, enjoy the music!



I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

Thursday Thirteen #18: Favorite Romance Novels

Since today is Valentine's Day (oops, almost typed Valentime's Day...an inside joke with my dad:P), I decided to do this week's Thursday Thirteen on 13 of my favorite romance novels.

I'm not only a book-a-holic, I am also a romance book-a-holic. A majority of the books I own are romances. I have waaaaay more than 13 favorites which is why I have a second bedroom in my apartment just for my books. Really, I'm not kidding. Here are the first 13 to come to mind. I may post more of my favorites in a later TT.

Thirteen of Michelle B's Favorite Romance Novels 1. Ready by Lucy Monroe. I wasn't sure about this book when I first read the back cover copy, but Lucy is one of my favorites, so I decided to give it a try. I loved it and quickly couldn't wait to read the other 2 books in the trilogy (#s 2 and 3 below). 2. Willing by Lucy Monroe. I was so happy I had this book on hand as soon as I finished Ready! I think this is my favorite of this trilogy. 3. ...And Able by Lucy Monroe. I had to wait a few months for this book and it was torturous! I ended up buying it as a grad school graduation present for myself. Hotwire and Claire's story is a close second fave to Nitro and Josie (in Willing) 4. Jude's Law by Lori Foster. I've never really been into the fighting scene(boxing, MMA, wrestling, etc.), but this book turned me on to Lori's collection of stories on the SBC. It's definitely one of my favorite Lori Foster books. 5. Wildly Winston by Lori Foster (which actually includes 4 Winston brothers stories!) I first discovered Lori Foster by reading Tangled Sheets in a multi-author anthology, Hot Chocolate. I can't imagine a better first story of Lori's to read. I love those Winston brothers:D 6. My Best Friend's Lover by Shiloh Walker. This is the first of Shi's books I read. It not only hooked me on Shi's books, it hooked me on ebooks! 7. The Hunters: Eli and Sarel by Shiloh Walker. Eli and Sarel's story is my favorite of all the Hunters. I really went through the emotional wringer with both characters. To me, that makes it a great story! 8. The Hunters: Byron and Kit by Shiloh Walker. Though it's a shorter one, I love Byron and Kit's story. More emotional wringer stuff:) 9. Hunters: Heart & Soul by Shiloh Walker. Can you tell I love this series? Especially since we finally get to see Leandra and Mike as well as Mal and Kelsey get their HEAs. 10. Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann. I was late to join the Seal Team Ten TDD (Tall, Dark, & Dangerous) bandwagon. I started with the re-issue of Prince Joe and I was hooked. I still re-read this one from time to time. I can't wait until Suz is able to write another TDD book! 11. Forever Blue by Suzanne Brockmann. This is the second book in the TDD series. I love it just as much as the first one! 12. Thin Ice by Jaxine Daniels. This was the first of Jaxine Daniels' books I read. I had been in a bit of a reading slump, but once I picked this up from my electronic TBR mountain, I was hooked. I couldn't put it down! Shortly afterwards, I bought just about every other book I could find by Jaxine Daniels! 13. The Last Place You Look by Jaxine Daniels. This is the last book in a series about a team of PJs (Air Force Pararescue). Eric and Kit's story starts in the first four books in the series and ends this book centered on their story. It's my favorite in the series (even with a minor inconsistency!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Last of the 2007 Sunset Photos

I've been playing around with creating photo products again! While making a calendar, I started sorting through some of the photos I took over my winter break. Here are a few sunset photos I came across (all taken on the same evening within 10 minutes of each other).

Which 5 Books Would You Save?

Wow, being sick seems to prompt me to post a lot! I'm off to bed in a minute, but I wanted to post this to my blog after seeing Shi's post over at her blog.

She was pondering which books she'd choose if she was running out of the house because of a fire and could only save five (or six:P). I responded there on her blog, but as I'd already done a book themed meme today, I decided I'd post my response to her topic here as well.

As I mentioned there, I love all my books and wouldn't want to be without any of them. If I had to choose, though, I'd go by sentimental value.

Here are the 5 books I'd take with me first when fleeing a fire or other natural disaster that forced me to evacuate:

1. The Giant Who Liked Chocolate Cake by Estella Hitchcock Lane which belonged to my maternal grandparents. I remember them reading the stories in it to me and my sister when we visited as kids. It's sort of falling apart now, so I have to be very careful with it!
2. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. Another one that belonged to my grandparents. I've always loved Winnie the Pooh and I think that may have started with my grandparents:)
   
3. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck. Yet another of my grandparents' books. I used this one for a book report in junior high. It's an illustrated edition with very nice watercolor type illustrations.
   
4. Choices by Shad Helmstetter. My dad gave me this book to read the summer after my 9th grade year. I needed a book to read in summer school (we had a required reading period), so I used this book. It has really shaped my outlook on life!
5. He's Got the Whole World in His Pants...and More Misheard Lyrics. I had a hard time choosing the fifth book. I ran out of sentimental faves, so I went with one that would make me laugh in such dire circumstances (losing all my books, house burning down, etc) I have 3 other misheard lyrics books, but I've read this one the most.

So which 5 books would you save?

Nearest Book Meme

I saw this meme over at Jill Shalvis' blog. Since I'm a book-a-holic, I thought it would be a fun meme that's also representative of me.

I hope to post again in the next couple of days as well as a Thursday Thirteen this week, but I'm fighting off a cold. I keep repeating to myself "I will not get sick .I will not get sick..."

Anyway, on to the meme!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The directions:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open it at page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence/ phrase.
4. Blog the next four sentences/ phrases together with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig your shelves for that very special or intellectual book.
6. Pass it forward to six friends

The nearest book is Jim Butcher's Storm Front (Book One of the Dresden Files). Here's the bit I'm supposed to blog (I went with counting sentences):

She had a furry, velvety voice, something tactile. "Who's this?"

"My name is Harry Dresden. I was wondering if I could talk to you."

I won't tag anyone specifically. If it sounds interesting, just join in and let me know when you've posted it in the comments so I can hop over and check it out:)

Monday Music Mania: Teddy Geiger

This week's Monday Music Mania artist is Teddy Geiger. I first discovered his music on the short-lived TV series Love Monkey. I really liked that show, so of course it was canceled! I've discovered quite a bit of new music via TV shows and commercials over the years. Enjoy Teddy's music below!

Oh, I meant to mention how to control the player as it took me a little while to figure it out. I just couldn't resist the throw back cassette tape :) To control the player, the Play/Pause button is at the bottom of the cassette tape (under the + like sign) and the forward/back buttons are to the right and left of the "tape" wheels.


I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

Thursday Thirteen #17: 13 of My Favorite Movies

I love movies! My goal with going to the movies is to be entertained (not necessarily to think or get some profound meaning out of the movie). I'm pretty easy to please with movies. I'll see almost anything that's not too scary or too gory, so I have a lot of favorites.

Also, if you haven't voted in my photo project poll, I'd appreciate it if you could go to my blog post here (http://lilikoi44.blogspot.com/2008/02/sticky-post-photo-project-poll.html) and vote for which photo I should use to create a photo canvas! If you vote and leave a comment on that post, you'll be entered to win some of my photo stuff I have floating around my place.

Anyway, here are 13 of my favorite movies...

Thirteen of Michelle B's Favorite Movies 1. Monsters, Inc. I think Monsters, Inc holds the record for movies I've seen the most times in the theater (possible tie noted in #9). I lost track after the 5th time, though. I just love Sully, Mike, and Boo. Sully being my favorite color might have something to do with it too:) 2. Rush Hour I didn't go in expecting to love this, but boy did I! This along with #3 holds my record for most times I've seen a movie on DVD. 3. Rush Hour 2 I've seen this Rush Hour more times on DVD than I have the first Rush Hour movie. In fact, at one time, I was watching it so often, I had memorized half the lines in the movie! LOL. I can still say the lines along with the characters in some scenes. 4. Cars I love Disney-Pixar films. I wasn't too sure about Cars since I'm not a big race fan, but I just loved it. I saw this one 3 times in the theater:) 5. The Green Mile I didn't really know what to expect when I went into this movie. I honestly don't even know what made me choose to see it. Had I known I would sob uncontrollably through most of it, I probably wouldn't have seen it. I'm glad I did, however, because it was an incredibly moving film. 6. The Usual Suspects My sister and I saw this one together when it first opened. It was the only movie playing at a convenient time, and though neither of us had heard a thing about it, we decided to give it a try. I remember telling her that I was going to blame her if it stunk. It didn't. We both loved it! 7. The Cutting Edge Yes, I know it's cheesy, but it combines my love of skating with my love of romance. I still watch this one periodically:) 8. Just Like Heaven I saw this playing in the store last night when I was shopping for Valentine's cards. I really like this movie! I'm thinking of adding it to my collection:) 9. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl I think I saw POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl the same amount of times in the theater as I saw Monsters, Inc. I went in with low expectations just wanting to see any movie that day. I was blown away. I like the sequels as well, but this one is my favorite of the three. 10. Superman 2 My dad was a big fan of the Superman movies, so we had the first 3 on Laser Disc (yes, Laser Disc...we had a laser disc player long before we had a VCR). My sister loved watching the first one over and over again, but the second one is still my favorite. 11. The Sound of Music Another one I've loved for ages. I watched it over and over growing up. It was one of my mom's favorites and we had it on Laser Disc. 12. Pete’s Dragon I've loved this movie since I was a kid. I was so happy when Disney released the soundtrack on CD a few years back! 13. Iron Eagle I can't remember the first time I saw this movie, though I do remember it was on TV. It made me want to learn how to be a fighter pilot (even though I'm way too wimpy to fly in combat). I'd still love to learn, but these days I'd settle for a simulator. I thought about trying the one at the Mall of America when I was there in November, but I just didn't have time:( Maybe someday!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Monday Music Mania (Take 2): Travis

As I mentioned previously, I've decided to start my Monday Music Mania posts again starting today! I'm going to run it a bit differently this time to keep the posts a bit shorter. I'm creating a playlist with some songs from the artist (or genre) that I choose each week.

This week, I chose to spotlight the band Travis, a Scottish rock band. They are pretty well known, yet still not as well known as they should be! I fell in love with their music thanks to an online friend of mine (Tony) from Scotland. They are also one of the groups I saw in concert as I posted on my recent Thursday Thirteen.

I hope you enjoy their music in the playlist below!



I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.

New Year's Resolution, A Little Late!

I posted a comment on a blog yesterday joking that I should make it my New Year's Resolution to blog at least twice a week. Then I got to thinking that I should actually do it! The only problem is (like many people), I suck at sticking to my resolutions:/ But I'm determined to do it!

I've decided I'm going to start my Monday Music Mania posts again. I'm sure any of you reading this are wondering what the heck I'm talking about LOL. A while back, I decided to share my love of music on my blog and call it Monday Music Mania. I apologize for the name. I have an obsession with alliteration thanks to my 7th grade English teacher (Mr. Fickett) and the poetry project I did in his class. But I digress...

I have pretty eclectic taste in music, and not all the artists I love are widely known. After my recent Thursday Thirteen about concerts I've attended, I started thinking about it again since the comments indicated that many weren't aware of the artists I'd seen. So every week on Monday, I plan to post a playlist of some of my favorite songs by my favorite artists.

I even started creating playlists last night to stay on top of things should I get too busy. I wish I could schedule posts in advance with blogger, but oh well. Maybe I'll make switching to Wordpress one of my summer projects.

Anyway, with Monday Music Mania and Thursday Thirteen, I should be able to post at least twice a week (here's hoping I don't run out of things to write about for TT)! Hopefully, I'll be able to post more often:)

Ok, I've rambled waaaayyyyy too long on this post. I'll be posting again shortly about something I need your help with, so please come back to visit soon:)

Thursday Thirteen #16: Thirteen Cloud Pictures I've Taken

Wow, I've been busy the last few weeks with the start of the spring semester. I've been wanting to post quite a bit, but I haven't had a chance! I never did get to set up that play list I wanted to with artists from my last TT.

I'm also planning to post a poll in the next day or so about a photo "project" I'd like some input on. I'm just holding off in order to do this TT this week:)

I decided to do another photo themed Thursday Thirteen this week. I'm always fascinated by the sky, clouds, and especially storm clouds. Therefore, this week's TT is 13 cloud pictures I've taken!

Thirteen Cloud Pictures Michelle B has taken 1. A stormy summer day in Bonita, California 2. Looking through the trees on a stormy fall day in Goodyear, Arizona 3. A stormy fall afternoon in Gila Bend, Arizona 4. A hot and stormy summer day in Bonita, California 5. The same stormy day as in #4 but closer to sunset and out in El Cajon, California, at Grossmont College 6. Another stormy afternoon in Bonita, California 7. A stormy fall day in Litchfield Park, Arizona 8. A stormy summer day in Claremont, California 9. An odd cloud formation one fall evening in Litchfield Park, Arizona 10. Another shot of the odd cloud formation from #9 11. A close-up shot of a summer thundercloud in Claremont, California 12. More fall storm clouds in Litchfield Park, Arizona 13. Late spring storm clouds in Claremont, California

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants