The three habits that lead to success are: Patience, Application, and Vision.
Take care: The person who will tell others' faults to you - will tell yours to others.
It is always better to be underestimated.
There are three things that are better than riches: Health, Freedom, and Honor.
Think swiftly, speak softly, act wisely.
"The world is neither Scottish, English, nor Irish, neither French, Dutch, nor Chinese, but human, and each nation is only the partial development of a universal humanity." - James Grant on founding the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, 1862
Qui-Gon: “You don’t think Anakin will win?” Watto: “Don’t get me wrong. I have great faith in the boy. He’s a credit to your race, but Sebulba there is going to win, I think.” Qui-Gon: “Why?” Watto: “He always wins. (laughs) I’m betting heavily on Sebulba.” Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Ga oranje!
Hup Holland Hup!
Wij zijn Nederlands,
Wij zijn oranje,
Hup Holland Hup!
I weet dat het slecht nu kijkt, maar ik weet ook dat zij het doen kunnen. Wij houden van oranje voetbal.
“Order! We shall have order! The motion for the Republic to commission an army takes precedent, and that is what we will vote on at this time.” – Mas Amedda, Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones
By Friday morning at the latest.
New flooring was laid-down in the upstairs bathroom this morning. Downstairs carpet was cleaned and re-stretched this afternoon. Furniture can be returned to the basement tomorrow after 3pm. Touch up painting is ongoing. New mattress for PL is arriving Wednesday afternoon.
The house is being listed on Wednesday. All our extra crap is getting hauled away on Thursday. A thorough dusting, floor and window washing, and all around deep cleaning is going down Thursday night. Why? Because the house must be available for showings come Friday morning.
Three and a half days from right now. No pressure. Anyone want to join my cleaning army? Anyone? Anyone?
Han Solo: Hey, Your Worship, I’m only trying to help. Princess Leia: Would you please stop calling me that? Han Solo: Sure, Leia. Princess Leia: You make it so difficult sometimes. Han Solo: I do, I really do. You could be a little nicer, though. Come on, admit it. Sometimes you think I’m all right. Princess Leia: Occasionally, maybe… when you aren’t acting like a scoundrel. Han Solo: Scoundrel? Scoundrel? I like the sound of that.
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
My scoundrel is in his 4th hour of interviews, as I type. I – obviously – have the better end of the deal here.
Vanilla latte. Check.
Squishy chair. Check.
Chocolate croissant. Check.
Scrolling around the internet. Check.
Free lunch with Dad Windu and corporate representative. Check.
Not having to answer hard, uncomfortable, or annoying questions that will dictate my future bread-buying power. Double check.
Yesterday after the plane landed, we covered all the basics – rental car, hotel, and office building reconnoiter. After stalking finding the company’s location, we checked into a nearby apartment building – extremely cool and 3 times as expensive as my current mortage payment – and then got a very late lunch. May I just take a moment and tell you how much I love, love, love a plate of Pesto Chicken Pasta done well? Holy distended stomach, Bat Man, that stuff was divine!
Oops, running out of battery. Time to go retrieve the charging cord.
“The Chancellor should never have brought them into this. Kill them immediately!” – Darth Sidious, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Padawan Learner’s cat, Stretch, has been staring at the computer monitor for some time now while I’ve been working. Glaring at it really. And if I move the mouse even a little bit, she whacks at the screen trying to get at the cursor. She despises the cursor.
I do believe she would kill the cursor twice dead, if at all possible.
Luke: “I saw… I saw a city in the clouds.” Yoda: “Friends you have there.” Luke: “They were in pain.” Yoda: “It is the future you see.” Luke: “The future? Will they die?” Yoda: “Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.” Luke: “I’ve got to go to them.” Yoda: “Decide you must, how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could; but you would destroy all for which they have fought, and suffered.”
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
We traveled 8 hours on Thursday up to Dad Windu’s old college stomping grounds with another 9 hours to return home yesterday. We visited houses perched on the sides of a valley, perpetually gazing at the narrow lake below. We observed snowmobiles fly along abandoned railroad lines and crossing the bottom level of a lift bridge. We haunted the local library (as we are known to do) and asked about homeschooling groups in the area. We learned of one of those snowmobile riders who, while we were in the library, tried to cross that narrow lake’s ice cover but didn’t quite make it. The owner, terribly cold but fine, now the owner of a sled sitting at the bottom of that narrow lake. We sat in the hotel’s hot tub and talked about high school, hockey, miles traveled, and life in the Great Frozen Midwest with another family of travelers. We saw an eastern skyline blushing pink at the audacity of a brazen orange sunset.
Darth Vader: ”He will come to me?”
The Emperor: ”I have foreseen it. His compassion for you will be his undoing. He will come to you and then you will bring him before me.”
Darth Vader: ”As you wish.” Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
Padawan Learner made a specific request for our trip out west. He wants to listen to the entire Percy Jackson series while we’re traveling; we are bowing to his wishes. Truth be told, we’re happy to oblige. I’m looking forward to hearing the series since I never got around to reading the books the first time around (from the library), and I’ve heard such good things about it. Those audiobook files are huge though! We’ve had to delete a bunch of things from the main computer just to get them all on. Yes, it is indeed time to get a new hard-drive (or auxillary drive) installed.
While I wasn’t thinking about this when we decided to do it, I’m glad we got the 32 gig iTouch for PL’s birthday. It’s the only one big enough to hold the entire Percy Jackson series, a few movies, and our assorted music collection (with room to spare). And on a life skills note, PL is learning the fine art of downloading audiobooks as I type. It’s good to have a laptop.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The
taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems
is in dispute. Hoping to resolve the matter with a
blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade
Federation has stopped all shipping to the small
planet of Naboo. While the Congress of the Republic
endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the
Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi
Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy,
to settle the conflict…
Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
There is an international art contest setting up in downtown Grand Rapids, already a hotspot for sculpture for the uninitiated, that looks to be mind-boggling in scale. Over 1,200 pieces are scheduled to be up for public review and voting when it officially starts later this month. Dad Windu, Padawan Learner and I headed into GR last weekend to see the hands-on Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion exhibit (very cool) and to catch a sneak preview of some of the sculptures that have already been installed.
There’s a number of pictures involved in this post, so I thought I better give you the option to click through (rather than steal all your bandwidth if you just don’t care about Leonardo and/or sculpture). Click on a picture to see a its full-size image.
Shmi Skywalker: “I don’t want you to race Anni, it’s awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it.”
Anakin Skywalker: “But mom, I love it. The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need.” Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
Meg over at Get In, Hang On was kind enough to post a little something for me, for the Queen, the Queen of Awesome.
How sweet is that? Huh? Huh? Huh? You’re chewing your knuckle in jealousy. Don’t embarrass yourself by denying it. As with most things in life, there are a few itsy, bitsy hoops I need to jump through that go hand and hand with my new-found fame.
1. List Seven Things That Make You Awe-Summm!
2. Pass the award on to seven bloggers you read religiously. (Can an atheist be said to read anything religiously? )
3. Tag those seven bloggers.
And since I’m following in Meg’s footsteps and she likes to be different, I’m going to do it backwards, too. Here’s who I’m tagging…
Athena Academy – She just packed up and moved to South Korea. She deserves an award for that alone.
Becoming Sarah – She just shoved a whole, entire kid out of her tender bits… and blogged while in labor.
Jess Riley – If you aren’t following at least one writer, what ARE you putting in your feed reader?
I tried not tag anyone who had been tagged before. I didn’t even get out of the J’s. I have around 100 blogs in my feed reader so if I didn’t tag you here you’re in very good company.
So, now 7 things that make me awesome.
My son just (like 45 minutes ago, dude) ripped his entire little pinkie finger’s nail off and I didn’t freak out even a little bit.
I think, “I should do that…” and fairly often actually DO do it.
I would love my bike more than my car even if my car were a British Racing Green (with black roof and bonnet stripes) Mini Cooper.
I’m the one people go to when they want to confess something naughty; my brain is absolutely roiling with great stories.
I have pretty much figured out how to get flight-induced, migraine-tormented PL and me around the world without ever getting back on a plane again.
A reduced income is nothing to my budgeting skills.
Butter pecan ice cream shudders in fear at my approach.
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