I Ocassionally Learn Stuff.

In real life, I tend to not be dramatic. I’m usually the friend who’s giving logic to the dramatic. One friend famously asked me “Why are you so logical when I’m so dramatic?”. I have a good number of friends who are very dramatic and yes, sometimes it does rub off on me. Usually it shows up on this blog. I wasn’t the child that came home with a lot of friend problems in high school and even now. But if you ask my parents, I was the quietest child around people but the loudest child when you got me home.

Now why do I tell you this?

Because I’ve been looking at some of my posts and see how uncharacteristically dramatic I am in some of them.

I have water in my bedroom. It’s been raining a LOT in the past 2 weeks or so, which was a good thing. We were really dry but we’ve gotten close to 10 inches of rain in the past couple weeks. MAKE IT STOP! We need to get the rest of crop in and I live in a basement apartment and I don’t want to canoe my way through my apartment.

Now to some literature. Or me learning about literature.

I had a professor in college that kind of looks like a bag lady. No one was a big fan of her. I had to have her for 2 classes. Brit Lit 1 and Comp 3. She told me she thought I had a learning disability. I’m pretty sure that learning disability was her. All my friends dreaded taking her classes. Anyway she made me read some literature that I wasn’t fond of. Piers Plowman by William Langland and Doctor Faustas by Christopher Marlow. Now both were written before my desired period, early to mid-nineteenth century women British writers.

Now I had 2 other professors. One I had American Lit 1 with. He had awesome ties. There were 4 or 5 of us girls that sat in the back by the door (I had Brit Lit 2 right after this) and we’d talk about his ties and take bets on which ones he would wear. He’d also use my last name when he called on me in class. The other one I had Lit Crit. (hardest English class I have ever taken), Victorian Lit (I loved that class) and she was my senior project advisor. I loved these professors.

My question: if one of the professors I liked had taught Plowman or Faustas, would I like them more? Would I like them more now if I read them by myself? A teacher can do a lot to influence someone’s interest by how they teach.

My freshman year I took Western Civ. I and II. I again sat in the back near the door because I needed to jet after class across campus to another class. (do you see a habit of me sitting in the back. I will always sit in the back. Why? I don’t know.) Mind you, this was before I declared History as my minor. It was taught by an older teacher. He came in the class every day humming (he’s part of a singing group in the BisMan area) and he has this kind of funny walk and he had a sense of humor not everyone gets. But I loved it. I got so much out of those classes, inspiring me to get a minor in history. I used to work in a little tourist trap and his singing group would come in the summer and he recognized me even 3 years after his class and he goes “still working here huh?” “yup, I’m a lifer” “Yeah that’s okay too.” I once got a higher grade on a paper in his class than my band friend Seth and he read his book and I didn’t and Seth was so mad about me getting a higher grade.

I often wonder what would have happened if I didn’t have the teachers that influenced me one way or the other. What would I have done if I didn’t get a degree in English? Would I have finished my bachelors? Would I have gotten a degree in music, which was my second choice? Or education? Heaven forbid if it were education. I wouldn’t last long teaching high school or elementary. But I totally respect teachers.

Funny story. Pastor asked in church on Sunday how long the dotted yellow lines were in the middle of the road and I answered 10 feet and I was right because I learned that in Drivers Ed. Boom.

Story Time

Because today is Thursday and it’s raining, I’m going to tell 2 stories today. Both about me. Both I think I have mentioned in past posts. One from yesterday and I think I’ve mentioned the other one but you’re going to hear it anyway.

Yesterday I talked about the first ticket I got and how it was my parents’ fault. So here it is.

My junior year of college, I transferred to the west side of my home town. First 2 years were east side. Both were about an hour of where I grew up. So I go home for Thanksgiving break and I go “Dad, my car isn’t acting right.” Sometimes, my car is just acting up in my imagination but this time it was true. So my parents told me to leave it home and they’d take it into town to the guy. My parents just bought a car and were waiting for the lease on the other car to run out before they returned it. So I got the lease car to take back to school while mine got fixed by the guy.

The Wednesday after break I went to something at night. So I took my wallet out of my backpack and put it into my purse. It didn’t get back into my backpack. (remember that) So Thursday I was driving to school to work in the library. I lived in campus housing off campus and I always took back roads to school because the main street took longer. On these back roads, there are 5 stop signs. At the second, a cop stopped to my right just barely before I did. He had the right away but he waved me through and then turns to follow me. So knowing he’s behind me, I’m keeping my nose clean; speed limit, turn signals, the whole bit. I was being safe. Hit the 3rd and 4th stop sign. Still following me. After the 4th stop sign, which is pretty much on campus, he pulls me over.

He comes up to the car and says “Is this your car?”
Me: No, it’s my parents’. I’m driving it while mine is being fixed by the guy.
Him: Do you know why I pulled you over?
Me: Nope. I was being careful. (I left out I was being super careful because he was behind me)
Him: Your tabs are outdated by 2 years.
Me: Oh crap.

So okay. He asks me for my license and what not so I pull whatever I need out of the cubby hole and go to my backpack for my license. It wasn’t there. Epic fail. My head dropped. Because that morning I thought about it and then forgot about putting my license back in my backpack. I explain and he goes we can work around this and he goes back to his car. I’m immediately on the phone. The guys were probably out feeding cattle so I called my mom at work and at this point this scenario is starting to be funny to me. Mom didn’t see it as being funny. She asks me if I had actually gotten out and looked at the tabs and I go “I can get out of the car?” Sure enough: expired. So I got a ticket which my parents paid because it was their fault. I’m pretty sure I still find this story funnier than my parents.

Story 2. We have to go back to my sophomore year of high school for this. To explain, my parents and brother, until the last year, had purebred Gelbvieh cattle. (we’re commercial now) My dad was on the national board for the breed at one time. So we were involved. Every year, there’s this big stock show in Denver which my dad went to for meetings and to see what was going on in the breed. So my sophomore year, my dad and this guy named Ed bought his really important bull. This bull was a 2 year champion of something. I don’t remember what the title was but no bull had won this title 2 years in a row. And we had part of him. The thing is, the previous owner had promised that this bull would be in a show in Missouri after we bought him.

So okay, by the show I was a junior. Both my parents went to deliver this bull in Missouri, so I was home alone. My grandma was, at that time, still living in a trailer on the place so I wasn’t really alone. They left Friday morning at like 5 so I got myself up and to school and home which I usually did anyway. That night I decided to go back into town to hang out with my friends, which I usually did on a Friday night. So I get in the car and I drive around a corral (which ends up by Grandma’s trailer) and all of a sudden the dog we had appeared out of no where and was in front of my car. I didn’t have time to stop because it happened so fast. So I hear a ku-kunt ku-kunt and the dog yelping and running away. So I’m like “OMG, what just happened?”

So I turn around and start looking for the dog. Couldn’t find him. So I call my grandma, who see everything, to see if she saw where he went. Now Grandma sees everything. She knew the exact time I came home after school or events and if I had made curfew or not. She saw everything. She didn’t see this though. The one time I’m counting on Grandma and she fails me. So I called over to my brother and sister-in-law’s, in tears because I ran over the dog and then lost him and they were going to have people over, so they were getting ready for that and my sister-in-law goes, “Does Matt need to come over?” “yes please”

In the three miles it took for him to get over, I had found the dog and went from crying to bawling because it was bad and Grandma had come over to stand there. Matt shows up and he goes “it’s okay Megan. You still going into town? I’ll take care of this. Just go.” So I obeyed big brother and left. And I’m pretty sure he found a little humor in this. I’m pretty sure this was scarring to me.

By the time I got home that night, my parents had talked to Matt and knew. They left a message on the machine and said, “it’s okay Megan. He wasn’t a very good farm dog anyway” They were just trying to make me feel better. We still talk about it. Every time I pout. Because it was an accident.

So I hope you liked this installment of Story Time with Megan. Stay tuned for when I talk about how I met my friend Kristen. It’s pretty entertaining.

Now, Time for the Consequences.

First of all: Someone want to explain to me why it’s called drug and alcohol counseling when alcohol is a form of a drug? (I’m not going through drug and alcohol counseling, the question just kind of wandered into my head today. I know you guys love the randomness that goes through my mind. It’s the highlight of your day.).

Second: I’m watching “Veggie Tales” because it’s been a rough day. “The Song of Cebu” can make anyone’s day. Why are these movies my goto’s? Never mind, I know. They’re easy and happy. I don’t have to pay attention to understand. I can just veg.

Now, here’s what I’m actually wanting to talk about today. Amazing that I actually have points and want to actually talk about something right? I always have a plan. Or most of the time I have a plan.

The other day, I talked about decisions but I didn’t talk about consequences. Consequences always seems like a horrid experience to me. Sounds ominous and that you’re being punished. When I went to dictionary.com it told me a consequence is “the effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier”. So it isn’t something that is a punishment necessarily, but an event. Repercussions is another word that makes me think I’m in way over my head. But no, same definition as consequence.

I recently made a pretty substantial mistake at work. The thing about working at a museum is that you work for a board. Working for a board right after college isn’t easy. Post-college working isn’t the same as working in college. You’re more responsible now. Luckily, the consequences haven’t been to bad as of yet. I lucked out and my board is very forgiving as of now. And this is my first big mistake since I started working here almost 2 1/2 years ago.

I’ve been lucky in general not to have ever messed up so bad that it’s cost me something huge like a life or a job or something like that. The worst I’ve gotten is a slap on the wrist or a ticket for speeding. (I should talk about the time I got my first ticket one day. It was legitimately my parents’ fault. Another day) But I think back on the mistakes of others that haven’t ended as well or not how they expected. One night of passion and you’re a parent for life, one to many drinks and you have someone’s life on your hands for life. I can’t imagine something that big, like killing someone while drunk driving, following you around for the rest of your life. You have to learn to live with that right? It’s not a good feeling from what I can figure. I accidentally killed my parents’ dog once and I felt awful. I couldn’t imagine a human life.

P.S. WordPress doesn’t like me using big words because big words make sentences complex. I don’t care WordPress, I like big words and I cannot lie. You other brothers can’t deny. When a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist you get….. that wasn’t right was it? Well deal with it. I don’t care! Random Fact: when I was a senior in high school a bunch of us did close-up which is a program that you can go to Washington D.C. and see how the government works and get to do a lot of fun stuff and us NoDakers got our bus to sing “Baby Got Back”.

In Where I do a little Comparison or Contrast.

Last night I started re-watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube. Then I popped in the Kiera Knightly version of the movie and read the book until I fell asleep. Several things out of this.

1. There should be a Jane Eyre adaptation on YouTube. Because that would make me squeal like a Catholic School Girl. I would totally record that for everyone.

2. I’ve never seen the BBC version of P&P. Is that okay? Is that blasphemous? Because I’m kind of in love with Matthew McFayden in that role.

3. I love the language in the book.

P&P (Pride and Prejudice if you didn’t know) is celebrating 200 years of being published this year. Congratulations for standing the test of time.

Actually, let me say before I move on that I’m a hard-core Bronte fan. Austen comes in second. ALWAYS. (only 34 more years until Jane Eyre is 200. You know I’ll be celebrating this.)

I think that P&P has lasted this long, in part, because of the solid characters and story line. Let’s do some comparison between P&P and Twilight. (I just puked in my mouth a little) Please do NOT say that Twilight is just as good as P&P. It isn’t. In 200 years Austen will win whereas Meyer will be a footnote. Now remember I have a degree in English and have more of a background in English Victorian Literature. Remember that when I start ranting and raving. (I’ll try to keep it under control.)

Edward and Bella Edward is definitely the dominating force in the book. I always felt that Bella had no backbone. Bella had to have vampires save her, chasing her and just ran. You are a young woman, grow a backbone.

Darcy and Lizzie Both are strong personalities. Lizzie had no issue with telling Darcy what she thought. He did too but in that time, you did not just offer an opinion. Either sexes. But it was pretty much vice versa after they got going.

T They only talked because Edward couldn’t hear Bella’s thoughts. Great communication there guys. If they could have acted it out, it might have been better. Oh wait, isn’t that what 50 Shades of Gray is for? That’s a legitimate question because I haven’t read 50 Shades and have no intention to.

P&P Communication got between them got better through the book. They used their words and used them well.

T Edward and Bella had to be made into immortal beings to stand the test of time and I’m sure that they will be mentioned but I don’t see them as having staying power.

P&P They’ve lasted 200 years, without the aid of being an immortal creature.

T Edward and Bella were so brooding. And they were brooding the whole, entire time. It’s okay to smile, life or the non-life you’re living isn’t so bad. And it felt like the emotions by the other characters were extreme.

P&P They had their ups and downs emotionally making them more realistic. They were happy, they were mad, they hated, they loved. They acted like humans should. But then again, they are going up against vampires and that’s just not human-like.

T Escalation of time is a problem for me. They met, they tangoed around each other for like 2 weeks and then BOOM they were in love. Yes, some people do fall in love quickly but dang, make it believable. I guess one of them is a teenager so that’s how it works? Maybe I’m misunderstanding it.

P&P They took their time. I did say in a earlier post that I thought it was quick but I started thinking about it. They took their time. Lizzie was proposed to twice, there were letters sent and received, Wickham was found out to be dastardly, plus there was a lot more going on before they actually fell in love. What happened for Edward and Bella? Algebra test?

T Is there a universe outside of Bella and Edward? Yeah but it sure felt like Bella and Edward were the only 2 that mattered.

P&P They dealed with people. Like Lizzie’s 4 sisters and meddlesome aunt’s (just like Scoob and the gang) and best friends. Lizzie and Darcy were the main focus but let’s face it, Darcy wasn’t there all the time. Lizzie was.

In general, P&P felt like they had more round characters. They learned something, they grew as people. In Twilight, they were just living as vampires, not really learning or growing. Just there.

I’d totally compare Meyer and Austen but I feel like that would be unfair. I find it unfair to pit Austen and Meyer against each other. One’s dead and the other one I don’t respect her writing. Actually, let’s talk about the writing.

WTF was Meyer doing? I get that she was writing for a younger audience but a younger audience doesn’t mean they are stupid. Put some class into it. Do a better job of setting your characters up. I really don’t have any qualms about Austen. She actually had some detail into it and set things up very well. I feel that Austen put more thought into her writing, maybe because she didn’t have a backspace key.

And a dream that turned into a story where the characters talk to you? I have a hard time with that. I really do. Not so much the dream part but the characters talking to you. If a character is well-developed, they shouldn’t have to talk to you, you should just know. But then I’m not an author, what do I know? Apparently nothing.

Hate me if you must but this is my opinion. I’m not going to change it any time soon. Give me your opinion though. Do you agree, do you disagree and why to both of those. I know there’s a few of you that think my van down by the river needs to be rolled into the river. Let me know.

There are good things to Twilight I think. It’s a possibility. I just don’t see them right now.

Outlander Nerdom

I’m being a humongous pile of nothing today at work and I’m not getting anything done but keeping the doors open for the tourists that aren’t coming in. Then I decided to write a post. This will probably take me forever to write but here goes nothing. This will also be an Outlander series post so this might not make sense to some of you.

For an update, I didn’t get much sleep last night so if I pull a really stupid joke like my U.P.A joke last post, it’s because of the sleep. And if I get some stupidly long run on sentences, it’s the sleep.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon lately. Maybe it’s because I’m really anticipating the next book that should be coming out at the end of the year, hopefully. I’ve been thinking about the characters lately and I’ve come to some conclusions.

I love Jamie, I wish he were a real, breathing man and not a fictional character. I also realize that he is not a man who I would be compatible with. I’m not stubborn enough. Claire is a much better suit to him. I’d rather be best friends with the two of them. I think I’d be like LeWhore to him. LeWhore isn’t her name but I don’t remember how to spell it and it’s the chick from the first book that Jamie ends up marrying to satisfy his sister after Claire is gone for like ever. I call her LeWhore because that’s almost French for “The Whore”. And she’s a whore. Not that I’m a whore but Jamie and LeWhore weren’t suitable for each other and neither am I and Jamie. (I’d need to be sleeping around a lot for me to be LeWhore. And the only sleeping I’m doing is alone).

Then there’s young Ian. I love young Ian. He is totally second choice after Jamie. I had a hard time thinking that Ian and Rachel were going to get together. I was so attached to him that I didn’t want anyone else to have him. Then I shook myself and said “Megan, he is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. STOP BEING STUPID.” So I stopped entertaining the idea that he is mine and that Rachel is the right person for him. There are times during the book that I wanted to mother him. Like there were times I wondered if he was going to get home okay or if he needed a hug. Because if I had lost a child and then my wife’s grandmother kicked me out and told me to never come back, I’d need a hug. What am I talking about? Ian probably just got a prostitute.

I read a spoiler for the next book where Ian and Rachel are talking about Ian and prostitutes and Rachel didn’t want to know who unless they ran into a prostitute. I wouldn’t want to know even then. Who is weird in this sense, Me or Rachel?

Side note: Why do we connect with a character so much and then move on to a new book and find a character that’s just like the one we connect with and blow them off?

I’ve never talked about Jenny and Claire’s relationship. That’s not complicated at all. Always the women who get complicated. They could be such great allies if they would let the past be the past. I do wonder what’s going to happen in the next book with them after Jenny finds out that Claire kind of married Lord John. I just want them to be friends.

Then is William going to be okay? I want to know if he ever really wondered about his real father. And how did he not speculate that there might be some connection between him and Jamie. They only look just alike and they’re both stubborn. That’s not a tip-off at all.

I’m going to go old school here and talk about Black Jack Randall/Frank. Jerks both of them. I can’t understand where Black Jack came from. What makes a person want or need (?) to rape? Then Frank. I always wonder at what point in the 3 years Claire was gone that he started sleeping around. Then I wonder if he started sleeping around before that like during the war and if he didn’t and Claire never left, how long the marriage would last or how long it would take for one of them to start sleeping around.

If you got through this post and never read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and are intrigued, you should be. Go read them. Even if for the experience because these books aren’t for everyone.

I’m ready for this next book to come out if you couldn’t tell.

I’m Tired.

I debated a lot about what I was going to post today. I wasn’t quite sure if I should go with a more light-hearted post today or not. Well, I guess I’ll just start writing and we’ll find out. This just might turn into a running thought process written down.

More than ever, grammar on social media has been bugging me. I have this friend, she was my best friend until junior high. She had a 10 word sentence on Facebook and half the words were spelled wrong and there was about 3 punctuation errors. I would let it slide if this wasn’t all the time. But no. She posts all the time with incorrect grammar. Now, I’m not perfect when it comes to grammar. But I still do a whole lot better than her.

I’m tired of work and I need to clean my apartment and do my dishes. Maybe I’ll take half of Monday off. It is a holiday in the States right? The good thing is that before today my fridge was pretty much empty. Now it is full. YAY! And I took a 2 hour nap today, which isn’t getting my house work done but, hey, I was tired. And I’ll be at work tomorrow. Who am I kidding? But I really want to show up in glasses and a messy hair do and pajamas.

I know I have a great big list of books to read but does anyone have any suggestions for what to read?

I had my crocheting in my bag today in church and I totally debated about crocheting during the service. My question is: Is it okay to crochet during a church service? I would totally pay attention but a part of me feels like it’s disrespectful. And it’s a small church so it would be noticed. What are your thoughts?

I started watching “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (the most recent one) last night and fell asleep by 9:30. See it’s old of me to fall asleep early but watching that movie makes me young at heart.

I never judge people if they met on a dating site but totally worry about being judged if I did meet someone off a dating site. Is that normal? If people find the right person off a legit site, it’s not a big deal right? Right.

You know why Canada isn’t the United Provinces of America? Because the initials would be U.P.A. Say it out loud. Then say it as a question. If you need me to explain that any farther then it’s funnier in my head.

I ran out of random thoughts. I was hoping to make this a longer post, but obviously not happening.

It’s Time to Make a Decision.

This has been a heavy week and I’ve had to break down a little. Which isn’t a bad thing but it’s something that I don’t enjoy. I have always tried to be the strong one in a situation but this week was one of those weeks that you go and cry and that’s that. This week has definitely been tough on the heart, which hasn’t shattered but has crumbled some. For those of you who I am Facebook friends with, you definitely haven’t seen my tough moments this week but they are there. And I’ve got something going on in my stomach (not pregnancy, you need boy stuff for that and I haven’t found any yet)on top of it. Fantastic.

Thank you to those who expressed sympathy in the last post. I didn’t go to the funeral. I couldn’t get away. But thank you.

I’ve been thinking a lot about decisions lately. I am looking for some other job and have applied some. But I was thinking what jobs would work well for what I can do and I look back at the decisions I’ve made in my life professionally and personally. I haven’t made the best decisions. I haven’t completely sucked it up but there have been some not so smart decisions.

I started thinking about the random decisions we make every day that we don’t even think twice of. Alicia talked about something similar on Wednesday. I was thinking of my schedule. I take the same way to work and to home, which probably isn’t the best decision if I was being watched by an evil ninja. But I thought I was friends with all the ninjas. The things that you don’t think about can be the ones that can be deadly. Like ninjas can kill me with a poison dart on my way to work or I get hit by a semi when I cross the highway. Those are some almost outlandish scenarios but things happen. Things happen in split seconds that people can regret or not regret for the rest of their lives.

Then there are decisions that may or may not be random. Like sex. Sex might just happen or you might plan to have sex. I was just watching a documentary about sex and youth. And they gave a statistic about teens who don’t have sex before marriage. I don’t remember the stat but the documentary was “Let’s talk about Sex” if you want to watch it. Then I went through my Facebook friends and figured out how many I knew that were my age and had sex before marriage. There was a lot. I don’t agree with it but I do understand that things happen. Who am I to judge? But let’s leave that there.

Then I started thinking about everything in my daily life that could go wrong, I started thinking about the big things in my life. I’ve talked about getting married, having children and buying a house. A lot can go along with those big decisions. Because they are big and not something you do all the time, we put more emphasis on them. Some of those things you only do once. And they’re life changing. Those life changing decisions trigger bigger life decisions.

On a more positive note, WordPress told me yesterday that it was my 3 year anniversary. Time for cake right? Right.

I know that this isn’t the most cohesive post I’ve ever done but give me a break, it’s been a hard week.

I Hate to Say this But…..

I’m not going to post for a few days. We had a good family friend get killed in an accident and with the devastation in Oklahoma, I need to step away to make sure I’m going to be okay. I mean I will be okay but I just don’t want my grief and my head space to overflow here. I’ll probably be back by the end of the week.

Finally some Book Talk.

This is so much funnier if you are from ND

I don’t hate the oil boom in North Dakota because it does have its perks. It just makes me nervous every once in a while. I wouldn’t mind getting out of the reaches of oil but until then, I’m dealing. I’m not even in the worst spot, that’s up by Williston. That’s what makes this picture so much funnier. And I watched “The Lion King” last night. I tried to imagine what the characters would look like if they were human. This picture was funny to me because I understand. No one else has to see the humor. For those of you who are super interested, Williston is in the very for north-west corner of North Dakota.

I want to talk about 2 books today. One fiction, one non-fiction.

I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusag on audio book. I know that there was one comment of someone who didn’t like the book when I mentioned I didn’t like it but everyone else I talked to seemed to love it. I had mixed emotions. There were times that I loved it and then there were times that it helped me get work done. The ending was amazing though. I think that the ending (which I’m not going to ruin) was very helpful for y.a. readers to understand how horribly war always ends. I thought it did a good job of showing a side of WWII. I do wonder how it would have played out if it wasn’t with foster parents.

I kind of scratched my head with the mayor and his wife. They did serve a purpose. If it were me writing, I don’t know if I would have had them play as big of a part in the book. I feel like the main character and I are similar to a certain point. I always got my books legally but I get where she’s coming from.

I loved that death was the narrator. It fascinates me to no end. I haven’t read a book quite like this. It was a longer book which I wasn’t a fan of, especially with it being a y.a. novel even an advanced y.a. I don’t know if you could do it necessarily shorter. There’s a lot of things in this book that I probably would have changed. But I’m not a writer.

I do want to point in that WWII is kind of a fascination to me. I took a class my senior year of college about WWII and it was really good. Why am I fascinated by war. Good question to which I have no answer to.

I also finished Just Call me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist by Mike Farrell. He was B.J. on M*A*S*H*. I loved the character he played and didn’t know that he was such an activist. He did write how I expected him to. As for him as a person, well, we’re very different politically. Farrell is much more left-wing than I am. He definitely wasn’t a fan of Bush. There were parts of the book where I felt it was just a major plug for him politically and a showcase of his speeches that he’s done over the years. I did something I hardly ever do with a book with this one: I skipped parts. I just got tired of him talking about all the good he’s done. Now I get it, it’s his book and it was well written but…..talk about something else. There has to be something more to your life than M*A*S*H* and some activism. But maybe I’m reading into it wrong.

If I had to choose if I liked him or Alan Alda (Hawkeye) better by their books, I’d totally pick Alda. Alda just seemed more personable to me. Talked more about his personal life than a “look at me” book. Alda I think has more of a sense of humor but that could be just me.

Well, that’s all I had.

Liebster Award

So I was going to post about finishing The Book Thief but I got nominated for the Liebster Award. I got nominated by Raelke over at LittleSwagofBooks. I’m amazed that people want to nominate me for things. I just come on here and rant. Nothing big.

I know this is a weird insert here but I’ve noticed a lot more people reading from Australia. What? But I like you guys!

The Liebster Award is then passed on by bloggers to new bloggers who have less than 200 followers, and to support the blogs that you like by sharing them with your readers.

These are the rules of the award:

Recipients of the Liebster Award must:
1.List 11 Random Facts about you
2.Answer the questions that were asked of you (By the blogger that nominated you)
3.Nominate 11 other blogs for the Liebster Blog Award and Link to their Blogs
4.Notify the bloggers of their award.
5.Ask the award winners 11 questions to answer once they accept the award

Random Facts about Me
1. If I could go home to my parents’ farm and drive pickup spring-fall and get paid for it, I totally would.

2. I love rain. When I was growing up rain during the spring/summer was some of the only times I got to see my farmer of a father. And it’s completely soothing to me.

3. I used to hate soup. I went to college and then had to eat it because it was cheap and now I like soup. I used to make soup into cracker mush and in high school I used to steal Eric’s crackers. And he let me every time.

4. When I go out to a restaurant, and I get a straw in the paper covering, I’ll take out the straw from one end, put the straw in my drink and then fold up the paper neatly. I don’t know why I do this or when this got started but EVERY. STINKING. TIME.

5. I just recently watched the movie “Peter Pan” for the first time. Captain Hook is so mean.

6. “Veggie Tales” are my go to movies for when I’m stressed.

7. I want a house full of kids with a big ole dog like a greyhound.

8. I love facial hair on a guy.

9. “Beauty and the Beast” is my favorite Disney Movie because of the library.

10. I’m not a big t.v. watcher.

11. I don’t dance. It makes me feel awkward.

*Bonus* I think I smell funny a lot of the time.

The Questions Asked of Me
1.What inspires you? To me that’s a really hard question. What inspires me to do what? Blog, read, live? If we’re taking that in the general sense, the little things. A sentence, a smile, etc.

2.Which languages do you speak? English fluently, laced with occasional sarcasm. I speak a little German and a little less Spanish. I’m in the process of teaching myself more of both.

3.What was the last holiday you went on? Well I went home last weekend. But an actual “holiday” or “vacation”……..um………uh? Maybe to Minnesota for my cousin’s wedding last fall? I don’t get away very often.

4.Do you carry an umbrella with you in case it starts raining? Absolutely not. I grew up on a farm and we just didn’t have time for umbrellas.

5.How long have you been blogging for? It’s been about 3 years since I’ve started it but just under a year that I’ve been blogging regularly.

6.Why do you blog? To vent, to get ideas out of my head, to document life. Those are just the ones off the top of my head.

7.If you could speak any language fluently, which would you choose, and why? Russian. I don’t have a definite reason why, I just have this weird obsession with learning Russian.

8.Poetry or prose? Most definitely prose. This sounds weird but I don’t have the patience for poetry.

9.Which is the book which has made the greatest impact on you? Really? Well there’s the go-to the Bible. But if we’re talking non-Bible books, This Much I know is True by Wally Lamb. First really adult book I read.

10.Summer or winter? If I had to choose, probably winter. I’d rather put on more clothes than take more off. That and Christmas! Who doesn’t love Christmas?

11.What is your favourite song? That’s such a hard question for me. I only listen to like 8 decades worth of music. I really like Ginny Owens’ “Higher Ground”, “Washed by the Water” by NeedToBreathe, “Marry Me” by Train, the list could go on and on.

Nominees It was so hard to choose!
1. Knitting with Pencils I love the things she posts.
2. Julie’s Chicklit We both love Garth Brooks, we love dinosaurs, we pretty much are the same person, but not really.
3. EMMA! at a wordlessblogger We share jokes on Facebook about when I confuse the word Lions with Loins. I was close right?
4. Lilly in Canada You know a lot of NoDakers make fun of Canada. But I don’t and Lilly is one of these reasons why.
5. The Cutter He entertains me. He’s posted a few comments on my blog that make me crack up and his blog is pretty entertaining too.
6. Fifty5Cents Why aren’t more people following this blog? I love the rating system and it’s always a good insightful post.
7. 6 Months to Live I love the concept.
8. Alicia Benton It never fails that I am drawn into her posts because there’s usually a funny picture. LOVE!
9. George So. Many. Books!
10. Nerd Enchanted Dexter…..on this blog….who doesn’t love some old school Dexter?
11. We Will Begin Again. I love just the thought of We will begin again and it’s great writing.

You are all amazing.

Questions
1. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) how much do you enjoy blogging?
2. How do you choose which blogs to follow?
3. Do you prefer green or blue in general?
4. Do you believe in soul mates, why or why not?
5. If you could travel anywhere, all expenses paid, where would you go and why?
6. Would you rather live by a body of water or on the Plains?
7. Why did you choose WordPress?
8. Are there aliens?
9. Do you believe in a higher power?
10. Do you expect to blog for the rest of your life or is it until you get super burned out?