Weekend Update

After a weekend visiting family, it is always nice to be home. The weekend itself was fairly nice - except for the snow and wind and the fact that my son decided to lie to and deceive not only us but his grandparents. We're having problems with my son's behavior, and it became apparent that being with his grandparents wasn't enough to put him on his best behavior. Oh, and my new puppy got extremely aggressive towards my parents' youngest dog when their dog went after Cullen's food. Cullen bit my dad. Snow, bad son, bad dog - that's my weekend in a nutshell.

We went up to spend time with my parents but also so that my husband could drool over the cars at the Chicago Auto Show. It was our second date many years ago, so we try to go back to it every few years or so. Or, I try to go back. My husband would prefer to go every year. As he freely admits, he is a certified car nut and takes car obsessions to an entirely new level. Thankfully, you can't purchase new cars at the show. Otherwise, I'm sure we would have had yet another new vehicle in less than a year.


On the positive side, I was able to indulge in several Chicago food specialties that I've been absolutely craving for the past few months. Chicago-style pizza, Italian beef, Chicago-style hot dog --- YUMMY!!! You can take the gal out of the Chicago suburbs but sometimes, the gal needs her Chicago food!!

Weekly Geeks 2009-06: What's in a Name?

For this week's edition of Weekly Geeks, we're going to take a closer look at character names. What are some of your favorite character names?

Go to Google or a baby name site like this one or this one, and look up a favorite character's name. What does their name mean? Do you think the meaning fits the character? Why or why not?

If you'd like, look up your own name as well and share the meaning.

Oooo - a challenge!! I found this quite interesting and difficult because there are so many good names in literature out there. How to choose just one or two?

So, I'll start with something easy - my name!!

Michelle - Of Hebrew origin, it is the feminine equivalent of Michael and means "Like God". Yep, that's me! ;-D

I absolutely adore Atlas Shrugged. I think the characters are strong, and I feel so powerful reading it. For that reason, I decided to choose some names from that book.

Dagny - Of Danish or Norwegian origin, it means "New" or "Day". This is an interesting choice on Rand's part. In a way, the reader discovers Rand's "new" philosophy through Dagny's discovery of it. One could even consider her discovery of the Gulch and final entry into it to be the dawning of a new day for the country.

Galt - Of English origin, it means "From the high ground". Who is John Galt? This iconic question sets the stage for the entire novel. Eventually, we find out what the question means and who he really is. John Galt really is living life from the figurative high ground in that he firmly believes in the life he has founded in the Gulch and looks down or pities those who haven't yet discovered how wrong they are.

Some of my more favorite names from books include the following:

Rhett - Of Welsh origin, it means "fiery" or "ardent". Um, no explanation needed for this one.

Anne - Of Israeli, Hebrew or English origin, it means "favor" or "grace" or "God has favored me". I'll admit that I added this to the list because not only is it the first name of one of the greatest characters ever, it is my middle name. Apparently, my parents really felt a connection with God when they named me.

And I just have to add one last one -

Cullen - Of Gaelic or Celtic origin, it means "handsome, good-looking lad". Okay, I am still giggling about this one. Could the name be any more perfect?!

Jonah Day

To quote Anne, today is just one of those days. I woke up in a bad mood and things snowballed from there. I had five e-mails plus a formal request plus an e-mail from one coworker - all asking me if I was going to be finishing his project due on Friday. Last time I checked, today is Tuesday. So yeah, I'll finish your request, buddy!!

I am still short one paper - due tomorrow. Yes, I realize that I should be researching it right now, but I discovered last week that my writing skills deteriorate exponentially after 9 PM. It is now 9:20 PM, so there will be no formal writing for me tonight.

I had to go to the dentist today. Granted, it was for a six-month cleaning, but I really do detest the dentist. My appointment was at 5:15 PM, but I wasn't seen until 5:30. To top it off, I didn't walk out of there until 6:15 PM. There were several times where I had to unclench my hands and force myself to relax.

My husband took my car yesterday and left me with an empty gas tank. Too bad I was running late this morning thanks to the kids and didn't have notice until it was too late. I made it to the gas station, but no thanks to my husband.

Did I mention that the kids decided they didn't want to get dressed this morning? We've been in this routine for years now. And they have to decide this week that they are no longer going to get ready in the allotted time?

Speaking of kids, my son is getting in trouble at school and at home and we can't seem to get any type of response from his teachers. Jim typed a huge long letter expressing our concerns about Connor and his school work and support and lost the entire thing through some freak of cyberspace. Oh yeah, and Connor decided that he didn't want to get in trouble for not folding clothes, which is one of his chores, so he shoved an entire clean load of laundry under this pillows and into his pillowcases. Jim and I only noticed when we ran out of socks to wear to the gym. Because somehow hiding the clean clothes rather than folding them is going to help him avoid punishment?!?

And my daughter came home with a "red light" today because she insists on talking and playing during nap time and made fun of another child (we think - she wasn't exactly clear on the details of that one).

So, part of me knows that I should be doing research, and another part of me things that I should just give up for the day and start fresh tomorrow!!

REVIEW - The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

From Barnes and Noble: "For Leamas the espionage business has become an hermetic, enclosed world, detached from outside reality. He has watched his last agent being shot, crossing from East to West Berlin, and his death marks the end of the Circus' East German network. But Control is planning an operation against the head of East German Intelligence. And Leamas is to be the instrument, set in East one last time...."

This was a book club read. We tend to read quite a bit of Victorian era fiction, so Le Carre was a definite step outside the box for us. I, for one, completely enjoyed the difference in the genre and loved the fast pace and constant suspense of being a part of the spy world. The entire book was clear and concise, almost as if we were the spies and Le Carre didn't want to give away any additional information that might harm his network or him. The book kept me engaged so much that I finished it two weeks before the rest of the group. What got me the most excited was the fact that just Le Carre does give us hints and glimpses of the truth. The ending should not come as a surprise if you are paying close attention, like a spy would.

As portions of the book were set in Berlin, I got a secret thrill of recognizing certain street names and landmarks mentioned. Granted, I was there after the wall came down, but the streets haven't changed. It was different reading about a time when the wall was being built, and I had to reflect on just how much life has changed since then. I am so glad the Cold War is over!

In all, I was thoroughly impressed this this book and would highly recommend it to others. I've even started browbeating my husband into adding it to his list of books to read. If you want something out of the ordinary - a quick, suspenseful read, this is the book for you!

More Adventures of Pocket Edward

A few weeks ago, Lauren over at Lauren's Bite posted about her foray into the kitchen with her Pocket Edward (Cullen for all you non-Twilighters). This week, she decides that Pocket Edward needed a bath. And the adventure begins...

I still want my own Pocket Edward. I could introduce him to the wonderful world of pricing flavors. He could double-check my calculations for me.

Legend - wait for it - dary!!

How awesome is this?!? The story behind the picture is that this is actually a co-worker of Jim's. When ordering new work shirts, the assistant was teasing him about what name to put on his shirt. He sarcastically replied that he wanted his shirts to say "Awesome". And now he has six brand-new work shirts that say exactly that!

Being a big fan of Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother), this picture makes me laugh every time I see it. Sometimes, it is the little things that get us through life!

Weekly Geeks 2009-05

This week's Weekly Geeks assignment is: Judge a Book By Its Cover!

This week it's all about judging books by their covers! Pick a book--any book, really--and search out multiple book cover images for that book. They could span a decade or two (or more)...Or they could span several countries. Which cover is your favorite? Which one is your least favorite? Which one best 'captures' what the book is about?

Without further ado...

As anyone who knows me understands, I have a major fascination/obsession with the Twilight series. Stephenie Meyer's tale about the forbidden love of a teenage girl and a vampire has been a wild success throughout the world. Her original cover, the one which caught my eye before I knew anything about the series is as follows:


Like I said, the book is extremely popular throughout the world. Courtesy of Stephenie's website, here are some of the book covers from different countries...

From the Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic:




From Russia, Indonesia, and Korea:



So, which one is my favorite? I am partial to the original cover, just because the starkness of the black and white against the red apple is so iconic. It is beautiful in its simplicity and really is the reason why I started reading the series in the first place. I like what the Netherlands' version did to the apple. However, one of the beautiful things about the original is that the message/symbolism is obvious but not in a pushy way. I feel that the bite out the apple all but hits the readers over the head with its message. It is rather like a big red arrow pointing to the main theme of the book stating "Look at me!! Here I am!!"

As for which one(s) is my least favorite, it has to be a toss-up between the Russian version and the Indonesian version. I mean, Bella does NOT have blue eyes, nor does she have blonde hair - so why show that on the cover? I think they missed something in the translation.

As for which one captures the book, again I have to go with Stephenie's original cover. Forbidden love = forbidden fruit. Perfect hands = vampire. Yeah, it covers everything without being overly obvious, as I already mentioned. Have I mentioned how much I love this cover?

Memories

Yesterday marked the fifteenth "anniversary" of Jim and my first date. We went to a Mexican restaurant (where I didn't eat anything) and then saw Jim Carrey perform stand-up at the college where Jim went. I was a senior in high school, and we were doubling with my coworker/classmate and her boyfriend. It just so happened that she was best friends with Jim's ex-girlfriend. Yeah, soap opera saga. Anyway, it was one of Jim Carrey's last performances in front of a live audience because Ace Ventura had just been released, and Dumb and Dumber was to be released later that year. It was a great first date, and now we have a special affinity for anything done by Jim Carrey.

Twilight News

Did you know that filming for New Moon starts in March. They start filming in Italy in May, and yes, they are going to be filming in Volterra!! How cool is that?!?

I saw this on one of my regular Twilight fansites and just had to share. Apparently, Edward Cullen is quite handy in the kitchen. I knew my kitchen was missing someone...

Generic Update

First of all, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers! That was an amazing finish to a Super Bowl game. Unfortunately, the commercials weren't all that this year.

It has been an interesting few days at work. There has been a major restructuring at work which required the sacrifice of seven co-workers of various levels and experience. Thankfully, my section was not affected. If anything, I came out of the restructuring better off because I was given additional responsibilities and a new manager who personally guaranteed that he would oversee my development.

Unfortunately, my company has implemented a salary freeze for the remainder of the calendar year. When I received my salary confirmation highlighting the lack of change, I realized that I make less than 25 percent of those holding a similar position throughout the country. In fact, the average pricing manager makes almost $25K more than I do. So, while I am happy about the fact that I am finally being given a chance to prove myself and test my abilities, I'm upset because I feel that they are essentially using me or taking advantage of me. Additional responsibility without the pay but during a period of salary freezes. Do I complain, fight it, or sit tight and bring it up next year?

I also spoke with my behavior coach, part of the 360-degree feedback process. She seemed concerned that one or two people felt that I came across rudely to them. I diplomatically tried to explain the people involved or the situations where this tendency may occur (because I was sitting in a cubicle surrounded by two other coworkers). As I was talking with her, I realized that it's taken me 32 years to be able to speak up and stand up for myself. Maybe I could be more tactful of how I say it, but at the same time, I like who I am. I find it difficult to be able to take one or two comments seriously when the remainder of the feedback was very positive.

I think my deep thoughts here are brought about by a lack of sleep. My children have had a reoccurring cough for the past few weeks, and they have both invariably coughed on me. I hate the feeling you get when you know you are getting sick but don't have the full-blown symptoms yet. I'm not sleeping well and can't seem to focus on anything - including my beloved reading. Maybe we'll get so much snow tonight that they will declare a snow emergency, and I'll get a day off to rest tomorrow!

Procrastination at its finest

I know, I know. I really should be doing my homework. And yet I can't seem to focus on it long enough to get anything done. So I'll complain about having so much to do, when really, I've already spent a ridiculously long amount of time playing Mafia Wars on Facebook (if you haven't tried it, I'm always welcoming new mafia members!!) and checking out different blogs. This is pure craziness.

Sadly, I do realize that if I would do my homework first, I would have more time for blogging and Mafia Wars. But I'll continue to drag my feet and then have to rush tonight to get everything on my to-do list accomplished.