What have you read?

I saw this at Renee's and wanted to try it. A few of the books I couldn't remember if I read them or not.

 

Look at the list of books below.
* Bold the ones you’ve read
* Italicize the ones you want to read
* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
**If there are any books on this list that I didn't italicize and you think I should read, let me know in comments! Also, what other books do you think belong on this list and why?

Click to see List

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell) 

35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) 

42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMavrier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

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Responses to Reader's Comments: 

Minerva said...Why can't I see the list? I don't know.  Another place to see them is in my site feed. Look here.

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What I Find Irksome About Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell irks me. I know I'm not alone in this, he irks most everyone who watches or participates on American Idol.

What I find irksome is something he did multiple times last week, but only once tonight. For those of you who don't watch Idol, I'll tell you how the show goes. A contestant will sing, then the three judges will critique the performance, first Randy Jackson, then Paula Abdul and finally Simon Cowell. It usually goes something like this, say after a poor performance:

Randy: Yo, yo, I wasn't feeling it dog. It was a little pitchy.

Paula: You know, you looked really good, perhaps a more uptempo song would show off your talents better.

Simon: What Paula was trying to say.....

Okay, stop right there. Who asked Simon to be Paula's interpreter? Does he really think we need him to interpret what Paula said? We know she's trying to sugarcoat, we all weren't born yesterday. Why can't he leave what Paula said alone and just give his own opinion? Why does he feel the need to restate hers for her? She has the right to her own opinion without him rushing in to revise it. Give her some respect and let her voice be heard. What a boor.

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Eagle Scout Ceremony

Scouting is a very positive part of my son's life. He learns so much through scouting, and the troop has many boys who are good role models for him. Tonight we attended an Eagle Court of Honor where two young men were awarded Scouting's highest honor, the rank of Eagle Scout.

The Scoutmaster read some very interesting statistics regarding scouting. I'm glad my son is part of this. Just one in four boys is a Boy Scout, but just look what they achieve:

A nation-wide survey of high schools revealed the following information:

- 85% of student council presidents were Scouts
- 89% of senior class presidents were Scouts
- 80% of junior class presidents were Scouts
- 75% of school publication editors were Scouts
- 71% of football captains were Scouts

Scouts also account for:

- 64% of Air Force Academy graduates
- 68% of West Point graduates
- 70% of Annapolis graduates
- 72% of Rhodes Scholars
- 85% of F.B.I. agents
- 26 of the first 29 astronauts

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How I Added a Background to My Blog

I decided to add a tiled background to my blog. It was surprisingly easy to do. The first thing I did was visit Christine's Blog Templates and follow her advice. I had to modify it just a little bit. There are two basic things you need to do:

1) Find a tile that you like
2) Change a little piece of code in your template

I visited the Absolute Background Texture Archive and found a tile that I liked. The great thing about this site is that if you find what you like in the wrong color, you can change the color and the brightness. Just click on the tile you like and follow the directions on the next page that pops up.

When I finally found the background image that I liked I right-clicked and copied it to my hard drive, then I uploaded it to Flickr. You can upload it to other image storage sites, just make sure there is an url to link to. The url of my image is:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/402710080_0bab4208b6_o.jpg
Here is what it looks like:


Next I went to my blogger template and found the html where it said background, it's right near the top, right after the body tag. It used to say:
background:#fffec6;

I changed it to say:
background: url(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/402710080_0bab4208b6_o.jpg);

I saved the template and that was it. Easy.

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Snowshoeing

My son's boyscout troop planned a snowshoeing trip today at Mendon Ponds Park. I decided to go with them. CrazieQueen asked for pictures, and the only one I had with me in it was this one. I had to crop my son and I off the edge of a group photo. We had a great day for snowshoeing, sunny and not too cold. Snowshoeing is great exercise and getting out into nature is always great.

The best part of the trip for me was that we snowshoed on Birdsong Trail. The chickadees along this trail are tame enough to eat birdseed from your hand. This is a picture of an actual chickadee on my actual hand. I love Birdsong Trail. Mendon Ponds Park is also home to Wild Wings, a not-for-profit educational organization that houses and cares for permanently injured birds of prey (raptors), which are unable to survive on their own in the wild any more. They had some of the birds out today. I've included pictures of a turkey vulture, a barn owl, a harris hawk and two red tailed hawks.

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Responses to Reader's Comments:
Melli said...Awwwwwwww MAN! You have ALLLLLL the fun! So... I guess you can just WALKING up there in the spring? (no snow shoes required...?) We didn't need snowshoes, we could have walked on the trails with regular winter footwear, the snow was all packed down.  The chickadees will only eat from your hand when there is snowcover, otherwise there is plentiful food. 

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Corning Glass Museum

See the handsome boy in the orange t-shirt? That's my son, he went to the Corning Glass Museum yesterday. Whatever he was making he couldn't take it home with him, it had to cure overnight, so it's getting mailed to him. He had a great time. He wants to go back when he's fourteen because then he can blow glass.

We're going snowshoeing tomorrow, I've never walked with snowshoes before. It should be fun. Have a great weekend!

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J. Andrew Lockhart

J Andrew Lockhart. I wonder what it would be like to have success follow me around the way it follows him around. Nasra Al Adawi of Living in Poetry did a wonderful interview with Andrew. Learn about the man behind the poetry.

J. Andrew Lockhart on Living in Poetry: Haiku Treat

Read Andrew's poetry at Past Tense

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Soft

Tessa was soft. I miss her. She had manners and was kind and loving. She followed me everywhere around the house. I loved her.
Next week's theme: Salty

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Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
Join the blogroll.
Visit participants.expand

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Doh! I did it again! I'm up a day early with my Photo Hunt entry. This time I have an excuse, I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow (Friday) and today is logical Friday for me. I'm losing it folks, please be kind.

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Blue Jay

Here's a blue jay in the birch tree in our backyard. My son took this photo.

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Responses to Reader's Comments: 

Melli...I've never seen a white blue jay before... I only have blue blue jays.... Or maybe I don't HAVE blue jays.... what else is blue?  This is a juvenile blue jay, it doesn't have it's adult plumage yet.

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LaKisha

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Responses to Reader's Comments: 

J. Andrew Lockhart said... Am I missing something? I don't see anything here. LaKisha brought down the house last night on American Idol. LaKisha

Melli said...Is she your vote? I'm assuming.  It's too early to tell, but what a performance she put on. 

Implicit Association

Like all of you, I live in a society. Society sometimes makes explicit associations about people; they certainly make implicit associations. Being the type of person I am, I strive to be free of preconceived notions or prejudices. Freedom from these prejudices takes work; I feel I've been quite successful.

I ran across a Harvard University study that tests implicit associations. Here is some information from their website:

"Here you will have the opportunity to assess your conscious and unconscious preferences for over 90 different topics ranging from pets to political issues, ethnic groups to sports teams, and entertainers to styles of music. At the same time, you will be assisting psychological research on thoughts and feelings."

The tests take 10 to 15 minutes and are administered randomly. I took four of the tests. Two were not about people preferences; they were about how easily I form associations. I'm happy to say that I don't easily form automatic associations, which is suited to my way of thinking. In the other two tests, one tested my preference for short men versus tall men; the other tested my preference for Protestants versus Catholics.

Before I continue, I should let you know that I was raised as a Methodist and my husband is 6'2" tall. My test results show that I have slight automatic preferences for tall men and Protestants. I was hoping for no preference, so I have more work to do. However, I am happy that I do not have moderate or strong preferences in these categories. Still, I am dissatisfied; I have a strong preference for no preference.

Take the tests here: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/research/

Were you surprised by your results?

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Thank you!!

I read all the kind comments that you wrote about the photos my son took to my son tonight. He could barely contain his grin. You really made his day. Thank you so much! You guys are the greatest.

I asked him if he could please take some more for me tomorrow and he said, "Of course, I have to."

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For Gem

You Are An INTP

The Thinker You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can. Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge. Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat. A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it. You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor.

What's Your Personality Type?

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Please warn me before you switch to Blogger Beta!

I've noticed a trend, sometimes, when people switch to Blogger Beta they no longer show up in Google Reader.

I consolidated all my blogs into Google Reader a couple of months ago. Google Reader uses your RSS or Atom feed to alert me that you have a new posting. What a time saver this has been. I used to go through my blogroll manually to check to see if you've posted, that wasted a lot of time clicking on blogs that I was already up to date on. Now I only visit your blog when it's been updated. I know I was late to this parade, but it's been great.

In my sidebar you'll see the Great Posts from Great Bloggers. I created this from Google Reader. When I am so impressed by your awesome posts, I tag them with a star. I used a widget to put all my starred posts right in my sidebar. According to my blog statistics people are clicking on the links.

I've run into only one problem, sometimes, when people update to Blogger Beta, their RSS Feed or Atom Feed changes somehow. I no longer know that they've updated their blog, and I don't go visit. This happened with Melli a couple of weeks ago, and I just discovered that I haven't been reading David of Sugarloaf Mountain's posts since February 6. His February 7 post is about switching to Blogger Beta. Resubscribing to their new feeds is pretty easy, but I don't know to do it until I've missed a bunch of my favorite bloggers' posts.

So please give me a warning that you are switching before you switch. If you post about it afterwards I may never know it. There's lots of folks like me who read blogs through a reader, please don't cut off your readers. Thank you.

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Answers to Reader's Questions: 

Melli...And I really should set up this reader thing... because I too spend a lot of time clicking into "nothing new" blogs! HOW do you do it? Click here for directions to set up Google Reader

Answer: First you need a Google account. If you are on Blogger Beta, you already have a Google account, it is your Blogger ID and password.  If you use Gmail, that is your Google account.  If you have neither you can get a Gmail account, sign up here Now that everyone has their account, go to the Google Homepage.  Look in the top right-hand corner,  it should look something like this: yourgoogleaccount| Personalized Home | My Account | Sign out

Click where it says My Account, on the next screen you'll see a list of services on the right hand side.  The sixth one down says Reader, click on that.  There, now you are in Google Reader. 

Look on the left hand side where it says Add Subscription, click on that.  A box will open up, add the URL of a blog you want to read via this reader.  You can try mine, type: http://bmiers.blogspot.com then hit the little radio button that says Add.  You should now be able to see the contents of my Atom feed.  Start reading!  Click on Add Subscription to add more blogs

Nicole...I have been coveting your photos of birds of late. So I must know what type of camera and lens that you have. I have never been as successful as you have been in bird photos and would love any advice you may have. Click here to see how I do it.

That's so sweet of you to say. I am not a skilled photographer, but I have set things up to give myself the opportunity to take great pictures. First, I have a great camera, it's a Canon PowerShot G6, I don't use a lens other than the one built into the camera.

Did you see my post where I showed the window I take the pictures from? There is a lilac bush right outside this window and I've positioned the feeders close to this window, one is right on the window. The birds land in the lilac tree before going to the feeder, and go back there to eat their seeds. Having a natural backdrop for the pictures really adds to the composition. I've researched what foods the birds love and I make sure to provide it for them.

The next thing that I do is stand very quietly by the window with my camera ready. Here are two pictures that I haven't touched up at all. In the first I am literally three feet from this cardinal. See the window frame at the top of the picture?


In the second picture the cardinal flew to the lilac bush. He is five to six feet away. I use the zoom, which is only 4x, to get in as close as possible. This picture also shows the bird-feeder attached to the window in the upper right.


I take about one hundred and fifty pictures hoping to get a few good ones. If the sun is shining on them from an angle where the sun side of the bird faces the camera, that almost guarantees a great shot. I download them to my PC and use my photo-editing software. I've been meaning to learn PhotoShop but I haven't got around to it, mostly because Microsoft Picture It is so darned easy to use and does a great job I'm not motivated to switch.

The first thing I do in Picture It is crop the photo. I usually use the rule of thirds to crop the photo. Then I use the software's auto fixes or manual fixes to adjust the contrast, brightness, colors or levels. Then voila! I'm done.

Teena said... Thanks for the lesson re the Reader. How do I get it to feed on my blog?

click here to see how I did it

Here's how I did it:

 

• When I see a post I want to show up in my sidebar I put a star on it, the stars are at the top left hand side of the posts in the reading pane. 

 

To make the widget to display them:

 

1. Go into Google Reader
2. Click on setting in the top right corner
3. Then click on Tags in the top left
4. Check the little box next to starred items
5. Click the drop down box called "Change Sharing"
6. Pick "Public" to change your starred items to public
7. Then next to the row that says starred item, click the link that says: add a clip to your site
8. The HTML to put into your template will be on the window that opens

It appears that you can put an entire folder on your sidebar if you wanted too. 

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Bird Photos

I asked my eleven-year-old son to watch the birdfeeder and take some pictures today. I'm going to hand the camera over to him more often. He took some astonishingly good photographs. Take a look:

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Answers to Reader's Questions: 

Smalltown RN...but those ones on the branch....with the red in their wings...what are those... Those are male house finches.  Aren't they beautiful? The other pictures are of black-capped chickadees and tufted titmice.

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Fuel My Blog

My Blog is on
Fuelmyblog
The Great Wall...

 

About a week ago I added my site to FuelMyBlog. It has been a positive experience so far. I chose a square on their wall of blogs, people click on the square, a short description of your blog displays, and it brings them to my website. The set up was pretty easy, and free. You pick an image to represent your blog, write a short description and then pick your square.  I picked a square on the LIFE wall, all the squares on the main wall are already taken.  I've had a vistor everyday from FuelMyBlog.  You can get more visitors too!
Here is their FAQ:
1. What is a Square? The squares we feature on this website. For our purposes a square is 40x40 pixels. We refuse to add anything that is porn or spam. We will only add Blogs or myspace's to this site. You can have a square on the main page or on one of the features tabs, sport, business, life and all sorts.
2. Does Having a Square actually get more readers? The purpose of this site is to make it easier for people to get introduced to and read your blog. We will shorty be introducing a radio show that will discuss blogs on this site. You have at least five years advertising free. The clicks facility shows how many clicks your ad is generating. People will be able to read your blog by clicking on your image. So, the answer is yes, having a square generates more readers, it is up to you to have content that creates comments!
3. Can I use my own image?Absolutely! However the image format must be in either GIF or JPEG and NOT be animated, with a maximum file size of 100x100 pixels. Please be aware that you need to have the rights of the image you are providing.
4. Why is it free? We decided to make the site free because the whole point of fuelmyblog is to find more blogs easier. By offering adverts free we want to get as many blogs involved as possible, ultimately, that's why this site started. We will continue to improve the site and fund it with advertising on the many new features coming soon.
5. What is blog of the day? Blog of the day is chosen by us based upon content. It stays in this space for 24 hours.

 

Today I'm Blog of the Day on the  Life wall.  Go check it out!

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House Finch

I'm so pleased to see a new visitor to the birdfeeder. This is a male house finch, he was visiting with his mate. These birds sometimes catch an infectious disease called conjunctivitis. There is a way to help them.

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Answers to Reader's Questions: 

mar... Beautiful bird!! is that like the human eye infection??? Yes, it is an eye disease, the finches eyes get red and swollen,  in extreme cases the birds go blind.   

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Exercise for Comments

We have a new Exerciser for Comments!
The Bluest Butterfly from A Virtual Hobby Store and Coffee Shop, please go leave her a comment or two.

Exercise May Help Prevent Breast Cancer

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Antique

This is an antique clock that sits on the wall behind me while I'm blogging. It's 131 years old according to the clock face. It's kind of loud.

Seth Thomas Clock Co.

Next week's theme: Soft

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Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
Join the blogroll.
Visit participants.expand

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Answers to questions in the comments:
Janie Hickok Siess, Esq. asked...I've never seen anything like that before. What is that bottom dial? The bottom tells you the date.  The dial points to the day of the month.

Carol asked...Was this passed down to you through your family or did you purchase it? Ever think of having it appraised say, like on the Antiques Roadshow? This clock belonged to my husband's great-aunt's grandfather.  His great-aunt Mildred, affectionately known as good ol' Aunt Mildew, didn't have any children,  my husband was like a grandson to her.  He would visit her and help her with chores whenever he was in town. This clock has sentimental value and will probably get passed down to my son with the expectation that he will pass it down also, so we've never considered getting it appraised because we would never consider selling it. 

JoeinVegas said...But - did the Wren from a few days ago freeze? I'm happy to say I saw the Carolina Wren this morning. 

srp asked... Is it difficult to keep going? Yes, my husband frequently winds it and fiddles with it.  We muffled the ringer because we couldn't sleep with it chiming the hours. 

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Pay Real Taxes on Your Virtual Life

Congress has found a new way to tax netizens. If you play role-playing games online, and that game has a virtual economy, Congress is trying to find a way to tax your virtual dollars.

Some games, like Second Life, allow you to trade your online "Linden Dollars" offline on eBay for real cash. Linden Dollars are the only virtual currency that eBay will allow you to trade. The government wants a piece of this action. You can also own virtual land in Second Life, I wonder if the Congress will want you to pay property tax on it.

I'll pay in virtual dollars.

from FOXNews.com

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Friday's Feast

Feast One Hundred & Thirty One

Appetizer What sound, other than the normal ringing, would you like your telephone to make? Birds chirping (of course)

Soup Describe your usual disposition in meteorological terms (partly cloudy, sunny, stormy, etc.). Calm and moderate

Salad What specific subject do you feel you know better than any other subjects? Computer Science - I've worked in the field since the day I graduated from college.

Main Course Imagine you were given the ability to remember everything you read for one entire day. Which books/magazines/newspapers would you choose to read?
Dictionary, Spanish Transalation (my son is learning Spanish at school and uses it at home when he knows I can't understand him), How to Make Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (Great Book), and Birds of New York Field Guide (I could lighten my load and get this out of my purse)

Dessert If a popular candy maker contacted you to create their next confection, what would it be like and what would you name it? I would make it close to Reese's Peanut Buttercups, except I would add oreo cookies to it.  I would name it after my son because I'm sure he would like it. 

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Nine Jars

Yet More Ammo for Those Choosy Mothers

"For those readers who might have a jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter lingering in the cupboard, check the lid. If the the product code begins with the numbers 2111, step away from the peanut butter. It has been recalled."

 

"ConAgra is recalling all Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter beginning with product code 2111 that already was distributed. "

 

We only have nine jars.  One has been opened and used, we've suffered no ill effects, well except now we have no peanut butter.

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Carolina Wren

I was so excited when I saw a new bird show up at the birdfeeder. I didn't even recognize it when I saw it. With the help of WhatBird I was able to identify it as a Carolina Wren. This bird is not very abundant in my neck of the woods, so I'm happy to have the chance to get acquainted with one. I decided to research this bird on the Internet.

I visited the Cornell University website and found out this piece of information:

"But Carolina Wrens are extremely susceptible to harsh winters and their populations will crash—as they did in 1977 and 1992—when winter temperatures are extremely low and snowfall is heavy."

With all the harsh weather forecasted I'm worried about this little bird. I'm glad it is getting fed. I hope it found the large roosting box we built and put up in the yard.

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Exercise for Comments

We have two new Exercisers for Comments!
Liza from Liza's Eyeview and Moonraker from Chippenham Blog

Please go leave them a comment or two.

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A Valentine Cardinal

This cardinal showed up outside my window this morning, in a snowstorm. The red of the cardinal and the white of the snow reminded me of a valentine.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!!!

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Answers to your questions:
Nicole asked...How much snow do you have now? We've gotten 16 inches so far. (5:30 PM 2/14/07)

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For the forgetful...

You remembered valentines day, right?

If not, you'll be happy that I was watching Rachel Ray this morning. I found this website, InstaSong, where you can personalize a song for $5.00. Someone will sing a song and sing your beloved's name in the appropriate part of the song. Five minutes, five dollars, well worth it.

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The Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #29 Love Theme

The Carnival of the Blogging Chicks #29 Love Theme

Read my valentine post there!

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I really need to move to Florida...

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I love being worked on

The people on my floor at the office building I work in thought it would be a wonderful idea to have an "International Day" at work. The idea is that everyone would bring in a dish that represents their heritage. It's scheduled for February 14.

I didn't sign up for it.

The admin in my area came over last week to give me a pep talk about signing up for it. I told her that I don't cook and most of my ancestors arrived here in the 1700's, so my heritage is American.

The woman who organized it saw me yesterday and asked, "Aren't you going to be here on Wednesday?" I assured her I was, then she said, "Oh, I didn't see your name on the sign up sheet." So I gave her the same spiel I gave our admin.

With all the bad weather being forecasted I was preparing to work from home if school is cancelled tomorrow. On my way out the door today our admin tells me, "We postponed the International Day till next week because too many people are working from home tomorrow, now I have another week to work on you."

I love being worked on.

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Suldog-O-Rama

I'm guest blogging today over at Suldog-O-Rama. So please hurry on over to Suldog's, don't get distracted by the lovely little bird.

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Answers to your questions:
gem asked... It is a lovely bird. Is that your picture? Yes, this is my picture, I get so much enjoyment from photographing these little birds.
Melli asked... That is just SO adorable! I think that is THE most perfect picture you've ever gotten! How did you DO it???   Melli, put a birdfeeder right next to a window.  Stand very quietly by the window with a camera, click away.  Take a hundred pictures, get two good ones, then crop and enhance them, voila!

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Tagged

Lucky for me, Jake tagged me.  I don't have a Tuesday meme.

 

Jake is a really nice guy, he fixes jets, he's in the military, Air Force I believe. He is also involved with the honor guard.  He is married to a lovely woman and they are the proud parents of a little boy who's a little over one year old.  Jake tries to stick to a diet, preferring the Longevity diet,  he got his wife involved too.  He seems to have a laid back approach to life, something I wish I had.  Go read over there.

 

1.   Are your parents married or divorced? They were married when my Dad died a little over a year ago.
2.   Are you a vegetarian? No, but I aspire to be one.
3.   Do you believe in Heaven? Yes
4.   Have you ever come close to dying? No
5.   What jewelry do you wear 24/7? My wedding ring
6.   Favorite time of day?The sunny part 7.   Do you eat the stems of broccoli? No
8.   Do you wear makeup? Yes, most days
9.   Ever have plastic surgery? No
10. If you did have plastic surgery, what you you do? I can't think of anything. 
11. What do you wear to bed? Pajamas and my wedding ring
12. Have you ever done anything illegal? I plead the fifth
13. Can you roll your tongue? Yes
14. Do you tweeze your eyebrows? No
15. What kind of sneakers? Avia
16. Do you believe in abortions? Umm, they are a fact, right?
17. What is your hair color? Brown
18. Future child’s name? No future child
19. Do you snore? I've been erroneously accused of it.
20. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Paris, Ive never been over the ocean
21. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? Just my husband after a buffet
22. If you won the lottery, what would you do first? Ask my Mom what she wants
23. Gold or silver? Gold
24. Hamburger or hot dog? Hamburger
25. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Bread 26. City, beach or country? Country - there's probably more birds there
27. What was the last thing you touched? The light switch
28. Where did you eat last? Right here at home
29. When’s the last time you cried? Today, reading an email
30. Do you read blogs? Usually
31. Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex? No
32. Ever been involved with the police? Romantically? No.  Any other way? No.
33. What’s your favorite shampoo conditioner and soap? Whatever my hairdresser sells me.
34. Do you talk in your sleep? I don't know.
35. Ocean or pool? Pool, it's cleaner
36. Sauna or whirlpool? Whirlpool
37. Starbucks or Krispy Kreme? Starbucks, I say that because Ive been to starbucks several times and I've never been to Krispy Kreme.
38. Window seat or aisle? Aisle, so I can get out quicker
39. Ever met anyone famous? Yes, Hillary Clinton 40. Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life? For the most part, but I'm not without regrets
41. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Twirl
42. Ricki Lake or Oprah Winfrey? Oprah, I don't even know who Ricki Lake is. I admire Oprah.
43. Basketball or Football? Football, the Buffalo Bills
44. How long do your showers last? Till the hot water runs out
45. Automatic or do you drive a stick? Automatic
46. Cake or ice cream? Cake 47. Are you self-conscious? If need be
48. Have you ever drank so much you threw up? I can't remember
49. Have you ever given money to a beggar? Does my son count? 50. Have you been in love? Yes
51. Where do you wish you were? I am happy where I am
52. Are you wearing socks? Always
53. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? No
54. Can you tango? No,  but I can learn
55. Last gift you received? Christmas gifts
56. Last sport you played? Baseball
57. Things you spend a lot of money on? Gasoline 58. Where do you live? In a house in Webster, NY 59. Where were you born? Amarillo, TX
60. Last wedding attended? I can't remember
62. Favorite position? First
63. Most hated food(s)? Peas, sausage, pepper, hot sauce 64. Most hated soda pop? Diet Mountain dew
65. Can you sing? I think yes, my son disagrees
66. Last person you instant messaged? I don't IM
67. Last place you went on holiday? Maine
68. Favorite regular drink? Coke
69. Current Song? I haven't learned a new song in quite a while
70. Tag 3 friends. Sunflower, Melli,  Mar

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Answers to your questions:
donna asked... Bracing for the storm? My son is hoping for a snow day. One of his teachers told him that wearing his pajamas inside out helps bring on snow days.

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Spike

Manic Monday: Spike

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Ask a question, I'll answer it here.

Shelli asked...Now I gotta know, where is that? It's at the Rochester Science and Museum Center.

J. Andrew Lockhart asked...are you under snow yet? We only got an inch ot two yesterday, very manageable.

gem asked...I just want to know if you took that picture. Yes, I took it yesterday (Sunday).

Sanni asked...Just like all the other I´d like to know where the picture is taken! Rochester and Museum Science Center, the exhibit is Expedition Earth

Suldog asked...OK, I've got a really odd one for you - Are those Passenger Pigeons in the background? Yes, they are passenger pigeons.  What an incredible story about extinction.  There used to be billions of them in North America, they went from billions to extinct in the course of 100 years.  I read a fascinationg essay on them.   

Morgen asked...So, is it a mastadon or a wooly mammoth? It's a mastadon.

DeeJay asked... Was the Mastadon (whatever he is) aware that you were going to immortalize him for ever while he was mid - sneeze? I think I told him.   

Jean-Luc Picard asked...Is that where the coats are hung! I wish it were, I walked around for a couple hours wearing my coat and holding my son's.

Melli asked... Do ya ever feel like you're so full up on meme's and games that you don't get to "just blog" anymore? Yes,sometimes the memes are a chore, and sometimes they save me from blogger's block. 

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Two Chickadees

Upon a branch in the lilac tree

Together were two chickadees

 

Singing bright, singing strong

Happily they gave their song

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Love

LOVE

I walked with love along the way
And oh, it was a lovely day!
Lovely skies with clouds of white . . .
Lovely grass with trees and flowers . . .
Lovely birds to sing their songs . . .
of peace and harmony and love.
The loveliness of love appeared . . .
awakening my heart to newness of thought . . .
and I knew Love walked with me!

by Margie of When the heart speaks

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If you ask a question in the comments, I'll post the answer here.

J. Andrew Lockhart asked... Have you considered writing your own poetry for your photos? Actually, I like to write poetry. I haven't put any on my blog because it doesn't come close to the artistry that other bloggers have, namely you.

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Exercise for comments

Sweet like Kitty will add five minutes to her exercising for comments for each valentine you leave her!

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Photo Hunt - Broken

Ruins - they're always broken.

I finally figured out why no one is visiting my post, I'm a day ahead of myself. Geesh!

Next week's theme: Antique

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Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.
Join the blogroll.
Visit participants.expand

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Answers to questions in the comments:

David asked... got snow?  Yeah - we got a lot, but not nearly as much as Oswego!

Carol asked... Are you on vacation? No, but I was when I took this picture.  We were vacationing in Cancun.

Chrixean asked...Was this ruined because of war? We have a lot of these ruins in my country. They are the result of World War II.  Probably because of war, it is an ancient Mayan temple.

Danella asked... Is that one of the Mexican ruins? Yes, it's Chichen Itza

Sweet Kitty asked... Where did you take it? I took it in Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula.

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