Techy

English Ed & Et #4

Are Harry and Hermione stepping out on Ron? That is what the local news reported recently. How cute!! The article said that they were both really trying to make sure no one saw them together: yeah, hello, they will confuse all the young Harry Potter fans….what? Hermione and Harry????

I love Harry Potter. The books have got to be one of my very favorite things that have come from Britian.

Here are some more English terms brought to you by my two favorite English bloggers: Saxon and Mike Ball.

I will just share the ones with HP connections for now:

lift – elevator or giving someone a ride. How about taking a lift in that muggle flying car? or We took the lift to our dormitory, isntead of hiking the 12 flights of stairs.

headmaster – the principal of course. Did you know that Dumbledore was gay?

Muggins – fool, sap, etc. Now, who would you consider a muggins? Malfoy?

galleon and pence: from Saxon – A galleon is about 4 Litres I think. (me: what is a litre?) There are 100 pennies(pence) in a pound. ie. How many galleons did that Nimbus 2000 cost? Read Saxon’s comment to understand how totally idiotic I was with this one. I think I got a little confused here from reading Harry Potter…don’t they call wizard money a galleon?

tea – not just tea, but also dinner Will you join me in The Great Hall for some tea?

sarnie -sandwich (yeah, this will be a fun one to try and incorporate into my vocab next time I go to Subway- “Can I have a sarnie please?)

And lastly, for the people who may want to watch the news about Radcliffe when they do visit the U.K., you need to know this crazy tidbit:

If you have a TV you have to buy a TV licence here in the UK. It only lasts for a year so you have to buy a new one each year as long as you have a TV. The licence is a £135 and if you don’t have one and are caught by one of the ‘detector vans’ watching TV you will get a fine of up to £1000. (I still haven’t figured out how much money that is, but either way, that seems just crazy to me)

Hope you enjoyed…it took me long enough to get to it.

I’m smearing my spelling reputation

When I recently taught Abigail how to use the spellchecker, she didn’t understand why she had spent so much time on that darn spelling bee a while back. I also wonder, “Why did we spend every moment in the car for three weeks spelling word after word, if a computer will fix your mistakes for you?” She was amazed! I am sure that somewhere in that great brain of hers, she is trying to figure out how she can have Microsoft Word close by for next year’s competition.

I don’t want to make you think that I am trying to exploit Abigial with this video because I chose to post the video of when she got outed. Abigail was the only third grader to stay in until the third round; she did very well. And it’s a good thing because it felt like I lived and breathed spelling there for a bit. I just love watching her little wheels turn in this video. You can see it on her face that it only took her .005 second to realize that she didn’t know how to spell smear. So, what did she do… she said something as quick as she could to get the misery over with. That’s my girl…why prolong misery?…if you barrel through anything fast enough, it is as if you didn’t experience it at all. (Wow, even if she doesn’t ever win the spelling bee, maybe I have taught her some life coping skills?)

I like to blame LeGrand for the fact that Abigail did not know “smear”. Really, if that would have been my word, she would have never forgotten the trick…ear with and sm? (Dad didn’t really get into the spelling tricks) The end of page three was dad’s job while mom was at work, back in December. LeGrand swears they went over it, and I am not trying to be mean by blaming him, but really, just so you know, it is the only way that I am feeling good about my job as a mom right now. That spelling bee was one way that I could prove that I was a little smart. LG, well, let’s just say he doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone (he’s pretty secure) and he can also do math. And, let’s face it, with Word around, who really needs to know how to spell anyway?

Is anyone else having trouble using their spellchecker in blogspot? I am sorry if I have made you all cringe with my misspelling during the last few days. (Is that word even spelled right?) Well, if anyone knows what I need to do so that I can spell correctly again, can you give me a shout? I would hate to smir my stellar spelling reputation.

And, a good old fashioned spelling bee is not going to work…I now know modern technology in the most intimate fashion, if you know what I mean.

Progression

So, good news at the imsofunny camp. I’ve had a total of 1,800 hits in the past few days. I never expected my instalanch and gateway link from two political blogs: instapundit and gatewaypundit.(because from my post a while back, you all know I have never really been into politics) But, wow, I have taken myself by surprise with my own involvement the past couple of weeks. Something lit a political fire under me and I am not totally sure what it was.

To all of my readers who like my typical stories and not my Mitt Romney propaganda, you will be happy that my love affair politics is almost over. I can feel my disenchantment coming on: it’s inevitable, tomorrow is SuperTuesday. I’ll be glad when it’s over, so I can get back to blogging about things that I love. (not sure what the things I love are, but I like to rediscover that every day) I reallylaughed at what a man said to me tonight when I called him about voting. He said, “Well, honey, what I always say is, You have to vote or you have no right to b****.” (I apologize to my Mormon friends for the vulgarity there)

On a side note: I have had the same template for my blog for the past 3 years. But recently people say they can’t read it any more. Which, means that who knows how many of the people from my miracle of an instalaunch could actually read my blog! Oh well, I never planned on being famous in the political world anyway.

For you who have been disappointed when you came to my blog to only find one smeared page, you will be happy to know that I am now in the processing of changing my template. I have to say though that I feel a great sense of loss. I have gotten attached to my old one! How sad, somehow the instalaunch I’ve been wishing for got me no loyal readers and simutaneously ruined my good old template! Well, I guess it’s all about progression. (blogging and political)

Google It

Because of Megan’s recent entry, I was inspired to to get reacquainted with my Stat Counter.

Here are the google searches that have recently brought people to my blog.

So funny. I’m almost google famous!

I was so excited at my last post about google because I came up #3 when you search imsofunny.

Here are some other searches that bring me up.

#3 interesting conversation pieces

#6 google is my friend

#5 need attention

#9 Baskin Robbins vs. other ice-creams

#3 lds linger longer

#3 Whale Baby Quilts (what the heck?)

And the best news of the day. When you search Alice Gold. I finally come up #4! It’s my good reads account and not my blog, but hey, I ‘ll take what I can get. Now, at least all of my X boyfriends can find out what I like to read.

Yes, I am on my way!!!

Mormon Fame


Cynthia, my newest blogging friend has tagged me. (How daring of her…she hasn’t been reading me long enough to know how I hate to be tagged … he he he)

Her tag rules (which are posted under my following list) say to write about 7 famous or infamous people you have met. Here is my list…Every one of these, except for the first three, are Mormon. (and 7-12 are only known in the Mormon world)

Speaking of which, have you ever checked out famousmormons.net ? I was so ecstatic to find out that Ricky Schroeder had joined the church. I absouletely LOVED him growing up. I mean I really thought that I would marry him when I got older. I guess I will have to settle for him being a brother in the gospel. 🙂

1. Dan Jansen (I met him at a Corporate Party. I went up to him and said, “Oh my goodness. I was so inspired when I saw you win that gold medal and take your victory lap with your son.” He said, “You mean my daughter?” (or it was the other way around…whatever I am an idiot!)
2. Ted Johnson (We went to High School together. I have always loved this guy. He is the one that broke the news to me that I had won my Sophomore Class President Election. He and I also spent some time together at the school’s weight room.) I just read this article and think it is a crying shame what he is going through. He was the nicest guy back in his day.
3. Scott Karl (We also went to High School together. He was a good friend to my brother. His little sister Stefani was my good friend. I had the hugest crush on him also, and determined to only call him by his first given name…Randall)
4. Steve Young (I have already blogged about my encounter with this guy.)
5. Ty Detmer (I got his autograph for my little brother David, when he and his wife came into The Malt Shoppe where I worked. I hated doing that because I really am not into bugging celebrities, but I knew it would mean a lot to my brother. The Malt Shoppe was totally empty that day…it was cold and rainy out. I waited until they were done eating to ask and went out to the dining room and took his poster off the wall. He was very sweet.)
6. Sterling Van Wagenen (I met him at the taping of The Work and The Glory. He was sweet and complimentary to Sophia’s performace. He said that he was very impressed and that she really was a natural)
7. Ardeth G. Kapp – I have linked to an amazing letter she wrote to the National Pornography Commission in New York City, on January 22, 1986. She was ahead of her time. (She was the president of the LDS General Young Women while I was a youth in the church [12-18] I eagerly adopted the Young Women Values and the Young Women Theme that she was instrumental in implementing. I met her later at a fireside in Huntsville UT while on my mission. I wrote her a letter and she wrote me back.)
8. Marlin K. Jensen (I was instrumental in teaching two separate friends of his while on my mission. He attended both baptisms and wrote a very nice letter to my mission president, complimenting my companion and I) I had served in his ward earlier on my mission and met him and his wife (they are both very sweet, but I absolutely love his wife [she is not mousy and is very smart and sweet] ….nerve wracking to give a talk in a ward where you know a General Authority is listening.
9. Elder Robert K. Dellenbach (I met him while on my mission)
10. Elder Robert E. Wells (I also met him while on a mission…he is the Father of Miss America Sharlene Wells)
11. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf THIS MAN IS NOW AN APOSTLE OF THE LORD (I met him on my mission at The Missionary Training Center. I took the time to go and shake his hand because I had been really touched by his talk and loved that he mentioned serving in Utah on his own mission)
12. Elder Earl C. Tingey (I just met him a few months back when he set apart my father-in-law Duane Gold as a Counselor in the Kingsport TN Stake)

Honorable Mentions
13. Sophia Gold (She is our lovely daughter and she played Rachel in The Work and the Glory)
14. Ken Jennings (He is a distant relative of LeGrand – never met him – and he is only related by marriage – but, LG’s family is all very smart and Ken must have picked a prize winning intellectual wife from the Heiner side)

Here are the rules:-Link to the person who tagged you.-Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours.-Post the rules on your blog.-Share the seven (7) most famous or infamous people you have met. Or go with the original 7 weird things about yourself.-Tag 7 random people at the end of your post.-Include links to their blogs.-Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I am not tagging anyone further for I don’t believe in adding pressure to any of the mothers that are linked on my site. If any of you would like to oblige, I would love to see what you can come up with.

So, does the fact that I can pull out this many famous people give me a right to be a famous Mormon blogger?!! he he

One click away

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all annoyances to go away with just one click?

I got this today from my friend, Valerie, who is a very active e-mail forwarder (everyone has to have one), but a very inactive blogger. Go and leave her a comment and tell her to give us something besides her updated beautiful kitchen. (which I posted for her while at her house)

Maybe Valerie could get a remote that would update her blog for her?

Blogger Play Fun

I have a game for all of you. GO to blogger play and see if you can get any first assumptions correct about people. This is a fun game I play with myself, when I have ran out of other blogging tasks to do.

This game works wonders in passing the time when I am dissapointed to find nothing updated among my blogging friends. (which happens a lot when I am the only one without a life on the weekends)

Blogger play turns the most recent blogspot pictures into a slideshow. These pictures are taken from all the blogs that post on blogspot.com. I like to try and figure things out about the people when their posted pictures come up. But I especially like to spot Mormons. It is kind of the same theory I use when watching American Idol. You can play this game, even if you aren’t a Mormon. (although I have to say that Mormons may be easier to spot – especially if you spend any time with them, they have so many quirks) But, hey, even if you are a Catholic or a Baptist, you can play this game with your people too. Your people may have quirks that would be easier for you to spot.

Today, I found this picture
When I clicked on the picture in bloggerplay, it linked to The Hawkins site. Lo and behold, on the top post, Relief Society is mentioned. I was dead on!! (the church chairs just gave it away) I have to laugh because I get so proud of myself when I am right. The third picture on Blogger Play today in deed showcased some Mormons (it usually takes me longer than that to find some).

So, there you go, whenever you are bored because I haven’t updated (which has got to happen soon, I’ve been a blogging fool and I have to get burned out – it is just in my nature) all you have to do is play the blogger play game. So fun! Maybe I should try to patent this little game, especially if people are going to start telling their friends to play without linking to me.

It’s called a Shout Out

I was talking to a blogging friend the other day. I won’t mention her name, but it is someone who is linked on my blog. You’ll have to guess who. This certain friend can be rather crafty, and, yes, that is a hint. Although, it seems that I have added a lot of crafty Mormon women lately. So, hint #2 is that this friend is not just really crafty but was one of the original links on my blogs…that narrows it down quite a bit.

“This friend” has already given me permission to not mention her here because she knows me well enought to know that this entry could be potentially offensive. And, because I am not crafty, I am fully aware that my role in this blogging society has its certain place. So, I’ve got to keep earning my place as the blogger who is willing to say just about anything, and hopes that she can be funny at least 25% of the time. As you all know, I am not afraid to say too many things. (Even though I have recently made a goal to say less offensive things – and it is Jan 18th, so it’s time to break the resolution – heck, I ate more than 2,000 calories in one day on Jan 3rd – I’ve lasted long enough)

So, my friend and I were on the phone, discussing my recent blog blah blag entry. This discussion led us to venting about our blogging pet peeves. Now, there is much to be found in reference to blogging etiquette. I have purposefully ignored all of these musings. If I don’t read it, I don’t have to abide by it, right? It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? (Every Mormon knows this saying)

But, whatever your blogging philosophy, you should be made aware (as a reader of my blog) that my friend and I adamantly agree that a “shout out” should be given whenever it is deserved. What is a shout out, you ask? It’s a link, gosh dang it!!! If you quote someones blog, you had better give them credit. If you get an idea from someones blog, give them a little credit. And for heaven’s sake, if you get a crafty idea (especially an original one), you had better give the crafter and/or author some credit.

My friend got me all fired up about this, can you tell? I normally don’t need credit for my stuff (probably because my stuff never gets mentioned), but when a friend of mine, has her own very fine crafty idea and another person just puts it on her own blog and acts like it was her own, WATCH OUT! Watchdog Alice has come out in full force.

My husband tells me repeatedly to try not and offend my readers, and so I won’t mention any details about if and when this has happened to me before (how is that for learning tact), but I will tell you that it has happened. So, bloggy readers beware, “I’m watching you.”

We all blog because we love to throw ideas around, but c’mon, blog etiquette or not, it’s common decencyto give credit where it is deserved! If you take something from someone, just mention it, it’s not that hard to do. It’s just a copy, paste, and a link button away. It’s called unofficial intellectual property, so just give the blogger a link, will ya? That’s all I ask: just a simple link, a “shout out”, or whatever your prefer to call it.

Leave it to Beaver
The other day, on the radio, I heard someone reference Leave it to Beaver. I thought, “That show is something I haven’t thought about for a while.”
This morning, I check my blog and realize that I have a comment from somebody new…how exciting. I love making blogging friends. I was astounded by her link to: an apron making contest. These aprons are popping up everywhere. Are we really going back to wanting to be like June Cleaver? This could be a good world, where all the women are dolled up making dinner for their perfect little families. I am just a little worried that I may not fit in?
I did buy this apron at Christmastime, does that count for anything?

Oh, and I got myself a sewing maching for Christmas too…I just am still trying to figure out how to use it…maybe an apron should be my first project, so that I could actually finish it before the trend is over?