I'm enjoying my two days home from camp. Thanks to Brendan for the Gmail invite. Gmail is Google's new email service and it's in beta testing, so accounts aren't available to the public yet. I redeemed Brendan's invite and so far I really like it. It works a lot better than hotmail, and it gives you 500 times the storage space. I really like the way it keeps your exchanges with a person all together so you can see the conversation at a glance. Once this is public, I would recommend switching to this if you're still using Hotmail.

Hello! I'm back from my first week at church camp. I had a good time, but I was starting to really miss my family. I wanted to post to let you know that the episode of the Screen Savers that I called in on will air tonight at 6:00 on G4TechTV. If you have cable, tune in. I'm on about 40 minutes into the show. If you don't have cable, but you do have broadband, check back here and I'll have the segment digitized and posted (though it may not be until after my second week of camp.) I finally got my free TSS t-shirt, too. Huzzah!

Update: Well, they're showing an old episode now, so I guess mine won't be on today. I might email them to see what's up and when it will be on. I just hope I haven't missed it.

As promised, here is a list of misheard lyrics. I tried to pick the most recent revelations because my mother has already pointed out some of my earlier transgressions. (See MeMe's comment)

1. Toad the Wet Sprocket    Walk on the Ocean
Real lyrics: "Walk on the ocean/Step on the stones/Flesh becomes water/Wood becomes bone"
What I thought: "Walk on the ocean/step on the shore/touch the ghost water/what becomes more?"
Revelation hit: Two weeks ago when Danny's brother sang the song at a concert.

2. Jimmy Buffet    Margaritaville
Real lyrics: "Wasting away again in Margaritaville/searching for my lost shaker of salt"
What I thought: "Wasting away again in Margaritaville/searching for my lost ticker and saw"
Revelation hit: In college, when my sorority had its annual "Margaritaville" dance and we all sang the song together. (Salt, salt…)

3. John Mellencamp   Authority Song
Real: "I fight authority, authority always wins"
What I thought: "I finally thought and thought I always will"
Revelation hit: While I was working with a Physical Plant painter and another student painter at Truman, I heard them sing the real lyrics and thought, "Wow, I'm so glad I wasn't singing aloud."

4. Smashing Pumpkins    Bullet With Butterfly Wings
Real: "Even though I know/I suppose I'll show/All my cool and cold-like old job"
What I thought: "Even though I know/I suppose I'm sure/I'm all cool and cold/Like a drug"
Revelation hit: Just now, when I was looking up the lyrics because I knew I never had them right.

5. Pearl Jam Yellow Ledbetter
Real: "I said, 'I don't know whether I'm the boxer or the bag'
What I thought: "I said, 'I don't know where there's a box -oh- in the back'
Revelation: Come on, like anyone knows the lyrics to this song. I love Pearl Jam, but Eddie mumbles a bit more than usual on this one.

As with the last self-deprecating post, the floor is open…Please don't let me down.

I have read this essay (written by e.e. cummings to introduce an exhibition of his paintings) several times in the past two days, and wanted to share. I'm not sure where I stand on his art vs. intellect debate, but I have enjoyed reading nonetheless.

Simple people, people who don't exist, prefer things which don't exist, simple things.

"Good" and "bad" are simple things. You bomb me= "bad." I bomb you= "good." Simple people(who, incidentally, run this socalled world) know this (they know everything) whereas complex people--people who feel something--are very, very ignorant and really don't know anything.

Nothing, for simple knowing people, is more dangerous than ignorance. Why?

Because to feel something is to be alive.

"War" and "peace" are not dangerous or alive: far from it. "Peace" is the inefficiency of science. "War" is the science of inefficiency. And science is knowing and knowing is measuring.

Ignorant people really must be educated; that is, they must be made to stop feeling something, and compelled to begin knowing or measuring everything. Then (then only) they won't threaten the very nonexistence of what all simple people call civilization.

Very luckily for you and me, the uncivilized sun mysteriously shines on "good" and "bad" alike. He is an artist.

Art is a mystery.

A mystery is something immeasurable.

In so far as every child and woman and man may be immeasurable, art is the mystery of every man and woman and child. In so far as a human being is an artist, skies and mountains and oceans and thunderbolts and butterflies are immeasurable; and art is every mystery of nature. Nothing measurable can be alive; nothing which is not alive can be art; nothing which cannot be art is ture: and everything untrue doesn't matter...

For those concerned few (and I do mean few) who are wondering who has kidnapped Danny and forced him to stay away from the blog for almost a week, worry no more. In a fit of madness, he volunteered to serve at two weeks of summer camp, one high school and one (gulp) junior high. He told me to post in his absence, but my bloglines account isn't working and I can't figure it out. Translation: I'm not Danny.

Emma and I went to visit him at West Central Christian Service Camp in LaMonte, MO today. On the way, I listened to my "new" Counting Crows CD (August and Everything After--my absolute favorite--its tape form was borrowed and never returned) which we downloaded from allofmp3.com. As far as we know, this site is completely legal, and oh so cheap. If I had owned this CD at the time of my CDs I can play without skipping a song post, it would have definitely made the list.

Public Domain movie of the day: Duck and Cover

This makes today's terror alert paranoia look like nothing.

Last night Sara and I ate at Bo Lings, then took in a double feature, Shrek 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

I thought Shrek 2 was pretty funny, better than the first one. We probably wouldn't have bothered with the 12:01 showing of Harry Potter if we weren't already planning on going out last night. But it was awesome. I've read the first four books and the third one is my favorite. This was a good adaptation, too. There were only a handful of details from the book that may have made the story a little easier to follow had they been left in. Rowling is such a good story teller. We thoroughly enjoyed this flick.

If you love the Simpsons and you love math, then you might think this website is cool: SimpsonsMath.com

It basically details all of the mathmatical content and jokes in all relevant episodes. Including one of my favorite Simpson's jokes from the Bart the Genius episode:

Teacher: So y = r cubed over 3. And if you determine the rate of change in this curve correctly, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
[The class laughs except for Bart who appears confused.]
Teacher: Don't you get it, Bart? Derivative dy = 3 r squared dr over 3, or r squared dr, or r dr r.

Har-dee-har-har. Good times. Tim, if you don't like this link, then no one will.

Today is our fourth anniversary, and in light of that fact, I decided to forgo the usual cynicism in favor of a salute to marriage. Obviously, there are things I could say about marriage that would fit the 'angry, rant-filled girl' bill, but, for today, you're getting this.

1. No more dating. This doesn't mean a cessation of any and all dates, of course husbands and wives are allowed the occasional night out. What I mean is the end of the nervous, nose-and-teeth-checking, who's going to pay, is a kiss the right/wrong thing at this juncture, will he/won't he [call, remember our date, show up in an acceptable car or choice of clothing] mental list.

2. I'm understood. Finally. Even though Danny considers me the 'queen of the non sequitur', he rarely asks the dreaded question: "What on earth are you talking about?" He doesn't care that I have to reference every song I hear with its:
   a. original artist
   b. significance in my life
   c. lead singer's side-project(s);
in fact, I'd like to think that he actually enjoys my banter. (At least he's good at pretending.)

3. A new, better me. As cliché as this sounds, being married is hard work. And even if I only succeed at listening, giving the benefit of the doubt and being nice 50% of the time, it's a great improvement. (Seriously, for those of you who remember what I was like before Danny, you know what I am talking about. Now please forget it.)

4. An increased interest in all things geek. I have always been a nerd at heart, but never at anything that was useful. Now I have mastered the fine art of TiVo, am somewhat proficient at blogging and am reading Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig (and actually enjoying it) all in the past few months. I have Danny to thank for that.

5. An end to low self-esteem (at least in the looks department). I know that Danny is interested in me as a person, and not just in how I look, but he always makes me feel like I am pretty anyway (except, of course when I am covered in child-vomit--then we revert to survival mode and communicate in a series of grunts). He never makes those 'fat-jokes' many husbands are want to make and he is, in general, a very supportive person.

Happy Anniversary, Danny. I love you and look forward to adding to this list many times over.

I finally choose a Creative Commons licence for this blog. You can see it at the bottom left of the page (look for the two Cs). If you want to see a fun introduction to what CC is, then try watching these two flash movies. They explain it pretty well.