Finally a Game I Can Win!

So here's an interesting fact, I like to win. Maybe it's from being one of 10 kids, maybe it's from a sense of superiority or... inferiority. But whatever the cause, the effect is that I am a slightly competitive person. However, here's the sad truth--although I LOVE to win, I hardly ever do because my desire to win does not equate my skill to win.

Oh, don't feel bad for me, I've had my moment of glory here and there. When I'm playing cranium with Roger as my partner we are unstoppable. Tetris. (Although right now I have the lowest score on facebook...but I used to be awesome, so I'm going to focus on that)

If you love to win but don't have skills, what options are open? Here are a list of ways to win every game:

• Be the banker. This tiresome chore can be the ticket to a big win. Never mind if your only hotel is on Baltic Avenue and Aunt Kay owns all the railroads, if you're the banker you can feather the nest a little and come out ahead.
• When playing scrabble, offer to be the score keeper. No one likes to do mental math right? Your opponents will be glad to let you be in charge of this thankless task.
• Play games with small children. Sure there are big softies who would tell you to let the kid win, but don't listen. Kids have to learn sometime. This tip works well with some games, but not others, here's my advice:
• Games you can win if your opponent is a youngster: chess, checkers, risk, scrabble, trivia pursuit.
• Games you can't win if your opponent is a youngster: twister, apples to apples, sorry.
• When playing the farming game, always buy a tractor.
• Eat lots of candy bars.
  

Imagine my excitement when I stumbled across Name that Candy Bar, finally! a game I have been training for all my life.

Here's how it works, try to identify a candy bar by looking at a cross section of it. It helps if you close your eyes and try to imagine the taste of it in your mouth. Take your time. Savor it. Remember that winning is the primary objective, so don't rush it. Ok, are you ready?

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 

(see bottom of post for answers. If you want to cheat, no one will know, so go ahead.)

What a rush, huh? How did you do? I did AWESOME!
I knew every bar * when I first played at this site. Some of them are tricky. But my Canadian Candy Bar knowledge came through for me.

* The only one I wasn't sure about was coffee crisp, but I had a suspicion... I started noticing a bunch of Canadians. I know Coffee Crisp is a popular bar. And it looked like what I would expect it to look like inside. So kids, by using my inductive reasoning skills I won!

Canada. Our friendly neighbor to the north. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free!

Can I just say something? I know I can because this is my blog. But here it is: Canada makes the best candy bars. Have you ever eaten a Wunderbar, a Mr. Big, or a dark chocolate Kit Kat?
Oh, you have not lived if you said a lamentable no.

Cross section of a Mr. Big. Doesn't that look delicious?

Did you know that Costco is everywhere? Canada even. My favorite location is right past the Sumas border because they don't look at you too funny if you declare your reason for visiting Canada is to go to Costco's candy isle. (A true story.) Another reason is a cute guy named Ryan who works at one of the registers. My buddy Aims and I always get in his line even if the other ones are shorter. He is that cute.

ANSWERS: 1. Snickers 2. Almond Joy 3. Baby Ruth 4. Kit Kat

Pumpkin and Pecan

I know TV is TV and real life is...well, real. But watching the West Wing makes me feel smart. When I used to watch the West Wing I always felt like I was up on current events. I know. No need to remind me, it's not real, just TV. But...still.
I started wondering what was going on in my actual country with my actual President. I strted watching C-SPAN which in turn got me in a lot of trouble with my roommate at the time who thought I watched C-SPAN just to annoy her. I promise I didn't; I just found it really intriguing. I especially loved to watch the British coverage--those guys really get animated. Another favorite treat was watching Ari Fleischer do The White House press briefings. Maybe because I love Allison Janney/C.J. Cregg so much.

Real Press Secretary:

Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary for the Bush Administration until he resigned in 2003. Dana Perino is the current Press Secretary.

Pretend Press Secretary:

Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg, pretend Press Secretary in the fictional West Wing universe.

One of my favorite West Wing Episodes is a Thanksgiving episode which a little bit of internet digging revealed is titled "Shibboleth". Wherein the fictional President of the United States pardons a turkey. The annual Pardoning of the turkey is just one more thing I can add to my list of:


Things I Learned From Watching the West Wing:

• Andrew Jackson, in the main foyer of the White House, had a two-ton block of cheese.
• You can cook stuffing inside the turkey, as long as the temperature of the stuffing reaches 130°.
• There are 3 words that start with “dw” in the English Language and 14 punctuation marks.
• Nothing on the map is where you think.
• There is a contingency plan to invade Canada.
• Islamic extremist is to Islam as KKK is to Christianity.
• Goldfish are animals, but they are also crackers.

Real President pardoning a turkey:

Pretend President pardoning a turkey:

In real life, President Bush pardoned 2 turkeys up front so it's unlikely that this little scene played out in the actual White House.

Humorously, the pardoned turkeys are named each year by the democratic process. About a week ago I went to this site to pick my choice. I carefully looked at each of the candidates and weighed the pros and cons of each pair of names. Obviously my love of pie forced me to choose Pumpkin and Peacn, although Dawn and Early Light were a close second until I remembered that I love my sister Emily (sorry, it's an inside joke).
The American people agreed with me I guess, or I'm the only one who voted. Therefore the lucky pardoned turkeys will henceforth be known as Pumpkin and Pecan.

Yum, I love pie.

Thanksgiving 2008 celebrated at the real White House:

Human Tetris

Today's low calorie Friday treat is a fun video titled "Human Tetris". This video does not disappoint. If you love tetris, as I do, you might enjoy reading this earlier post: The Breakfast of Champions



The students loved it! I heard a lot of kids humming the song in the hallways after class.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Top 10 reasons why was a rad year.

Reason #10: Everyone held their breath to see if big brother would take over society...and it didn't! Whew!

Reason #9: The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

Reason #8: Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.


Reason #7: Mountain View Elementary school declared Fridays as "Pizza Day".


Reason #6: Van Halen releases 1984, their hit record/8track?/cassette. And rocks out on MTV to their awesome song, "Jump". This song still totally rocks!


Reason #5: Atari.

Reason #4: Santa really came though this year. A bike with a banana seat, basket and streamers. PLUS, a cake with green frosting. Yum. Cake, the breakfast of champions.


Reason #3: Jelly shoes and jelly bracelets.


Reason #2: "Weird" Al Yankovic records "Eat It".

And the NUMBER ONE reason why 1984 was a great year?

Reason #1: David Duncan White was born!
I love you so much, hope your birthday is spectacular.

Dave and Angie. So cute!

Pileated Woodpecker

I've been sitting in my room working this morning with my window open listening to the woodpecker singing away in the backyard. I went to this website, which has a recording identical to what I'm hearing from outside. I turned it up, opened the window wider and played the first few seconds to try to get our woodpecker to respond. But alas, nothing. I hope the recording isn't bird language for "Get out of my yard!"

Although Tessa and I have both seen the elusive bird and it is often heard, this picture is added for dramatic effect only and is not the actual woodpecker from the backyard.

This picture came from the National Geographic website. To find out more information about the Pileated Woodpecker click here.

To find out more information without the annoyance of having to read, watch the video below:

Alphabet of Nations

Here's this week's low calorie Friday treat.
It's not about science but it is fun.
Hope you enjoy!

(to fully enjoy, be sure to scroll down and turn off my music)



They Might Be Giants, Alphabet of Nations

Instruments of the Lord’s Peace

A friend recently referred to this article by Elder Robert S. Wood, a leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I thought it would be helpful to review it in light of the many polarized political views many of us have been sharing with each other.

I'll share some of it below, however, for a complete transcript go here.

"Alma at the waters of Mormon invited those who would enter into a covenant relationship with God to stand as witnesses of God and to bear one another's burdens. As those who have indeed entered into a sacred covenant, we must remain true to the way, the truth, and the life, who is Jesus Christ.
"Have we who have taken upon us the name of Christ slipped unknowingly into patterns of slander, evil speaking, and bitter stereotyping? Have personal or partisan or business or religious differences been translated into a kind of demonizing of those of different views? Do we pause to understand the seemingly different positions of others and seek, where possible, common ground?"

"President George Albert Smith observed, 'There is nothing in the world more deleterious or harmful to the human family than hatred, prejudice, suspicion, and the attitude that some people have toward their fellows, of unkindness.' In matters of politics, he warned, 'Whenever your politics cause you to speak unkindly of your brethren, know this, that you are upon dangerous ground.' Speaking of the great mission of the latter-day kingdom, he counseled: 'This is not a militant church to which we belong. This is a church that holds out peace to the world. It is not our duty to go into the world and find fault with others, neither to criticize men because they do not understand. But it is our privilege, in kindness and love, to go among them and divide with them the truth that the Lord has revealed in this latter day.' "

Finally, he finishes with this, my favorite point:

"In a world beset by wrath, the prophet of our day, President Gordon B. Hinckley, has counseled: 'Now, there is much that we can and must do in these perilous times. We can give our opinions on the merit of the situation as we see it, but never let us become a party to words or works of evil concerning our brothers and sisters in various nations on one side or the other. Political differences never justify hatred or ill will. I hope that the Lord's people may be at peace one with another during times of trouble, regardless of what loyalties they may have to different governments or parties.' "

My hope is that as we look forward to the future, we can each put our trust in the Lord, find peace and ultimately be instruments in sharing this peace with our brothers and sisters.

Kia Ora!

Now that DST is over, I am unhappy. It is too dark. Today was too rainy.
I have decided to move to New Zealand. Useful vocab for those of you who want to come with me:

e noho rā.....good bye (what I'll soon say to darkness and rain)
aroha nui.....I love you
aotearoa.....Land of The Long White Cloud or New Zealand
purini.....dessert (you should always know how to say this, no matter what language)
āe.....Yes. (What I'll say if you ask me if I want purini)

E noho rā Puget Sound convergence zone!
Kia ora Aotearoa!
He tiakarete anō māu?* āe!

I think this is my new dream car, especially if it runs on bio-diesel.

*He tiakarete anō māu? = Would you like another chocolate?

Ok, so this one I had to look up :) But I think it will come in handy.

Helpful Maori language online dictionary: http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/index.cfm