Bodacious - adj. meaning sexy, remarkable, noteworthy

FLN has a series of shows all about bodacious spaces. This includes 15 Bodacious Backyards (and 15 MORE Bodacious Backyards), Bodacious Outdoor Spaces, Bodacious Hotels, 15 Bodacious Kitchens, Top 15 Bodacious Beach Resorts, etc, etc you get the point. My absolute favorite of these is Bodacious Houses.

Having a bodacious house requires more than just smelling like the vault and having square footage out the wazoo, a big part of it is creativity. Sure some of them are huge, like the person with a walk-in closet bigger than most Manhattan apartments, but mostly the wow factor comes from how they use the space. For example, one house is literally a cave.

This might not be the house, finding pictures of these things are impossible.

It's not a house built inside the cave, it is the cave, with natural cave walls, water features, and bats. The owners did see fit to install plumbing and even electricity if I remember correctly.

A similar but different house is located under the city of Las Vegas.

Picture looks funny because it's scanned from a magazine. More (and bigger) images here.

Yep, it's basically a house and yard built in a basement. They've got astroturf, faux trees, and even a pool. The weather is always nice and you never have to worry about bugs while out for a picnic. Being protected from nuclear fallout is just a bonus.

My absolute favorite house is the last one in the program. It has 13 levels and more wildlife inside than out. It's really just amazing looking with all the different levels, stairways, trees, etc. I really wish I could find a picture of this one. The refrigerator is even on an elevator so you can access it from different floors! How awesome is that? So whether you are down at the 20 something foot long pool (that is on the main floor of the house), watching lightning in the storm room, or spending time in the home theater, food is never more than a button away.

Since apparently I can not find pictures or video of the homes in the program anywhere, you'll just have to watch it yourself. It airs again on FLN the 30th at 10am and 10pm EST, as well as on the 31st at 2am EST for those night owls out there. If you are reading this after the 31st an updated listing of air times should be here.

Do you know where your towel is?

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

--Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Every year on May 25th we celebrate Towel Day in honor of the late Douglas Adams. Why May 25th? Well, its two weeks after his death (May 11th, 2001) which is how long it took the first one to be organized.

This year I am not going out and about, but my husband will be taking his first pre-calculus test and you can bet he'll have a towel with him for luck.

Think Geek has some various Towel Day merchandise for sale, including two different towels (Don't Panic and 42) and a "Don't Panic and Carry a Towel" t-shirt.

Daryl Hall has started a petition to get Google to recognize Towel Day on their website with a special logo. As of now there are 1602 signatures, but I think we can do a lot better than that.

Now I must say "So long and thanks for all the fish!" and go do some laundry... gotta keep those towels clean, you know.

In anticipation of the LOST Finale...

Here are some of my favorite LOST inspired videos for your viewing pleasure!

Life in a Medieval Village by Frances and Joseph Gies

This is a paper I wrote on the book mentioned in the title of this post for my The Making of Modern England class. I thought it was kind of interesting, maybe you will too! :)

Life in a Medieval Village was very different than life today. Back then there was a distinction between cities, towns, and villages that has since all but disappeared. Each settlement had a Lord that ruled over it, who held distinctive powers over his people. What those powers were varied between the free men and those termed villiens. Their system of justice also varied significantly from ours, although you can see some of it's influence today.

So what is the difference between a village and a town? Well, the easy answer is that a village must have a church, a town, and a market. However, the villagers themselves saw it much differently. You lived your whole life in a village. You worked, you played, you loved, you fought, you were born, and you died, all in the same community. While it might be necessary to venture to a town to get some supplies not abundant in your village, it was usually a very tight-knit band of people who shared resources. There were some instances of private wells, but it was far more common to have a community well shared by the whole village. Mothers in villages were much more likely to nurse children themselves, rather than hiring a wet nurse as was common in towns, cities, and castles. Nor did they employ the services of a doctor, rarely a barber (who in towns or cities combined the services of "bloodletting" and dentistry with shaving). Almost everyone farmed for sustenance. Occasionally you would find someone who was primarily a baker, a miller, a carpenter, but normally people took on these duties along with farming. In a town it was more likely to have specializations and people who did no farming at all.

Something towns and villages had in common was the Lord who ruled over them. The Lord very rarely stayed in the village. It was more common for a Steward or Bailiff to reside in the manor house full time. The Lord was basically the "consumer of the village surplus". One village might even be shared by multiple Lords. Peasants were offered land in exchange for work on the Lord's demesne or for paying a cash rent. He was also in charge of the manor courts, which was the primary judicial house of the area. The Lord had the privilege of holding monopolies on some activities - such as baking bread or grinding grain - which were resented and evaded, but strictly enforced by the manor court. All the villager's sheep were folded by the Lord so their manure would fertilize his demesne. If a villager's house was in disrepair, the Lord saw to it that it was repaired through the manor court. When house or property switched hands, the new owner must pay the Lord an entry fee proportional to the land acquired. One area of life the Lord stayed out of was peasant marriages.

Villagers were primarily separated into two groups, those who were "free" and those who were "villiens". If the Lord's demesne was small, there would be more free men in the village. If it was large, the village would be primarily composed of villiens. While a villien was virtually a slave to the Lord, the villagers themselves made little distinction. Villiens were able to buy, sell, inherit, etc property just as well as their free counterparts. Where they differed was in service to the Lord. Villiens were required to work a certain amount of days on the demesne (depending on how much land they held themselves - either 117 or 58 1/2 days), had to pay more fees, and owed the Lord his "best beast" upon death. All transfers of land had to be approved by the Lord, and when marriages occurred the villien bride or her father was required to pay a merchet. They usually only had contact with the manor court, rarely dealing with the Church or royal courts as might their free neighbors.

In the manor court the steward presided, but the ruling was left up to a jury. Those who were brought to court were ordered to "be at your law six-handed", which meant he must bring along 5 other men to attest that his account was true, or having not witnessed the act in question, that he was a trustworthy person. They were then ordered to find people to guarantee their appearance in court, called pledges, which was a uniquely medieval process. If the plaintiff or defendant did not show up to court, his or her pledge must pay a fine. The parties were allowed to settle out of court, but still had to pay the Lord a fee for a "license to agree". The most common punishment was a fine. Rarely were villagers sentenced to anything but, unless convicted of a felony which belonged in the realm of the royal courts. Along with the fines villagers could be required to pay an additional fee for damages. This was true in the case of personal injury, property damage, or slander. One of the most common fines concerned the brewing of ale. The frequency of these fines leads us to believe that they were being used in lieu of a licensing fee, since the Lord did not hold a monopoly on brewing.

Villagers lived a simple life. Filled with manual labor, they were not plagued by some of the same problems we are today, or even their city or royal counterparts. Although many of their traditions have been lost, one can definitely see the influence village life has had on humanity. We still live in villages, hamlets, towns, and cities even if their distinction is not as strict. We are still tried by a jury of our peers. We still strive to capture that community atmosphere. Gone are the days of Lords, of free men and villeins, but without them we would not be the people we are today.

I may have to start watching Glee now

Seriously, NPH is amazing. His scream > Steven Tyler's.

Apples to Apples and Brownie Earthquake Fun

Last night one of my good friends came over because well, he was bored. Lucky for us my mother had just gotten me Apples to Apples not too long ago.

In Apples to Apples you have a set of green apple cards (adjectives) and red apple cards (nouns). Each player has 7 red apples cards at all times. Each round a judge is picked who chooses a green apple card from the deck. The judges reads it out to the other players, who then must pick the red apple card from their hand that is best described by the green apple card (from the judges point of view! That's very important). The judge then looks at all the cards and picks a winner! The title of judge then moves clockwise to the next player, and it starts again. I can't really remember the specific comparisons we had last night, but I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time. If you've never played you really must look into it.

For some reason after the game was over our guest really wanted a Brownie Earthquake from Dairy Queen. Before I was married we used to go get them all the time. It was like 10:30pm though and all the Dairy Queens were closed. :( So instead we took a trip to walmart to make our own!

We got vanilla ice cream, some Oreo Fudge Rings, hot fudge, and Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. We passed on the whipped cream because we all usually scrape that off anyway. All told it cost about $9. Brownie Earthquake from Dairy Queen? I don't know but it's probably $3-4 each.

Here's the finished product. I'm not sure why my picture came out blue, probably because I insist on using my phone's camera instead of a real one. I heated the brownies for 45 seconds in the microwave, and the fudge for 30 seconds like it said on the bottle. In hindsight the bottle is full of bullocks and I should have heated it more. I also took some of the Oreos, put them in a ziplock bag, and crushed them up. Brownies on bottom, then a couple scoops of ice creams, crushed up Oreos, hot fudge, and viola! Our very own brownie earthquakes!

They didn't look just like the ones from Dairy Queen (or taste like it for that matter) but it was still delicious and probably worth the money we saved.

Zombie Awareness Month

May is Zombie Awareness Month! According to the Zombie Research Society, several important zombie movies have taken place in May. It is also spring, usually a time of renewal and hopefulness, yet we must remember to always stay vigilant.

Here are some steps you can take to do your part:

Wear a gray ribbon

Gray was chosen as it "signif[ies] the undead shadows that lurk behind our modern light of day". When wearing your ribbon chances are someone might come up to you and ask about it. This is a perfect opportunity to spread awareness about our cause and to inform the public.

Cardio, cardio, cardio

As we learned in Zombieland, this is one of the most important steps we can take to fend off the zombies. They do not feel pain nor fatigue, thus they can run a lot longer than your average American. We can combat this by increasing our endurance, giving us a better chance of survival whether we be trekking on foot or bicycle.

Do your research

Since 1932, there have been more zombie movies made than I really feel like counting. As seen in our second step above, they can include some vital information regarding the zombie culture. They provide us with information regarding how they move, how they detect the living, etc as well as examples of what can get you killed or how to survive. By watching these movies you will be one step ahead of those who don't.

Create a zombie plan

The zombie apocalypse is coming whether we like it or not, and if you want to survive you must be prepared. A good start would be to read Max Brook's Zombie Survival Guide. There you will find many tips on the best outfits, weapons, and strategies for defeating (or at least outliving) the zombies. I recommend reading it at least once a year to keep it at the forefront of your memory, and what better time to do it than Zombie Awareness Month?

Green Pepper Steak

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds flank (or tip, I think we use tip) steak - sliced into bite size pieces
• 2 green bell peppers - sliced into bite size pieces
• 1 can sliced or diced water chestnuts - drained
• 2 scallions - chopped (optional)

Marinade:

• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons cooking sherry
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup water
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic

Directions:

1. Marinade steak for 30 minutes to an hour.
2. Add oil to hot wok. If using scallions, stir fry for 20 seconds.
3. With slotted spoon to reserve marinade, add steak to wok and stir fry for 3 minutes. (Can do half at a time, depending on size of wok.) Remove and set aside.
4. Stir fry green peppers and water chestnuts for 2 minutes or until they shrink slightly.
5. Add marinade. Stir until thickened and bubbly.
6. Add in steak and scallions.
7. Heat thoroughly.

You can eat this as is, but we usually serve on a bed of rice.

Outwit, Outplay... Out-Jesus?

Based on the Jury's criteria for who should win, I think this would be a more appropriate slogan. It bothers me greatly that the game is played one way and then judged another. This isn't the "who gives the most hugs" competition.

This season of Survivor proved to me one thing: people are hypocrites. They all lie, back-stab, form alliances, deceive, etc. If they don't they align with someone who does or they leave the game early. That's how the game is played. Yet when jury time comes around they act like they don't. Take the hero fan favorite Rupert for example. He gets up at Tribal Council and talks about how Russell took the easy way out by lying, deceiving, manipulating, etc and that the real difficult thing is to remain honest. Yet then at the reunion show he gets up and says "I stole, I lied, I manipulated, and I was one of the heroes! The game is what the game is." Everyone does it and it's wrong to deny that.

Last season Jeff said "I think Russell was the victim of a jury of bitter people. If I were playing Survivor, no matter how much I despised someone, if they kicked my ass in the game I would give it to them. Period. Outwit. Outplay. Nobody outwitted or outplayed Russell. Not even close." and I think that holds up just as well now. It shouldn't be about making friends, that isn't one of the three terms used in the slogan.

Instead they are Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. That should be the criteria the jury uses to name the Sole Survivor. But what do they mean?

Well, to me Outwit is about strategy. Who is the one who was able to keep everyone on their toes? Who found the most hidden idols? Who was running the show and blindsiding people left and right? That person has Outwitted the others.

Outplay is about the physical elements of the game. Who has won the most challenges? Who has helped build shelters? Who can you count on to pull their weight? That person has Outplayed.

Outlast is kind of tricky. Technically all three of the finalists have outlasted. But which one was on the chopping block the most times and yet still lasted? Sandra said herself that she tried her hardest to get rid of Russell three times and yet he made it all the way. While they didn't really want Sandra there, she mostly flew under the radar. There was always someone else just a little bit higher up on the hit-list than her.

I agree with Russell that there is a flaw in the game. The jury gets to pick whoever they want, for whatever reason they want, and that isn't fair. Russell says to bring in America, let them vote. Turn this into Survivor Idol. That I don't agree with. I do think they should keep the jury because they see things we don't. But instead of just letting them pick randomly, they should score the finalists. Have them fill out a questionnaire about them. "On a scale of 1-10 how strategic was Pavarti", "On a scale of 1-10 how instrumental was Sandra in challenges", "On a scale of 1-10 how helpful was Russell around camp", "Rank the 3 finalists in order of who you would least like to go up against again (#1 gets 10 points, #2 gets 6 points, #3 gets 3 points)", etc. Then whoever has the most points in the end wins that persons vote.

What do you think?

I've never seen so many buttons in my life!

This post is not sponsored. I don't even know how to get sponsors! But hey JC Penny, if you're out there, you know how to reach me! :D

A couple of times a year I receive the most awesome coupon ever in the mail from JC Penny. $10 off any one item $10+. It even works in conjunction with sales! I have no idea how I got on the mailing list for these, but I'm glad I did. I'm sure you can get on it too, somehow.

Anyway last Sunday I went to use my coupon and got some pretty awesome new cargo capris. They were originally like $40, on sale for $24 and change. With my coupon I only had to pay $16 (after tax). The best thing about them is they are the kind that the bottom scrunches up and ties, so you can make them however long you want. This is great for me because I've got short legs. All the other capris just ended up looking like high-waters on me. Bleh. But these I can scrunch up so they are the right length.

Along with the scrunchtastic pant legs they also come with more buttons than you could ever want. They have not one, but two, buttons where you would expect them to be near the zipper. Both cargo pockets have two buttons. Each back pocket has a button. Each of the 6 belt loops has a button. And there a two more just for fun! That's what, sixteen buttons total? And they are all fully functional! (Unlike the pockets I found on one pair of A.N.A denim leggings.)

They are pretty comfortable and sit just where I want them to. They aren't so high as to encroach upon my bellybutton or natural waist, yet they aren't so low as to fall off or expose unsightly parts of my body when sitting or bending over plumber style. If I had another coupon I just might go back and get a second pair.

I'm on to you, Agent Squirrel.

Did you know squirrels can be spies now? Neither did I, till I walked outside about half an hour ago to take Josh to work. Standing there, starring at our front door was a squirrel. Did he have a delicious nut to much on? No. Was he playing with his squirrel friends? No. Did he run away frightened when I opened the door? No. He just stood there. Staring at me. With his little menacing eyes, saying "I know what you've been doing, I see all... you can not hide from me..."

How To Write Good

1. Avoid Alliteration. Always.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & and abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
8. Contractions aren't necessary.
9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10. One should never generalize.
11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
13. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. Profanity sucks.
15. Be more or less specific.
16. Understatement is always best.
17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

Stolen from my The Making of Modern England professor, Patrick Brennan.

Yes, I know my birthday was in March, but...

Along with my mother's graduation, there are two other big events this weekend. First is my very belated birthday party taking place tomorrow night. Yes, my birthday was in March, what of it? I've been struggling with various health issues since then. My body has just now decided it would do what it is supposed to for once. So yay me! We just got Rock Band 2 for the Wii off craigslist (the whole set - drums, guitar, mic, and game - for only $50!) so we'll probably be playing some of that. As you can see by my lovely camera phone picture of the TV screen, I've already decked out my character in nerdy goodness. I seriously want to go as her for Halloween (or maybe Angel, you know I love me some zebra print).

Then on Sunday is Mother's Day! Whooo! Mom, Sierra, Felicia, Josh, and I are all going to see Iron Man 2 and then going to lunch. I had told my mother I was getting her some new mixing bowls as well, but when we found out we would not be getting our school money until June that kinda put a stop to that idea. Should I get the job at B-A-M I'll get them then. What is everyone else doing for Mother's Day?

Congratulations are in order!

Today my wonderful mother will graduate from Gulf Coast Community College, receiving her AA degree (technically she graduated in December, but they only have one ceremony). This might not seem like a big deal to everyone, but it's a huge step for her. She dropped out of the 9th grade to work for her father, then married my sociopathic father, had 2 of 3 children, and never worked again. Through my father's abuse she was taught to believe that she wasn't able to have, wasn't worth, a life other than the sad one he provided for her and us girls. This is just the first step of many to prove how wrong he was. So congrats Mom! You deserve it.

Jobs = ♥

So a few weeks ago Josh found out that he would be losing his job up at the school over the summer. I had finished my Census job and had yet to find a new one. But that was okay, because in the middle of May we would be getting our scholarship, grant, and/or loan money for the summer semester and we had enough in savings to make it till then. At least, we thought we did.

Monday Josh was told that if you have any classes in Summer C (Summer A is the full semester, B is the first six weeks, and C is the second 6 weeks) you would not be getting any money until C started. We both have classes in Summer C. Oh crap. We have barely enough money to get through this month, but certainly not until the end of June. >.<

Well yesterday I finally got to talk to the hiring manager at Book-A-Million and it looks like I'll be getting an interview with them! She said that she does her interviews on Mondays, but she'll be out of town next week, so I should expect a call Saturday or Sunday to set up an interview for the 17th. I'm fairly confident that if she does call I'll get the job since I love books so much. On the other hand, I don't have any retail experience... I guess we'll just have to see. But this is as close to getting a new job as I've gotten so far haha.

Then today more good news! They've changed their minds at the school and Josh gets to stay over the summer! One of his classes got cancelled so now he's got enough free day-time hours to make it worth it to them. Yay! I always love it when I get news that means I won't have to starve.

May the 4th be with you!

That's right, it's Star Wars Day!! Whoooo! And in honor of Star Wars Day I would like to direct you [here], to read an entertaining account of a mother showing her three kids Star Wars for the first time. Unfortunately it seems as though Disney has already got them in it's grip... how sad.

Hopefully by this time next year we will be able to celebrate properly by playing The Old Republic. Until then I will just have to settle by running around with a lightsaber and a cape. :D

Every time I hear "May the force be with you" I always have the urge to respond, "And also with you!" as if I'm in some weird Star Wars church service. Does that happen to anyone else?

Making Florida feel less like Florida

Saturday afternoon we finally broke down and turned on the air conditioning. Ah, sweet sweet mid 70's.... how I love thee. I can walk around the house without being in a perpetual sauna. I can take a shower without immediately starting to sweat again upon finishing. I am actually comfortable. I wish this would last forever...

Sadly I know that in the next several weeks the AC will loose it's magic. It will not be able to keep up with the Floridian humidity, and pushing it to try will just result in a higher electric bill. Soon enough I will again have to resort to placing fans strategically around the house and eating Popsicles, making opening the door for more than 5 seconds punishable by death. If only I could jump space/time from March to November and skip summer altogether...

I cannot wait until Josh and I are done with school. Then there will be nothing keeping us here in this dreadful place. We will be able to move somewhere that summer is less than 7 months out of 12 and humidity is never above 75%. I know Josh doesn't really like the cold, but I also know he could deal with that better than my constant whining and complaining lol. We would miss our friends and family, but we could come and visit during the so-called "winter". And they could come see us during our much more tolerable summers. Most people don't live in the same town as their family and elementary/middle/high school friends forever anyway, right? Or they can all come with us! Yes, that's a fantastic idea. I would hate to miss seeing Atticus grow up just because of the heat.

In other news, our magnolia tree is finally blooming. How pretty.