Archive for February, 2013

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Just Finished Reading: The Immortals Series by Tamora Pierce


28 Feb

Posted in Authors & Books, Tamora Pierce, The Immortals | Comments Off

The Immortals is the second series by Tamora Pierce that I have completed. Just as with the Song of the Lioness books, these books are targeted at tweens and young teens. The protagonist, Daine, is an inspiring young woman who we get to watch from 12 to 16 years of age. She is intelligent, capable, kind, brave and loyal- pretty much everything we want girls of this age to aspire to be. It doesn’t mean she does not make mistakes or have her flaws. It means she learns from them.

This series is particularly good for kids who love animals.

Why #MythBusters Should be Required Viewing


27 Feb

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Posted in Mythbusters, Science, Technology, Television | Comments Off

Back in 2007, Mythbusters did a show (ep 85) about bullets in an oven. Once the oven got hot enough, those bullets exploded- not with lethal force, so the myth was busted -with the shell casings causing the most damage.

Why do I bring this up now? Because just last week, a woman in Tampa Bay, Florida, was injured when she was shot by an oven. A magazine in the oven exploded, spraying her with casing fragments.

She was preheating the oven at a friend’s house, a friend who neglected to tell her he stored his ammo in the oven.

Police Brutality


26 Feb

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Posted in Dogs, Politics | Comments Off

Another police department and one of its officers are being sued for use of excessive force. What makes this case different is that the “weapon” was a police dog.  My concern is that the attorney for the victim specifically states that the dog is the problem. And yet, if his client is to be believed, the problem is NOT the dog. The dog is not ignoring commands to stop. He is following commands of “get him boy”. The problem, as with most dog attacks, stems from the person in charge. The human officer is the one who needs to go.

Lost Continents


25 Feb

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Posted in Science | Comments Off

Who needs to find Atlantis? It turns out there may be another lost continent currently lying underneath the Indian Ocean. The micro-continent is known as Maurita and began its journey to being lost around 60 million years ago when Madagascar and India began to drift apart. If the theory is correct than the Seychelles are the only part of this continent left above the ocean floor.

How have scientists discovered this? The answer is all in a single grain of sand. Not even a single grain- there were minerals in the sand that dated back at least 600 million years.

Blog Feature: My Life in Blog Years


23 Feb

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Posted in blogging, Dogs, Pets, Writing | Comments Off

My Life in Blog Years features a lovely Golden and an adorable long haired Dachshund. You should go visit just for the pictures of these two cuties. But it is more than just pictures. There are great stories about the dogs, plus, the blogger is originally from Seattle, my adopted home town.

This week she writes about the most popular and trendiest names for puppies in 2012. My confession? I have NEVER named a pet. Not once. My parents named the pets I grew up with. All other pets have come to us with names that we have never changed.

Your Money Friday: Are You Happy with Your Finances?


22 Feb

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Posted in Finances | Comments Off

The question this week: Are you happy where you are at financially?  Most people answered “yes but…”. The people on this board are almost certainly better off than the majority of people in this country for no other reason than they are paying attention. But because they are paying attention, they are also thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and feeling like they aren’t there yet.

My favorite response: I’m doing better than I ever thought I would.  Overall though, no I’m not completely happy.  It always seems like another $50k a year would make everything perfect.

Blog Feature: Live the New Economy


16 Feb

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Posted in blogging, Finances, Writing | Comments Off

Live the New Economy is a blog about a family preparing for the father’s transition from military service into the civilian world , and what they need to do to be comfortable financially without the guarantee of a government paycheck. Or at least that’s what it started out to be about. Like most personal finance blogs it’s grown and changed a bit as the writer has grown and changed.

That’s not to say they aren’t still prepping for the transition to civilian life, just that the blog has become about more than that. I love this post on Finding Balance.

Westminster


14 Feb

Posted in Dogs, Pets | 1 Comment »

The Westminster Kennel Club dog show was held earlier this week. An Affenpinscher took Best in Show. They are cute little dogs, but little is the operative word, as they usually weigh under 13lbs. (We occasionally dog sit a Brussels Griffon, which is a lot like a Affenpinscher, and I’m constantly afraid I’ll step on him.)

I was thrilled that a Smooth Fox Terrier took Best in Group for the Terriers (and a Wire-Haired Fox Terrier took second). This is because, like most people, I am biased toward my dogs, and my Larry is most likely a Smooth Fox mix.

The Pope is Stepping Down


13 Feb

Posted in International Politics, Politics, Religion | 1 Comment »

When I heard the news on Monday, I was surprised, but kind of happy. When I got home that night, I asked C- “Did you see the Nazi is retiring?” I know I just alienated a number of readers with that comment, but it really is how I have viewed the man.

I am not religious. I do, however, recognize the power of the Pope, and while we are pretty much guaranteed to end up with another old white guy who hates women and gays, maybe we can at least get one who was not part of the Hitler Youth.

Movie Review: X-Men First Class


12 Feb

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Posted in Movies | 1 Comment »

I loved the first X-Men movie and enjoyed the next two. Wolverine was a different story, but I found myself watching X-Men First Class with the same wonder as the first movie.

I did have one major quibble though. You know from the earlier movies that Professor X and Magneto are friends, despite their different views of the world. What you never see in those movies is a relationship between Professor X and Mystique. And yet, according to First Class, they grew up thinking of themselves as brother and sister. There aren’t even hints of this in the earlier movies.

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