Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: Q is for Quirky

I am, well, unusual.  I have very nerdy interests, like Doctor Who and geocaching.  I read (a lot) while most people are watching things like the Oscars and Superbowl.  I think cemeteries and abandoned buildings are beautiful.  I am most content at home with my hubby and dogs.  I love my job more than words can express, to the point where I am willing to make a fool of myself for it.  To put it nicely, I am quirky.

It used to be that quirky was not a word one would want used to describe him or herself.  But in the age of the hipster, quirkiness is not only cool, it is almost required.  Which is fine by me.  I take a look at the interests I hold, and the people I surround myself, the kinds of things I spend my time doing, and I cannot help but smile.  I am exactly the kind of person I would want to be friends with.  I know I am not everyone's taste, and that is ok, that keeps life interesting.  But I make no attempts to change who I am to make someone else more comfortable.

My advice to you?  Find your quirks, embrace them, flaunt them, love them.  Here is your soundtrack.

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: L is for Library Ladies

About six weeks ago, I started working at a local library.  And I fell in love with my job.  This comes as no surprise, I have been an active library patron since childhood.  As a kid, my parents took my to the large, beautiful library in our county seat.  I loved it there, I wanted to live there.  I spent a lot of my summer days at that library.  When school was in session, I loved the days the Bookmobile would come to school.  In college and grad school, I spend hours upon hours in the libraries.  When I moved to Pittsburgh, I did not change my voter registration for many years, but I immediately got a library card.  So, yeah I kind of love libraries.

You know how some kids play school, or house, or doctor?  I played library.  I taped little pockets into the backs of my books, and made registry cards so people could check out the books.  Not even joking.

The best part of my new job is it combines so many things I love:  books, social media, technology, pop culture, community outreach.  It is pretty much the perfect job for me.  I still cannot believe I get paid to do this stuff!  And the ladies I work with are so awesome.  They are supportive and encouraging, and I love going to work each day.

So, the heart of this book worm is going pitter pat with love over the fact that I now get to be a library lady.  Because I do not have a Library Science degree, I am technically not a librarian, but who knows what the future holds.  In the mean time, enjoy this bookish playlist for all my library ladies out there.

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: Looking Back at 2013

This year?  Kind of amazing.  Probably the most creative, fun filled, growth filled, challenging year I have had in my adult life.  I have spent so much time working on myself as a person, and while I am miles away from being perfect or even where I would like to be, overall I am really happy with me and with my life.  So many awesome things happened this year, we must review the highlights.

We papered our floor with book pages.  It took two months, and was back breaking work, but we transformed our living room into a work of art.

I completed a 35 Day Project in honor of my 35th birthday.  35 days of random acts of kindness.  Many of my friends and family members participated as well.  It was amazing.

We watched our nephew graduate from high school.

We reached two geocaching milestones.  We found our 200th geocache, then we cached every day for the entire month of August, our longest streak ever.  I also got to introduce my niece, nephew and his girlfriend, brother and brother in law to geocaching.

We watched our good friends get married.

We visited many of the filming locations from the movie The Shawshank Redemption.

We watched my brother get married.  Later on in the summer we got to visit them and see their new house as well.

We went to our first comics show.

I saw the largest yarn bombing in America, also known as Knit the Bridge.  It was while my niece was visiting us, so I took her to see it.  It was one of the many awesome things we did together during her visit.

We saw John Hodgman perform, and met him after the show.  He totally knew our names, because we had been all over social media talking about the show.  Later, when I reviewed the show, he shared my post.  I was so ridiculously star struck over the whole thing.

We saw the giant rubber duck make its way into Pittsburgh and attended the huge party on the bridge.

We took a whirlwind trip to New York City to see John Roderick and The Long Winters perform.

I made an entire Christmas Tree's decorations out of old book pages.  It is so beautiful I cannot yet bring myself to take it down, despite the fact that it has been up since before Thanksgiving.

I was offered pretty much the perfect job for me.  I have been there for a month now, and the giddiness still has not faded.

So, this a look back at my year.  Pretty amazing, right?  I kind of think of it as a montage.  And every montage needs a soundtrack.  So here are some of my favorite songs from 2013 to go along with my look back at this wonderful year.

The State of Being Resolute

We are once again on the cusp of a new year, a fresh start, the beginning of endless possibilities.  It is a tradition to make a list of resolutions, things we want to change in ourselves, our lives, our world at large.  Lose weight, stop smoking, read more, swear less, it is different with every one of us.  It is also tradition to abandon most of these resolutions before February.  I think this is because people are looking to change the wrong things, thinking it will lead them to immediate happiness.  The thing people need to be changing is their mindset; they need to realize that we each create our own happiness.  It has little to do with external appearance, and more with internal reflection.  So, in my attempt change my own mindset, I will now admit my list of New Year's Resolutions for 2014.

1.  Laugh every single day.  I try to do this already, and am fairly successful.  Hubby makes me laugh a lot, it is one of my most favorite of his many great qualities.  The dogs make me laugh too.  So between the three of them, I can usually find a reason to laugh, even for just a moment.  And when all else fails, laughs abound on the internet.

2.  Love the people I love in better, kinder, and more abundant ways.  We all have days where we say things we do not mean.  Tempers flare, frustrations arise, sadness falls.  These things are inevitable.  However, the moments that follow these things are the best opportunities to show love when it would be way easier not to.  This means I need to check my envy, swallow my pride, say I am sorry, admit I am wrong, and try to show a little more grace.

3.  Be unashamedly enthusiastic about the things I adore.  Dachshunds and John Roderick, Doctor Who and books of all kinds, creative reuse and gluten free cooking, good music and even better movies, live performances by musicians and comedians, and all things nerdtastic.  These are just some of the things I love.  It is ok if you do not love them, we all have our preferences.  But I do love these things, and will continue to fill my life (and probably my conversations) with them.  I respect the things you enjoy, even if they are different from mine.  I hope you can do the same, because I am never going to stop loving them.

4.  Work harder.  This one applies to all aspects of my life.  Work harder to love myself.  Work harder to make my home the way I want it.  Work harder to establish myself at my new job.  Work harder to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit.  Work harder to care less about other people's expectations and opinions of me.  Work harder to have high expectations and opinions of myself.  Work toward establishing some balance in my life.

5.  Write more, yet blog less.  This might seem antithetical but really it is not.  I have been sort of slacking on my blogs lately, and I think it is, in part, because I need to move on to a new form of writing.  So, in the year to come, I will be backing off from blogging (though not leaving altogether), and reducing the number of reviews I do.  Instead, I will be trying to work on my own personal writing.  I have too many people encouraging me at this point to not at least try.

6.  Stop fearing failure.  My whole life, my biggest fear has been failure.  This fear of failure has caused me to walk away from opportunities, to flee trying new things, and to avoid risks at all costs.  I cannot fail at something if I never attempt it you see.  But by adopting that strategy, I have missed out on some amazing opportunities.  So, I hereby give myself permission to fail.  In fact, I command myself to fail at something this year.  That way, even if I succeed at everything, I will fail at that commandment.  Because I must stop allowing a fear of failure to prevent me from living life to the fullest.  How can I fully appreciate my successes if I never have any failures?

So there you have it.  My New Year's Resolutions for 2014.  

It's going to be a happy new year.

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: Happy Hipster Holidays

Remember how I said I love holiday music?  I was not kidding.  I really do.  So today's playlist is another installment of holiday music.  But, you know me, I have to keep things interesting.

While researching my playlist for last week, I found a offbeat, kooky, hispterish holiday song.  I loved it so much, I used it to start a new playlist.  The playlist was kind of a joke, looking for other indie, folksy, decidedly hipterish songs.  I never expected to fall in love with it.  But that is exactly what I did.

I guess it makes sense, I have quite a few hipster traits.  I like hipster fashion, even if I cannot pull most of it off.  I love to don my glasses, rock my natural curls, and throw on a scarf to look casual and trendy.  So, my fashion sense is on the hipster fringe.  My love of social media is certainly a hipster trait.  My increasing desire to eat a clean, wholesome diet is trending toward the hipster.  My love of obscure music, movies, and books is most definitely hipsterish.  You guys!  Am I a closeted hipster??  I think I might be!  I really hate to fully embrace the label of hipster, because in my mind hipsters are much younger (both chronologically and emotionally) than I am, but there is no doubt I skirt the edges of this subculture.  I would absolutely love it if my little town became a hipster haven, and I think my covert hipster status is what makes me want to move to the west coast.

I do not think I will ever be full on hipster.  No PBR or skinny jeans for me thanks.  But I will proudly share this hipster holiday playlist, and tell you that I love it with the fire of 1000 suns.

 

Cartoons by Hubby: Cyber Monday

The Backstory:
It is Cyber Monday, the big day of online holiday bargains.  My email has been bombarded since 4 am with bargains and deals, which is awesome, except... my shopping is done.  So, thanks but no thanks.

Early this morning, I posted these sentiments on Facebook, and less than an hour later, I got this amazing cartoon from Hubby.  For those who do not know, it is an homage to Doctor Who.

You're Welcome.

The Play's The Thing

Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?

Play.  Such a small word for what it signifies for me.  For me, to play means to have time when you are not taking life so seriously, to flex your creative muscles, to challenge conventions.  I aim to do this daily, and honestly, it is one of the main ways I spend my time.

I play with my food.  Not in the way you are thinking, like making a chicken dance or something.  Ok, sometimes I play with my food that way.  But mostly, I play with food by creating new recipes.  I play with flavors, seasonings, textures, colors.  If I were a mad scientist, my laboratory would be a gigantic kitchen.  I tweak and adjust existing recipes, and create new ones.  I just love to play with my food.

I play with my looks.  Anyone who has known me for longer than 2 months is likely to have seen me with at least 2 different hair colors.  I change my hair color and style frequently.  I go on binges where I paint my nails in unusual ways.  I play with clothing and accessories.  For me, every day is a chance to play dress up.

I play with my dogs.  Not a day goes by that I do not play with the dogs in some manner.  This past summer, the dogs learned to play fetch.  Soon they will get to play in the snow.  We play rough, chasing games, we play snuggle games, we make them dance, we pretend they can talk, we occasionally dress them up for photo shoots.  Our dogs are like living, licking, wriggling stuffed animals.

I play with toys.  Sure, maybe I no longer play with Barbies or Lincoln Logs, but I still play with toys.  We have more video and computer games in this house than I ever expected we would.  We play board games.  We play puzzle games.  We fiddle with smart phones, tablets, computers, cameras, GPS units, we purchase actual toys.  We are big kids at heart and I love it.

I play with words.  That is what this blog is.  In all the time I have been blogging, it has never stopped being fun.  I hope it never does.

I play with conventions.  People think they know me.  They have no idea.  Hubby used to say I was a mystery wrapped in an enigma, held together with duck tape and macrame.  I think it is one of my favorite compliments ever.  I hope I always keep people guessing.

So, what does play mean to me?  Well, to steal a line from Shakespeare, and totally reinterpret it, the play's the thing.  For me, play equals life.  I hope my life is always full of play, because when I am playing, I am really, really living.

If I Could Turn Back Time

You get to choose one superpower. Pick one of these, and explain your choice: 

the ability to speak and understand any language 
the ability to travel through time
the ability to make any two people agree with each other

Oh BlogHer, you are making these too easy for me.  Obviously, I am going to chose the ability to travel through time.

The primary reason is that this suspiciously sounds like that super power comes with the title of Time Lord, and what Doctor Who loving girl would not want that?

But, additionally, I think that being able to travel through time would provide me with amazing educational opportunities.  Imagine being able to watch the Gettysburg Address live and in person.  Seeing the hanging gardens of Babylon.  Being present for the birth of our nation.  So many amazing moments in history could actually come alive!  I find this so exciting.

Being able to travel through time indicates that I could travel forward, as well as back.  Therefor I think it would be amazing to see where the country will be in another 100 years.  To go forward for the inauguration of the first female president.  See the triumphant day when cancer is cured forever.

With any power comes responsibility however, and I assume this hypothetical scenario is no different.  It would be difficult to fight the urge to stop horrible things from happening.  Stop Hitler.  Prevent Columbine.  Warn New Orleans about Katrina.  And stop myself from getting some of those perms in the 90s.  Yet, those moments are fixed in history, and could not be changed, for fear altering the future or creating a paradox.  Knowing that one false move could end humanity forever is heavy stuff.  Similarly, it would be hard to fight the urge to alter my personal history.  Prevent my own death.  Get the winning lottery numbers for next week.

Now that I think about it, I am not sure I want the responsibility that comes with being able to travel through time.  Unless, of course, I get to do it with The Doctor.

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: The Doctor's Companion

You guys!  This weekend is the 50th Anniversary of the very first episode of Doctor Who.   It is time to celebrate!

I will admit, I first heard of Doctor Who in the 80s.  A friend of my brother was obsessed with the show, and we all thought it was so weird.  Sci-fi was not all that popular at that time, not the way it is now, and rabid fandoms were not nearly as visible as they are now (I blame Twilight for making fandoms so popular).  I never in a million years would have guessed that I would be so Doctor Who obsessed as an adult.

When we got involved with social media a few years ago, it seemed like a lot of people were talking about Doctor Who.  We finally decided to start watching the modern series, it mostly just to understand what people were talking about.  We  quickly fell in love with the show.  We have watched every episode together; this is quite a feat for me, since I have been known to binge watch shows I love without Hubby.  But not this time.  I have waited to watch every episode with him.  We have not yet started watching the classic episodes, but I am sure we will.

What I love so much about Doctor Who is that, despite being labeled as sci-fi, the show is mostly about relationships between people (or beings perhaps is a better term).  My favorite Doctor is Ten.  He will always be "my" Doctor.  My favorite companions are The Ponds, mostly because they remind me of us.  As much as I would love to travel with The Doctor, I would not want to do it without Hubby by my side.

So, in anticipation of the big celebrations this weekend, I give you a playlist of some of the great music from Doctor Who.

Run, you clever boy, and remember...

Not a Drop to Drink

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

I am a very self conscious person.  It is not that I do not like being the center of attention; on the contrary, I enjoy all eyes on me, as longs as I am in control.  It is the moments when attention is on me without my control that I dislike.  That means anytime I am the oddball, or I embarrass myself, or I am not the norm.  And those moments, those not-the-norm moments, well they happen all the time.  Most notably, these moments happen in social situations.

Neither Hubby nor I drink.  It is not that we are not big drinkers, it is that we do not drink at all.  As in, less than 3 drinks a year.  Most people assume this is because we are prudish teetotalers (not in the least), weirdly religious (once again, that is a no), recovering alcoholics (HAHAHA that is funny), or cheapskates (well, we are, but that has nothing to do with why we do not drink).  In reality, I do not drink because I am gluten intolerant with a host of stomach troubles, so alcohol makes me sick for days, and Hubby simply does not like the taste.  There are multiple times when we both have wished we could drink, and enjoy it.

Over the summer, I saw a contest being sponsored by Construction Junction and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  People who had creatively reused materials for a home improvement or art project could enter their project.  I entered our beautiful book page floor.  I was ecstatic to learn that we had won.  Our prize was two tickets to The Steel City Big Pour, a huge craft beer festival in Pittsburgh.  So there we were, two non drinkers, headed to the biggest party in Pittsburgh.

It was kind of funny, actually, the fact that we won tickets to an elite craft beer event.  These were pretty coveted tickets, so we decided to go and make the best of it.  We spent about an hour and a half walking around, tasting food, taking pictures, listening to live music, and watching people have a wonderful time.  We walked away with a bag full of swag (mostly beer related).  We fully enjoyed the atmosphere.  But it did feel weird that we were not drinking any of the dozens of beers that were available for tasting; we were certainly in the minority, and could not help but feel a tad out of place.  Some people may think that those tickets were wasted on us, and while we may not have experienced it in the same way as most of the other people in attendance, we still had a good time.

The rest of my photos from this event can be viewed here.

Nerd Love

What do you love most about yourself? What do you love most about your favorite person? Are the two connected?

While I think there are a lot of great things about myself, and even more great things about my favorite person, the thing I love best about us is who we are together.  My favorite person, unsurprisingly, is Hubby.  And I absolutely love who we are because of each other.

I have always had nerd tendencies.  I wrote about that during last year's NaBloPoMo.  Sometimes, I take a look at the kinds of music or movies I like, the hobbies I have, the people I follow on social media, and the things I talk about, and I realize that the older I get, the nerdier I get, and I love every minute of it.  If someone had told my 8th grade self, with my mile high bangs and my pegged jeans and my painful attempts at being cool, that I would proudly proclaim my nerd status, I would have laughed.  But that is exactly how it has played out.

Way back in the day, before Hubby was ever Hubby, or Fiance', or even Boyfriend, one of the things that I prevented me from dating him was I just was not sure we were compatible.  I was still too worried about conforming to conventional standards of beauty, sex appeal, and coolness.  I thought that I had to be a specific type of woman in order for men to like me.  And when I acted that way, conforming to standards that were not really my personality, I did attract men.  Awful, selfish, unfaithful, manipulative men with whom a successful adult relationship was impossible.

When I finally came to terms with the fact that some of those conventional standards were just not me, and not what I wanted out of life, I became happier, I opened up, and I found the love of my life, in Hubby.  The longer we are together, the more we are ourselves.  And what ourselves have turned out to be are gigantic, boardgame loving, video game playing, book hoarding, Doctor Who watching, indie rock obsessed, zombie chasing, Reddit reading, NERDS.

We are constantly having nerdventures.  We spread our love of our nerd icons all over the internet.  Our life is full of laughter, and love, and very very nerdy dancing.

So, go ahead and call me a nerd.  I take it as a compliment; it is the best thing about me, and the best thing about the greatest person I know.

My Interview with Rich Uncle Pennybags

Interview someone — a friend, another blogger, your mother, the mailman — and write a post based on their responses.

So, yeah, I am sick today and confined to home, and no one is online for me to interview (being that it is Saturday and most people have lives).  My only alternative was to interview Hubby, but that is too boring, so I had him channel one of his favorite board game characters, Rich Uncle Pennybags.

He was quick to inform me that he does have a real name.  His given Christian name is Milburn Pennybags, but he never aspired to be a monopolist.  He actually wanted to be a dentist, but would YOU go to Doctor Pennybags for a root canal?  Not likely.  So, just like girls named Destinee Peaks, his future was decided for him, all based on his name.

Because he is awfully fond of that get out of jail free card, I asked about his first run in with the law.  As a scrappy young teenager, he stumbled upon some fellows wildly fond of  a newly marketed licorice candy, known as the Lick Whip.  The only problem was, it was in short supply.  Milburn promised the fellows he could obtain it for a modest investment fee.  In truth, he had no supplier, and no way to supply; but as word spread that Milburn had connections, new investors would throw money at him.  Whenever an investor complained that the product was never delivered, he simply used a new investor's money to pay off the complainant. Fortune smiled upon him when the local mercantile got in a shipment and Milburn was able to deliver to his remaining investors while making a mint.  His luck ended when the constable caught wind of the scheme.  Good ole Officer Ponzi.

Pennybags says that his favorite gameplay token is the racecar.  He claims there is something exciting and freeing about being on the open road.  Also, it reminds him of the time when he had a midlife crisis, left his wife Madge, bought a Ferrari and struck out on Route 66.  He met a buxom redhead along the trip, and traveled with her for a while.  Good thing he had one of those get out of jail free cards in the glove compartment, since the little lady lied about her age.  Ah, memories.

When talking about the shaky housing market and government bailouts, he states that "bailouts are for chumps and the weak.  It is all well and good when building houses on Pennsylvania Avenue, but when I saw hotels going up on Boardwalk, I knew it was too big to fail."  And that is just not how he rolls.  Literally.

As far as the future is concerned, Milburn is looking forward to retirement.  He says he will live out the rest of his days with his scottie dog, Stocks, and his cat, Bonds, in a nice little senior living community up in Marvin Gardens.

Bad Habits and Flaws, According to Hubby

If you could quit one bad habit instantly without difficulty, which would it be?

I will admit that I had a hard time with this one.  It is not that I do not think I have no bad habits; I have tons of bad habits.  But I actually kind of enjoy most of them.  I swear.  I eat ice cream for dinner sometimes.  I am usually in the progress of reading 4-6 different books.  I push my favorite band on anyone who will listen. Even the bad habits that I do not enjoy per se are still not ones that I really care if they stop or not.  Things like leaving too many shoes in the entryway, letting junk mail accumulate, never really having all my clean clothes put away.  To me, these things are minor.  I just have so many other things I would rather be doing than worrying about these minor bad habits.

So, in order to fulfill this writing exercise, I enlisted the help of Hubby.  I asked him to make me a list of my 5 worst bad habits or flaws.  This is the list he gave me.

First off, there are only 4.  He said that is all he could think of.  How sweet is that?  That, right there, is a sign of unconditional, true love.  And let's take a look at the 4 he came up with.

Doesn't give herself enough credit for creativity and should start writing.
I have been saying for years that I wanted to write a book.  And for years, people have been telling me I should write a book, maybe multiple books.  And I really want to.  But I am too scared to take the leap.  What if I am terrible?  What if people hate what I write?  What if no one buys it?  What if I try, and I just cannot.  So, I continue to put it off.

Watches too much Snapped.
I love the show Snapped, from the Oxygen Channel.  It is about some women going totally off of their beanpoles and killing people, typically the men in their lives.  The show creeps Hubby out, and he hates when I watch marathons of it.

Puts mushrooms in too many things.
I literally laughed out loud when I read this one.  You see, Hubby hates mushrooms.  I love them.  And I am the one who does all the cooking.  I think I have made it my secret quest to get Hubby to like them, so I tend to slip them into a lot of things I cook.  Sometimes I try to do it secretly and see if he notices (he always does).  He always says he does not care, and is willing to pick them out, but he must care a little bit, since this made the list.

Enables weiner dogs.
This is one we are both guilty of.  We have 2 dachshunds, and we spoil them silly.  As I am typing this, the dogs are snuggled into bed with me.

So, since these are my options, I think the thing I would most like to change is the first one.  I wish I did have more confidence in myself, and my ability to write something of quality.  I wish I had no fear.  I wish I could just sit down and pour my heart and soul into the screen.  Maybe someday I will.

Still, if these are what Hubby considers my worst bad habits and flaws, I must be doing ok in life.

Tiffany Trivia: Pittsburgh Edition

Write about whatever you'd like, but write using regional slang, your dialect, or in your accent.

Today, I decided to kill a few birds with one stone.  I am writing to the prompt, reviving an old series from the blog (Tiffany Trivia), and addressing the "random facts about me" meme that is storming facebook.  Thanks for indulging me.

As a kid, growing up in the Ohio Valley, Pittsburgh was our closest local city, so I really considered myself a 'burgh girl long before I moved there.  I grew up saying y'inz and eating chipped ham sandwiches.  Plenty of my friends lived by the crick.  And even my small little town had its share of jagoffs.

So, it really should have come to no surprise that I ended up living in Pittsburgh for several years.  Even though I do not technically live in the burgh now, I still live close enough to visit often.  Today, I am going to take time to remember all my favorite things in Pittsburgh, and to discuss the quintessential Pittsburgh things that just do not click with me.  Pardon me if I slip into Pittsburghese now and then.

When many people think Pittsburgh, they think about watching the Stillers and eatin a Primanti's sammich.  Here is a little secret about me: I do not really like either of those Pittsburgh icons.  I know, I know, I should turn in my burgher card now.  Do not get me wrong, I do not HATE the Steelers, I just really do not care about football that much.  I also do not HATE Primanti's.  I just do not their coleslaw that much.  If I were going to do a Pittsburgh sports and dinner date night, it would be watchin da Pens and eatin a corned beef sammich from Sammy's.

Taking the incline up Mount Washington is always a fun burgh activity.  The view is gorgeous, a great place to take pictures.  But my favorite place ta look down on the city is the West End Overlook.  I used ta go there a lot when I lived there, and there would hardly ever be anyone there.  It was always a nice quiet place to go and reconnect with the world around me.  A close second is the view as you cross the Veteran's Bridge.  But usually I am goin to fast to enjoy it too long.

Everyone in Pittsburgh, at least the Sahth Hills where I lived, loves Fiori's pizza.  I admit, I have never eaten it.  Instead my favorite pizza place was The Pizza Company down in Castle Shannon.  Best breadsticks and wings ever.  That is one of the few places that actually tempts me to eat gluten.

Most burghs, at some point in their lives, spent some time carousing in the SahSide.  I never really cared much for bars, so I rarely went to the South Side.  Because I was more into exploring the community, I much preferred The Strip and the NorSide.

Some Pittsburgh things it is a given that I am gonna love.  Heinz Ketchup?  Yup.  Mr. Rogers?  Yup.  Dinosaur statues?  Yup.  Pierogies?  Yup.  Dippy eggs?  Aw yeah.  But the thing I love the best about Pittsburgh is her people.  Burghers are the best people on earth.  Sure, we may still have mullets, and wear jean jackets, and our idea of dressing up is wearing our "good" Stiller jersey.  Sure, we make the Pittsburgh left, and we slow down before the tunnels.  But Pittsburgh is full of the most loving, generous, creative people I know.  And no matter where I end up living, I will always be a burgher at heart.

A special Shaht Aht to everyone who understood every single word of this post, and mentally read it in a Pittsburgh accent.

Go Stillers.  N'at.

The Lipton Treatment

On the interview show Inside the Actors’ Studio, host James Lipton asks each of his guests the same ten questions. What are your responses? 

 What is your favorite word? My favorite word is not even a real word, it is a word my husband made up.  We often speak this weird language where we mispronounce words on purpose.  It has gotten to the point where we say these mispronounced words all the time, even in text message.  My favorite word is "snorgle" which is our term for snuggling with our dogs.

What is your least favorite word? Dump.  It is just so gross, and every mental image it evokes is disgusting.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Anything literary is a big turn on for me, in all three areas.  The same with music.  But I am also greatly inspired by acts of generosity and kindness by other people in the world.

What turns you off? Lying, and people who have to try to ruin the happiness of others, or purposely hurt others for their own sick twisted reasons.

What is your favorite curse word? Douchecanoe.  Not even sure it counts as a curse word, but it sure is a good word to whip out when you are mad.

What sound or noise do you love? Rain on the rooftop

What sound or noise do you hate? The sound of my dogs crying.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Probably a teacher or a nurse. My sister is a teacher, my brother is a nurse, and I admire them both for the amazing work they do.

What profession would you not like to do? Proctologist.  I deal with enough a-holes as it is.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? I am so glad you I here, I have heard so much about you.  Of course I already knew it all, but people up here just love you.

A Night of Betrayal

You’re set to play poker (or Scrabble or something else . . .) with a group of four. Write a story set during this game. Or, describe the ideal match: the players, the relationships — and the hidden rivalries.

Oh this prompt is going to be a piece of cake for me.  You see, Hubby collects board games, so we talk about them a lot in this house.  We also listen to board game podcasts and watch board game related YouTube channels.  We just bought a new game, and we are dying to try it out.  So we will, in my little fantasy.

The name of the game is Betrayal at House on a Hill.  It is basically a board game based on every worn out B horror movie trope ever.  I love B horror flicks, so this is right up my alley.  At first all the players work somewhat cooperatively, until one a series of actions triggers a game change called "The Haunt" and one player is revealed as a traitor.  The remaining players must work in conjunction to try to defeat the traitor.  All of these changes are determined by a series of dice rolls.  Once The Haunt is revealed, a scenario is described, based on certain statistics in the game.  There are so many different factors that make up the possibilities, that each time you play the game it is different.  Sort of like a choose your own adventure in board game form.  It sounds really awesome, and we are so excited to play the game, we just need to find other people to play with.

So, if we had a chance to pick a dream match up, Hubby and I would play against Wil Wheaton, and John Hodgman.  These are both smart, nerdy celebrities who are into board games, and we are huge fans of them both.

One would think that Hubby and I might be allies from the get go, but that is pretty unlikely really.  You see, I am fiercely competitive, and I enjoy having a chance to strategize against my husband.  So, I would be pretty excited if Hubby ended up being the traitor.  He is much more board game savvy than I am, so he would easily be able to hold his own against a group, and I would enjoy playing against him.  I would also greatly enjoy being teamed up with Wil Wheaton and John Hodgman, once I got over being completely star struck.

Honestly, this would be our perfect Saturday night.

17 Things I Have Learned (so far) from NaBloPoMo 2013

Tell us what you've learned so far about daily blogging.

1.  I tend to put my blog posts off until later in the day.

2.  I spend a lot of time reflecting on the writing prompt.

3.  Posts with photos get more attention, because the thumbnail sucks you in

4.  Because of this, it stresses me out if I do not have a photo that goes well with the post.

This has nothing to do with this post, but it made you look right?  So, I still win.

5.  I miss reading other people's blogs and engaging in conversation about their posts.  I need to get back to doing that more.

6.  My husband can make any situation, good or bad, better.

7.  So can our weiner dogs.

8.  There are a million things I wanted to blog about in the past, and never got around to it.  Daily blogging pushes me to write those posts.

9.  HOLY CRAP NOVEMBER IS 1/4 OVER ALREADY!

10.  I am much more serious and introspective about the writing prompts than I thought I would be.

11.  To keep the posts from being too serious, I tend to end posts with a snappy, snarky, one liner type statement.

12.  I think numbered lists are a lazy style of posting.  Most of the things are things your readers already know, or would know if you were writing better posts.

13.  Numbered lists also prevent much conversation or reflection, two things I tend to enjoy in blog posts.

15.  Given the above stated opinion, it is clear that today, I just don't have much more in me that a lazy, phoned in numbered list.

16.  If you are going to use a numbered list style post, at least do an unusual number of items.  It will keep people guessing.

17.  I totally just skipped number 14, so that I could fulfill numbers 11 and 16.  Deal with it.

Team T-Cakes

Do you have a mentor? Tell us about him or her. Are you a mentor to someone else? Tell us what that relationship has added to your life.

Well, it only took me 7 days to ratchet up the mush factor in this month long blogging challenge.  I am beyond blessed to have an extraordinary support system.  Family.  Friends.  Colleagues.  Online community members.  But there is one person who stands out.  My biggest mentor, my most encouraging coach, my loudest cheerleader, my very best friend:  My husband.

I asked Hubby to draw a picture of him cheering me on.  

Yes yes I know how trite this will all sound, but I really, most people reading this already knew that was what I would say.  Hubby (in the days before he was Hubby) and I had a long standing friendship of several years before we ever entered a romantic relationship.  In the months leading up to our first date, it became clear that he had moved out of the general friendzone into the coveted spot of BFF.  And despite the fact that he earned title of Hubby, he still also occupies that BFF spot.

As a result, Hubby is constantly pushing me to pursue my dreams, big and small.  He makes it possible for me to have the freedom to pursue my interests on a daily basis.  He gives me honest feedback about what things work and what things do not.  He encourages me to step out of my comfort zone, to make connections with people that will end up being mutually beneficial, to take risks, to expand the meaning of the word "creativity".

When I needed to remove gluten from my diet, Hubby never complained about the change in my cooking.  When I wanted to cover our floor with book pages, he supported and helped me.  When I get any type of notoriety, no matter how small scale, he proudly proclaims it from the highest mountain.  He tells me I am beautiful, he tells me I am talented, he tells me I am creative.

Most people know that I dream of writing a book someday.  Lately, Hubby has been really pushing me and encouraging me to get started on that.  Because he believes in me.  He recently has given me the nickname "T-Cakes".  Well, anything I could ever possibly accomplish will be a team effort.  Team T-Cakes.  Him and me, all the way.

And when (not if) I publish that first book, you can bet YOUR t-cakes it will be dedicated to him.

The Doctor Is In!

Tell us about a favorite character from film, theater, or literature, with whom you’d like to have a heart-to-heart. What would you talk about?

On the one hand, this is an incredibly easy question to answer.  As the dutiful Whovian fangirl that I am, I of course would chose to speak with The Doctor.

Now comes the hard part.  Do I have to chose just one incarnation of The Doctor, and if so, how can I possibly choose?  That is like asking someone to pick their favorite kind of cheesecake.  The correct answer is, obviously, all of them.  But, if I had to pick one single incarnation for The Doctor, I would pick Ten.

Why would I pick Ten?  Scottish accent, fabulous hair, great fashion sense, fabulous hair, that mischievous smile, did I mention the hair?  And when he puts those glasses on, well, he could read me the Scottish phone directory while eating a haggis sandwich and I would ask for an encore.

So, now that I picked the Who (pun totally intended), I must explain the why.  The Doctor has a dark, mysterious past, one about which that I would love to learn a little more.  He is strong, but sentimental, so clearly he is a complex man.  I want to talk to him about the worlds he has seen, all through time and space, and ask him what is the one thing I can do to insure that Earth, in my lifetime, will become a better place.

I love that the Doctor does not condone the use of guns, but let's be clear- he is no pushover.  He is constantly having to decide who must be sacrificed for the greater good.  How does one manage to stay sane with such pressure.  Does he ever wish he could just walk away from it all?

The Doctor is constantly changing the outcome of  points in time that are not fixed, meaning unable to be changed.  If fixed points in time were no issue, what is the one thing he would go back and change, without a second thought to the consequences?

Throughout his existence, The Doctor has had numerous companions, most human, but not all.  Which of his companions has been his favorite, and why?

But the most important question any girl can ask The Doctor, of course it.... can I come with you?