One of the things I liked best about visiting Turkey this summer was the exercise of learning about a religion that’s different from my own but still finding myself encouraged and my faith deepened at the end of the trip.  I don’t mean this in a “we all believe in the same God” kind of way (because I definitely don’t believe that) but in the same way that you get choked up at a wedding and then immediately squeeze your lover’s hand next to you.

I’ve recently been reading a new (new to me) blog “Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist: Advice at the intersection of work and life“  I don’t even remember how I came across it and I don’t know why I like it so much.  It’s just one of the most honest blogs I’ve read in a long time.  Sockparade’s not very honest.  So it’s nice to read from the other side of the spectrum.

I like the name Penelope.  I’ve considered naming my future daughter that — but only if I can stop the husband from trying to rhyme it with “Cantaloupe”.

Anyway, today is when Rosh Hashanah ends.  Wiki says that it is a day of rest and things that are prohibited on the Shabbat are also prohibited today.  Here’s a quote from her post about it:

“All this to say: you don’t need the Jewish holidays in order to learn something about yourself. Force yourself to isolate for a day. Don’t allow yourself to do all the usual things. You will learn something about yourself. It’s impossible not to.”

If it were a Saturday I think it’d be pretty easy.  I isolate on a lot of Saturdays.  But a Tuesday or Wednesday?  That’s pretty rough.  I’d really like to set a date for a day of rest on a weekday.  I’d also like to spend some time fasting and praying.  And then my next thought is: But maybe next semester though because this semester is really busy.

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After Hurricane Ike passed through Houston I didn’t really watch the news coverage of it.  So I’m really glad a family friend sent my husband this link of Ike photos.  Impressive photography and just solid photojournalism.  As a warning, the photos are hard to look at without wincing.

We went in wanting to buy Army of Two but walked out with The Simpsons Game.

As much as the husband and I enjoy video games, I have to admit, video game fanatics are freaks.

Customer: So, are there some cool powers that you get to use?

Clerk: Oh man, that’s the best part.  You have so many cool superpowers that you get to use.  There’s this one power where you can look into the water to target the enemy.  That’s the one I like to use the most.

The Simpsons Game is really fun.  Lots of puzzles to solve as a team — a lot like Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance.  But it’s ten times more hilarious.  Great Simpsons humor — in typical fashion their comedy targets a wide range of topics: Grand Theft Auto, tree huggers, EA executives, play on words, Jelly Donuts, etc.

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The husband made a ridiculous confession on Sunday night.  As he was opening his Taco Bell Big Bell Box meal, he looked over at me and said dramatically, “I have a confession.  I think Taco Bell might be my favorite fast food place.”

I, of course, was outraged by this.  When I went on to name all the other great fast food establishments, Whataburger (my personal favorite), Jack in the Box (with their sirloin burgers and ciabatta bread), he interrupted me by saying, “– I don’t know, I just really like the ground beef.”

Shocked, I started to stutter, “But, but, it’s the cheapest meat ever!  We can just buy tubes and tubes of ground beef and make it ourselves!”

I will admit that Taco Bell is probably the most cost effective.  The Big Bell Box includes a crunchy taco, a bean burrito, the new queso crunchwrap, cinnamon twists (which he gave me!) and a large drink.  All for $4.99.  That’s pretty darn cheap.  If I’m going to eat TexMex fast food though, I still prefer Taco Cabana.

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I’ve been buying furniture for the student lounge in my college and because of that, I’ve become intimately familiar with craigslist.  I’ve used craigslist in college and sporadically since moving to Houston but I’ve never monitored it day to day like I have in the past few weeks.  First of all, people on craigslist are crazy.  Their descriptions are crazy.

I know you want to try to make your product sound good but when you start describing your couch’s color as “organic” because it’s brown, you’ve crossed the line.

Also, people are selling their Cantoni (Italian import) designer couches for ridiculous amounts of money on craigslist.  Are they successful?  Do people who can afford Cantoni couches go on craigslist to look for used furniture?  Don’t people with that much money hire interior decorators?  I don’t know.  This is a mystery to me.

I also think it’s funny when someone writes “vintage furniture” or “retro furniture” and you click on the photo and it’s just modern furniture that’s just plain old and worn.

I also think it’s funny when people get personal in their ads.  When they start talking about how they just moved in with their boyfriend and girlfriend and they have to get rid of furniture.  Or the new place they moved into is just too small.  Or maybe that they need money for a new TV so they’re selling their barstools.  Does personal connection sell better?  Maybe.

I am also amazed at the number of ugly couches that exist in the world.  Horrendous flower patterns that could not possibly be fashionable ever.  I have never seen a floral couch that I liked.  Sigh, I guess there’s a couch for every taste.

If you have an ugly couch, you could enter it in Regis and Kelly’s Ugly Couch contest.  The winner gets $5,000!

Beck’s new album, Modern Guilt, has been on heavy rotation for the past two days and have had some time to marinate.  I’ve always liked Beck, not all of his songs, but on each album I can usually find a few songs that I really like.  But I really like this album in its entirety.  It’s the first of his albums that I’m not skipping tracks.  I know this isn’t supposed to be his best work (according to the music critics), but I like it the best.  I think his collaboration with Danger Mouse worked out well.  This album makes me want to throw a party with good friends or go on a long road trip.

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Whenever I walk around the grocery store, I always take a strange delight in seeing misplaced products.  A box of Cocoa Puffs abandoned next to the Bounty paper towels, a box of Betty Crocker brownie mix left next to the jars of Ragu.  It’s interesting.  I wonder what happened in the aisle that triggered the abandonment.  I think it’s pretty inconsiderate of people because then the stockers have to put everything back in place but I have been guilty of this on a few occasions.  The only time it is really horrible is if it is a perishable item that needs to be refrigerated or frozen.  I’ve seen packages of cheese, cups of yogurt, and a bag of defrosting peas abandoned before.  That’s just plain wrong.

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On the flight back from Mexico, the husband was completing his first-ever Sudoku puzzle in the back of the in-flight magazine (after doing his customary giggling while flipping through the SkyMall magazine).  Puzzles like that don’t really appeal to me.  Neither do word searches and crossword puzzles.  I used to really love logic puzzles with the matrix where you put x’s and o’s in the box as you solve the problem.  That was probably the only puzzle I liked.  I was thinking about why I disliked puzzles and it reminded me of this one Sunday School teacher I had.  I can’t even remember what grade I was in but he would basically tell us a bible story for 30 minutes and then hand out these crossword puzzles with no clues.  That’s right, no clues.  Just an empty grid of boxes.  He would tell us to fill them out using real words and whoever was first to finish the puzzle would win.  And he only had ballpoint pens for us to use!  So there was no erasing.  The puzzles were impossible, but we kept quiet for the rest of the time because we were so busy trying to figure it out.  I think a few kids actually “won” but he never checked their answers because it was usually time to go and I suspect they didn’t use real words.  Maybe that’s why I don’t like puzzles.

I came across this ad for the One Day University:

I’m kind of intrigued.  There’s a hefty price tag (isn’t there always?) but it sounds interesting.  I like focused, intense glimpses into other academic realms like science, history, and politics which are specifically designed for non-academics.  It’s right up my alley.

Here’s their own blurb:

“Since 2006 One Day University has been bringing together award-winning professors from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and other top-tier schools to create stimulating, thought-provoking, live, classroom experiences.

Each event features four professors lecturing on topics including history, literature, political science, art, music, philosophy, and more—plus lunch. Now you can keep up to date with the latest thinking on topics that interest you—and there’s no homework, no SATs, and no stress.

So whether you want to expand your horizons, stretch your mind, or just enjoy an energizing day of intelligent discourse, One Day University is the place to be.”

Here’s a sample lineup of topics that will be presented on July 12:

Psychology Overcoming Our Genes—Can We Change the Way We Behave? Political Science The 2008 Election—The Most Important in Decades Literature Words and Where They Come From Art History The Art and Politics of Ancient Athens

And here’s the lineup for July 13:

Political Science Public Opinion Polls—Why You Shouldn’t Believe the News Psychology The Science of Human Resilience Foreign Affairs China and the U.S.—Wary Coexistence or Dangerous Rivalry? Film Studies The Genius of Alfred Hitchcock

Can someone please post the notes and powerpoint slides somewhere?  Thanks.

1. 3G iPhone — I’m upgrading in August
2. t’afia & Monica Pope
3. J.K. Rowling’s Commencement Speech at Harvard (video and text) — thanks for the link April!
4. Breakfast Klub
5. Tsui Family
6. Mint (refreshing money management) — Quicken killer
7. You Grow Girl
8. The Office - Dinner Party Episode
9. Yelp - help the Houston site grow!
10. ProBoards — free remotely hosted message boards