Happy Halloween From BOOtiful SPOOKane!!! HAHAHA!

Happy Halloween, gang! I expect to see some fantastic, creative, elaborate, thoughtful, humorous, spooktacular costumes tonight (and some lame, bought at "Halloween Spirit", pre-made, skanktacular ones too). Meghan is hosting an H-ween party and I plan to do the monster mash well into the night. Trust me, Merriweather Lewis has never looked this good. 

Halloween Bests:

1. The Costumes

2. The Candy (specifically candy corn)

3. Pumpkins!

4. Scary Stuff (movies, ghost stories, walking around Logan Neighborhood at night....although this is scary any time of the year)

5. Everyone's commitment to having fun

Halloween Worsts:

1. The COLD (though this will not be a problem for Lewis&Clark...they're well equipped for the cold Pacific Northwest Fall whether...leather, fur-lined coats!)

2. The Candy (uggggh, fun-sized candies...the fun is only temporary, and the size is irrelevant after enjoying an entire bagful)

3. Having to work tomorrow morning- BOOOO (and that's not a scary "boo", it's an ashley-simpson-at-the-orange-bowl "boo")

I can't even think of any more "worsts"- Woooo Hooo! So excited for tonight! Pics to come. Have fun!!!!!!

Your friend, 

Merriwhether

Hodge Podge

Tonight was really fun. Clare, Babs, Isabel and I went to Picabu Bistro (our favorite Spokane restaurant) for dinner. Not only was the food delicious as usual, but it was great catching up with the 'ol gang. We see each other all the time, but sometimes you need to go out for a change of scenery in order to really make it quality time. I was completely stuffed after dinner, but still found room to wander through Rosaurs and feast upon their glazed donut samples. I can and will NEVER deny myself of a free sample. It simply goes against everything I believe in. This is why all the times I've considered breaking my vegetarianism have been at Costco, when they're sampling pepperoni bagel bites or  chicken pot stickers. 

The LOST Season 5 promo has just been released. Check it out:

yeah....I know. That just made my day. There's your reason for wakin up in the morning- right there. LOST. 

Blog the vote!

I've been so uninspired lately- I have no creative ideas on how to entertain you all. If you're bored or avoiding homework/getting off the computer and going to bed, check out the website Newseum- it shows you a picture of every front page of pretty much every daily newspaper. It's especially cool to see how different newspapers chose to cover the same story on an important news day. It entertains me for at least 10 minutes. 

Goodnight, 

madge

"You're Hair- You're Here!!!" (Name that movie)

I was walking home from my hair appointment this evening, whistling "Holly Jolly Christmas" as loudly as I could, pausing only to grab a tendrel of my freshly chopped hair, push it against my nostrils and deeply breathe in the woodsy, metallic scent of expensive product, flat-iron and sharp shears that lingered on every strand. Then, as I was skipping along, sending bird-like chirps into the crisp autumn air, it dawned on me--- WHISTLING IS SO ANNOYING. It is possibly the most pompous human activity in existence, aside from simply saying "I am extremely content- so much so that I am forcing you to share in my contentment. You have no choice." 

So I stopped whistling and stored my giddiness away for more universal moments of happiness, like Christmas morning and Nate Berkus decorating a Katrina-victim's new home. 

The hair is much improved, though. No longer the coarse, equine, owl-peltish snarl it once was. It makes me feel, it makes me feel, it makes me feel like a nat-ur-al woman. WOMAN.

I've been so out of the loop for the past week or two. My Planet Money podcasts are piling up higher than my dirty laundry and I'm only half-way through my New Yorker which I must finish before Friday when a new one will arrive. Time to get my desire-to-be-well-informed arse into gear!

I've postponed my video-blog voting until tomorrow or the next day because Char wishes to Skype me to tell me her election choices. Imagine that! Hmmph!

NEW HAIR! 

There once was a time when I could eat an entire canister of almond roca and not think twice...ah, the blissful ignorance of youth, 

Madge

Hot Chocolate For the Teenage Mystical Soul

...I swear on skeegs that was the name of a book my Mom bought me when I was in junior high. It was a compilation of short stories written by teens about their creepy/paranormal experiences. At the time I was a Sylvia Brown-lovin, ouija-playin, seance-leadin FREAK and I loved every page of that book. It was also when the Chicken Soup For the Soul books had people Barnes&Nobleing like mad- hence the clever title...

The Halloween season made me think of it. More specifically, it was the Halloween-themed Wheel of Fortune that I just watched.

Oh man...I had all these plans to do an awesome, ghost-story type post....but I am SO TIRED. I've been this way for about a week and every day I tell myself that I'm going to take a nap, or go to bed early. Well folks, I think it's time I listen to myself and roll these old bones into bed. 

In the meantime, please think of more Tori-style questions to ask me so I can blog my answers to them. 

Also, I plan on voting very soon. I have a much larger responsibility than most voters, as I am voting THREE times- my own ballot, Char's ballot and Francie's ballot. Tomorrow I want to look up Obama's and McCain's policies toward Ireland & the UK so I can make an informed decision on behalf of my expat sisters. I shall video-blog the process. 

Don't go, Jason Waterfalls, 

Madge

P.S. Barbie thought those were the lyrics!

Wat up, blog?

Text I received from Tori 2 days ago: "Alert! I have a great idea for your blog, love it or leave it. An all call from your loyal readers for weekly ask a college student section. They submit questions, you answer. First question, could the half pony half hair down straight ever make a come back , or just work? Let me know!"

Good question, Tori. The answer is- YES and YES.

There are a few different variations of this look.

60s inspired, wispy strands pulled back, middle-part still intact:

More 90s style- I'm thinkin' Brenda Walsch.....the hair is divided pretty much exactly in half...tied back with a hairband, scrunchie, or large clip if you're daring:

Yikes!

Also, just the bangs and a lil' more pulled back....often forms a bit of a poof:

Hope that answers your question Tori!

It seems that half-up/half-down never went anywhere! Although, the Topsytail (as seen on tv) is no longer available to be purchased!! A sign that times are changin? Maybe people found it too hard to use- I sure did. 

Writing 2 papers. I have a lot to say to you all....I've just been really busy with school lately (weird, I know). Hopefully things will calm down this week so I can get back on my regular blogging schedule (not the only schedule of mine that's been thrown off recently....better get back on the branwagon...hA! sounds like "bandwagon"...I'm so punny).

Marketplace of ideas, 

Madge

Cousins, Pumpkins, Julian of Norwich

Clare, Martha and I took the day off for some much need cousin-time. We went to Green Bluff (a gorgeous part of Spokane...farm country) and picked out pumpkins from what must have been the reject pile because let me tell ya- SLIM PICKINS. I found myself a keeper though. 

I am writing an 8 pager on Julian of Norwich. She's one of the most famous Christian mystics and guess what!!?!?! SHE LIVED IN AN INDENT IN THE WALL OF A CHURCH. It was called being an "anchoress" and it literally meant that you were fenced into a hole in the side of the church. It makes no sense to me either. Wikipedia it for yourself if it sounds too crazy to believe. 

Opening the bagel shop with Clare tomorrow. Setting my alarm for 5:57, 6:04 and 6:10. Why do I do this? No- I am not asking that just so I can explain to you my reasoning. I seriously want to know why I do that. Any guesses? I'm pretty sure that I set three alarms because I like to be able to go back to bed after the first two go off. But why the random, uneven, times? 

UGHHHHHH this paper seems to be getting SHORTER every time I go back to it. As if every time I break from it to check facebook it automatically deducts 500 words of what I've already written. 500 words worth of blood, sweat and tears. Well, I guess there's been no blood shed. But I do have a hangnail that's puffy and has that pinkish look like it is almost bleeding! And I guess I am not really sweating either- but that's only because the townhouse is FREEZING and my pores have retracted like a recently violated sea anemone. As for the tears- well, if my icy black heart would allow it, they'd be pouring down my cheeks and dripping off my chin into deep, salty puddles collected at the soles of my waterproof cowboy boots and quickly rising like a high tide until their choppy, white-capped waves splashed angrily against my reincarnated dermatofribroma. 

Tori came up with a good idea for my blog. I will reveal it tomorrow. Goodnight my deers, 

Madge

These Boots Were Made For Blogging

and that's just what they'll do...


Though I am a tad miffed that no one has chosen to comment on my latest post, I have decided to put my mangled feelings aside out of utter devotion to my readers (lazy though they are).

Also, I need to share something with you that I am SO excited about- I GOT COWBOY BOOTS!

On sale at the general store- Martha and I needed boots for our Halloween costumes back when we were planning to be authentic cowgirls with ugly wrangler jeans and the-real-thing boots. After trying on three of the ugliest mom-butt jeans I've ever seen, Martha and I, with tears of laughter sliding down our cheeks, decided against the idea. They seriously made my arse look like it started halfway up my back- and the cheeks look like a deflated letter "M"...kind of like the way people draw birds in a flock flying in the distance...but upside down. ya know? ANYWAY, even though we switched costume plans to Lewis and Clark (there, I gave it away...no one wanted to play my guessing game so I just told you. wah), we realized we still want the cowboy boots- and who says L&C didn't wear them- they probably did. So yeah, it's justified. AND, as I mentioned before, they were on sale.

Earlier today I was in the library, writing a paper on mysticism (between my Philosophy of Religion class and my Philosophy of Mysticism class it seems like this is all I do these days) and killing time for about 2 hours. I ate a fun-sized bag of peanut M&Ms, people-watched from the window, facebook stalked myself, looking at every tagged picture of me since freshman year...the usual libaray activities. When I got up to leave I realized that BARBIE, my dear friend and roommate/townhouse mate was sitting RIGHT BEHIND ME. She claims to have been there for an hour! If she was a snake she would have bitten me- a frog, she would have lashed at me with her giant, sticky tongue. ew. We laughed so hard at the thought of us being so close without knowing it- it was a bizarre moment that shouldn't have been as funny as it was.

WATCH MAD MEN if you haven't been already, 

Madge

Happy Founder's Day!!

There were no classes at GU today- Founder's Day, whatever that means. Who cares? I honored the founders by eating a sugar cookie shaped like a ghost and dancing in my room to "Damaged" by Danity Kane. I danced the length of the song- twice! Like a modern-day Russel Simmons. Sweatin' the pounds away. I did a lot of dancing this weekend. My townhousemates were all out of town so I could dance without worrying about how loud my feet sounded from downstairs (my dancing always turns into hopping up and down eventually- when I run out of moves about half way into the song). I am too poor to download songs from itunes, too scared to used limewire and too ADD to use pandora- SO, I've been listening to the itunes radio stations. They're great! A lot of choices too.

Martha went to get her hair cut and colored today. She told the hairdresser (a STRAIGHT male- bad sign) that she wanted to leave as a blonde and she made sure not to be too timid in her request. Lo and behold (is that a figure of speech? should I have spelled it "low"), she ends up with the same hair color she went in with. After all that time and money!! How frustrating. I refused to let her get out of the car until she called back and asked to get in redone. She's going back on Friday- they were really nice and set her up with someone else. It's always so hard when you get your hair done and they ask you "Do you like it?" after they've just spent over an hour working on it. OF COURSE, you will just blurt out "yes!" even if you hate it. Next time I go get a hair cut (which better be soon. neigh.) I am going to tell them these exact words: "Give me my money's worth". If I have to, I might even add "I need you to step up to the plate here. Give me the cut of a lifetime". I mean, if you've ever watched one of Bravo's THREE reality shows about haircutting, Shear Genius, Blow Out, and Tabitha's Solon Takeover, you know how important it is for the hairdressers to treat every single client like it's the most important haircut of their career.

I have a Halloween costume. Guess what it is. Here's a hint: It's a two-person costume (I'm doing it with Martha) and they are historical figures famous for their expedition to the Pacific Ocean (from which they extracted salt). They built a fort called Fort Clatsop. They had a Native American friend named Sacajawea.

Working on my posture- shoulders rolled back...straight spine,

Madge

P.S. I probably stole Martha's blog material right out from under her. Sorry gurrrl!

Because I'm going for a masters degree in theology...

godbless,

madge

Celine=Surreal

She was:

powerful
spectacular
polished
emotional
glamorous
flawless

Grade-School Book Club

A year or two ago Anna and her friends had the fab idea to start a teenage-reading-level book club for adults. It would be a chance to read all the ol' junior-high classics, like Island of the Blue Dolphins, Hatchett, and The Giver.

Expanding on this idea, I want to start a kindergarten-reading-level book club.

These would have to be on the list:

Happy Reading,

Madge

Madgeconomics: Take Three

My third approach to explaining the financial crisis, of which I am completely ignorant and completely unqualified to discuss, will be stream-of-consciousness blabbering about my economic questions and where I go for answers.

I shall begin...

Ohhhh Economy! What even ARE you? I must wiki you. brb.

okay- back. You are "the realized social system of production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of a country or other area" and right now, you're lacking in the "exchange" portion of your duties. How will this effect your production, distribution and consumption? Me thinks it slows them down as well.

And how about you, Government? Where do you stand on this issue? People say you didn't do enough to help the Economy. Better late than never though, right? BUT DON'T HELP TOO MUCH. Because the Economy doesn't want help from the likes of YOU. Just a little bit of help is good though- then back off! This guy thinks you're help is really a hinderence. This guy thinks your help is overdue and much needed. Both guys seem pretty smart. Who's right?

The only thing to do is wait ten years and read a US history textbook to find out. Textbooks do a good job of explaining really complex events in history in one small paragraph. Even though this oversimplification is almost always detrimental to education, I could use some vast generalizations right now. I am reading a book called "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and it talks about how often textbooks get it wrong- or more just how they don't get it right. At this point, I don't care if it's wrong- I just want clarity!! Jusssssst kidding. The truth is important. I shall continue to seek the truth. blah blah blah. Go journalism!

At least I'm not the only person confused by all this. I don't think Obama and McCain really understand it either. Hopefully Obama has economist friends to help him when he becomes president. 

My economic advisors have been the Planet Money podcast, Max, and any newspaper I decide to google depending on my mood. According to the Cyprus Weekly, Cyprus is immune to the whole financial crisis! That settles it- I'm going back. 

I'll just wait-out the recession in grad school. Jobs shmobs, 
madge

I've been touched by an angel with loveeeee

Again, the stars have aligned themselves in my favor- I'M GOING TO CELINE TOMORROW NIGHT!!!

My aunt Peggy had two extra tickets, so my mom's flying me home for the concert!!

Dream come true,

Madge

Scalpels, Hatchets, Joe the Pumber.....I'm all Earmarks!!

Ooohwee the debate was good! It actually raised my stubborn heart rate by a few more beats per minute. Of course, my expectations for last night's 3rd presidential debate were lowered significantly after watching the first two yawners, but I was still quite enthused by the eye-contact, angry smirking and frequent interrupting that occurred on both sides of the table.

Other things I noticed:

McCain was not wearing a flag pin on his lapel!! This can only mean one thing- Terrorist!!!!!
Bob Schieffer was awesome as moderator.
McCain is proud of Sarah Palin and that's about it on that topic.
The two candidates were sitting so close together it made me nervous- it was like watching people on a first date. Uncomfortable.
Do they always coodinate blue tie/red tie? Do they flip a coin for who gets what color? Who arranges it- do they have wardrobe people? Also- McCain's makeup was not good. Too much pink on the lips.



WOW, what a funny picture.

I just got done skyping with C&F- conference call style. It was grand hearing from them and planning our christmas holiday together. We've already penciled in a day to get the tree. I also decided I should work at Yakima Fruit Market in Bothell loading Christmas trees into people's cars. It would kill working out and making money with one stone- using the analogy that those tasks are birds. siiiigh. On days where nothing I write makes sense, it is always best for me to sit back and read dlisted- where Michael K so elequently writes the most hilarious insights on the celeb world. CRAZY about Madonna and A-Rod. He really went downhill after the Marieners. Being Joey Cora's shoulder to cry on was his shining moment.

I love that Danity Kane song "Damaged". Plus, I feel cool and hip being up on the Making the Band gossip. It's been so long since MTV introduced me to anything music-related so listening to Danity Kane makes me feel young again- like back in the days of Brit's "Making the Video" for I'm not a girl not yet a woman and Usher's episode of "Diary of".

Filled out a survey for our campus catering company and got a free snickers bar- so exciting,

madge

Fifty Nifty Unknown Facts

And by fifty, I mean twenty eight- woops! I suppose I just wanted to say "fifty" because it rhymes with "nifty" and reminds me of my favorite educational song "Fifty Nifty United States". Hmm, now I'm lying again. That's not my favorite educational song at all- it's actually "Conjunction Junction, What's Your Function?"- but I do like "Fifty Nifty United States".

I digress. These facts came from topfive.com (sometimes I have to rely on sources other than myself for interesting blog topics- I am not a machine, people!). I am convinced that many of these "facts" are completely fabricated, but decide for youself. I've included my comments in BOLD.

*Johnny Plessey batted .331 for the Cleveland Spiders in 1891, even though he spent the entire season batting with a rolled-up, lacquered copy of the Toledo Post-Dispatch. Um...WHAT?! That's insane- why didn't he use a bat? Why hasn't this received more press? Maybe the Cleveland Spiders were a little league team. But little kids don't read the newspaper....so that can't be it. WOW

*The Boeing 747 is capable of flying upside-down if it weren't for the fact that the wings would shear off when trying to roll it over. I'll believe it when I see it.

*Manatees possess vocal chords which give them the ability to speak like humans, but don't do so because they have no ears with which to hear the sound. Again, I do not think we can make this assumption. How do we know they stay silent because they don't have ears? Maybe they just don't want to talk- like monks. We should really just ask them.

*SCUBA divers cannot pass gas at depths of 33 feet or below. How AWFUL. Makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it.

*Catfish are the only animals that naturally have an ODD number of whiskers. Don't care.

*Replying more than 100 times to the same piece of spam e-mail will overwhelm the sender's system and interfere with their ability to send any more spam. Yeah, and replying to an e-mail 100 times would take forever so I would never do it.

*Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting. OH MY GOD! HA! That's a lot.

*The first McDonald's restaurant opened for business in 1952 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and featured the McHaggis sandwich. This is crazy- I thought McDonalds is known for being American. Every time we'd go there in Cyprus our international friends would say "ahh, McDonalds- it's like going home for you, right?" Well, next year when I'm in Edinburgh I will have to try a McHaggis- except I won't because I don't eat meat. But I will watch someone else eat one, how bout that.

*You *can* get blood from a stone, but only if contains at least 17 percent bauxite. HUH?

*The skin needed for elbow transplants must be taken from the scrotum of a cadaver. First of all, gross. Second of all, ELBOW TRANSPLANTS?

*The sport of jai alai originated from a game played by Incan priests who held cats by their tails and swung at leather balls. The cats would instinctively grab at the ball with their claws, thus enabling players to catch them. What's Jai Alai?

*A cat's purr has the same romance-enhancing frequency as the voice of singer Barry White. Ok, who's the crazy cat-lady who discovered all these feline facts?

*The typewriter was invented by Hungarian immigrant Qwert Yuiop, who left his "signature" on the keyboard. Awesome. He should have made himself home row. Maybe asdf ghjkl was his wife or something.


*Because printed materials are being replaced by CD-ROM, microfiche and the Internet, libraries that previously sank into their foundations under the weight of their books are now in danger of collapsing in extremely high winds. Yep- don't believe this one at all. I need to see the research. Cite your source. I smell a rat.

*In 1843, a Parisian street mime got stuck in his imaginary box and consequently died of starvation. Now-a-days we have names for people like the mime- paranoid schizophrenics. Poor, silent, face-painted thing. Tragic!

*Until 1978, Camel cigarettes contained minute particles of real camels. Having ridden a camel, I feel strongly toward this issue. Had they been around back then, the "TRUTH" campaign and PETA would have probably collaborated for one doozy of a television commercial.

*A dog's naked behind leaves absolutely no bacteria when pressed against carpet. DON'T BELIEVE IT. What about that Stanley Steamer commercial? This one:

Dog Wipes Butt Across Floor | Viral | SPIKE.com

*Every Labrador retriever dreams about bananas. How could anyone possibly know this? Not to be a sceptic, but come ON.

*If you put a bee in a film canister for two hours, it will go blind and leave behind its weight in honey. WOW! Doing this- next bee I find. Can't WAIT!

*Centuries ago, purchasing real estate often required having one or more limbs amputated in order to prevent the purchaser from running away to avoid repayment of the loan. Hence an expensive purchase was said to cost "an arm and a leg." If only this policy was still intact maybe our current economic crisis could have been avoided.

*Coca-Cola was the favored drink of Pharaoh Ramses. An inscription found in his tomb, when translated, was found to be almost identical to the recipe used today. CRAZY!! I hear King Tut was more of a diet coke man himself.

*If you part your hair on the right side, you were born to be carnivorous. If you part it on the left, your physical and psychological make-up is that of a vegetarian. Let's check- left part, vegetarian- yep, guess this one is true.

*When immersed in liquid, a dead sparrow will make a sound like a crying baby. So it makes the crying noise after it's dead, or while it's dying?

*Although difficult, it's possible to start a fire by rapidly rubbing together two Cool Ranch Doritos. It's probably "difficult" because no one can hold Cooler (they used to be called COOLER Ranch but then it switched to just COOL- I looked it up) Ranch Doritos in their hand for that long without eating them. They are so good. A lot better than Nacho Cheesier Doritos.

*The world's smartest pig, owned by a mathematics teacher in Madison, WI, memorized the multiplication tables up to 12. WHAT?! I only know them up to 11!!

*Due to the natural "momentum" of the ocean, saltwater fish cannot swim backwards. I would never even think to expect them to swim backwards. So, this isn't that cool.

*The "nine lives" attributed to cats is probably due to their having nine primary whiskers. What's with all the cat facts? Some crazy cat-lady has devoted her life to discovering quirky facts about the glorified rodents. Wait- didn't we just find out that catfish are the only animal that have an odd number of whiskers? LIES!

*The Venezuelan brown bat can detect and dodge individual raindrops in mid-flight, arriving safely back at his cave completely dry. This makes me think of Quidditch. For some reason.

Feel smarter? Me neither.

Peaceout,

Madge

Laughter and Cookies: The Best Medicine

And since I don't have any cookies for ya.......I'll try to serve up a laugh or two:

First off- Liz downloaded T.I.'s latest single "Whatever You Like" because it's awesome. We were listening to it and during the part where he says "I want yo body, need yo body" Liz goes "Is he saying 'I want Joe Biden, need Joe Biden'"?!?!?! Haha. It really does sound like he's saying that. She even googled it to see if anyone else made that same mistake.....turns out many people have. 

Secondly- Look at how ORANGE Drew Barrymore is. Anyone else notice this? I was going to do an entire blog post titled "Who Okayed This??" and it would have included this Covergirl commercial featuring Drew as well as the Sabrina the Teenage Witch intro that I posted a few days ago....but I was too lazy to think of any other examples, so just watch Ms. Orangey now. 

HAHA. Those two things were funny. But I still want cookies. 

Oh- this is pretty funny. People tell me I look like the ugly girl from the Disney Channel movies Halloweentown and Quints. Ok, she's not heinous- but she has a butt-chin. I also get Ali Hilfiger (Tommy Hilfiger's daughter and start of the MTV show "Rich Girls") who looks A LOT like a horse- so I guess I can see it...especially with my horse hair as of late. neigh.

Barbie gets tennis player Jennifer Caprioti...

Me, Ali, and Kimberly J. Brown of Halloweentown fame. 

Wow, I am soooo tired. It just hit me. I am opening the bagel shop tomorrow with Basbic (one of Barbie's nicknames, along with "Babs" "Babsie" "Babylon" and "Teacher"). 

nighty night, 

Madge

P.S. I almost forgot the funniest thing of all!! Anna found this note on her car last week! It's signed "Lucas" and he leaves her his phone number (I cropped it out of the pics because I know one of you losers would try to call him). 

Grassy At A Glance...

My Fall in pictures.....

CLARE'S BIRTHDAY! PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING- YUM!

MACBOOK PRIDE!

DOWNTOWN SPOKANE- MATCHING OUTFITS, STARBUCKS, AND A GONDOLA RIDE!

ANNA AND ALEX VISIT- GO GRIZ!!!!

THE GRIND!!

The fire alarm got pulled- the lights went on. People were NOT happy. Sweaty and heinous.

COUER D'ALENE

A lot of grand blog ideas are brewing in my head- it's just a matter of sitting down and posting them, which I plan on doing tomorrow. 

Llama, 

Madge