Great Scot!

Ok, time to take a well-earned break from Aquinass's "Summa Theologiae" to blog for you wonderful people.

After my first week in Edinburgh I can safely say, in the words of Fedde Le Grand- I love this city!

(...And for those of you that didn't catch that reference, I was alluding to the stupendous techno song "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit", where they're actually saying "A lovely city" or "Our lovely city" but everyone who's anyone just sings "I love this city...")

Funny things about Edinburgh (first installment):

1.Every homeless person has a dog. Haven't spotted a dogless one yet.

2. It's haunted and everyone knows it--accepts it as part of the scenery. People are much more likely to complain about the weather than the ghosts (who are everywhere...you can FEEL their presence and I swear I can SMELL them...oooooooohhhhhweeeeeee).

3. "Hill-walking" is a hobby.

4. My flat was built in 1690

5. Oatmeal= Porridge (more or less)

Line=Queue

Steamed milk= Hot milk

washing-up= doing the dishes? (still not sure about this one)

trainers= tennis shoes

Things I've googled today:

"emotional after period"

"define: telos"

"calories in a poached egg"

"goat's milk"

"word count"

"watch Mad Men"

SIGHHH. When am I going to de-facebook-friend all of last season's bachelors from "The Bachelorette" who I hastily friend-requested after the "Men Tell All" episode. Now they are monopolizing my news feed. It's tiresome.

Yikes...everything I have written until this point in the post was from LAST WEEK and I just never got around to publishing it. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating- Cyprus ruined me. Once the Mediterranean culture settles in your bones it never really leaves.

OH MY LORD. I just googled image searched "Aquinas" and look what popped up! Poor guy. Do we really know he looked like that? Who decides what pre-camera people are supposed to look like? Or is there a preserved sketch from way back when? Is that hair fo real????

Cheers,

Margaret

Check out my flat!

Remembering Brian

My friend Brian Bradshaw died in Afghanistan on Thursday.

Brian was such a uniquely authentic person. He brought himself 100 percent to everything he did. I worked with him at summer camp for 4 years. His humor and sense of adventure was contagious.

Despite his busy schedule, he always made an enormous effort to show up at camp gatherings, or volunteer a few sessions or facebook chat with his friends. His sarcasm and in-your-face energy never stopped him from letting his friends know he cared about them. I've always thought of him as a protector- someone I would want with me if I was stranded on a dessert island needing to survive. It kills me to think of how scary it must have been for him over there.

My heart breaks for his family.

In a few days everyone from camp is gathering for staff training and I look forward to sharing our stories about Brian. We'll make sure to keep him in our thoughts throughout the summer and spread his message of love to the campers.

I'll miss you Brian!

Hiatus: Over (for now)

Holler, friends! 

It's been a while since I've done a legit post. For old time's sake, let's start things off with a list.

Top 5 activities to improve your mood (btw, wtf is up with this shirt? I think that's a llama but it seems irrelevant to the rest of the shirt...):

1. Take a shower: The steam goes up the nose, clears the sinuses and lifts the brain up just a bit. After a shower, I always look SO MUCH BETTER. Even if I didn't look "dirty" before, the memory of my pre-shower self suddenly becomes caked in filth. My face looks like I could be in a clean&clear&undercontrol commercial. My hair smells like cupcakes. 

2. Listen to music: This could mean downloading your favorite new song from iTunes (treat yourself!), pillaging through your playlist for an oldie but a goodie, or perhaps just letting the shuffle take over. Once a worthy track hits your ears, snap those fingas and DANCE!

3. Exercise: No new news here. Whether it's walking, running, jump roping, galloping, or doing high-kicks in your room as discretely as possible while trying not to make grunting noises, exercise is a mood enhancer. Endorphins are the new meth. 

4. Take a nap: Maybe you're in a bad mood because you're sleepy. I often have to FORCE myself to take a nap, but it's well worth it. Even if you're still in a bad mood when you wake up, you at least cut out an hour or so of bad-mood time. 

5. Buy someone a present: If you can't seem to make yourself happy, switch your focus on someone else. Scrounge up some change and buy a treat for a friend. Surprise them. 

Next on the agenda: "The most dramatic rose ceremony in Bachelorette history!!!!"

 

Have you ever noticed that ABC can ceaselessly reuse this line in their promos by simply replacing either the words "dramatic" or "rose-ceremony"?

For example, they might say: "Next week, stay tuned for the most grotesque rose ceremony in Bachelorette history!!!"

Or, they might say: "Next week, stay tuned for the most dramatic one-on-one date in Bachelorette history!!!"

Jillian is the new Bachelorette and she's a mess. I wish I could be trendy and say she's a "hot mess", but she's not even hot and I'm actually over the phrase "hot mess". 

"Jilly" has a wardrobe that I'd give my right femur for, but I wouldn't wish her camel face on my worst frenemy. She was so endearing as third runner up on last seasons "The Bachelor", so what's changed? Who knows. Maybe she just seemed great compared to Molly and Melissa AND JASON (UGH). Anyway, she gets hammered in almost every episode (don't THINK we can't tell!) and talks like she has gum under her upper lip. 

Ab Nelson (cousin) has had us over every Monday night to eat hummus and watch the Canadian camel-face drink, cry, receive spin-hugs and bequeath camel-kisses to the masses. Her friends are huge Bachelor/Bachelorette fans and it's truly my favorite night of the week. 

That's all for now, folks. I've got my last two days at the PUD, then back to K-town for two nights, then off to camp for staff training! THENNNN, Edinburgh! Still filling out a shize-load of paper work, but it will all be worth it. Can't wait!

Live long and prosper, 

Margaret

The macbook is warm on my thighs...

Your honorary couve-rat, 

Margaret

Here it is again...

DS500012_3.WMA

Remember, this is just a bare-bones recording to see if it works. 

Love ya, 

Madge

First Podcast! I have a lot to learn!

This is a test!

shiza- doesn't work. i think i need to figure a few more things out.....working on it!

Don't Fence Me In

Is this a blog of personal reflections? Is it a pop-culture blog? Is it philosophical? Is it funny? Is it interesting? Is it just confused?

Perhaps at times it is all of these things, but I am OK with that. Cohesiveness has its place (scrapbooking, powerpoint presentations, runway shows, "real"/professional blogs...etc.), and it ain't here. 

So don't put Madgespace in a box. It is, in its very essence, a hodge podge. 

See, now that made me think of Modge Podge, the crafting goo. A professional blogger may let that thought pass and move onto a meaningful subject, but not me.

Modge Podge adheres photographs onto objects and makes them glossy. My family went through about a year-long obsession with the stuff. 

It's actually "Mod Podge", but for some reason we always refered to it as Modge Podge. Proper pronunciation is not a Padden/Kay family strong suit. We say "pin" when we mean "pen" and we overemphasize the "oh" sound in words like bowling, swollen and gorgonzola. My college friends call it the "Kenmore accent."

Anyway, Modge Podge dominated the birthday present scene for a good while in our house. Cut up some photos, schlop them onto the side of an old picture frame, candle holder, or slab of wood from the garage, smear on a heavy coat of Modge Podge and viola- you've got yourself a homemade, heartfelt, gift. 

Next topic: Flossing and Life-Span

I just found out that people who floss daily live longer lives than non-flossers. Ever since my parasitic crisis, I've been determined to be a HEALTHY person. I want to live a long time and have soft, radiant skin, strong bones and a lot of great grandchildren. When I'm 80 I want to wake up in the morning with joyful energy. If flossing is one step toward that future, then hand over the floss!

Ihre Gesundheit, 

Madge

Blogging vs. the Real World

If you think this is ridiculous...

Then check out this...

Easter was magnificent. I slept in, ate a lot of mangoes, hung out with the fam and jump roped in the family room while watching a "Rob&Big" marathon on TV. What more could ya ask for?

OMG- So, earlier tonight at the airport I was going through security and they had to pull aside my carry on bag for further investigation. Instantly I KNEW it was because I had a half-full tub of almond butter in there that probably counted as a "liquid" or perhaps a "gel." They ended up letting me keep it (thank god), BUT, in his search for the delicious contraband, the man unzipped the small, top pouch where all my dirty gunders from the weekend were stuffed! 

As if it wasn't humiliating enough, he had the nerve to chuckle and say "Those are all clean, right?" 

Ha. Ha. Ha. 

I managed to choke out a fake laugh and say, "oh yeah, of course" despite being mortified! I mean, is there not some sort of FAA rule prohibiting such invasive questions? Aren't security personal supposed to be serious and humorless?

Ok, move over Octo-Mom! The hot story everyone's talkin' about is now the rescue of a US navy captain from Somali pirates. 

The pirates, combined with the mother/daughter Peep costumes, gave me an blog idea: 

costumes vs. the real thing

Pirate:

Jack-o'-lantern:

Maid:

King Tut:

Bunny:

Grapes:

Cow:

I graduate in about 3 weeks. I am about to be a COLLEGE GRADUATE. In the words of Ab Nelson, how very bizarre. 

Peace, 

Madge

P.S. I turned in a stool sample to the lab today. I am not confident in the "product" that I "produced," and I fear it will return negative.

P.P.S. Speaking of The Real World, for anyone who watched this season (Brooklyn), how great is it that Ryan and Baya are dating? SO GREAT! Too bad he's back in Iraq. He and Chet are the sole reason this season was watchable. 

Superfood, Super Deal!

Hello, 

Love, 

Madge

SUN-day!

                           

The first day of real, warm, sunshine always makes me realize how miserable I've been all winter. During the last 5 months, anytime that I thought I was happy I was just kidding myself. I was faking it. Because this, my friends, is true happiness. FIFTY FIVE degrees, Manito Park, windows down in the mini-van, blue skies....BLISS.

Not only does the sun make me a happier person, but it makes me a more productive person too. Yesterday I clipped my fingernails- who does that???? Certainly not the winter version of myself. I even removed the nasty remnants of dark purple nail polish. With half of a bent bobbypin I scraped out the rotted gunk from under each nail. Who knows what kind of dirt, bacteria, parasite eggs, and boogers had been festering there all winter.

Then, after all that work, I still had the energy to throw in a load of laundry! 

If this weather keeps up, I might just start my own catering business, or complete a 1000 piece puzzle, or vacuum. 

Good day to ya, 

Madge

Ayo Technology

Today I used Twitter to read about what John Mayer, Martha Foley, Juliana DaPandi (yes, she will always be DaPandi to me!!! Sorry Mr. Rancic), Anna Kay, Jody Norwood, Rob Dyrdek, Taylor Swift and many others are up to. 

Mayer's on a cruise. Martha's just finished her homework. Anna walked Oggie. Jody went on a 6-mile run in her new running shoes. Rob Dyrdek was hanging out with the cast of his upcoming movie. Taylor Swift went to her brother's induction into his high school's honor society. 

Pretty amazing that I learned all that from one lil' website. 

Next, I looked at some pictures a guy named Ahmed put up on Facebook. He worked at the hostel we stayed at in Cairo. 

Also on Facebook I viewed every picture that Barbie and I were tagged in together since Freshman year. Memory Lane!

This morning I Skyped with Char and Francie and Bobby with our webcams. They were in Scotland and Ireland, I was in Spookaloo. I could see them, they could see me. I showed F & B the box that my new anti-parasite herbs came in. They had a good laugh. 

Pretty soon (when I win the lottery) I am going to purchase a digital audio recorder so I can post interviews with various people on my blog. THAT will be groovy. 

My point is: TECHNOLOGY IS WONDERFUL. 

Then why do I get these urges to unplug my life and move into the forest? I dream about a quaint log cabin, next to a river and surrounded by humongous evergreens. Ohhhh the peacefulness!! The rushing sound of the river, a good book, candles, salmon cooked on a campfire, pungent pine needles everywhere! Maybe Walden was onto something. 

I think I will do it at some point in my life. Except I will probably take my laptop and allow myself to use it one day a week. Or whenever I want to, but just not excessively. It would be a GREAT thing to blog about. Haaaaaha. 

Slàinte, 

Margaret