It's possible that I've run out of interesting things to say...

Quote of the Day: Feedback is a business term which refers to the joy of criticizing other people's work. This is one of the few genuine pleasures of the job, and you should milk it for all it's worth. - Dilbert

Pictures of the Day...

I have so many days to catch up on. I'm realizing that I either live a very boring life or I'm lazy about taking pictures.  I'm guessing it's both...

Picture of the Day #24: Brian at the German Bakery.  He's a wild and Crazy guy!

Picture of the Day #25: The first year of cherries on the cherry tree

Picture of the Day #26: The first flower on my first tomato plant which will hopefully become my first tomato!

Picture of the Day #27: Brian built me two more boxes.  The one of the left is mostly different types of tomato plants (i love tomatoes!) and the one on the right has asparagus and broccoli and peppers.

Picture of the Day #28:  This is what my house looks like from the front now.  The River Birch needs to grow!

Picture of the Day #29: This is what the house looks like right now from the end of the driveway...I know, I'm getting lazy with the pictures. I'll have to see if the minions will pose for some this weekend.

My obsession...well, for now....

I am in love with audio books.  I've found that I miss reading but not enough that I want to give up my new love, Drop7 (which is available on Android/iPad). Audio books allow me to enjoy both activities at the same time.  In the past few months, I have listened to the following:

A. Harry Potter Series (I've read them all but listening to them is AWESOME!!!)

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (This one won a Grammy and the reader earned a world record for the number of voices he did)

B. David Eddings Books (My all time favorite fantasy author. I've actually read all these books at least 5 times each and still listening to them was awesome)

The Belgariad

1. Pawn of Prophecy

2. Queen of Sorcery

3. Magician's Gambit

4. Castle of Wizardry

5. Enchanters End Game

The Mallorean (same characters as The Belgariad)

1. Guardians of the West

2. King of the Murgos

3. Demon Lord of Karanda

4. Sorceress of Darshiva

5. The Seeress of Kell

6. Belgarath the Sorcerer

7. Polgara the Sorceress

The Elenium

1. The Diamond Throne

2. The Ruby Knight

3. The Sapphire Rose

The Tamuli (same characters as The Elenium)

1. Domes of Fire

2. The Shining Ones

3. The Hidden City

C. Ender's Game

D. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy (The are recorded with a FULL CAST which make them even more entertaining!)

1. The Golden Compass

2. The Subtle Knife

3. The Amber Spyglass


I was able to get a bunch of these from the library which was pretty cool. I'm not sure what I will listen to next.  The Philip Pullman books have been so entertaining because of all the voices.  I suppose I should listen to a grown-up book at some point, but they bore me.


Jenn - DOTS are not an appropriate breakfast food, but they sure are tasty!

Impossible just means it hasn't been figured out yet...

Quote of the day: "The best way to avoid criticism is to establish a reputation for being irrational and belligerent at the slightest excuse." - Dilbert

I'm sick of hearing "that's impossible"...

How is it that there is anyone that still thinks that there are impossibilities in the world? Like when I say "it's not unreasonable to think that the laws of physics will one be proven to be incorrect", people get all "It's a law! It's been proven! It's impossible that anything will change that.".  Um, right, because as humans we obviously have figured out all there is to know about everything and there is no way that anything new will ever come to light or that we could be wrong. (And responding with "Your face is impossible!" doesn't get people to take you seriously, FYI). Good thing you weren't around when sailors decided to chance sailing off the edge of the earth when they thought it was flat or else we'd all still be thinking in 2 dimensions...

The thing is that, in my mind, anything is possible, even if it does not seem to be so at the time of the discussion.  Not having the knowledge about something doesn't mean it can't ever be done.  The thing that spurred this was a discussion about aliens.  I believe that there are other being out in the universe and that it's not unreasonable to believe that they could have the ability to do things and travel much further than we earth folk currently can. I'm not saying that all the stories of alien abduction and such are entirely believable, but I also don't think it's entirely impossible. Of course, I got the "it's impossible to travel those distances". Since earth folk haven't figured it out, that must mean that no other beings in all the uncharted universe could possibly have figured that out. I apologize to the entire human race and mean no disrespect, but I don't actually believe that we know everything there is to know about everything ever. I'm basing that on the fact that as soon as I get the newest, most high tech cell phone in a couple of months (Motorola Bionic!!!), five minutes later it will become outdated technology.  So unless there is some evil cell phone conspiracy, one in which all cell phone technology that will ever exist has already been discovered and they are just doling it out in small bits to keep me buying new phones, I'm thinking that people are constantly learning new things. But I digress...

Ok, so, Aliens. One argument that I got to that was, if they are able to travel around the universe, how come they haven't tried to colonize the Earth?  My first reaction to that is, why is it everyone's first thought that everything needs to be taken over?  Seriously, maybe that's why we haven't figured it out yet.  We aren't evolved enough.  Until we stop thinking like territorial animals, maybe we just can't access the other parts of our brain.  Perhaps the aliens that have figured out interstellar travel have also figured out that running around taking over everyone's worlds is a sucky thing to do and so they don't do it.  I mean, if you are smart enough to figure out how to travel the galaxy, there's a good chance you are all smart enough not to bother taking over a planet that is already being overused.  Why not just find another one that's fresh? Duh.  My second reaction is how do we know that colonization hasn't already occurred?  Of course, that's when people roll their eyes.  I'm not saying that it has or hasn't happened.  I'm saying that it's possible.  Assimilation not domination could be the alien slogan.  I'm not saying I believe either way.  My mind doesn't really work that way.  Nothing can be proven 100%.  NOTHING.  It can be mostly proven.  I can lean towards believing one side of an argument is more possibly true that the other side.  But I never believe 100% in anything as true.  Except what I see with my own eyes.  And even that is subject to my own perception of reality.  What I see with my very own eyes could be perceived completely differently than how another person sees the same exact thing with their own eyes.  Anyway, my point is not really about aliens.  My point is that to think that there is anything that is impossible and will always be impossible seems silly to me. 

What I really care about is...

Note: I don't mean to sound like a commercial below, but since I'm now domesticated, these are the things I think about.  And I have a HUGE appreciation for the items below.

As you may or may not know, my house is filled with the following:

4 cats (Morpheus, Trixie, Lucy, Neo)
1 70lb black lab (Dakota)
1 Adult Male (Boyfriend)
3 Tweenage boys (G, E, M)

As you can perhaps imagine, the floors are in a constant state of "ew, what is that?!"  So, though I never thought I would say something like this,  my carpet cleaning devices are my favorite household items on earth. EVER. I love them so much, I occasionally consider leaving Boyfriend to run off with them to a tropical island.

This is my vacuum cleaner.  His name is Larry.  Larry is one of my very best friends.  When my cream color carpet starts to look black from all the friggin Dakota hair (I swear that dog explodes her entire coat of fur on a weekly basis), Larry sucks it all right up.  Larry is the best vacuum cleaner that I have ever owned.  EVER.  I have to be careful with Larry though, because he's so powerful that I almost accidentally sucked one of the kids into his belly.  That would have been not good.  It's amazing how much crud gets onto the floors and carpets within a few days.  With so many pets, we have to vacuum, at minimum, once a week. That's if we are being lazy.  2-3 times a week would be better.  Larry is my hero. 




This is Larry's BFF, Henry.  Occasionally, I cheat on Larry with Henry.  I mostly bought Henry because he's "all terrain" which cracked me up.  Like I'm cleaning the hills and streams of my home. Apparently, "all terrain" just means "can be used on carpets, hardwood, tile, etc." I'm ok with that.  Henry is a little heavy for me to be pushing around in the wilderness.  I hate mopping the floors, but I love to Henry them.  Sometimes, I use the attachment to clean the walls.  That might sound odd, but any of you who have children in the house have probably had the experience where you are walking around the house and will randomly see something unidentifiable splattered on the wall. And in weird places on the wall that you think "how the heck did they get chocolate sauce all the way over/up there?!".  Anyway, Henry is awesome.  Like when the Great Chocolate Milk Disaster of 2011 happens (where you go to take the brand new gallon of chocolate milk out of the fridge and then drop it onto the kitchen floor where it EXPLODES, at which point every child and animal in the house decides to run directly through the lake of chocolate milk.),  I just take Henry and suck it right up.  And then three weeks later when I'm discovering chocolate milk paw prints and chocolate milk splatters on the wall in unusual places throughout the house, Henry helped me out.  The latest thing was cat pee. One of the friggin' cats was feeling like an a-hole and decided that everyday was a fine day to pee on the carpet in the hall in front of the front door.  And washing the whole rug every day was becoming tedious and didn't seem to be getting the pee smell out.  I put some of that special cat urine cleaning stuff into Henry and cleaned the carpet.  That finally got the smell out.

It IS a miracle!!!

On a side note: I was also having the problem that one of the cats was always pooping next to the litter box instead of inside it.  I tried different litters, cleaning them daily, adding more boxes...nothing was working.  It's been driving me crazy for months.  Finally, I'm at the pet store, just staring blankly at things, and notice this litter attractant stuff:

I heart you!

OMG IT'S SO FREAKING AWESOME!!  So far...It's only been 4 pooh and pee free days.  I won't get crazy thinking that there has been a miracle but I will gladly continue to buy that stuff if  it means that all four cats will go potty where they are freaking supposed to.

I guess my point is that I never thought that there would be room in my heart of things like carpet cleaners and vacuums.  And now I'm in love with the ones that I own.  I'm not sure how many more of these drastic life changes I can take!

Jenn - I should have my own infomercial...

The Honey Badger is the most fearsome creature in the animal kingdom...

Quote of the Day: "Consultants have credibility because they are not dumb enough to work at your company." - Dilbert

So totally over American Idol...

I finally got around to watching the top three performances from last week, even though I knew Haley had been booted.  I wanted to see what reason America had for kicking her off.  Other than a certain arrogance, she's a darn good singer.

It would appear that singing ability and the ability to entertain me are not actually criteria for people to vote to keep someone.  I think her personality got in the way.  It can't be her singing.  The girl sang Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, and Alanis Morrisette. And she sang them AWESOME.  Plus, she fell on her arse (something I don't think I've ever seen actually happen on Idol) and didn't miss a beat.  Meanwhile, though they both can certainly sing well, Scotty and Lauren sang...oh, right, 3 country songs each.  Shocking.  And Lauren got distracted by a cute boy and forgot to sing a note.  But, I guess country music rules the world now or something, because those two are in the final.  I'm not going to lie, I probably won't even watch.  I think it's time to admit to myself that Idol is dead to me.  I just don't care.  I haven't bought a single song from this season.  I have all of David Cook's performances.  I have all of Adam Lambert's performances. I even have most of Lee's performances.  I have 0 from this season.  ZERO.  That tells me that I really just don't care.  I'm holding onto a dead relationship with Idol and it's time to let go.  I have to move on to something different.  Something I can feel the way I felt about Idol a few years back when I started watching it. I'm hoping that something is X Factor.  I'm hoping that it's just Simon that's missing from my life.  And Paula.  I don't care what anyone says, Paula is pure genius.  She may not intend to be.  She may be barely lucid at most times.  But she's too much unintentional comedy to sit on the sidelines.  I'm glad her and Simon are secretly in love and that he has brought her back into the world of judging.  I will, however, really miss Ryan Seacrest.  That man is not only a machine, but also my hero.  I actually think he's a robot.  I can't prove it.  He's too good to let that happen.  But, mark my words, one day it will come to light that he is a robot and I want everyone reading this to remember that I said it.  Ryan Seacrest is a robot. Tell your friends.

Let's Flashback to 2007-2008...

Since my life revolves around TV, so does my calender.  I do not count time passing as Jan - Jan.  i count it as September to September.  But I digress...

In the year 2007-2008, those of us who's existences revolve around fictional characters (right, pathetic, blah blah, I get it), were forced to find other forms of entertainment due to the writers' strike.  I mean, there was no LOST to watch!!! Does anyone remember how awful that was?  It was, take my word for it.  So, I had to find other entertainments.  Looking back on the blogs from that time, I am cracking up.  From that era come such fine blogs as:

1. November 5, 2007 : The One Where Jpnkn gets hit by a car...

2. November 7, 2007: The One Where Jpnkn slowly slips into a food coma...

3. November 12, 2007: The One Where Jpnkn almost gets a cap in her ass... 

4. December 27, 2007: When Did I become a character in a Chuck Palyhniuk novel? (One of my favorites)

5. January 10, 2008: I am Jenn's rusty lungs... (i am an angsty mo fo)

6. January 15, 2008: Bouncing Back...

7. January 17, 2008: You say there are no guarantees... 

8. January 18, 2008: I just wanted a pencil... 

9. March 11, 2008: The Ides of March are almost upon us... 

10. March 12, 2008: Personal Boundries? I'm not familiar...

And a Random Conversation with my soul...

There was a point to this other then the walk down memory lane...what was it? Oh, right, writers' strike, no tv, had to find other things to do.  But that is not what brought up 2007-2008 in my mind originally.  What actually got me thinking about it was Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  It's been the complete obsession of my household.  One of the kids has actually memorized all the words to all the songs.  Boyfriend keeps watching it.  And like any good ADD addled brain, my mind jumped like this...

1. Hmmm...everyone really likes that Dr. Horrible show.

2. I wonder when that came out? (Looks it up on the interwebs)

3. Oh, 2008, hmmm, wasn't that when the writer's strike was? (Looks it up on the interwebs)

4. It was! I really hated that. I totally missed LOST when it was off air for a few months.

5. Hmmmm...LOST...I really missed all TV. I wonder what I was doing.

6. I'll go look at old blogs.

7. Hahahahahaha...I am funny AND angsty.  OMG. I write the same stuff every year. I'm redundent.

8. I should blog about that.

9. Somehow end up starting blog with American Idol, then remembering I want to blog about Dr. Horrible, then blogging about old blogs, then finally getting to Dr. Horrible. 

10. End of thoughts.

All my best ideas are in the shower...

It used to be that all my best ideas where in the 3 hours a day I spent in the car.    I also did my best thinking in the car.  In the car, I was this totally deep, introspective person with great understanding of myself and the world around me. In the car, I was practically self-actualized and had no where left on the pyramid of needs to go.  Of course, the moment I stepped out of the car, I was back to being randomly funny, often angsty, always confused Jenn.  In my car was all the power and understanding in the universe. Outside my car, nothing.  I mean, it was only a Ford Focus 3 door hatchback, so I'm not sure how all that universe stuff fit inside, but it did.  I miss that car...again, I digress.  Now that I don't drive 3 hours a day, I find that all my good thinking is done in the shower.  I was thinking the stuffing out of life and the world in the shower this morning.  I had something super awesome and deep to blog about and I was going to sound smart and better then just normal Jenn.  Of course, the moment I stepped out of the shower, I totally forgot.  It could have been when I was blow drying my hair.  Or straightening it (34 years and I've finally almost got the hang of a straightening iron! I'm so close!!!)  I don't know. I can't remember when the thoughts fell out of my head.  Which just reminded me of how badly I need to start recording notes to myself because I can't remember anything I ever want to say.  Curses.  Stupid brain foiled me again!!!

Until next time...

Jenn - I am totally superficial but not superficial at all....