Top Ten Tuesday v.2: Books You Should Read

Linked up with Amanda again for Top Ten Tuesday fun!

Ten Books You Should Read:

{1}

The Brain That Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge. I'm sure you're all thinking, "Blah blah blah, of course the neuroscientist recommends a brain book," but I'm telling you, this book rocks for scientists and nonscientists alike. Dr. Doidge does a fantastic job bordering the line of empirical research and pop literature. Plus, neuroplasticity is cool. (I'll point out that our brains aren't nearly as infinitely plastic as implied by the book, but it's still an amazing read.)

{2}

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. If you haven't heard of Oliver Sacks, you are either haven't taken an intro psychology course or don't care about neurological disorders. Although this isn't Dr. Sacks' first book, it's his best. He writes case studies of neurological disorders, one being the man who could not correctly identify his wife. It's fascinating.

{3}

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marissa Pessl. I was originally referred to this book by my Aunt Heide (personal communication, "You'll love this," 2007) and have loved it ever since. When she told me the book was cited throughout, it was confusing as to why that would be interesting (see Merriam-Webster Dictionary, pg. 373). It takes a while to get used to it, but it's worth the wait. I'm usually not a fan of fiction, but this is a must-read.

{4}

Where is God When it Hurts by Philip Yancey. I bought this book after Christopher died, and although my spiritual beliefs are different than Yancey's, it was enormously helpful in my faith journey. I had a tough time believing in a higher power after somebody so wonderful was taken away, but I was able to cope with both my heart and my faith through this book.

{5}

The Modern Girl's Guide to Life by Jane Buckingham. It seems so simple, but there are some amazing times regarding fabulous entertaining, modern day etiquette, chic but cheap decorating, resume building, and money managing. A lot of it is basic information, but to things that I never would have thought I needed to know about (there's a difference between pan-broiling and broiling?!). It was a must when I moved out of my house.

{6}

A Primate's Memoir by Robert M. Sapolsky. Dr. Sapolsky is a Stanford professor who works with baboons, and although it gets too technical at one point, skipping over the scientific sections still does not hinder the message of his book. Out of all his books, this is his most personable, from his experience with the baboons to conversations with the native peoples.

{7}

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low-Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman. Klosterman is one of my favorite writers, mostly because he tells it like it is. This particular book illustrates his thoughts on topics like interviewing Britney Spears, the inherent falseness of MTV's The Real World, Billy Joel's songs, and hatred for John Cusack ["But whenever I meet dynamic Americans, I notice that they all seem to share a single unifying characteristic: the inability to experience the kind of mind-blowing, transcendent romantic relationship they perceive to be a normal part of living. And someone needs to take the fall for this. So instead of blaming no one for this (which is kind of cowardly) or blaming everyone (which is kind of meaningless), I'm going to blame John Cusack."]

{8}

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. A fantastically written account of what happens once people become simply bodies. She's humorous but not disrespectful, and has some of the best footnotes I've ever read.

{9}

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Levitt and Dubner. I'm not an economist, nor have I ever read anything about macroeconomics before this book. The book covers topics from why drug dealers live with their mothers, lowered crime rates being related to Roe vs. Wade, all the way to Chicago teachers changing students' exam answers. It's a fascinating read, and continues with their second book, Superfreakonomics.

{10}

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I only hope to become so content with life as Dr. Pausch was. The book is a continuation of Dr. Pausch's Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon, which has been widely viewed and critically acclaimed. In the book, he is able to go more in-depth with personal examples, triumphing over odds and pursuing your dreams. It's inspiring and full of love.

What are some of your favorite, must-read books?

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Watermark Your Photos

(Post dedicated to my BFF Jenna, who asked this question!)

Let me preface by saying that I'm in no way a Photoshop master, but I know enough to get around. I bet there's multiple ways to make your own watermark, but here's the easy way I do it.

1. First, make a new document (File --> New). I default with a width of 2000 px and a height of 1000 px, but it doesn't really matter.

2. Once the new document opens, hit the text button and type what you want your watermark to say. If you want a logo watermark, make the logo. In this step, make it as large as possible so that your final product will be sharp at a large or small size.

3. Next, crop your text. This is completely unnecessary but I do it anyway.

4. In essence, you're going to make a brush that "brushes" your name. Go to Edit --> Define Brush Preset.

5. Name your brush.

6. To use your brush, open up a photo you want to watermark, hit the brush tool on the left toolbar (the one that looks like a paint brush), and then on the upper toolbar, click on picture of the brush with numbers below it. This is the type and size of brush you're using. Your new brush preset will be the last on this list so scroll to the bottom. Then, size your brush so that your name is appropriately sized for the photograph by moving the upper slide or by typing in a pixel number.

7. Lastly, use it as a brush! I like to use 75% opacity so it doesn't look too stark, although in some photos I use 100% because you can't see it otherwise. You can change the color of this watermark by opening up the color palate at the bottom of the left toolbar.

The final product:

What does your watermark look like?

Dad's visit in iPhone pics

My rockin' dad came to visit me this past week in Waco, and below is his visit in iPhone pics!

Picked him up at the airport wearing his UW t-shirt. Who's surprised?

We're excited for Dad's 60th birthday party that I threw for him in Waco. Woot!

We stayed at the Pattersons' house after the party and watched the gorgeous sunset.

We also got to help Ralph feed the horses! Nothin' but the true Texan experience for Dad.

In between our spackle paste drying, we decided to head to San Antonio. We visited the Riverwalk,

took a river tour,

ate Mexican food (complete with Happy Hour drinks),

and visited the Alamo.

We saw a Dallas Cowboys store in the River Mall and Dad let his love for the Seahawks known.

The next day, we headed to New Braunfels, TX to visit Schlitterbahn Waterpark.

Schlitterbahn is literally in the middle of a neighborhood, with apartments and houses surrounding the park. Although a few of the four sections of the park were open, we stayed in Schlitterbahn East, also known as Blastenhoff. The park boasts the best water slide we've ever been on, called the Master Blaster (skip forward 50 seconds, turn your sound down, and watch the slide). The water actually propels you, so you end up going down and up on this slide. We ended up going four times on this slide, we loved it so much. My cousin Sam is gonna be so jealous, as when I told him I was moving to Texas, the first thing he said was, "That's where Schlitterbahn is!" Sucka.

The next day was more home improvement, but we took a break to have lunch with Ralph. Notice Dad in yet another Seahawks shirt?! ;)

Chloe made a new friend (which, if you've met her, you know she's a priss).

It was such a beautiful week that Dad and I were able to spend some time walking around campus.

And, to counteract that exercise, eat plenty of fro-yo.

(Can you tell which one is mine? SPRINKLES!)

We got to FaceTime with the Lake-Fabre family (Ava's the bottom right corner, Scott and Dr. Motorcycle, PhD [their cat] are hiding behind Sandra in this picture).

We spend an extraordinary amount of time at Lowe's and Home Depot.

The night before he left, we had a Mamma Mia sing along (best father-daughter activity ever).

He flew out Saturday afternoon, so that morning, we decided to be Waco tourists and hit the suspension bridge before he left. We had a mini photoshoot (awesome jumping photos to come) and basically had a blast.

And that was Dad's Waco vacation! Probably not nearly as exciting as Mom's Budapest trip, but we had a good time!

Seriously?

Seriously?

Why you shouldn't let your children go see Rated R movies.

I'm 25 (I know, still a "baby" in the grand scheme of things). If I chose to do so, I could drink alcohol, gamble, smoke tobacco (although it's gross, so if you do, please quit for your lungs), and see Rated R films without a parent present. I'm an adult.

I've recently encountered two similar situations in which I was appalled. Both involved young children seeing Rated R movies with their parents.

Back in Washington, my brother's girlfriend and I decided to go see Bridesmaids. Although I'm a frequent matinee-er and like to go to bed early, our schedules worked best if we saw the 10:30pm show. According to the producers, Bridesmaids is Rated R for "strong sexuality and language throughout."

I'm fully aware that children become introduced to foul language and sexuality at a very early age. I'm not perfect and have been known to have a potty mouth on occasion. Bridesmaids, however, had more than 10 curse words, started off with a semi-graphic sex scene, and over-the-top graphic/sexual references. Not a children's movie.

Behind us, a group of parents brought their four children (what appeared to be ages 5-10) to see this movie. Maybe they didn't have a babysitter, or maybe they wanted to see the movie and figured their children would fall asleep. The parents jokingly covered their childrens' eyes during the first sex scene after an insane amount of dirty looks, but did not even bother to leave the theater when the youngest had a tantrum. The row of women in front of us commented on how awkward it was for us as the viewers to have to experience this type of movie with children in the theater. CommonSenseMedia believed this movie could be acceptable for older teenagers (16 and above) as long as dialogue occured with the parents in regards to some of the underlying themes in the movie (bigger-is-better weddings, drug use with drinking, friendship matters, etc.). I'd agree with that.

Yesterday, Heather-Jade and I decided to go see The Hangover II. I know, I know, classy movie, but I love Zach Galifianakis and enjoyed the first one, so we decided to go for it. This movie is MPAA Rated R for "pervasive language, strong sexual content including graphic nudity, drug use, and brief violent images."

Right before the movie started a father with a group of six children (age ranged around 8-13ish) sat right in front of us. During the movie, there was a cornucopia of drug references, shots fired everywhere, and numorous explicit and thorough discussions about sexual acts (including sex with a transsexual prostitute). CommonSenseMedia warns this was not a movie for children.

No duh.

Honestly, the description of Stu accidentally having gay sex with a transsexual prostitute probably flew right over these kids' heads, until it became a running joke about bodily fluids in his body oriface. I'm relatively liberal and I'm still cringing at the thought of it.

Then, during the credits, the men find photos of the evening and the audience experiences them too. We see more drug use in a positive light (cocaine), plenty of alcohol, gun violence, and extremely explicit pornography of Stu's sexual partner.

I must admit, I enjoyed the movie. It was entertaining and quite witty, and I still love Zach Galifinaikis. The photogaphs at the end, however, were so graphic that I feel a little cheated by the movie's rating (I would've said they were NC-17, they were that explicit). And there were children in the theater, no less. Had I known about the pictures at the end, I probably would have left before the credits and been perfectly fine with the movie.

Needless to say, I am appalled that these parents are bringing their children to (or endorsing!) these movies. Why can't children just stay children?! I'm all for sexual health and education for appropriately aged kids, but these movies were too much.

What are your thoughts?

Fill in the Blank Friday v.3

Link here!

1. If I could get away somewhere for the weekend I would go to South Padre, because it's close enough for a weekend but still a vacation, and I would bring a John Sanford Prey book.

2. Something I often rant about is the lack of accountability of others'. I know I can't control others' actions, but when it affects me, it becomes taxing. I'm learning to grin and bear it.

3. One item I need to have in my fridge at all times is The Laughing Cow's creamy swiss spreadable wedges. Soooo good with Wheat Thins.

4. My "life-saving" product is dry shampoo and my LOFT sparkly headband I got from Rae.

5. A friend is someone who will put up with you even when you're whining, will celebrate when you're proud of something, will hold you when you need a hug, and will laugh with/at you at all times.

6. If I could write my own blank it would be: If I was forced to leave my house on a moment's notice and banished to an island where I could only take three items with me, I'd take my computer because it has my work on it (and who doesn't want to work on an island?), my kitty ('cuz if I wasn't fed and had to hunt my own food, she'd totally kill some animals for me), and Special Topics in Calamity Physics ('cuz I could read it over and over and never get bored). And maybe a camera, if I had the ability to charge my batteries (assuming I can, since I brought my computer). Three's rough, okay?

7. My favorite kind of art is canvas paint. I can't do it, but I love art from people who can. B-e-a-utiful!

Thursday Thoughts

{one}

I tear up (if not cry) during every Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Softy? Oh yeah.

{two}

Home Repair/Improvement stores are 20x more fun when I own my house and when Dad is with me. New closet doors? Beautiful. Broken cabinet handle? Fixed. New toilet seat? Okay! The list goes on and on...

{three}

I watched Glee grudgingly this season because I loved the first so much, but I'm totally over it. Wah wah.

{four}

I haven't heard Nick's voice in over a week, which is weird. I know he's okay because I would've heard from the Baylor team, but I'm annoyed/sad/whining.

{five}

After Dad leaves, I will be painting my hallway and bathroom (hallway because I've been procrastinating and it needs it, bathroom because we fixed a wall, which turned into fixing half the bathroom). Paint, paint, paint.

{six}

Pretty sure Dad also fixed the air conditioner, which has been leaking and semi-repaired for the past three years. Awesome.

{seven}

I just found out that I have to teach next summer (and I'm already teaching this summer), which is pretty much bologna because it will be my third summer in a row teaching. Only three out of our 20-ish graduate students have to teach during summer. Moral of the story: I should have complained about doing it. Darn compliance.

{eight}

The NKOTBSB tour would be infinitely cooler if 'N SYNC was involved. The end.

Stylish Blogger?! Me?!

Sweet Sarah over at Sunlight After Rain recently received the Stylish Blogger award and has graciously passed it onto me! (I'm psyched; it's my first blog award which obviously means I'm totally awesome.)

As part of the award, you're supposed to give seven facts about yourself:

[one]

I love Harry Potter. Don't judge. I have never dressed up as a character so I'm not as hardcore as some of my friends, but I have re-read the books countless times (great for bathtub reads), seen all the movies over and over (ABC Family HP weekends have helped), and am on my third time through Jim Dale's audiobooks (they're great to run to, work to, or even drive to). I even was first in line for HP6 and HP7 books. That's dedication, my friends.

[two]

I am in love with my Mac and iPhone. Although my Dell was very good to me for five years, I'm so thankful I switched to my Macbook! Once Verizon finally started carrying iPhones, I have been a pretentious iPhone user ever since. And I'm not even sorry about it.

[three]

I take my recycling to the recycling center about once a month because my condo complex doesn't have a recycling bin. I keep it all in a large Tuperware bin, then once it gets full, I take it to the city recycling center. I'm there so often that they know my name.

[four]

Before my life is over, I want to go skydiving again (easy peasy) and ride in a hot air balloon. I have no desire to go bungy jumping, at all.

[five]

I think I'd be awesome at being a SAHM, Jr. High/HS teacher, professional matchmaker, copy editor, dancer, accounting executive, or pilot. But I rock at what I do.

[six]

I could eat pita chips, carrots, and hummus all day long.

[seven]

I judge people who don't use serial commas. The difference is only stylistic, but I love it nonetheless.

I'd like to give this award to:

Meghan at It's a Beautiful Day

Mandee at [the bear naked truth]

Lisa at Little to big.

Lauren at Chasing Cars, Hearts, and Seahorses

Allison at Nestful of Love

Erin at Bless This Nest

Happy Monday v.2: Something You Love

Happy Monday photo challenge time!

Although this is not my favorite photograph of something I love (and surely not a "winner" as far as photography skills go), it's a photo of something I love the most!

This is the most recent photograph I have of me and Christopher. Doesn't he look cute in his white fedora?

Dad's 60th Birthday Party (Part II)

Although Dad got a surprise birthday party in Washington, I wanted to have a party for him on his actual birthday in Texas! 60 is a big birthday, so I had to go all out!

I was originally intending on having the party at my condo, but the Pattersons graciously offered up their beautiful ranch home so that we didn't feel too cramped at my place.

My "Happy Birthday" banner looked great, and the appetizers I prepared were just enough. Cathy's yummy beverages (sweet tea, unsweetened tea, and lemonade) were perfect. She also had a snow cone machine with a bunch of flavors! It was pretty neat.

My cheese and meat plate (yum!).

The appetizers (sans the chicken, which we ended up grilling instead of broiling; I soaked the skewers in water before trying to broil them but either soaked them too early or didn't soak them enough, as they almost caught on fire in the oven). My low-fat seven-layer dip was incredibly popular, so I'm excited it went over well.

Dad was excited to make the chalk board:

After everybody left, Dad and I had a great conversation with the Pattersons on their back porch and Liz brought out the two remaining Doberman "puppies." They look like full-sized dogs, but they're "only" 40lbs and still have the drunk deer-style of walking. They were getting their ears docked too, so they were basically adorable.

Blue (or "Blu," or "Jet," as they haven't decided what they want to call him) saw me struggling to take photos, and so he came down in front of me to pose. What a sweet puppy, right? (That was before he tried to weed Cathy's beautiful plants.)

Needless to say, I think Dad feels very loved that a bunch of people that didn't know him would be willing to celebrate his birthday! We had a blast.

DIY Home Repairs: Installing a Shower Head

I know that installing a shower head is supposed to be "easy," and, well, it is. But I'm the type of person that before I start playing with things in my house that are vital (you know, things that help me stay hygienic), I want to know exactly what I'm doing.

Luckily, my dad is here to help me! I included an insane amount of pictures for such a little job, just in case you (like me) need a tutorial.

Installing a shower head:

1. First, loosen the old shower head with a crescent wrench.

See how gross my old shower head was? I was having some leaking issues out of the actual head, so the replacement was necessary.

2. Slide off the wall cover (flange) and unscrew the arm from the wall. We had to use a wrench for this part as well, as we had to pull it out of some foam insulation. [This step is unnecessary if you keep the old arm, but we replaced mine because it was old and beat up.]

3. Now that you have a hole in the wall, take the new arm and wrap it with teflon tape (pipe sealing tape) around the part of the arm that connects inside the wall. This is "tape" that is adhesive-less and will ensure that the water won't leak through the threads. Make sure that the direction you tape is in accordance with how you'll put it into the wall, as you don't want the tape to come off as you screw the arm in.

The fully taped threads:

4. Then, screw it into the pipe in the wall. This step took a few applications of teflon tape, as we wanted to get a tight fit but ensure that the shower head was indeed facing correctly (we ended up covering the threads with a little more tape than necessary and then screwing the arm in using the wrench).

5. Put the wall cover on the arm, then add more teflon tape where the shower head will connect.

6. Lastly, screw on the shower head. We had a bit of a problem here because we didn't have the size of crescent wrench we needed (shout out to Ralph for letting us borrow his 8" crescent wrench).

Tighten as much as possible.

7. Cut off any excess teflon tape that shows after you have the shower head on tight. (Note: I'm going to paint the bathroom so disregard the ripped wall behind the flange).

And that's how you install a shower head!

Paper Banner: A DIY Craft Tutorial

Something super popular that I've seen on craft blogs are paper banners. Meghan's mom makes beautiful and intricate ones. Everybody seems to have them, but nobody shows how to make them.

Probably 'cuz they're "easy" in the crafting world.

Good thing I'm not crafty at all.

Preface: I'm "crafty" enough (I can make cards, but I rotate the same three styles over and over) to have all of my supplies on hand. Meredith recently complained how all of her crafty friends say they make things "for free" from items they have around the house, but that she never has the supplies on hand. Even if you didn't have these supplies on hand, it wouldn't cost very much (a few sheets of paper, a gluestick, ribbon, and some love).

I used:

3 sheets of 12x12 colored cardstock

3 sheets of 8.5x11 white cardstock

1 sheet of colored cardstock for the letters

cardboard letter stencils I traced (although these could easily be printed out on white computer paper and then cut out)

1 small spool of ribbon

a hole puncher (I only have a 3-hole puncher so I improvised)

a gluestick

First, I cut the colored cardstock so that they were four inches in height (so I could easily cut the 12x12 paper in thirds) and three inches in width (I wanted a rectangle, but a 4"x4" square would have worked too).

Then, I cut the white cardstock about an inch smaller than the colored cardstock. That means my white rectangles were about 3.5"x2.5".

Then, I glued the white cardstock pieces on the colored pieces. I made 13 (so I could write "Happy Birthday" but in hindsight, I wish I would have made 14 so that I could have a blank one as a space in between the words).

Then, I took my cardboard letter stencils and traced them backwards on a brown sheet of paper. (For those of you who own Cricuts, no judging my handmade letters).

My awesome cardboard stencils:

I arranged the cutout letters on the white cardstock to make sure everything looked good. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to have each letter centered on the card or if I wanted the p's to be lower since they normally hang below the sight line. I decided on centering. Good decision, Sar.

(Look at Chloe tryin' to help! Good kitty, eh?)

I hole-punched each upper corner in each letter. Rawr.

Then, I cut ribbon about four inches long (Maybe a little longer? I eyeballed it.) so that I could make double knots for each hole (if I didn't double knot it, the knot would slip through the hole). I chose to tie off each letter individually (instead of stringing them on one long piece of ribbon) so that I could control the length and not have to worry about spacing.

Lastly, I tied on longer pieces of ribbon at the ends so that I could tie up the banner.

The final product:

(Notice Walks on Water Jesus? Best gift ever.)

A close-up:

I ended up having some pretty well-sized leftovers, so I make some labels on bamboo skewers for the appetizers that I'm making for dad's 60th birthday party on Sunday.

I also made some labels for the cheeses that will be on the cheese plate using toothpicks. Cute, right?

And that, my friends, is what happens when I get bored on a Thursday evening and nobody's around. Somebody hide the cardstock.