S - Sisters

Sisters: thing, person

I've had a variety of sisters over the years, real ones, pseudo- ones (at tciutbaw), and now, I suppose, step ones, but there's really only 1 that has stuck over the course of the last 25 years. She's pretty good at fighting and diving, being on magazine covers, day-camp directing, triumvirate forming and (so people say) singing (at important baseball games and other places), she also buys really good presents, likes dogs, says "delicious" a lot, wears dangly earrings and has mad-txting skillz. That's probably why she's the one most worth keeping around.

SEE ALSO: vegetarians, meat germs, kick-boxing, trumpet, sweaters, children, pets, easter

K - Knives

Knives: thing

Knives are really useful, but they also scare me. Especially pocket knives. I worry about closing them on my fingers. Other people with knives also scare me.

I don't have lots of fancy knives in the kitchen. Well, at least not that are mine. I have a little one and a big one. The bigger one is sort of pink-ish colored. Every once and a while it's fun to take a big cleaver to a pineapple.

Knives: person

Knives Chau is 17 years old.


SEE ALSO: fear, kitchen, weapons, Scott Pilgrim

T - Time Travel

Time Travel: thing

Time Travel is against the rules. Or at least thinking about it is. Except Bill and Ted.

SEE ALSO: movies, puzzles,

F - Friends (tv)

Friends: thing, javascript:void(0)tv show

Initially I didn't like the show "Friends". This was based on about 2 minutes that I had seen where Ross seemed annoying to me in the same way that Kramer was annoying on Seinfeld (which I hate). So I decided that I didn't like it. Then I saw the episode after the Superbowl the first season, and decided maybe it wasn't so terrible. Also I thought that Jennifer Aniston was pretty hot.

I'm glad I changed my mind, because it turned out to be a pretty fun show. Even if it went down-hill a bit after the London Wedding episode. Chandler got less funny with Monica, and Ross totally messed up when he didn't marry the really hot British Woman Named Emily. It was still a good show after all that though.

SEE ALSO: TV, warped perception of reality, accents, quotability

I - iSchool, University of Washington

iSchool, University of Washington: place.

I got my Librarian degree at UW (Master of Library and Information Science). I went there on accident. I had initially bookmarked the UW site early on as a Sophmore while looking at museum studies programs. Then when I went to do an internship (National Museum of Amercan History, Archives Center) I found out that one of the previous interns worked at UW Archives, and was a student in the Western Washington University Archives program. When I got done with my internship, and was looking for schools to go to to learn how to be an Archivist, I some how got everything jumbled up, and, since the bookmark I had saved was for UW, I figured I must have been looking at them for Archivist School (and I knew the other intern was involved with it somehow). So I applied there (and Universtiy of British Columbia, which has Archives stuff) and got in (both places). I picked UW because it was in the US, which made it more convenient.

Once I get there I find out: whoops UW only has one archives class... ha ha, I accidentaly applied to, was accepted by, and matriculated at the "wrong" school. It turned out okay though because in hindsight, the MLIS is more versatile than an MA in history with an Archives concentration, and I also found out that, even though I still want to be an archivist (and a copyright lawyer), I'm actually okay at pretending to be a School Librarian. I also ended up working at the UW Archives and Manuscripts etc. Plus I had some pretty awesome professors, and some pretty great friends, and I definitely fell in love with the City of Seattle. That's the 411.


SEE ALSO: archives, Canada, salmon, art, mountains, statistics, comic books, books, holocaust letters, acid-free folders, accidents, cage dancing,

L - Lightbulb

Lightbulb: thing

I think I've had the same Lightbulb in the lamp in my bedroom for the last 5.5 years (maybe it's been two bulbs). Compact florescent bulbs are pretty cool (though, don't they trade off energy efficiency for toxic chemicals?).

I burned my wrist pretty badly on a lightbulb when I was younger. It was an accident.

Once, half a life ago, I participated in the theft of a lightbulb. There was a mini-crowbar, rescue-boat, swim-fins, and stealth involved. I was the look-out. The light-bulb in question deserved its kidnapping. It was too strong, too blinky, and shielded towards the home of the owners. There was not intentional vandalism involved (breaking a bulb in the socket is mean!) but I think one small piece of wood may have cracked. This is all I will say.

SEE ALSO: adventure, scars, lamp

F - Football

Football: thing, sport

I'm not really a football fan. I'll root for the Vikings, provided that they are 1: Favre-less, and 2: winning, but beyond that I don't really care that much. The games are too long (especially the ending), I hate when they "take a knee", and the season is too short. Being only 16 games long, and only once a week means that when a team loses, the fans have to be grumpy for an entire week, and that the newspapers talk about the same crap for an entire week. Short seasons also mean that more is riding on each game, which means fans get even pissier when teams lose.

Throwing and catching a football, however, is pretty fun, though I'm not good at either. (despite a few miraculous and status-elevating catches in my middle-school gym/IM career).

SEE ALSO: intramurals, mud, boredom,

I - Ice

Ice: thing

My friend Jeremy always ordered his beverages with no ice, so as not to water-down, or take up space, in his glass.

Ice is pretty crucial to ice hockey, ice skating, broomball, curling and other great winter activities. You're not truly living, unless you live somewhere that the outdoors water freezes over to permit you to play on the Ice. You're also not living if you're not wise to when it's okay to go out on the Ice.

Every year my Grandpa holds a "when will all of the Ice on Pike Lake be melted" contest. Buy-in is 1$. My guess this year was April 28th, 1-ish p.m., but I never win.

SEE ALSO: hockey, fishing, cold,

S - Swimming Pools

Swimming Pools: place, thing

Swimming pools are pretty important for hotels. The pool was often the coolest part of vacations. I have fond memories of the Hotel in Desmoines that we often stayed at that had a good outdoor pool AND a nice indoor one. The 7 swimming pools at the Caribbean Beach Resort at Disney World were also awesome, as was the pool at the hotel we stayed in in Phoenix.

We used to have some connections at Proctor HS, which meant that many Mondays we'd get to go swim in the Pool and then go to Godfather's Pizza afterwards.

In 8th grade I was friends with the Gym Teacher's son. One day he wrote us a pass to get out of English Class just so we could go swimming in the pool during a period where the gym classes weren't using it.

Poolside Rooms were the pinnacle of luxury, and were excellent places to have birthday parties.

I used to be good at playing in swimming pools. Now that I've gotten old, even though the kid in me just wants to be in the pool, I find that I don't know how to play, or what to do, once I'm in the pool anymore.

Growing up in Minnesota meant that Lakes were for summer/outdoor swimming and pools were for indoor swimming. It disappoints me when I am in other lakeless places where hotels only have outdoor pools (that aren't open in the "winter"). How are you supposed to go swimming when you're at a hotel and it isn't nice outside?

SEE ALSO: Florida, goggles, hotels, vacation, clams, birthdays, middle school

M - Mint

Mint - 1: thing, food/flavor. 2: expression

"Mint", meant 'aweseome' circa the late 80s, early 90s. Probably like mint-condition, but maybe like the hot, yet cool, flavor of mint. Whatever the case I made up some imaginary comic book characters named "Dudical Dude" and "Mint Man".

I like the flavor of Spearmint more than Peppermint. Some variety of mint grows in my back yard. Mint goes good in adult beverages, as well as in salads and with rice or couscous dishes, though I'm not a fan of mint jelly.

SEE ALSO: sweet, coins,

P - Purple

Purple: thing, color

My friend Scott's called grape juice "Purple Juice" when we were kids. Purple Juice is different from "Purple Drank", which is actually purple flavored (because Grape Candy doesn't taste like grapes. It tastes like Purple). If you mix grape drink and orange drink, you get a flavor called "Grornge"

Purple was my favorite color for awhile when I was younger.

SEE ALSO: grapes, flavor, Football

B - Blankets

Blankets: thing

I really like blankets (and their cousins Quilts and Afghans). I never had a "security blanket" (at least that I can remember), but I think of the orange/green/yellow blanket with the squirrels on it as my 'first blanket'.

The afghan that my Grandma knitted(or crocheted?) for me to match my colored-stripe wall-paper in my first bedroom is also very special. I have at least 4 polar-fleece blankets on my bed right now, some made by former Secret-Buddies, or my mom, or my aunt, or just purchased (I also have one in minnesota, that was made by a secret-buddy-turned-secret-enemy, but I still use it). The Denim patch-quilt that was won at a church auction has also been on my bed since I stole it from my mom. Many of my blankets are blue and or bluandbrowne.

Blanket and pillow forts are one of the great joys of childhood.

The graphic novel Blankets, by Craig Thompson, is really really good. I read all 500 pages of it in one evening.

SEE ALSO: bluandbrowne, secret buddy, quilts,

C - Cell Phone

Cell Phone: thing, technology

Cell phones are killing the pay-phone. Superman is going to be angry.

My cellphone does too much stuff, and it's the cheapest one imaginable. It's also too small, which makes it hard to hold. It's useful though, and I'm glad it was given to me. I try to be polite about it. I avoid using it for long conversations when I'm indoors in a public place. It does make me feel safer having it in my car though.

The iPhone advertisements that say "I never would have done this without my iPhone" really annoy me. The reason why you never would have done it, is because you didn't need to do it. It also pisses me off when Steve Jobs talks about how his sexy gadgets should make it so that people don't have to think about what they're doing anymore, as if thought, or understanding of action, were a bad thing.

SEE ALSO: talking, cameras, spelling

P - Pets

Pets: thing, animal

My family has mostly had dogs for Pets, but on the whole I've come to realize that I'm not really a Pet person. I'm glad I had some dogs growing up (Rufus, Scruffy, Molly(especially)) and I got enjoyment from them being in my house (even the ones that scared me, or smelled), but I'm also glad that someone else was more responsible for them than me.

Two of the dogs were, non-euphemistically, given to some people with more space/ sent to live on a farm. (unless my Mom is still actively lying to me)

There have also been occasional fish, some birds, and a rabbit, but those were not mine.

I like animals a lot, but I like them in zoos and in books and on TV. I like knowing about them, but not so much cleaning up after them, having to care for them on a daily basis, etc. Pets are not like Children. They don't someday grow up and talk to you, or teach you things, or be Humans, and I don't think not wanting pets is equatable to not potentially being a good parent.

SEE ALSO: Animal shows, Blankets,

P - Pranks

Pranks - action

I haven't pulled a lot of pranks, at least not mean ones. Getting pranked usually just makes me nervous or anxious (like when people hide things, I just worry that I've misplaced them or I've lost my mind).

There were some pretty good pranks that I witnessed, or heard about, at The-camp-I-used-to-be-affiliated-with. Perhaps someday I will record them if I choose not to unremember them.

The best April Fools Day I ever committed was my senior year of High School. I borrowed (my band director) Torm's office phone to call home and tell my Mom that I had to drop band so that I could take Biology and a Foreign Language in order to graduate (Because I didn't do those things in HS). Torm was in the room as I called, and it shocked him. Mom wasn't home, so It was on the answering machine. For some reason my Dad got home first and heard it even before my Mom did (I think). It was, of course, not true, but I had everyone fooled.

SEE ALSO: Band, Biology, Pontoon Boats,