What I do with my free time

I have read some great books of late, so I decided to share with the class:

The Hunger Games: Fantastic dystopian novel. Like all such novels, it has an interesting take on ideas of government and control, and the story itself is quick and addicting. I stayed up Thursday night until 5:00 am reading it. You can read a summary here.

The Book Thief: Also incredible. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. As I was reading it, I got chills because I felt like I was reading a classic in the making. Easy to read though, with an engaging plot that revolves around a girl living in Nazi Germany during WWII. You can read a summary here.

The Help: Great, very readable story about racism in the South during the 1960s. You can read a summary here.

NUMB3RS

note: This has nothing to do with anything CBS-related, I just really like the title. The random but perfectly placed three just brings joy to my soul. You'll see why below.

I may have discovered another odd Whitney thing, though I'm not sure, so someone please comment and tell me I'm not a pure nut (mostly nuts is a given).

Last Tuesday was November 10, 2009 (which in shorthand is 11/10/09). That day, I told the women I work with that I got really excited whenever I wrote the date because the numbers were sequential. They looked at me like I was crazy, and when I showed them, they said, "Oh yeah, I guess." How were they not excited!?! Sequential dates are few and far between, and they are just so freaking cool looking!

So, my question to you reader-people is, are there others out there who play with numbers? Beyond giggling to myself over sequential dates, I also love to play with addresses, ID numbers, and even sports scores to see if they are make interesting fractions/somehow add-subtract-multiply-divide to a certain number/make a fun pattern/etc. Am I just a nerd?

Things to think about

I thought this was a great article and decided to share. It is the New York Times, but I believe quality knows no political leanings :)

Foe of Gay Marriage in New York Says It’s Nothing Personal

And for my parent readers (since that is a growing demographic)

Hinge Is Cited in Big Recall of Strollers

Just say no to finger amputation.

I did it

Holy farts. I suppose Larysa is the only one who knows how truly monumental this post is, but I would like people to know that I finally finished a first draft of my lit review. I know, it took a while.

In other news, I got my LSAT score back; I did well, which means I won't be taking it again in December. We'll see if this score is enough to overcome my other, rather blaring, faults (see the paragraph above for a perfect example of my procrastination).

It's a boy!!

Well, I just thought everyone should know that I got my new computer, I love him with all my heart and soul, and he has a name: Frederick Waldo Emerson.

I'm still not sure if he will be called Frederick or Emerson. Maybe both (that way, I can DOUBLY confuse the poor people who don't realize I christen my inanimate objects).

I was tempted by Lindsay's suggestion to call him "The Cake Maker". It would go well with my printer (aka "The Smoothie Maker"), but in the end "Frederick" just sucked me in.

Sharing Violation

Okay, my apologies if this post offends someone, but really, I almost spit my drink on the computer screen (a la Sister Rawson's hilarious [but private--sorry to those who can't view it] post) when I saw this: TTC ticker.

Really?? I truly love and console with those who are trying to have a baby and have not yet been able to (and I apologize for any insensitivity--it is not intentional, though the rest is), but honestly, isn't this inviting everyone just a touch too far inside "the fence" that most marriages are supposed to have?

Actually, scratch that. Since pretty much all of my friends currently live far from me, this is a fantastic way for me to maintain our strong relationship. Just make sure, when you do have the baby, you exchange this ticker for the breastfeeding one. That way, when you take down the lactation graph, I can send you an email berating you for not breastfeeding until the baby is at least 4 mo/6 mo/1 year/18 mo/3 years (okay, once again, no offense to anyone, but when I first saw that "I'm breastfeeding" ticker on a blog, I thought the writer had made it up because it is a satirical blog. I fully endorse those who choose to breast feed [or not--this is a great example of a woman's right to say mind your own business], but sticking something like that on your blog takes a personal relationship and makes it Jon & Kate Plus 8-ified [and we all know how that turned out] ).

And yes, that breastfed baby o' joy does say "booby baby." I couldn't come up with this stuff if I tried.

And the cows in the background scene?!? Honestly?!? That sure makes a woman who chooses to breastfeed feel like an intelligent human being.

[Author's note: apparently the breastfeeding ticker site likes to shake up the sample it shows on the link. But don't worry: if you click "Next" and go to the third set of "scenes", you can see the cows. The happy-baby-that-could-only-be-a-booby-baby can be experienced when you "choose a slider" ]

I'm done--for reals--I promise (though, did you notice how many links I put up! I am so wonderfully connected and computer-savvy!).

Another list

I am currently compiling a list of things I hate more than the LSAT.

It's really short (let's just say cockroaches, my dogs, and Econ 110 didn't make the list).

Happy Labor Day.