HodgePodge

Since I don't have any adventurous stories to tell like Mer and Justin's survival of Tennessee's white water and the river guy or Kent's leap out of a flying machine several thousand feet in the air, I thought today's post would just be a collection of stream-of-consciousness ramblings.

1. How to Save Money on Gas
In case you haven't noticed, the price of food for our beloved four-wheeled (or six-wheeled if your an East TN country bumpkin or two-wheeled if you're my old motorcycle-riding oboe teacher) vehicles has increased to an unheard of amount. In fact, I think I could go on a date (not that I have a date but that's irrelevant to this conversation) and eat at a nice restaurant, maybe even two dates but not at the same time, for less than it would cost to fill up my car. The situation being as it is, I propose that we all bike to class. It's really not that far and it makes for some great exercise. As an added benefit, once you arrive at class you don't have to worry about the creepy pathologist-wannabe student sitting next to you; you've already worked up a sweat with a stench that would even scare away the neighbor's dog.
Since you're already on your bike, you don't have to worry about mounting your bike rack on your beloved 4, 6, or 2 wheeled vehicle or spending money on fuel that you were going to spend on your date to go exercise. You could just ride your bike straight from school to the trails. Fortunately, the powers at be at ETSU or maybe just the Baptist Student Union had the foresight to realize this efficient means of exercise and installed a set of lovely trails right behind the BSU and down the street from school. Problem solved.

2. Books
When my parents were in town the other day, it was decided that all my reading material was inadequately stored in the few meager shelves and boxes I had in my possession. So after a few hours shopping and some hard labor, we erected a bookcase in my living room. In honor of this momentous occasion I thought I'd share a few of my favorite (but not all of my favorite) reads.
The Cat in the Hat: You can't go wrong with such a children's classic. They tried to make a sequel to it, but the second is never as good as the first.
Old College Notes: Admit it You saved every set of notes from every class you took in college (I didn't). If you read through at least one lecture a night you'll never forget what you learned and you'll be able to impress all your friends with the significance of dates such as 1066 and 1492.
The Diary of Maria Carolina de Jesus: With a name this long, it must be worth reading.
Let us Now Praise Famous Men: A book I had to read for class that I actually liked.
The Call of Service: Yet another book I actually liked that was mandatory reading.
Emma: No I actually haven't read this one in its entirety. I just think it looks cool to have it sitting on my shelf.
The Color Atlas of Human Anatomy: For those of you who are illiterate. It also is a great means to scare away unwanted house guests.

3. New Spanish Words I've Learned
Taking a medical Spanish class and being around Hispanics has offered me the opportunity to expand my vocabulary.
Yeyuno
Raite
Carsit
Microweiv
Omoplato
Manzo
Puchaca
Perone

To sound really cool, you should approach a random Spanish-speaking person and say to them. "Disculpe, parece que se me perdieron todo los perones y omoplatos. Usted puede hacerme el favor de buscarlos?"

And that's the way the cookie crumbles. Happy Wednesday to all and to all a good night!