Yesterday was Fun Facts about Names Day, and tomorrow is Learn What Your Name Means Day. You can learn fun facts about your name and learn what it means by going to some of the websites I wrote about here. Just a heads up, March 6th is Middle Name Pride Day, and I can’t imagine I won’t write about it.
You can also check out my list of some of the best Cleveland-related Twitter feeds here.
Another season of American Idol is underway, and another round of American Idol Challenge is about to begin. This year you can find the game at AIChallenge.net, so make sure you update your bookmarks.
The Basics
AI Challenge was created and is maintained by my friend Melissa. As you can imagine, she is a huge fan of American Idol. Melissa began AI Challenge for Season 4 on a little Geocities website, moved the game to a Mac page for Season 7, and recently moved the game again to it’s own webpage, all ready to go for Season 8! There is a also a great facebook group you can join and chat with other players.
As the winner of AI Challenge Season 5 and a personal friend of Melissa’s, I know a thing or two about the game. You do not need to have watched any previous season of American Idol or even the beginning of Season 8 to play! As long as you start watching and playing on February 17th, you have a chance of winning AI Challenge.
The Website
There are quite a few pages over at AI Challenge, and while it’s pretty easy to figure out what each page features, here is a list to clarify exactly what each page is for.
Tips
It may be difficult to keep track of all the contestants at first, especially now that the show will feature a Top 36. So grab a notebook and keep a list of each contestant and how well you think they performed. I use a scale of 1 – 10, considering what I think of them and also what I think the rest of America will think. It’s all about thinking. You can also make note of what song they sang, what they were wearing (if Paula is your favorite judge), or if they are particularly cute. I usually indicate this last one by drawing a tiny heart next to the performer’s name. <3
You don’t have to make up your mind right away. Check the Home page and see by what time and day you absolutely need to get your vote in, then let the performances sink in for a while. Just make sure you don’t forget to vote! Then again, you may want to go with your first instinct on the night of the performances. Try both strategies and see which one works best for you.
That’s everything you need to know before you begin your journey to American Idol Challenge Champion! You can click here to play now!
I feel like a part of me is missing.Why do people have a problem with the color pink? It’s cute. I like it, so everyone else should, too. Doesn’t it make you think of little baby girls and bubble gum and hair ribbons?
I’m so aggravated.
Everyone should just listen to me.
Another prompt, from here.
Write a story involving a squirrel, some dental floss, and some duct tape, and ending with the words “and that is how I saved the world.”
I had always used cinnamon dental floss, up until now. All my friend had in her bathroom was mint floss, and I had forgotten mine back in Ithaca. I was forced to use it, and found it refreshingly new and different. Though still not quite cinnamon-y enough.
As I entered my friend’s living room, I found her digging through my purse.
“A duct tape wallet!” she said excitedly, waving my wallet in the air. “Did you make it yourself?”
“Uh, yeah,” I responded.
“Cool,” she said, and threw my purse at me. She grabbed her own and we headed out the back door.
A squirrel jumped off the banister and scuttled up the nearest tree. I noticed some more squirrels running in circles in the garden.
“You sure have a lot of squirrels in this area,” I said to my friend.
“Yeah, I’ve been convinced since I was a little girl that they have some sort of conspiracy going or something,” my friend chuckled.
Suddenly, the squirrel in the nearest tree jumped and landed on my friend’s head. She screamed, and I turned just in time to see the squirrels from the garden heading straight toward me. But these were no ordinary squirrels. Their eyes glowed red and their tails seemed to be made of some sort of metallic material. My CIA training kicked in and I dropped to the ground just as the squirrels lunged for my face. They collided with the squirrel on my friend’s head and all three hit the side of the house with a loud screech.
Something told me this was not the end of this squirrel battle. I grabbed my friend by the shoulders and steered her into the house, locking the door behind us.
“What are we going to do?” she asked me frantically.
“We need to find the Queen Squirrel,” I told her, “if we destroy the Queen, we’ll destroy them all.”
“But where will we find the Queen?” she asked, not questioning my sanity, for she too had seen the craziness in the squirrels’ red eyes.
I thought for a few moments, recalling my months of intensive squirrel lore research. “What is the location of your city’s largest oak tree?”
“Why, my own backyard!” my friend answered. “My family has always prided –”
“Great!” I shouted, not believing my luck. A chance to bring down the SRS*, right in my own friend’s backyard! I ran upstairs, grabbed some mint dental floss, and journeyed back outside.
Scaling the largest tree, I warded off the guard squirrels easily enough, when I found myself approaching the nest of the Queen Squirrel. She exited the nest proudly, and announced with a scoff, “Give it up, girl, you will never foil me now, especially since I am so close to unleashing my plan for world domination.”
She never expected what was coming next. I lunged, wrapping the mint floss around her tiny squirrel neck. She fell out of the tree, and was soon followed by the rest of the robot squirrels, screeching and sparking as they plummeted to the earth.
And that is how I saved the world.
I’m temporarily unemployed from my temporary job and I’ve got one of those stupid colds that makes you feel crummy, but not crummy enough to justify taking a three-hour nap or sit around and not worry about your future. And I feel like writing something, God knows why.
After searching the internets for about a minute and a half I found this writing prompt:
Author J.R.R. Tolkien was born on this day (January 3rd) in 1892. Tolkien is best known as the author of “The Lord of the Rings.” This book recently became a movie. Many people, possibly even you, enjoy comparing the original book to the movie. Which do you think people should do first? Read the book or see the movie? Explain your thinking.
This isn’t quite the writing prompt I was looking for, but I’m going to take it and run.
I think people should see the movie first so I don’t have to listen to them complain about the differences between the book and the movie.
. . .
no fact zone TORn cute with chris
