Sleuthing.

What inspires me today:
Lactose.

At the risk of sounding hip, I buy almond or rice milk.  To clarify, I am not a cool vegan, my intestines are just intolerant towards poor old lactose.  

When my family buys milk at home, we go big.  Gallon jugs for us.
I get non-fat because I don't like chewing my drinks.

With all that seemly useless knowledge about personal preferences on milk-like beverages now in your brain, imagine my surprise when my housemate brought home an actual.milk.carton.  On it there was a logo, farm name, nutrition facts, a little game to play, and even a barcode.

My question/source of confusion and worry: What happened to the missing children side of the box?

 Drop your cereal, we've got crime to solve! 

I feel like I remember "winding up on the side of a milk carton" to be a legitimate fear in my not-so-distant past, so I'm wondering how long ago they decided this wasn't an effective way of getting that sort of news out.  The world would like to know.

Wiki wiki

What inspires me today...

Ghosts

I love ghost stories.  I am not believing them fully as fact just yet, but come on, some of them are pretty convincing.  White powder footprints, stacks of pennies, music not able to be played in certain rooms, hand prints appearing on mirrors, blood spots on fireplaces that appear time and time again after being cleaned...  And those are just from one person who heard it from their friend whose sister actually experienced it!

Improbable: Yes.

Impossible: I'm not a scientist.

Awesome: Without a doubt.

Regardless, what made me start this ramble is that someone in Proidencia, Chile read my blog yesterday.  

"¡Tenemos un zoológico!"

Now, if you are currently on Wikipedia right now (as you should be) search the city of Providencia, Chile and scroll to the bottom of the page (which isn't far, there isn't much going on in that city, apparently).  Here you will see the list of notable residents.  

Pablo Neruda is one of these residents of note. 

Why this is important/matters/not as random as you think: early on in my extensive and highly respected/admired blogging career (a few months back) I posted a Neruda poem.  In response, I wrote a small poem of my own.  It was a short and sweet sentiment, but with dire consequences.  

The facts are clear:  Pablo Neruda's ghost is haunting my blog.

Other fun facts about Providencia, Chile:

• Large upper-middle-class population
• Has a Teleférico, or an aerial gondola
• Has an embassy of Italy, France, Russia, China, and Uruguay 
• There is a 22m statue of the Virgin Mary

Wikipedia has WAY more information on ghosts than Providencia, Chile.  Since Wikipedia is the authority on everything, and Providencia has been verified as "existing," then I have no reason to doubt the existence of ghosts.  The logic is flawless and the evidence is overwhelming.

Can I keep you?

Dear liza, a hole.

What inspires me today...

Buckets.

I will admit, this post is not of original inspiration.  One of my dear friends created a bucket list today, and suggested that I should do the same.  Since I now have a reader who is mildly interested in what I would place on a "bucket list," and since I love a good list just as much as the next gal... here it is.

50 things I would like to accomplish before I kick the bucket (in no particular order): 

1. Watch every movie on this list
2. Read every book on these lists
3. Visit/live in SE Asia
4. Hike the Pacific Crest Trail
5. Participate in La Tomatina
6. See at least 30 of America's largest roadside attractions
7. Take in a foster child
8. Ride in a hot air balloon
9. Attend the hot air balloon races in Albuquerque 
10. Learn a new language proficiently 
11. Tell all the influential teachers in my past how much I appreciate them
12. Learn a musical instrument 
13. Win at bingo
14. Ask for a raise
15. Learn to sail
16. Build a piece of furniture
17. Take the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok
18. Become an expert in something unexpected
19. Surf
20. Hike through the Zion Narrows in Utah
21. Do the Master Cleanse
22. Make my own clothes
23. Hike the Inca Trail in Peru
24. Go Spelunking
25. Ride in a helicopter 
26. Live alone
27. Attend the inauguration of a US President 
28. Visit the Sistine Chapel
29. Milk a cow
30. Be debt free
31. Have something published
32. Start a collection
33. Learn the constellations
34. Read the Bible cover to cover
35. Learn how to cook
36. Visit the wonders of the world
37. Grow my own fruit and vegetables
38. Visit the top ten US lighthouses
39. Learn to flyfish 
40. Go snowboarding
41. Hike the Tongariro Circuit in New Zealand
42. Tour Ann Frank's house
43. Learn how to cut hair professionally
44. Give a large amount of money anonymously to a charity or non-profit
45. Build an appreciation for jazz
46. Cross a country by bicycle
47. Talk to Sam Beam
48. Safari 
49. See all the big world monuments (eifle tower, big ben, pyramids, dome of the rock...)
50. Eat at Falafel's Drive-In in San Jose

There are so many more things I could put on there, but I will spare you and cut it off at 50.
And now, a rant.  

Why do they call it "kicking the bucket" anyway?  Where is the mystical bucket, and which religion requires that it be kicked in order to enter the great beyond?  If there is to be any cosmic item to be kicked it should be a can, in my humble opinion. 

Further research on the subject proved very informative.

Don't know much about history.

What inspires me today...

Family Matters.

A nice long family discussion this morning on topics such as assisted suicide, the declining housing market, urban sprawl, and the environmental/social effect of consumerism, all over a few slices of french toast and orange juice, got me thinking; why did the idea of City States self-governed by guilds never catch-on globally?

All I'm saying is, if Portland, OR succeeded and became a fully self-ruled and operating entity, I wouldn't hate it.

Viva la Revolución!

Think about it.  A country of no sales tax where no one pumps their own gas.  

If that isn't the modern equivalent of milk and honey, I don't know what is.