7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 2)

1. I am a proud iPhone owner! M has one, too, but he's incredibly jealous (seriously!) of my cool case. It's pink and black and cute all over! I didn't really see the need for me to own one of these at first, but wow... it's already worth it's weight in gold now (which I suppose is actually not a lot, since it's pretty light). C is tech-savvy and can already operate it-- flicking through pages and pics like a pro. It's ridiculous. I'm still trying to get used to the keypad, and she figured out how to turn the silly thing on and off.

2. I can't wait to get this stamp on August 26th:

Reading this blog post by Patrick Madrid is also well-worth your time-- it talks about the furor over this particular stamp being issued by the Postal Service.

3. Following that last note, stamps make me happy! Maybe it's because I'm the daughter of a postal employee, but I've always loved cute stamps. Mom and Dad occasionally still send me some stamps, which just makes my entire week. I recently bought some Simpsons stamps and some kelp forest stamps. They even make my bills look cuter. I buy the boring Forever stamps, too, but seriously-- it's not like I'm going to stock up on those because I'm pretty sure my money is making WAY more in the bank or savings account than in my letter drawer. I heard from the local postmaster that someone bought $1,000+ of forever stamps because he wanted to beat the system. Methinks that guy needs to rethink his own system...

4. "Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody."

Farewell to J.D. Salinger, whose Catcher in the Rye I somehow managed not to read until last year. How did I miss this book?? It's part of pop culture just as much as it is fine literature! Annie Hall, Jerry Maguire, The Good Girl, Billy Joel, the Jonas Brothers, Rick Springfield, and Spandau Ballet (among many, many others) all reference that work.

I'm linking a video that reminds me of why I love teaching-- I love to get students invested in the stories of the authors and the times that books were written, like Craig Ferguson does here.

5. Bring on the Olympics! I've been pleasantly surprised to discover that my hubby loves the Winter Olympics, especially (wait for it...) ICE SKATING! C skates around the living room and does little jumps and spins, so this will be fun. Yay for our TV! Yay for the Olympics!

6. Again about TV... loving the fact that we can watch Netflix movies/TV via the PS3 on our TV. M and I finished Season 3 of Dexter and now we've started back at Season 1 to see everything we missed. C likes to watch Thomas and Friends and I've found other cute shows (The Muppets, Bob the Builder, Dora the Explorer, etc) that I can turn on no matter what time it is, TV show-wise. Since we don't have cable, it's been nice to expose her to more learning shows besides the morning PBS ones (she often is still asleep for Sesame Street!).

7. M makes the best White Russian drinks ever. That's all I have on that. Mmmm.