Have you guys ever checked out the featured Xangas on the front page? If not, you should. Some of them are fun to read. I found one today (nothing to do at work) that was paying tribute to the 'Jones Generation' - the re-named lost generation between the Baby Boomers and Generation X. Anyway, it had a historical photo essay of events and trademarks from 1962-1969. It was really interesting to read, especially since that is the era when my parents were growing up - gave me a little insight into the trends and other things they were experiencing and witnessing during their early childhood/prepubescent years. History is not my strong point, so most of the stuff was new to me (other than the big events, such as Civil Rights & JFK related things). Anyway, if you want to polish up your knowledge (in case you're going to play Trivial Pursuit or something soon), here is the link. I guess the reason I enjoyed the page so much is that I've kinda been on a history kick lately. Maybe this part of my dad's personality is just now showing through in me . . . my dad and I are about 80% alike - the only similarities we don't share are a love of history and amazing artistic talent (he possesses both, I neither). But lately I've been getting more interested in history. Recently Chris made fun of me when we were at the library. He was researching for a paper or something I don't remember (this was back before the end of the semester), and I was browsing around an unfamiliar section - the Reference section. I came across a book about the Presidents of the United States. I don't remember exactly what it was called, but it documented in summarical (is that a word? I don't care) detail the life of each President, up through our current, George Dubya. (It was a big book as you might have imagined.) I guess a new edition has to be printed every 4-8 years, but anyway, I picked it up and started flipping through it while Chris was off in the Philosophy section. Eventually I picked a random president and began reading, and I was fascinated. The book had details about each president's campaign, love life, political views, things done in office, family life, etc. It was really interesting - I think a lot of the reason I was interested is that I don't know very much about the Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan, or even Clinton presidencies, and I sometimes wonder about certain 'famous' things that happened during those periods that I don't know much about (like Watergate, for instance - all I know is that it was a 'scandal' and that Nixon was almost impeached, and that before that everyone really liked him). Anyway, when Chris came back, I was like "I want this book." All he did was laugh at me. I guess I can see why that was his reaction, since I have always pretended pretty much like history doesn't exist (hey, if you didn't see it, it didn't happen, right?). But I was genuinely interested in this book. I could see myself setting aside a month and learning about a new president in that one month, everything I could possibly find out, from that book and possibly other sources. Anyway, Chris quelled my educational hunger pretty quickly, and we left the library, and I have wistfully thought about it off and on since then. I might still do it though. Maybe. The one thing deterring me is that it's a book from the Reference section and I can't check it out from the library. I don't like the idea of going to the library several times a week to read from a huge book about the presidents. I would just feel uncomfortable doing that. The only other option then, is for me to purchase the book . . . which I still might do . . . but it's expensive I'm sure, plus in another year my edition would be outdated. So I don't know. I have a 'Presidents' trivia card game . . . I guess I could just read all the cards. But I mean, there are presidents I've never even heard of ya know? Anyway . . . that's my history rant for now. I don't think I'll be owning a large book about the presidents any time soon. I do own, however, a similarly large book that contains the complete works of Shakespeare. (That's probably what it's called, actually.) I know right where it is too - on the floor next to my dresser where Soren used to get in trouble for chewing the corners of it when he was a puppy. It also has flags at the start of each play I have read (or skimmed, or was supposed to have read for my class last year). I guess I could just content myself with reading one Shakespeare play a month, since I'm not even close to having read them all. And that book will not become outdated since I am pretty sure ole Will won't be writing (and definitely not publishing) any masterpieces from the grave. Well, that was as long history tangent I didn't expect to take. I guess that is what happens when you've been at work for 2 1/2 hours and have not had a single thing to do yet. Anyway, from that same Xanga page that I linked to several paragraphs ago, I found a fun little game, several entries prior to the Jones Generation entries. You use Google Images to search for the categories and paste the first picture that comes up. Here is what I came up with: City & State where I was born 
(Olathe, Kansas)
City & State where I currently live
Definitely fitting for OKC First Name 
I hope she's the prom queen.
Grandmother's Name (2 searches, one for each side of the family, acceptable) 
How very sad! Neither of my grandmothers are dead!
Favorite Food 
I had to pick two - an old favorite and a new favorite.
Favorite Smell 
(Rain)
Favorite Pastime 
Favorite Song 
I like several of his songs, but the one I searched for was 'L-O-V-E.'
Favorite TV Show 
Had to pay tribute to both of them. I guess NBC is my favorite network.
Favorite Ice Cream 
Favorite Book 
I don't expect you to have read or heard of this book. It is very old and is my favorite for sentimental reasons.
Favorite Shoes 
I thought I searched for "sneakers," but I apparently typed in "80s shoes" instead.
Favorite Place to be 
Favorite Time of Day 
Evening
Favorite Comic Strip 
Sorry the text is so small. I tried to make it bigger and readable, but it just made it blurry. Anyway, I hope you can tell that this is "The Far Side" by Gary Larson. Runner-up was "Calvin & Hobbes."
Favorite Movie 
I guess this is fitting, since this seems to be what most people think of when they think of this movie. That is, people who have never seen the movie - people who have seen it appreciate it for what it is - brilliant writing and a beautiful yet tragic love story.
Had to include this one as well. It's so good.
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