Sunday, January 29, 2017
Exit Pursued By a Bear
Sunday, February 9, 2014
My Proust Questionnaire
I decided to give my responses because why not. It was actually a good exercise as it forced me to actually stop and think about my answers.
- Your favorite virtue: Enthusiasm
- Your favorite qualities in a man: Chivalry
- Your favorite qualities in a woman: Chivalry
- Your chief characteristic: Enthusiasm (often confused as geekiness)
- What you appreciate the most in friends: Their caring nature
- Your main fault: Self doubt
- Your favorite occupation: Enjoying any form of entertainment
- Your idea of happiness: A roaring fire, good company and good conversation/good book
- Your idea of misery: A dance club
- If not yourself, who would you be? Someone else
- Where would you like to live? Paris, Auckland, London, Edinburgh
- Your favorite color: Blue
- Your favorite flower: Daisies & traditional red roses
- Your favorite bird: Penguin
- Your favorite prose authors: Edgar Allan Poe, Homer, Jane Austen, Sylvia Plath
- Your favorite poets: Rives, William Shakespeare, Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss
- Your favorite heroes in fiction: Malcolm Reynolds, Jon Snow, Harry Dresden
- Your favorite heroines in fiction: Cassandra, Anne Elliot, Ellen Ripley
- Your favorite painters: Jack Vettrano, Rene Magritte, Brent Lynch
- Your favorite composer: George Gershwin with Cole Porter in a close second
- Your favorite heroes in real life: Police Officers, Firefighters and Soldiers
- Your favorite heroines in real life: Police Officers, Firefighters and Soldiers
- What characters in history do you most dislike: Thomas Edison
- Your heroes in world history: Elizabeth I, Harry Houdini, Nikolai Tesla
- Your favorite names: Millicent, Oliver, Henry, Joshua
- What you hate the most: Dishonor and disrespect
- World history characters you hate the most: Thomas Edison
- The military event you admire the most: Spanish Armada vs England
- The reform you admire the most: Women’s Voting Rights
- The natural talent you’d like to be gifted with: Language – the ability to pick up new ones and use the ones I know to the best ability
- How you wish to die: Quickly and with the least hurt to those I love
- What is your present state of mind: Uninspired
- For what fault do you have the most toleration: Addiction
- Your favorite motto: It is actually a quote “Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those that could not hear the music.”
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Sliding Scale of Book to Movie Adaptations
Here is my scale:
Category A:
- Adaptation is in the 90-100% accuracy range, fans of the book are happy, can be watched whether you have read the book or not, could inspire people who liked the movie to read more of the author as well as the book
- Examples in this category:
- A&E/BBC's Pride and Prejudice
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (American)
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The Godfather
- Atonement
- Shutter Island
- Persuasion
- Adaptation is in the 75-89% accuracy range, fans are reasonably happy, but argue about choices, stands well on its own for non-readers, fans of the film would consider reading the book
- Examples in this category:
- Perks of Being A Wall Flower
- Ender's Game
- Fight Club
- Lord of the Rings (All 3 books)
- Time Traveler's Wife
- Gone With the Wind
- Stardust
- Sense and Sensibility
- Rebecca
- Adaptation is in the 55-74% accuracy range, fans of the book are split 50/50 with their love of the movie, non-readers like if not love the movie version despite that, there is no guarantee anyone who watches the movie will ever read the book
- Examples in this category:
- The Shining
- The Great Gatsby
- Bridget Jones Diary
- The Hobbit (All parts)
- Adaptation is in the 40-54% accuracy range, fans of the book tend to dislike the movie with few exceptions, non-readers don't necessarily get everything that is going on, but the movie is good enough to enjoy, non-readers won't want to pick up the book at all
- Examples in this category:
- Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
- Water for Elephants
- Eat, Pray, Love
- Hunger Games/Catching Fire
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Adaption is in the 1-39% accurate range, fans of the book are down right angry about it, non-readers rather enjoy the movie as it can stand on its own, non-readers want to read the book, but end up either not liking it or just as angry as the fans with the adaptions levels
- Examples in this category:
- World War Z
- Where the Wild Things Are
- Dexter (TV series)
- V for Vendetta
- Adaption is in the 1-39% accurate range, fans of the book are down right angry about it, non-readers don't like the movie because it is either poorly made or too confusing to follow, non-readers don't even know or care there was a book
- Examples in this category:
- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
- Watchmen
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
TED: Yossi Vardi fights local warming
As always, I recommend checking out more TED talks HERE.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
TED: Jill Bolte Taylor and Stroke of Insight
If you want to know more about this, she has written a book called "My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey." I want to pick it up, but I have a pile of books I need to get through first. I actually have two books on hold for me at the library as we speak.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Welcome to the neighborhood!


Sunday, March 9, 2008
Compare and Conrast Cities
PEOPLE | |||
2,833,321 | 3,849,378 | 582,454 | |
33.2 | 33.7 | 37.7 | |
1,039,449 | 1,322,551 | 267,007 | |
48.69% | 49.62% | 49.99% | |
51.31% | 50.38% | 50.01% | |
56.90% | 50.34% | 58.88% | |
ESTIMATED TOTAL POPULATION BY | |||
17.38% | 16.96% | 20.40% | |
15.39% | 16.02% | 17.56% | |
41.06% | 46.75% | 69.26% | |
36.27% | 10.31% | 8.09% | |
4.73% | 10.25% | 14.55% | |
28.17% | 49.03% | 6.19% | |
FAMILY | |||
16.63% | 22.55% | 12.19% | |
18.02% | 19.03% | 20.03% | |
11.78% | 10.88% | 5.39% | |
53.61% | 47.57% | 63.00% | |
40.64% | 37.31% | 41.79% | |
ECONOMY | |||
5.50% | 4.90% | 3.70% | |
19.05% | 18.91% | 22.38% | |
8.75% | 8.25% | 8.80% | |
3.00% | 6.00% | 0.00% | |
$23,303 | $22,238 | $32,520 | |
$44,664 | $40,844 | $48,917 | |
HEALTH | |||
1 | 1 | 4 | |
31 | 52 | 59 | |
331.8 | 245.2 | 386.3 | |
CLIMATE | |||
34.1 | 12.8 | 35.9 | |
33.6 | 0.2 | 11 | |
118 | 29 | 155 | |
189 | 284 | 152 | |
81.5 | 76.7 | 75.2 | |
20.4 | 49.8 | 36.7 | |
47 | 46 | 72 | |
EDUCATE | |||
18 | 21 | 19 | |
886 | 930 | 533 | |
15.61% | 16.12% | 30.07% | |
10.09% | 8.85% | 17.19% | |
71.28% | 65.93% | 88.50% | |
TRANSPORT | |||
38.5 | 31.9 | 27.2 | |
50.47% | 65.65% | 55.56% | |
26.10% | 10.36% | 17.76% | |
2.37% | 4.08% | 4.60% | |
COSTLIV | |||
126 | 156 | 132 | |
RELIGION | |||
57.63% | 58.08% | 37.26% | |
39.93% | 39.99% | 16.15% | |
6.77% | 6.75% | 11.74% | |
1.91% | 2.29% | 2.03% | |
4.36% | 5.93% | 1.87% | |
VOTING | |||
70.250% | 63.102% | 64.953% | |
29.150% | 35.598% | 33.691% |
In conclusion, in almost all categories Seattle is more of what I'm looking for across the board. Some of the stats surprised me like Chicago comes off as way more Catholic than Los Angeles.