Patia Stephens :: Missoula, Montana

Please give what you can to hurricane relief

Yesterday I emailed Amazon to ask if they planned to allow Red Cross hurricane relief donations on their site, like they did for the tsunami. Today there's a box on the Amazon home page advertising the Hurricane Relief Fund. This makes it super-easy for Amazon members to charge a donation to their credit card.

I spoke too soon

Bears got in my trash last night. (Black bears, though, not griz.)

What a mess.

T-shirt slogan of the day

Griz gone wild.

It's all about meme

I've been tagged with a meme by the fabulous Neva. Here goes:

What I was doing ten years ago...
Almost exactly 10 years ago, I was starting school at Flathead Valley Community College. I'd taken a few classes before, but this was my first full-time effort. I was terrified -- how will I pay for it? How will I survive algebra? -- but I pulled it off. I earned my associate's degree from FVCC in 1997, then transferred to UM and got my BA in journalism in 2000. Now I'm starting my second year of graduate school. (Education is addictive!)

What I was doing five years ago...
As mentioned above, I graduated from college. (Only 15 years after graduating from high school. Better late than never, right?) Three of my bestest girlfriends attended my graduation ceremony. Filing into the arena with my fellow cap-and-gown-clad graduates, seeing the stands packed with waving, clapping people, was one of the proudest, most thrilling moments of my life.

What I was doing one year ago...
Starting the Creative Writing MFA Program at UM. I had just spent two memorable weeks of my summer vacation in Washington, DC, and New York City -- my first trip back east. I was a little over a month away from getting braces on my teeth.

Yesterday...
Slept in. Made up for lost snuggle time with Tango and Luna. Unpacked from my Seattle trip. Watered houseplants. Spent a couple hours at the office catching up on email and various tasks. Did paperwork while watching "Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom" on DVD.

5 Snacks I enjoy...
Roasted salted nuts (but not peanuts).
Wasabi peas.
Dark chocolate.
Popcorn with butter and salt.
Pretty much anything with butter and salt.

5 songs I know all the words to...
I'm no good at reciting lyrics from memory, but I can sing along to:
"Save It For Later," English Beat
"Rapture," Blondie
"Brass in Pocket," Pretenders (God, I'm really dating myself, aren't I?)
"Oye Como Va," Santana (I have no idea what the words mean, but I can sing them.)
"Why Don't You and I?" Santana

5 things I would do with 100 million dollars...
Buy back American politics.
Fund charities, especially those that protect the environment, human rights and animals.
Build myself an amazing house somewhere where the mountains meet the sea.
Hire a hunky personal trainer.
Spend my days reading, writing, traveling, riding horses and raising hell.

5 locations I'd like to run away to...
The French Quarter in New Orleans (before the hurricane, or after, if it's still standing).
A little beach house on a sparsely populated island in the San Juans.
London.
Paris.
Egypt.

5 bad habits I have...
The aforementioned butter and salt.
Swearing like a sailor when I'm mad.
Wasting time on the Web.
Overtrimming my cuticles.
Compulsive honesty.

5 things I like doing...
Nothing.
Baking.
Solving the world's problems.
Reading home decor magazines.
Being waited on.

5 things I would never wear...
Obvious designer labels.
The latest trend (ponchos, shrugs, yellow plastic bracelets ...)
"Nude" or "tan" nylon stockings.
Black Hills gold.
Lime green.

5 TV shows I like...
Sopranos
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Northern Exposure (Yeah, I'm living in the past)
Martha Stewart Living (the old, and hopefully the new)
Oprah

5 biggest joys of the moment...
Being home.
Snuggling with my kitties.
My improved smile and profile (courtesy of braces and jaw surgery).
Regaining some sensation in my numb lower lip.
The rhinestone sparkly on my toenail.

5 favorite toys...
My Subaru Impreza (at least, until it was rear-ended).
The Treo smartphone I'm about to buy.
My digital camera.
iTunes.
Flickr.

Now I'm tagging...
Meg
Nancy
Mike

I'm back, sort of

Can someone help me find August? I seem to have lost it ....

Despite my month-long retreat from the Internet, August has been a blur. I returned last night from a trip to Seattle for my six-week post-op appointment. I had planned to come home Wednesday, but circumstances conspired against me. While driving out to Seattle last Saturday, I was rear-ended by an uninsured driver. Fun, fun. More on that later.

I start school on Monday. At the moment, my life feels a bit chaotic and disorganized, so I'm spending this weekend getting things back in order. If I owe you an email, a phone call or anything else, please bear with me.

In the meantime, go read this fascinating Nova story: "Mystery of the Megaflood." It's by Dave Alt, UM geology professor emeritus and author of "Glacial Lake Missoula and Its Humongous Floods."

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