The kickstand bumper (redux)

Remember the kickstand bumper my mother, brother and I gave to Dad fifteen days ago? At the time, Dad had owned the bumper for only a few hours and he was happy with it despite the short duration of ownership; now that it's been over two weeks, he is most definitely satisfied with the bumper.

It didn't take long for him to get used to the extra thickness the bumper added to his phone and he now prefers it, compared to his previous bumper. The buttons are more comfortable for him to press and he likes how his phone as a whole is better protected. Best of all, he's already made great use of the kickstand, which was the primary reason for the new bumper.

All in all, it was a good present for him.

Sharp Memo Master Alarm 600

This is an old piece of technology that I have stored away; it's a Sharp Memo Master Alarm 600:

What is it? Well, the Sharp Memo Master Alarm 600, which comes from the mid-1990s, is an organiser; it can store contact information, events and anniversaries (this one had a few birthdays stored), can be programmed to remind the user of said events/anniversaries (which it does when it's turned on) and it has a calculator. What it cannot do is make phone calls, nor can it text. It's a simple pocket organiser, but back in its heyday it probably would have been a "cool" item to own.

Devices like this have been obsolete for years; most non-smartphones are capable of everything the Sharp Memo Master Alarm 600 can do and more. My old touchscreen non-smartphone, for example, had all of these features. Why do I keep this then? Again, it's stored away and it doesn't take up any space worth worrying about; plus, it's fun to bring it out occasionally and, in this case, write about it.

"Wanted" - Jessie James

For the third post in my short series of one-hit wonders, this is "Wanted" by Jessie James:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sxz3_5XsNQ

That's right, it's Jessie James - a country pop singer - not Jesse James - the motorcycle enthusiast. "Wanted" was a moderate hit in 2009 (#40 on the Billboard Hot 100) and comes from James' self-titled debut album. Unlike Kat DeLuna's "Whine Up" and Hellogoodbye's "Here (In Your Arms)", I have not heard heard "Wanted" on the radio since it left the charts and I doubt that I will hear it on British radio, although it's possible that it might be played on the country stations.

Where is James now? In 2010/2011, she switched from country pop to country, as her career in pop music wasn't going anywhere after "Wanted"; her singles "Boys in the Summer", "Military Man" and "I Do" had success on the Hot Country Songs chart, but none of them reached the Billboard Hot 100. It was announced in November of last year that she and her husband are expecting a baby daughter, so it seems, in addition to her music, that she's starting a family! Good luck to her.

"Here (In Your Arms)" - Hellogoodbye

I've decided to highlight three one-hit wonders over the course of three posts (although, as I said yesterday, Kat DeLuna wasn't exactly a one-hit wonder). The second song in this short series is "Here (In Your Arms)" by Hellogoodbye:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH0RbHjD4vw

It comes from Hellogoodbye's debut album, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! Like "Whine Up", "Here (In Your Arms)" was a hit in 2007. Once its time in the charts came to an end, we only it heard it on the Open House Party afterwards. This evening was the first time I'd heard the track in years and I have not, to my knowledge, heard another Hellogoodbye song before and none of their other songs have had anything close to the success of "Here (In Your Arms)".

"Whine Up" - Kat DeLuna

After yesterday's post about one-hit wonders, I decided to have a think about highlighting a one-hit wonder from the 2000s who wasn't on the link that was in the post. When I chose an artist, I later learnt that they're actually not a one-hit wonder, but regardless, I wanted to write about her anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcMXZjYqIog

This is "Whine Up" by Kat DeLuna featuring Elephant Man, which was a hit during the summer of 2007 and is from DeLuna's debut album, 9 Lives. I thought that DeLuna was a one-hit wonder due to "Whine Up" being her most known track; however, upon further research I discovered that, while "Whine Up" is her most popular, a few of her other singles have had fairly decent chart success...enough to pull her out of one-hit wonder status, in my opinion.

Again, this song was a hit in the summer of 2007...a time when some really great music permeated the airwaves.

A list of one-hit wonders of the 2000s

I was linked to this article yesterday:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-top-90-one-hit-wonders-of-the-2000s

I haven't listened to most of the songs before, but of the ones I have heard, "Girl Next Door"- Saving Jane, "Me & U" - Cassie, "Bad Day" - Daniel Powter, "Lips of An Angel" - Hinder, "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley, "Listen to Your Heart" - D.H.T., "Ridin'" - Chamillionaire, "Collide" - Howie Day, "American Boy" - Estelle, "For You I Will (Confidence)" - Teddy Geiger, "Say Hey (I Love You)" - Michael Franti & Spearhead, "Where'd You Go" - Fort Minor and Holly Brook, "On the Way Down" - Ryan Cabrera and "I Love College" - Asher Roth all stand out. I liked all of these songs at the time of their popularity and it's a shame that most of these artists have fallen into obscurity.

Not all are completely one-hit wonders, fortunately. Estelle is British and some of her other songs have done okay here in the United Kingdom, Holly Brook is now Skylar Grey and her recent music has a strong following, plus she was featured on Diddy – Dirty Money's "Coming Home" and Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor; Cee Lo Green's work outside Gnarls Barkley, such as "Forget You", has been a success; and Cassie seems to be doing well as a model and she is looking to release new music at some point.

While it was before I started listening to the radio, it's hard to believe that Fountains of Wayne's only hit was "Stacy's Mom" back in 2003/2004. I have not heard any of their other songs.

One-hit wonders do upset me somewhat; it just seems like a waste when a talented musician vanishes from the public eye to almost never be seen again. Seeing the above list reminded me of several great songs from a few years ago.

"Who's On Heart" 2014 common guesses

When I wrote this post over two weeks ago, I thought that Nicole Scherzinger and Julia Roberts would be the most common guesses on "Who's On Heart" 2014. Well, I turned out to be wrong. No matter.

So who has been frequently guessed? Surprisingly, actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Craig and Colin Firth all have, as well as Nicki Minaj, Simon Cowell and Gary Barlow. I've heard Cowell and Cumberbatch come up several times and my brother has said that he's heard Craig and Minaj be guessed on more than one occasion; Firth and Barlow keeping popping up, too. It's certainly an interesting combination of people!

The second and third voices have not yet been identified, but I'll be sure to note them here when they are. Until then, listeners will have to keep shouting at the radio when someone guesses a name that's already come up ten times before!

Street lights

Ever since we moved to Northamptonshire, some of the street lights in our neighbourhood have either been dead or dying. Granted, most of the lights have been working but it has been annoying that a few have effectively been useless.

That all changed this morning. A large utility van with a crane mounted on the roof came to the neighbourhood; using the crane, a maintenance worker appeared to be fixing each of the dead/dying lights and it didn't take long for him to fix them.

For the first time since we've lived here, our part of the neighbourhood is fully illuminated! When I look out of my window, there aren't any dead streets lights in my view. The restoration of these lights makes it safer and more convenient for everyone living here. It'll also be good to no longer have to hear anyone complain about the lights being out!

"Unpretty" - TLC

My friend and fellow blogger Jen wrote a piece about body types/image issues and linked to this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2gy1Evb1Kg

It's "Unpretty" by TLC. The lyrics and the music video are critical of the pressures women - especially young women - face in order to have the supposedly "perfect" body. "Unpretty" was released in 1999; what has changed in the (almost) fifteen years since that song? Women and girls are still pressured to conform to a certain look and the problem has even spread, to a certain extent, to men and boys.

I also recommend reading Jen's blog post on this subject; she did a good job and wrote a strong piece. She also covered about how many people are dismissive of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, and why it's bad to prioritise one body type over another.

The checkers board

When looking through some of my family's board games, I found this:

It's my solid oak checkers board, which I received for my 7th birthday along with the checkers set that came with it. I have not used it in years but it's something I indent to keep, as it is an excellent board and is too decent to throw away. As a checkers board is exactly the same as a chess board, this board is perfect to use for chess. There's another good reason for keeping this board:

It doubles as a tic-tac-toe board! It would be an absolute waste to discard it.

On phone batteries again

In November 2012, I wrote a piece on why I think that phones with replaceable batteries are better than handsets with the battery fully integrated. I cited battery leaks and loss of charge over time as supporting rationales for being able to replace the battery. I recently thought of another reason for making the battery replaceable.

As we know, the average smartphone battery lasts for a little over a day. That means that there are people whose phones do not last them throughout the day. One way around this is to buy a power pack, but these are often bulky unsuitable for everyday use. A better solution - although it isn't perfect - is to carry around a spare battery and use it to replace the depleted power unit. In the case of an integrated battery, this is not possible. Sure, it might be a bit of a hassle having to carry another battery around, but it's better than using a bulky power power or having the phone run out of juice.

Of course, it would be even better if smartphones were more efficient with their battery usage or if phone manufacturers could create batteries with greater power capacity but aren't huge. Still, this is another positive to having a phone with a replaceable battery rather than one that's built in.

Additional baking

Yesterday afternoon, my brother and I baked some more treats. We made some more brownies, but rather than using chocolate chips we used, at my recommendations, raisins:

These brownies taste even better than the ones we baked last month. The raisins help enhance the flavour of the chocolate and vice versa. The long brownie hasn't been divided into smaller pieces yet because it was the only brownie segment that I was able to extract from the pan whole.

Don't worry, we can bake more than just brownies and flapjacks! It's just that we wanted to try making some brownies with raisins in them.

The "Dean Scream"

This time ten years ago, during the United States presidential election of 2004, Vermont Governor Howard Dean gave this infamous speech after finishing third in the Iowa Democratic Caucus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5FzCeV0ZFc

At the time, Dean had been ill with the flu and the crowd was filled with highly enthusiastic and loud supporters. He had to bellow above the roar of the crowd in order to be heard; unfortunately for him, to those watching television, it appeared as though he were needlessly yelling at a quiet audience. Dean later confirmed that the "Yeah!" he screamed out at the end was due to his voice cracking.

Dean's speech and scream was highlighted as a major reason for his loss in the Democratic primaries to Senator John Kerry. The media subsequently overplayed and mocked his speech, which brought down his poll numbers: at the time of his speech, Dean had held a significant lead in the New Hampshire primary, but when it came to voting day in that state on January 27th, he came in second to Kerry. By the end of the Democratic primaries and caucuses, Dean had only won Vermont and Washington, D.C.

It's a shame, as back then I thought that Dean would have been a good Democratic candidate and president; I also thought that his scream speech was impressive. Fortunately, despite his defeat in the presidential primaries, Dean is far from being some forgotten politician: his 50-state strategy to help Democrats compete and win elections in heavily Republican areas and his campaign's use of the Internet to mobilize voters were used by President Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates in the 2008 and 2012 elections, and I'm sure that Democratic candidates will continue to use the Dean-Obama model for the foreseeable future.

I should also note that it was because of Dean that my brother and I became interested in politics. We might not have followed the 2004 election - and might have had less interest in subsequent elections - had it not been for him.

What city?

Yesterday, two of my friends linked me to this page:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/what-city-should-you-actually-live-in

My result was Portland, which pleased me as Portland was the largest major city to me when my family and I lived in Oregon.

I decided to post this because it was mildly entertaining and because, unfortunately, I couldn't come up with anything else interesting to write about tonight. I should have something better for tomorrow.

"Never Say Goodbye" - Hardwell & Dyro featuring Bright Lights

This song seems to be a moderate hit here in the United Kingdom at the moment; I don't know what its chart status is but it's played a lot during the dance/remix segments of The Hits Radio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co3w_ZxcO1U

A longer version of the song can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86FFQjIVeZk

I don't know much about Hardwell, Dyro or Bright Lights themselves, although I do know that Hardwell is a Dutch DJ and that Bright Lights is the stage name of Heather Bright, a dance musician and songwriter from South Carolina. Regardless, I like this song.

Kickstand bumper

We gave Dad an early wedding anniversary present today: a kickstand bumper for his phone. When Dad has to travel, he uses his phone for Skype; when he Skypes, he either has to hold the phone up or have it on its side leaning against another object. The former can become uncomfortable during a long conversation and in the case of the latter, there's always the risk of the phone or the other object suddenly slipping.

This new kickstand bumper solves these problems! Granted, it does bulk up his already-large phone, but it's still comfortable to hold, still fits in its pouch and still fits in its pouch. It's also a two-layered bumper: a two-piece hard plastic case secures the phone and the silicone skin covers the plastic. The phone certainly does look as though it is now wearing armour but the extra protection - in addition to the kickstand - makes it all the more worthwhile! I would add the extra thickness actually makes the phone easier to hold, given how slim the device is on its own.

This bumper does not contradict what I said when I endorsed tyre tread cases; in fact, when I chose this new bumper for Dad, I ensured that we bought one that had a silicone back with ridges for grip, similar to tyre treads. I still think that tyre tread bumpers are great; if you don't need or want a kickstand, my first recommendation would be tyre tread bumper.

Best of all, Dad is happy with the new bumper. He was slightly taken aback when he came home to find that his phone had mysteriously expanded, but he quickly came to appreciate the "armour" and the kickstand.

Cinema etiquette

I read this article yesterday about cinema etiquette:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25710924

Interestingly enough, despite the amount of times I've been to the cinema, I haven't had any of these problems. Granted, I've seen people use their phones and eat a little too loudly before the presentation starts - such as during the adverts - but during the movie itself, the issues listed in the aforementioned article haven't been anything that I've had to worry about at the cinema.

That doesn't mean that I haven't come across any distractions, though. When Dad, my brother and I went to see the first Harry Potter film in 2001, there was a man who got up every twenty minutes to go to the bathroom; while I can't fault someone for needing the restroom, this guy had drunk a lot of sodas. In 2009, when we went to see the Harry Potter film from that year (it's a coincidence that they were both Potter films), there was a guy who, five minutes from the end, decided to leave; rather than going back through the building's hallways, he exited using the door near to the screen. The result? As it led directly to the outside - and as it was a hot and sunny day - he flooded the dark room with incredibly bright sunlight.

I won't deny that many people do encounter inconsiderate types at the cinema, but I've been lucky to have not come across any other than the two I mentioned above. How have your experiences at the cinema been?

The first answer to Who's On Heart 2014

A voice on Who's On Heart 2014 has been identified! The person who rang up at 12:00 this afternoon, who's name was Andrew, guessed Stevie Nicks, Richard Madeley (I think that's correct; I haven't heard of him before) and Ridley Scott. Although it wasn't stated which name is correct, one of these people is among the three. The award? £10,000!

Andrew said that he wanted to use the money to travel to Australia to visit a friend. It looks as though he'll be able to do that! Congratulations!

As with last year, I was listening to the radio when the answer came. One down, two to go!

Update as of 14/01/2014 at 16:02: By process of elimination in the guesses since 12:00, Stevie Nicks is the first identified voice.

Jingling bells (2)

There was something I neglected to mention in last night's post. Have you seen the film The Polar Express? It's been quite some time since I last saw it but it's one of my favorite Christmas films. Anyway, whenever I jingle one of the bells, I am reminded of the jingle bell that is near the end of the film, is vital to its plot and gives confidence to the lead character.

I first saw The Polar Express years ago, when my family were living in Oregon. I was unsure about the film when I saw its trailer in the cinema, but when I watched it I loved it. It's a beautiful movie and has a hint of sadness at the end.

That was all. I meant to include this in the previous post but forgot! Sorry about that.

Jingling bells

Christmas Day has been over for close to three weeks now; regardless, I wanted to share a picture of these:

These are three Christmas bells, which came with some chocolates from past Christmases, that jingle when shaken. Well, at least two of these bells jingle, anyway: the bell in the middle makes more of a rattling sound when it is shaken. As with my snow globe, these bells are kept out all year; they remaing on my desk but I'd like to give them another home.

"Never Tear Us Apart" - Paloma Faith

I was going to write a picture post, but my phone isn't transferring its images to my Dropbox account at the moment; I don't have time to sort it out and write my intended before midnight. As such, I'll fill in with a music post; this is "Never Tear Us Apart" by Paloma Faith:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYtesyE7OA

"Never Tear Us Apart" is from Faith's second album, Fall to Grace, and is her cover of the original song by Australian rock band INXS. Faith has a fantastic voice and I'm surprised that I hadn't written about her until now. My Nottingham aunt is also a fan of Paloma Faith; we talked about her when I went up to visit last August.

"Do What U Want" - Lady Gaga featuring Christina Aguilera

Lady Gaga's "Do What U Want", which features R. Kelly, is a fairly popular single at the moment. There's also this version of the track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAeV90a5l-E

It's an alternate studio version of "Do What U Want" that features Christina Aguilera. While I like the original version of the song, I prefer this one, as I am a fan of Aguilera and I love her voice; as I'm also a Gaga fan, this version of "Do What U Want" features two of my favorite singers. From what I have read, Gaga and Aguilera performed the version on a recent episode of the television singing competition show The Voice.

Another douchey breakup

I've written a few posts about some douchey ways to break up a relationship. I heard another one on the radio this evening:

Apparently, there was this guy who had gone to great trouble to buy a brand new car for his girlfriend for her 21st birthday. It had been a lot of hard work for him to get the car for her but he was excited about giving it to her; he had even "wrapped" the car up for her, as an additional gesture. He texted her, asking her to come over; he gave no hint about his gift, as he wanted it to be a surprise.

The response? She texted back to say that she wasn't coming over. Why? Because she had met another man, had opted to celebrate her birthday with him instead and was ending her existing relationship. She dumped her boyfriend by text, while cheating on him, while he was looking forward to giving her an expensive present. Ouch. Certainly not a method of breaking up that anyone would wanted used on them.

It was then said that he is still trying to get her to come over to see the car in the hope that it will win her back for him, but to be honest, if she is someone who is easily swayed by material goods, then she's not worth it. Say he does win her back with the car; imagine if another man comes along and promises her a new car or some other fancy item if she goes with him instead...would she again make a relationship decision based on a shiny object? That sort of person - man or woman - isn't worth the effort.

I should also mention that, despite her actions, by hoping that she'd go back to him because of the car, he was stereotyping women by assuming that women are only interested in a man's ability to provide them with gifts. When it comes to relationships, there are many issues that women care more about than whether or not their men will shower them with presents on a regular basis (of course, this doesn't mean that they won't appreciate the occasional thoughtful, good-faith gift!).

To be fair to the girlfriend, seeing as she didn't actually know about the car, the only douchey part was breaking up via text, which, as I've written about before, is something I consider to be cowardly, regardless of the gender of the person doing it. Still, her breaking up with him was poorly timed (or well-timed, depending on how you view it) and is the sort of breakup that would be a blow to anyone's morale.

The third Tuscon anniversary

It's hard to believe that it's been three years to the date that the Tuscon shooting took place, when nineteen people, including Arizona House Representative Gabrielle Giffords, were shot. Six people died and Giffords barely survived a shot to her head, a shot that, to this day, gives her suffering.

What has been done to prevent a tragedy like the one in Arizona from happening again? Nothing, it seems. Despite the vast majority of Americans and National Rifle Association members supporting greater background checks on guns (when my family and I were living in the United States, the Democrats, Republicans and Independents we met all supported them, too, and we lived in an area where almost everybody owned a gun), a bill that would have increased said checks failed in the Senate. In addition, despite all the calls that were made to help address mental health problems, nothing has been done about that, either.

It's a shame that paranoia over a potential repeal of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is preventing anything from being done, even something as simple as educating people about violence or increasing awareness of mental health problems. I don't think that Second Amendment supporters even have anything to fear, for few American politicians, if any, would ever vote for an outright ban on guns. The Second Amendment itself will not get repealed anytime in the near or foreseeable future: To introduce a new amendment with the purpose of repealing another, the state legislatures of three-quarters of the states would need to approve it...and that's just not going to happen against the Second Amendment.

I once again made the mistake of reading the comments section of a Tuscon shooting-related article. I had foolishly hoped that people would perhaps pay their respects to all the victims and their families, given that it's been three years since the shooting, but instead it was a hate-filled thread with nothing but anger being directed at Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly. I found it both infuriating and upsetting.

Who's On Heart 2014 voices

It turns out that there was an online clip of the voices available yesterday; here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Y1PZxL89Q

The singer Nicole Scherzinger has been guessed twice already, I assume because people think that the middle voice sounds like her; when heard on the radio itself through the normal distortion, there is a similarity but it's not her. I wouldn't be surprised if she and/or possibly Julia Roberts become the "Jo Brand" of Who's On Heart 2014. I'll see what happens.

Who's On Heart 2014

Who's On Heart is back in season. As usual, three very short clips - consisting of one famous person saying "who's", another saying "on" and a third saying "heart" - are played in rapid succession and people have to guess the voices to win. This year, the prizes are: £10,000 for the first correct name, £20,000 for the second and £30,000 for the person who successfully guesses all three. This competition also differs from 2013's in that the £30,000 prize increases by £100 for every person who participates and fails to name any of the three celebrities. Already, the prize has risen to £30,700, although it is a far cry from the £125,000 award from last year.

The first person who participated wasted their turn by only giving one guess rather than the standard three. They also picked the name of a high-profile person who is frequently in the news (Simon Cowell) and thus, too obvious a choice for the Who's On Heart competition.

I am not yet aware of any online voice clips or any lists that show who has been guessed so far, but I'll be sure to post them when I encounter them. Blog views on all my previous Who's On Heart posts are picking up, so people are already looking for online lists, sounds and hints! (They won't find anything other than past results on those posts.)

Down went 2013's decorations

At long last, our decorations for Christmas 2013 have been taken down. Most of the other neighbourhood decorations have been down since the beginning of the year. Once again, the houses have returned to their standard cold weather look. The holiday season has reached its end here now.

This time, I am pleased to say that every Christmas decoration of ours has been accounted for and packed away; however, if one has somehow escaped, I shall be displeased, given that we've left at least one out for the past couple of years! All of mine are away, for sure.

"Daft Punk" - Pentatonix

Here is "Daft Punk" by Pentatonix. The song is a medley of several Daft Punk songs, including their two biggest hits, "Get Lucky" and "One More Time":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MteSlpxCpo

I came across Pentatonix when I was linked to their version of "Little Drummer Boy", followed by their rendition of Lorde's "Royals". They are an a cappella group Texas and came to prominence when they won the third season of a television singing competition show called The Sing-Off. I don't usually listen to a cappella music but I like Pentatonix; I look forward to hearing more from them.

The missing mint cake

Do you remember the Romney Kendal Mint Cakes I wrote about exactly a year ago today? Well, last year I finally ate the mint cake I received for Christmas in 2010; however, during my two-week visit to Nottingham in August, one of my cousins bought me another one.

The strange thing is, I appear to have lost the new mint cake; I have not seen it since I returned home at the beginning of September. I spent a quarter of an hour searching for it this evening but was unable to find it. I am confused as to how I misplaced a Kendal Mint Cake but I am certain that I brought it back from my grandparents' house; I always ensure that I have everything packed and besides, they would have told me if I had left anything there.

At the end of the day, this is hardly a major problem, but still, the mint cake is food and is a gift from a relative; I'd rather it not remain lost.

Oh, and I haven't eaten and then forgotten about it, either; the only mint cake I've eaten is my original one!

Bloggers Blog Party - December 2013

My images from December 2013 for the Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party:

Monday, 2nd December: A large flock of gulls swirled around the skies of the neighbourhood on this day's morning. At the speed in which the gulls were flying, I was fortunate to even obtain this (relatively clear) shot of them.

Tuesday, 10th December: My grandfather gave us an icemaker, which creates ice with a shape reminiscent to that of a finger puppet. As these ices are smaller than regular ice cubes, more of them fit in the freezer and they have to be replenished less frequently. They're much easier to suck, too!

Tuesday, 17th December: This muddy pond appeared in the local park. It would preferable if the water were cleaner, for at the moment, a dirty pond doesn't really improve the look of the park. On the bright side, at least it's not filled with garbage, or at least it wasn't at the time of this picture, anyway.

Wednesday, 25th December: My Christmas CDs! I received Shakira's Fijación Oral, Vol. 1, the fan edition of Pink's The Truth About Love and Lana Del Rey's Born to Die - The Paradise Edition. I now own five of Pink's six studio albums and four out of nine of Shakira's.

There are only four pictures because I forgot to take any on the 30th and 31st. Sorry about that!

New Year's Day 2014

I hope that everyone is having a pleasant New Year's Day. My health has improved since yesterday, although I have still been "out of it" for much of the day and this has been the least fun 1st of January that I can recall. Still, as I said, I am better and should be close to being fully recovered tomorrow.

Thank you to all my family, family and fellow bloggers. I look forward to our interactions in 2014 and beyond.

Happy New Year!