Can We Tawk?

Lisa thinks maybe I look like a blonder
version of Marisa Tomei
in My Cousin Vinny...

...or maybe Elizabeth Hendrickson,
who played Chloe on
the Young and the Restless.

Hey everybody! Gina here -- y'know, Angel's friend from the auto body shop? You may not remember me since my bit part in Casting the First Stone got downgraded to a walk on in Chasing a Second Chance.

But I'm not bitter. I get it. I mean, I'm a friend from Angel's single days, and there's no love lost between me and Jimbo -- who's definitely not good enough for her, by the way --and since I'm single and savorin' it and I don't have kids or go to church, I don't fit in. But Angel, bless her heart, is as loyal as they come, so she'd never be one to kick me to the curb.

ANYway....Lisa is considering writing a third book and we characters are jockeying for position. I know if I turned up on Angel's doorstep, she'd give me a big hug and invite me in for a cuppa cawfee. And I love that girl, I really do, but I can't stand her husband.

So. Should I turn up on her doorstep? Lisa has some ideas about what will happen next if I do. Or, am I like some kinda relic from her past that auto (get it?) just stay in the past since Prince Not-so Charming doesn't like me anyway?

Lemme know what you think by leaving a comment.

And come back next week so we can dish about the rest of the cast.

Railway Quiz - 2

Q.1 Who among the following were the leaders of the indigo revolution?

a. Buddhu Bhagat and Jhindari Monak

b. Digambar biswas and Bisnucharan biswas

c. Dinbandhu Mitra and Madhusudhan Mitra

d. Birsa Munda and Gaya Munda

Ans �b

Q.2 During whose tenure as the viceroy of India were the great Martyrs Bhagat singh, Sukhdev and Rajaguru hanged?

a. Lord Curzon

b. Lord Irwin

c. Lord Minto

d. Lord Chelmsford

Ans � b

Q.3 In which Anglo-Mysore war and in which year was the Tipu Sultan killed?

a. Third, 1792

b. Third, 1799

c. Fourth. 1799

d. Fourth, 1805

Ans � c

Q.4 Chief justice of a high court is appointed by

a. The President after consultation with the chief justice of India.

b. The President after consultation with the chief justice of India and Governor of state.

c. The Governor on th recommendation of president who in turns consults the CJI.

d. The President after consultation with the governor of state and a collegiums of two very senior supereme court judges headed by CJI.

Ans � d

Q.5 In which year Madras state was renamed as Tamil Nadu?

a.1968

b. 1969

c. 1970

d. 1971

Ans � b

Q.6 A money bill passed by loksabha is deemed to have been passed by Rajyasabha also if the Upper house takes no action within

a. 10 days

b. 14 days

c. 3 weeks

d. one month

Ans � b

Q.7 How many members can be nominated to Rajyasabha by the President?

a.12

b. 15

c. 16

d. 18

Ans � a

Q.8 Which of the following states do not has bicameral legistalture?

a. Kerala

b. Madhya Pradesh

c. Assam

d. Jammu and Kashir

Ans � c

Q.9 Millets are called �coarse grains� and constitute mainly of

a. Maize, Jowar, Pulses

b. Jowar, bajra, ragi

c. Bajra, Ragi, Paddy

d. Jowar, Ragi, Groundnut

Ans � b

Q.10 Sugercane and potato is an intercropping system of which season?

a. Autumn season

b. Summer season

c. Rainy season

d. Spring season

Ans - a

Railway Quiz - 1

Q.1 Which gas is not known as greenhouse gas?

a. Methane

b.Carbon dioxide

c. Nitrous oxide

d. Hydrogen

Ans - d

Q.2 Which of the following is not used as a moderator in nuclear reactor?

a. Graphite

b. Heavy water

c. Light water

d. Boron

Ans � d

Q.3 Which of the following is tropical grassland?

a. Taiga

b. Pampas

c. Savannah

d. Prairies

Ans � C

Q.4 The headquarters of the Commonwealth of independent states (CIS), formed out of the erstwhile USSR, is at

a. Kistiner in Maldovia

b. Kiev in Ukraine

c. Moscow in Russia

d. Minsk in Belarus

Ans � d

Q.5 Which of the following pairs of kings of ancient and medieval periods of history and the works authored  by them is correctly matched?

A. krishnadevacharya � Samaranganasutradhara

b. Mahendravarman � Mattavilasaprahasana

c. Bhojdeva � Monasollasa

d. Someswara � Amuktamalyada

Ans � b

Q.6 Ashokan inscriptions were first deciphered by

a. James princep

b. Buhler

c. Robert Sewell

d. Codrington

Ans � a

Q.7 The foundation of modern education system in india was laid by

a. The charter act of 1813

b. Macaulay�s Minutes of 1835

c. Wood�s dispatch of 1854

d. Hunter Commission of 1882

Ans � c

Q.8  Which of the following represens the fundamental difference between Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism?

a. Emphasis on non violence

b. Casteless Society

c. Worship of gods and goddesses

d. Worship of stupa

Ans � c

Q.9 The Asiatic society was established in Calcutta by

a. Warren hasting

b. Sir William Jones

c. Raja ram mohan roy

d. T.B.Macaulay

Ans � b

Q.10 During the Indian freedom struggle who of the following founded the Prarthana samaj?

a. Atmaram Pandurang

b. Gopal Hari Deshmukh

c. Iswar Chand Vidyasagar

d. Keshav Chandra Sen

Ans- a

Sometimes, the Horse is Brown

pixabay.com

Yesterday, we attended our last college Open House. It's not that a decision has been made, mind you; we're just reaching the end of the list of contenders. Acceptances have begun to arrive, changing the question my daughter has to answer from "where should I apply?" to "where should I go?"

This shift has colored the way we look at everything. Instead of the big picture view, where we take in as much information as possible, we're zooming in on the details, trying to decide which attributes are most important. Class size? Study abroad? Location? If we've made the trip to see the school in the first place, it has cleared the academic hurdles: Major. Languages of choice. Real world connections.

It's overwhelming. And I'm not even the one making the decision.

The urge to muzzle well-intentioned adults who promise her that she'll "know" when she finds the "right" school grew stronger (for me) with every such declaration. Though that's exactly what happens with some kids, it's not true for everyone, and tacitly encouraging my daughter to wait for something that might not happen sometimes feels like the college admissions version of waiting for a knight on a white horse. Sometimes he's a prince, and sometimes the horse is brown. Does that make him any less desirable?

If we stop holding our breath, waiting for the knight to arrive, the process is actually fun. Family trips. Conversations about the future. Glimpses of the adult my daughter wants to become.

Endless possibility.

This is, after all, the only time we'll go through this process in quite this way. Maybe I'd feel differently if I had more than one child, but I don't really want to just check this off and be done with it. As endless as the process may feel at times, it's going way too fast. May is just around the corner, and with May 1 comes a choice, one that will define the next four years of her life.

And so my daughter is taking her time, weighing her options, balancing the pros and cons. (Or dragging her feet, tuning me out, driving me crazy. Depends on the day).

capsandgownsnow.com

Either way, I'm glad she's taking this seriously. In her reasonably charmed life, this is the first big decision she's had to make, a dress rehearsal for all those that lie ahead. And since the only right answer is the one that's right for her, all I can do is facilitate.

And that is, after all, just my dress rehearsal for all the years that lie ahead.

Saturday Special: Parting Words and Good Stuff from HGTV

freepik.com

I've been writing about time management a lot  lately over at Organizing By STYLE, and at CatholicMom.com. Last Thursday's post in particular, along with the planning that preceded it, nudged me to take a look at my blogging habits. I've done so before, but now, with proof that blogging sometimes overshadows the other writing I want to do, it was time to look at my schedule with an eye toward change.

When I first spun the organization posts off  this blog and onto Organizing By STYLE, these Saturday posts were a great way to continuing sharing my love of organization here, as well as featuring people, places and articles that inspired me. Julie Morgenstern. Marcia Ramsland. A Perfect Mess.

Sometimes, though, it's time to focus on that L in STYLE and let it go. I've featured all my inspirations, along with quite a few fun finds I made along the way, which brings the organization- themed Saturday Specials on this blog to a natural conclusion.

So, for the moment, at least, I'm stepping away from Saturday posts. You can still find me here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and at Organizing By STYLE on Wednesdays and (3 Keys) Thursdays. I've been posting a STYLE Savvy feature at CatholicMom.com, as well, also on Wednesdays.

Meanwhile, since HGTV got me inspired to walk down this road in the first place, it's only fitting that I conclude this feature with something from them. Over at CatholicMom.com, I've been writing about containers, and this HGTV feature on organizing mistakes to avoid fits perfectly into the Organizing by STYLE philosophy.

See you Monday.

Friday Feature: The Fussy Librarian

twitter.com
@FussyLibrarian

There are seemingly hundreds of sites out there that send emails with book deals to voracious readers. I get a few of them myself, and have also looked at promoting my books through some of them.

This week, The Fussy Librarian has been doing a book promo for me, giving me both the motivation and the opportunity to browse
their site and see what's there. And you know what? It's a pretty cool place.

I especially like their blog, and enjoyed this post that analyzed characters in books using the Myers-Briggs almost as much as I enjoyed Stephen Colbert's riff on Bernie Sandwiches.

But I digress.

The Fussy Librarian site is an unusual Friday Feature for me because it's less article-based, but if you're a reader, it's worth checking out. It's clean, easy to navigate, and makes you feel surrounded by books.

What more could you want on a cold winter weekend?

Balancing the Life Equation

First image from Brian Flanagan's "So What's the Story with Lent?"
Watch it here.

When I was younger, Ash Wednesday was about giving stuff up. Usually food stuff -- things like potato chips, chocolate, and dessert. As I got older, I continued that tradition -- still do, sometimes.

But as I get older, I find that giving up some sort of treat doesn't do much besides make me feel virtuous. French fries aren't standing between me and God, nor are they keeping me from being a good person. Yes, you can make the argument that the body is a temple, and so it should be treated as such, and if that's why you're giving up French fries, then perhaps that's the right choice for you. As for me, years of experience have taught me that giving up some item of food for Lent is, for me, a surface sacrifice. I feel virtuous, but in the end, no real change happens.

As I was thinking about this post, I stumbled across a YouTube video a friend had posted on Facebook. In a little over a minute, it crystallizes what Lent is all about -- no lectures, no how-to's, no guilt. And it's a great lens to look at those "Catholic New Year's Resolutions" through.

Which is exactly what I did.

This year, once again, I'm setting out o create Lenten resolutions that are a combination of breaking old habits and beginning new ones. I'm hoping the new habits will take me closer to the person I want to be -- the person I think perhaps God wants me to be -- whether I'm eating French fries and chocolate or not. I'll aim for 40 bags in 40 days again, as a way of getting rid of material stuff that creates a distraction and an actual, physical barrier, but aside from that, I'm focusing more on adding things. And while math was never my best subject, even I realize that adding in the right things means subtracting a few other things in order to make the life equation balance.

Which is perhaps the purpose in the first place.

Happy Ash Wednesday. Imagine the wonders that lie ahead.