My GPS Camera Phone

In response to SF Girl’s tag, I’ve compiled a brief yet enlightening list of seven things that are weird and/or interesting about me. Here we go:

1. I love Brussels Sprouts.
2. I if I’m adjusting the volume of the radio, I always set it to an even number.
3. I’ve ridden a bicycle from Gainesville, Florida to St. Augustine Beach, one-way (about 87 miles).
4. I can’t handle open wounds, major cuts, lots of blood and needles. Nope, not a fan.
5. Cheesy wordplay and bad puns are awesome.
6. I didn’t have my own cell phone until 2007.
7. I once purchased a dried out blowfish in Hurghada, Egypt. It was blown up and made into a lamp. No idea where it went off to.

In the interest of self-preservation, I left out stuff relating to liquid nitrogen bombs, endless nights of debauchery and foreign travel faux pas. No way is that stuff getting out.

Being tagged for a meme is one thing. Having the chance to modify it to my desire is quite another.

Dan hit me with the “Seven Things You Don’t Know But I Do” meme because he wanted to see it done with photo representation. Given that I’m short on time and already have three memes in the queue, I thought I’d tackle this one first. It seemed pretty easy, but I had to remove the “about me” part (mostly) to accomplish it with photos. On to the list!

You don’t know:

what kind of tea I’m brewing in this picture. I drink coffee in the morning (2 cups) and tea during the day while at work. why there is a fishing reel on my desk.

my network login.

what is growing in the bottom of my coffeepot. (OK, I don’t know what is either. I was hoping someone could tell me before I decide to use it.)

who will win today’s deathmatch between Gumby and King Kong.

where this sand came from. The beach is the one place where I can truly disconnect from reality. I keep this cigar box version to remind me of it.

I got rice, too. With black beans, green onions and a good shot of hot sauce.

I’m not going to tag anyone with this, but let me know if you do something similar. How about a little link sexy time instead:

Debo Hobo, for kicking blog-scraper butt

Sullicom, in mourning over having to store his Weber grill for the winter

Opal Tribble, for making an awesome curry dish

Bry, in honor of her baby-in-the-making

99Bloggers, a new community blog that I will be contributing to soon

AntiBarbie, for telling it like it is, even if it’s unpopular

Malik, for keeping me up on the progress of ex-Gator basketball stars in the NBA (I knew Al Horford was going to punish the opponent, given the chance)

Bobby, hoping that he finds his inner strength.

Many thanks to everyone who has been stopping by and thanks to all of my new friends. Until next time.

I’ve been seeing this screenshot-of-your-desktop meme floating around and thought I’d put a spin on it. Here’s a shot of my real desk at work. This is on a good day. Normally, you can’t see the desk, just piles of stuff. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tag anyone, I figured instead that a little self-deprecation is in order.

If anyone can tell me what magazine that is in the bottom right corner, just above my lunch container, I’ll autograph the cover, scan it and send the picture to you (hey, it’s cheaper than the mail). I know, what an incredible prize!

Being tasked by Jon (who has a totally cool blog that you should visit sometime) with the I-have-grammar-issues meme, I’ve decided to tackle the enigma we all know as that/which. And I’m writing this before I address the meme assigned to me by Debo Hobo (which I promise to get to soon!).

For me, I work in marketing, so I’ve got a decent grasp of grammatical rules. However, the that/which rule is one I cannot remember and frequently screw up. Instead of looking up the correct usage, I usually pick one and hope for the best. Since I love you all so much, I’m going to provide you with a fool-proof explanation for choosing the correct term in your writing.

It’s all about essential (restrictive) and nonessential (nonrestrictive) clauses.

Stop. Don’t leave. It’s not going to hurt, promise.

Essential (restrictive) clause: The designer for a website that displays adult videos asked if he could promote his site on Teen Second Life.

As you can clearly see, the phrase “that displays adult videos” is needed to retain the intended meaning of the sentence, thereby making it essential. Without it, we get a completely different meaning, which could cause a lot of problems. Essential clauses are not offset by commas and should always begin with “that.” Never use “which” on essential clauses. If you do, I’m calling the grammar police.

Nonessential (nonrestrictive) clause: Jon’s website, which is located at www.jomiwi.com, is loaded with quality content.

In this case, the nonessential clause, “which is located at www.jomiwi.com,” is not required in order to get the original meaning across. It is nonessential to the idea I am trying to convey, which is the quality of Jon’s site. However, I’m sure Jon would disagree, since this nonessential clause is a link to his site. Usage of that/which varies in this case, so pick which one sounds good and get on with your blog post.

I hope I’ve educated you on correct usage of that and which. I thought this was a good refresher for me, but I’m sure I’ll forget in about five minutes. On to the rules and the next victims!

From Jon’s blog, via Erina at Into the Inkpot:

To play this game, all you must do is explain what your most common writing mistake is. Then, you simply tag five individuals for the meme. Those five people will, in return, tag five more people. Ultimately, readers should see a tapestry of common grammar and spelling mistakes. Therefore, anyone that is feeling ashamed of their errors will feel a bit more confident and secure.

[Jon sez:] I’m going to add this: Copy the person and persons names who sent it to you and add your own at the bottom of the list. It really helps build community.

Here’s my picks for this meme:

Joeprah, because he’s bound to write something funny
Peacat, because she’s got mad writin’ skillz
DCA, maker of fine books for people to commit grammatical errors in
Cincisquirtle, who gets much deserved link love for his outstanding blog, Songs in Haiku
Jessica Field, because logo designers really should know how to spell correctly.

Those who have already participated:

Erina
Rolando
Jon
Pete

Thanks for playing!