Entry #5 (Eng 102) - Pomp and Circumstance

The Pomp and Circumstance of It All...

I'm familiar with the music for "pomp and circumstance."  It's familiar music that most people would are aware of.  I actually had to look up the meaning though as while I knew what pomp meant, this use of the word circumstance was a little unfamiliar to me.  Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines pomp as: "a ceremonial or festival display (such as a train of followers or a pageant)" and circumstance as: "attendant formalities and ritualistic display especially as contrasted with essential procedure."  Hearing the music swell as you walk down the isles to take your place in the seats designated for graduates is a moment of pride for many.  A question for a lot of people, however, is whether or not they'll ever experience that moment.  

I'm writing about this topic because I read this article  written by Arizona governor Doug Ducey.  I thought, personally, that Governor Ducey did a very good job in his article.  It's one of the first times that I've seen anyone in politics write something with such a personal bent to it.  Yes I'm sure that there are aspects to it that were meant to push a political agenda, but in this case it's a really good agenda.  

Personally, I do agree with what Governor Ducey stated.  It would be wonderful to have more people with college level educations or at least ASDs or technical school certificates.  It's needed.  There are a lot of jobs and career paths that require it or will be moving to a point in the future that they require it.  However, for as wonderful as the initiative that he is suggesting here, I do see some severe problems with it.

Now, I realize that Governor Ducey addressed this, to a degree.  Particularly, he addressed it in regards to low income families, saying:

While there is certainly no shortage of desire in these students to be successful, low-income families face added challenges to educational attainment that we can identify and target with our efforts and resources in order to assist those who need help the most.

That's wonderful!  I'm not saying that sarcastically either, it truly is wonderful and I would love to see this happen.  But low-income families aren't the only ones who have issues affording tuition and the various costs that go along with higher education.  When I left high school, despite my parents best efforts and taking me around to see different campuses, I didn't have any desire to go straight into college.  I had a vague idea of what I wanted to study (which ended up changing to a completely different career path - I was going to study journalism and now I'm a nurse.  Night and day difference there.)  However, I was also very aware of the cost of higher education.  I knew that my parents were willing to do whatever it took to help me get a college education but I knew how difficult that would also be for them.  

Another problem I see with this kind of a push: 

which ties in to:

Teachers work a lot more than just weekends.  My mother is a retired teacher after 20+ years in the public school system.  Believe me, I've been horrified and angered on her behalf hearing some of the issues she's gone through.  From funding (which Governor Ducey addressed there was funding being added to the budget - wonderful!) to the shift to more and more standardized testing (that gives no benefit from the children aside from seeing how well they take a test) to the changes that have been made to the content of education (see: Common Core - it doesn't work.)

This kind of a push - to see 60% of Arizonians with higher level education - is wonderful.  It truly is.  But it goes a lot deeper than this.  Governor Ducey's article was a message filled with hope, a call for all "elected leaders, business leaders, parents, grandparents and neighbors" to have a hand in improving education attainment.  I appreciated that, I did.  It made me hopeful, it was a very positive message.  I think it might just be a little misplaced however.  There wasn't any discussion on the quality of education that students are receiving in high school - or down in middle school either.  There was no discussion on how the education system needs reform.  That's a discussion I'd really like to see.  Well, no, I don't want to see a discussion.  I want to see an initiative like this one put toward education reform.

I feel as though, while Governor Ducey's message was well thought out and definitely promising, that in a way it's hitting the mark.  If we want to see more people achieve higher level education then we need to step back.  We need to look not at those who are at the gap between graduating high school and college but further back still.  First, students have to make it to graduation.  They have to feel capable of taking on higher education.  They have to be prepared well before their final four years of school but back in middle school.  That is where the hunger and thirst for knowledge begins.  If we don't make changes there then, as well-meaning as Governor Ducey's initiative is, I don't think it's going to reach the numbers he's hoping for.  It is, however, a good start. 

Entry #4 (Eng 102) - It's Okay To Not Be What Everyone Wants

Not everyone is for you...

How stunning a thought is this?  It's okay to not be liked by everyone.  It's okay if there are some people who, no matter how hard you try, just don't like you.  Stop tearing yourself up over it.  Stop trying to force yourself into a mold to fit another person's view of how you should be.  Not everyone is for you.  You are not for everyone. 

I actually found the above image years ago and reposted it on Facebook for a friend of mine who was having a hard time and feeling alone.  It popped back up on my "this day x years ago, you posted [blah]" feed and I re-read it and found myself curious.  So, I went to find the book it was from.  Rebecca Campbell's book Light is the New Black was the source.  And I have to admit, when I read about what the full book was about, I immediately sort of cringed back from it.  Talking about "lightbringers" and calling everyone "sister" and lots of talk about spiritualism and the sort really just... isn't for me.  The more I thought about it, however, the more I considered whether or not I was unfairly judging something without actually giving it a chance.  So, I sucked up my initial reticence and I bought the book for my kindle.  And I've slowly been reading it (not a lot since I have a lot of assignments for school I need to get done) but I have to say that, if I look past some of the terminology, the message is actually kind of amazing.

 The book, of what I have read thus far, speaks a lot towards how the writer focused on trying to make a life for herself based on entirely external factors.  Internally, she wanted to do more, she wanted to do something different.  However, she constantly felt as though she 'had' to do the external things to be at a place where she could then attempt the internal.  After losing two very close friends, the end of an 11-year relationship and discovering that after achieving the dream job she thought she wanted - she was miserable.  It wasn't until she began making changes towards what was important to her internally, to her personally, that she began to find a sense that she was happier, she was more at peace and felt like she'd found her place in the world. 

Granted, there are parts of her story that I read and thought "and I'd never do that, nope not that either.  Hell no I wouldn't do that, that's totally impractical!"  Though, again, when I look beyond the superficial and try to understand what drove Campbell to make the changes that she did, I think there's more to it than the grand, sweeping, life-altering changes that she did.  That, also, is not for everyone. 

This is something I struggle with.  Over the past few years I've had to come to a point when I learned that saying "no" was not only okay - sometimes it was necessary.  I found myself being taken advantage of by people - both in my personal and professional life.  I stretched myself too thin, I agreed to help too much.  I did it because I felt it was the right thing to do but the more and more that I gave, the more and more exhausted (physically, mentally, emotionally) I became.  Sometimes I'm sure I come off like a real bitch when someone asks me to do something and I say "No, sorry, I can't" but it's self-preservation. 

I have physically hurt myself by doing things that I should have asked for help myself but I didn't because "it just needed to get done."  That really isn't always a healthy mindset.  There has to be a middle ground.  There's a give and take to saying 'yes' or saying 'no' I've found and it's really difficult sometimes to find (and stick to) that middle ground.  Sometimes I feel unbearably guilty for saying 'no' but it's something that I've learned I have to do for my own sanity.  I help where I can, when I can, when it isn't something that is going to end up affecting me poorly. 

In my experiences thus far in life, I have to say that the above meme really does have some truth to it.  A lot of truth to it.  It's a little backwards sometimes but the breakdown to it makes a lot of sense to me.  People who are loneliest understand how much it means to receive kindness, so they give it often.  People who are saddest, or just sad in general, smile so brightly when they have simple things bring them that happiness because they experience it so little.  And people who have been damaged - people who have gone through horrible experiences of varying kinds - often are the ones who have been forced to look at life in different ways and realize the wisdom of some things in life.  As a result, they often tend to be the ones who share that wisdom.  Not to laud themselves and what they've been through but to try and help save others from going through the same thing, or lift them up when they see someone struggling and they understand the feeling themselves. 

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to ask questions.  Ask them of yourself primarily.  Ask yourself if what you're doing is helpful or, more appropriately, if it is hurtful to yourself.  This doesn't mean that someone is being selfish, it means that they're looking out for themselves.  We can give of ourselves only so much before it becomes too much.  Then, when there's nothing left to give, who will still be there?  Are the people that we surround ourselves with going to still be there when we have nothing left to give to them?  And if the answer is no or "I'm not sure" then maybe we need to take a closer look at the kind of people we're surrounding ourselves with. 

Surprisingly, looking past the 'fluffy fru-fru' way that Campbell's book is thus far presented, the deeper meaning is there.  Love yourself first - it's okay.  Follow your own dreams - it's okay to do that too.  Find your own inner voice and listen to it.  It might just be what steers you in the best direction.  Sometimes, it's okay to put yourself first.

Entry #3 (Eng 102) - Right to Incite

The Riot Act... sort of

Sometimes, it really can feel like the riot act is being read to you, proverbially speaking of course.  This can come from all sorts of directions, from your parents, from your boss or supervisor, even from your friends sometimes.  Where you might not want it to come from?  From your news source.  Personally, I'm not really the sort that responds well to having people get up in arms about something, particularly when it feels as though I'm being yelled at, scolded, or generally spoken to like I'm an idiot.  That's really just not a proper way to make your point, to me.  

Of course, if your entire purpose is to draw upon the emotional response of your audience, to skirt the line of ethics in reporting by claiming you aren't a journalist so you can say whatever you want, then of course, perhaps this tactic works perfectly for you.  And so, I give you exhibit A:

Alright.   So.  There's a few things to address here.  First, this is a dangerous aspect of bias and slanted reporting in the news.  Now, some might ask how?  How can it be 'slanted reporting in the news?  She isn't a journalist, she's a 'commentator' and she says so openly!'  Well.  Yes.  Yes she does.  Tomi (pronounced like Tommy) Lahren doesn't claim to be a journalist.  In fact, in an interview she had with Mike Wendling from BBC News in Dallas just last fall, she's made her position exceptionally clear.  As she stated for the article:

 "I never wanted to be neutral," she says. "I never wanted to report on the news, I wanted to comment on the news, I wanted to make the news."

Here's the thing.  She has every right to have that stance.  She has every right to have that desire and to pursue it and to engage in it once she's reached that point.  But...Yes, there's that ubiquitous 'but' that always seems to make its way in where it isn't wanted.  So, as I started, the 'but' here is that while she is commenting on the news and she is billed as a 'commentator' she has been hired by and is working for Fox News.  Last time I checked, Fox News, for all its flaws, is still a news site.  When they bring on a 'commentator' who makes such horrifically inflammatory statements it serves little purpose but to lower their credibility to thinking, logical viewers.  Then, that seems to be the key part - the viewers.  Tomi Lahren doesn't really look for credibility among a broader audience, she seeks a specific audience and utilizes emotional appeals through incendiary statements, specific wording and repeated phrases to highlight (incorrectly most of the time) an issue, and rhetorical questioning to 'stick it to' whoever her target of the hour is.  

For instance, she insists that team owners have every right to enforce rules (they do) and that standing for the anthem should be one of them.  There's just one problem.  This situation has, in a way, already been addressed.  West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette.   Just to cover some excerpts as they pertain to this whole 'controversy' about taking a knee during the anthem: 

"Symbolism is a primitive but effective way of communicating ideas. The use of an emblem or flag to symbolize some system, idea, institution, or personality is a short-cut from mind to mind. Causes and nations, political parties, lodges, and ecclesiastical groups seek to knit the loyalty of their followings to a flag or banner, a color or design. The State announces rank, function, and authority through crowns and maces, uniforms and black robes; the church speaks through the Cross, the Crucifix, the altar and shrine, and clerical raiment. Symbols of State often convey political ideas, just as religious symbols come to convey theological ones. Associated with many of these symbols are appropriate gestures of acceptance or respect: a salute, a bowed or bared head, a bended knee." 

The emphasis is my own.  The above quote was from Justice Robert Jackson within the ruling on the above linked court case.  Yes, this case was from 1943, but it's still law and it's still on the books and ... it still applies.  And here, aside from the fact that it was mandated that it is illegal and unconstitutional to force, under penalty of reprisal, a person to participate in a patriotic demonstration.

Anyway, I could get into breaking down the points that she is attempting to make, but that's not exactly the purpose here.  Also, someone else already did it for me.  A few times:

Honestly, I think the counter-videos really cover things fairly well on the argument of the points she's trying to make.  That said, BOTH Tomi Lahren's videos and Hasan Piker's videos show slant.  However, Piker's video does this much, much less so, as he's actually willing to show an understanding of counterarguments and present rebuttals against  potential reactions.  He openly invites dialogue and discussion of these topics instead of ranting, as the BBC article stated: "she talks more than 50% faster than the average English speaker - directly into the camera."

This really is off-putting.  It comes off like an attack or a rally cry.  Either way you take it however, it's not helpful.  These are statements being made to encourage discourse, they aren't being put out there to encourage people to actually come together and have intellectual discussions of differing opinions.  These are rapid-fire statements and calls to action and encouragement of silencing dissenting opinions from their own.  Sure, she claims to completely support free speech.  Just, as long as what you're saying doesn't disagree with what she thinks.  Then you need to just shut up.  I'm not sure if I'm more angry listening to her videos because of what she's saying or because this otherwise seemingly intelligent young woman is making herself more and more of an outright fool the longer her lips move.  I'd expect better.  I hope for better.  As of now, I'm continuing to be disappointed.

This time, my dear readers, casual skimmers, accidental clickers, I am afraid you are not going to be subjected to my heavy use of memes.  Nor, this time, am I going to give you a goodbye meme.  You see, I'd like to see a response to this, I'd like to see comments, thoughts and opinions.  Let me know what you think and let's discuss the matter more.  So, to those ends, I'm forgoing the goodbye meme because I don't want this to end the conversation - I want to start it.  So come on and share some thoughts with me.  I'm looking forward to it.  :)

Entry #2 (Eng 102) - VACATION!

Vacation All I Ever Wanted...

That was essentially me after I left my history class, Friday, after my mid-term.  I hopped into the car with my husband and we set off for Southern Utah.  About seven hours later we finally made it to our resort at Brian Head, UT.  It. Has. Been. Glorious!  So, yes, this was our (slightly late) 10-year anniversary vacation.  Our anniversary was actually October 6th but life doing what it usually does, we weren't able to work things out to have that weekend off. 

So here we are now, finally on vacation and a few things have occurred to me over the past few days.  The first being that this is the first real vacation we've had since our honeymoon.   By "real" what I mean to say is it's the first vacation we've taken that wasn't to visit family for fun or due to a situation in the family.  Ten years.  Ten years to get to this point of being able to be on vacation that's just the two of us!  >.>  That may or may not be why I'm only just now getting these blog posts done.  Why?  Because that's the other thing I realized this weekend!  I completely scrapped my original 'self-generated' post idea and decided to do a post on vacations.  Because everyone loves vacations!

I really hope that no one minds lots of pictures.  I've taken an obscene number of pictures, however, I have picked out my favorites and attempted to keep the number within a respectable limit.  That said, I am afraid there will be fewer memes than usual, as the pictures will take their place.  I hope none of you are too terribly disappointed. I also hope that any of you reading through this actually enjoy the photos themselves, I had a grand time taking them all.

So that's the summit of the mountain on which our resort was located, granted the resort itself (along with all the other resorts around the area) was nestled down a few thousand feet lower.  Well.  Barely.  The town of Brian Head is at an elevation of 9.800 feet with a local (year round) population of 83 people.  Granted, they only have about 6 weeks of 'off-season' as people are either here for skiing or here in the summer to enjoy the breathtaking scenery.  And speaking of scenery, let's get to the pictures!

The pictures really don't begin to do it justice to standing right at a cliff (or more accurately about 15 feet away from a cliff cause I don't have a death wish) and taking in the full breadth of this kind of view.  Of course, the biting wind attempting to cause frostbite on my fingers and making the elevation feel even higher were some interesting aspects I hadn't been anticipating either but hey, it was worth it!

This is Parowan Gap 

There's a small town nearby (about 15 miles down a steep as hell two-lane highway) called Parowan that has this really amazing cultural attraction called the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs.

The oldest of the petroglyphs has been dated back to 500 A.D. although as various  nomadic peoples traveled through the area, they sometimes left additional carvings into the rocks that eventually became part of the same petroglyph system. 

Two major studies on the petroglyphs, one in the '60s and a ten-year study that started in the '90s, have been performed.  Both studies are still under review by both scientific and Indian communities!  So there may yet be even more information to come from these once these studies have gone through their own form of peer-reviewing and been published!

The glyphs might "only" be 1500 years old, but the gap itself was formed originally by a river that flowed through the land.  The rocky areas on either side actually grew up around the river and the rushing waters cut the gap through the rock as it formed up.  This makes it a 'wind gap', an ancient, now dry, river cutting its way through the hills.  In fact, the gap itself dates back over 200 million years ago!  The petroglyphs are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Some scientists believe that the 'zipper' like carving in the picture to the right could be indicative of a solar calendar.  When scientists overlaid an outline of the glyph onto a topographical map and found that the lines of the 'zipper' carving conformed to the contours of the gap on the map.  This has led scientists to believe that the tick marks along it, giving it the zipper appearance, were used to note the days between spring and harvest.

And of course, hubby and I had to go see these because even on vacation we feel a need to learn something new.  (Cause we're nerds, but we're okay with that!)



Of course, going to see the petroglyphs at Parowan Gap was only part of what we did over the weekend.  We also spent a whole lot of time hiking around. (Or in some cases driving up one heck of a long road to reach the summit of the mountain.  Cause there was no way on God's green Earth I was going to hike that up and back down.  Nu uh.)  There were some unbelievable locations to see and some places I forgot to even take pictures because I was too busy staring and just taking it all in.  However, I did remember at some important times!

It's difficult to describe how beautiful it was to really see the varying shades of blue that were present.  I didn't use any kind of filter at all on my camera when I took any of these pictures, this is exactly the way that the colors had manifested and it really was amazing.

 And then, of course, we had to go back for sunset and make sure to get as many pictures we could of that.  It was too amazing to pass up and hubby and I both knew that the stone 'hut' would make for a superb backdrop.  And what do you know, we were right!

Then of course there's the surrounding area just as the sun was setting.  It was something that was nearly indescribable.  Humbling would be a good descriptor.  It certainly had a way of making me feel small and yet connected to something so much more than just myself.  The entire trip has been like that, just going up and down the mountain and exploring different areas, it's really been a trip unlike any other I've ever been on.

And two more, some of my favorites.  Although, to be fair, most of these have been my 'favorites'.  I'm seriously considering getting some of these framed to hang on the walls at my house.

Sadly, now, tomorrow we have to check out and make the long drive back to Peoria.  This has been one of the most amazing weekends of my life.  Not a lot has compared to this trip and all of the sights that we've seen.  It's been wonderful to be able to spend time with hubster and be able to change plans at the last minute if we felt like it because driving 20 miles the wrong direction just to check out an interesting place we were told about sounded like fun.  That's the best part of vacations I think, just doing something because it sounded like fun and keeping the spontaneity alive and well. 

 Now, sadly, I have to deal with packing.  I'm not looking forward to it.  Packing is the final nail in the coffin of 'it's really over' and I don't want it to be over.  I am sad.  This, I am afraid, is the best you're going to get from me for a goodbye meme.  The fact my vacation is over is enough of a goodbye.  I'll be seeing you all real soon anyway, so it won't  be goodbye for long.

Entry #1 (Eng 102) - Battle of the Blogs, Round 2!

Three, two, one... FIGHT!

Okay, so admittedly it isn't really a battle of blogs per se.  They aren't really competing for anything except perhaps my attention and desire to read them.  In that regard, two I've found quite interesting and the third (while in search of another one I liked) I have found particularly 'meh'.  That's a technical term in case no one knew.  So, allow me to get right down to it.  I've found three blogs that I want to talk about.

Fashion!  ...maybe
 

 The concept of 'fashion' is something that's difficult for me to understand.  I understand some aspects like matching my shoes to some part of my clothing if at all possible (I don't own that many pairs of shoes) and I often wonder if it's actually okay to wear white after Labor Day.  Or is it before Labor Day?  There are so many 'rules' that it's hard to keep it all straight.  Even beyond that, however, is the fact of what some people call fashion.  Honestly, some clothes that I see that are considered 'fashion' I think I could come up with on my own by basically finding the most ill-fitting, random, nonsensical pieces of clothing, throwing them on together and calling it fashion.  Apparently, the blogger of the first fashion blog I'm going to talk about seems to think that's perfectly acceptable.  Clearly I'm missing something as her style and sense of fashion have been well received and are really popular.  I just don't understand why.  However, I digress.  First up we have: Double3xposure. 




Okay, the fact that I apparently just don't understand fashion isn't why I didn't like this blog.  I was curious and interested when I clicked on it, wanting to see something - anything - that might help me understand something more about fashion.  Unfortunately, the layout, to me, left much to be desired.  I'm a big fan of visual media to help support what people are doing.  Hello - memes much?  Still, there is such a thing as resizing and the pictures on this blog were in desperate need of it.  I have a full-sized laptop screen and had to scroll down over every picture just to be able to see both the top and bottom.  Which is to say, I couldn't see the top AND the bottom at the same time because the pictures were HUGE.  Given her apparent enjoyment of oversized, 'frumpy' (by her own admission) looking clothing, maybe she just likes oversized things which carried over to oversized pictures.  I don't honestly know.  But I was not impressed.  Newp.  Case in point, let me actually share the image of the outfit which I'm referring to as the blogger's self-professed 'frumpy' outfit, which apparently the frumpiness of it made her love it. 

I really just don't understand it.  At all.  Beyond that and speaking to the blog itself, aside from the oversized pictures that made my head spin trying to scroll past them all, it felt like the little bit of actually writing that she does (that I've gotten to thus far) has little to do with fashion.  If I'm going to follow a fashion blog I want to actually see and learn something, give me tips, direct me, MOLD ME or some other sort of thing that you do for non-fashion-inclined people such as myself.  Anyway, I digress, let's move on to the next blog!


Say Cheese!

To start, I found a really amazing photography blog that's run by Joe McNally that's named directly: Joe McNalley's Blog.  Honestly I'm kind of in love with this blog now.  I hadn't really expected to enjoy it as much as I did.  The layout is easy to navigate, the pictures are breathtaking and I really like his posts and how the content really makes him seem very approachable.  I've actually saved this blog into my bookmarks so I can follow it more closely, which is saying something as it's the first blog I've ever bookmarked beyond my own.  (Admittedly I only saved my own as a bookmark for ease of access to make further posts.)



One of the first posts I clicked on was about a photo shoot in the air.  I was stunned.  Captivated.  It's breathtaking.  Here's the best part though - the post about the photo shoot weren't in super high-tech terms.  It was something I could follow, something I could understand and appreciate all the more for how it was explained.  All the posts (the ones I've read thus far at least) are like that.  I can understand the amazing skill and preparation and thought process that went into capturing each incredible photograph.  Somehow, being able to understand it just makes it that much more amazing.  If you've ever been the slightest bit interested in photography, I'd give Joe McNally's blog a look.  I don't think you'll regret it.

Onward we move!  Let me continue on to the next blog, otherwise I could spend entirely too long writing about the previous blog.



I'm Sexy and I Know It!

Please don't judge me, but the third and final blog I'm going to be discussing here is another fashion blog.  This is one that I feel I can actually get behind.  Ok so it likely has a lot to do with the impression that 'fashion' equates to 'skinny as a rail', which I am not.  But then there are blogs like this one, a blog about fashion that speaks to a great number of women in the country (and around the world).  The Girl with Curves Blog has a wonderful mission statement, so to speak: "Style, Beauty, and Inspiration for the modern Girl With Curves."  How awesome is that? 

This is something that really does need to be more clearly stated for the average woman in America.  Many of us have curves.  They don't define us, they don't make us good or bad people, make us worth more or less, they are just a part of who we are like having freckles.  Sometimes, and this is difficult for some to grasp, it's possible to be 'fat' and still 'healthy'.  I know, shocking right?  Being fat, being curvy, doesn't mean that those of us who are sit around stuffing our faces and doing nothing.

I really love this blog, which is shocking for me to say because, as I stated the review of the first blog - I don't like fashion.  This doesn't so much feel like fashion though.  I love the way the blog is designed, it's a collection of posts from topics about motherhood, suggesting fun family movies, to information about trends for different seasons.  This blog makes 'fashion' easy.  Even better?  It even has an easy access link to shopping for larger sizes of fashionable clothing.  Which, if you're a curvier woman, you know is no easy feat.  Apparently most clothing designers seem to think that if you're big, you have no desire to look nice or wear nice clothing that's flattering and not going to make you look like a granny.  Take this post for instance.  What great tips to offer for how to tone 'up' your wardrobe in a simple way without having to buy super specific clothing to make it happen.

 So that's it for me.  I know I kind of did an about-face with starting with a fashion blog I really didn't like and ending with one that surprised me by being wonderful and generally awesome as all get out but such is how these things happen.  I'd be curious to know what others think about the topics of the blogs that I chose to write about  Are any of you out there interested in fashion?  Maybe you know more on the subject than I do.  Do you have some photography blogs that you just love?  Toss them up in the comments and share so I can check some more out!  And with that, I bring this massively long post to an end and bid you adieu with an adorable kitten.