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42 Things: Item 26: 7 Best Picture Movies

First up in the new-to-me best picture list: "It Happened One Night." Not only did it win a little gold statue for best picture, but Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, and Frank Capra won for best actor, actress, and director as well in 1935.

Today's viewings: "Million Dollar Baby" (2005 winner for director, picture, supporting actor, and lead actress) and "You Can't Take It with You" (1939 winner for picture and director, with Frank Capra adding another feather to his cap).

Updated June 18: finished The Artist (2011) tonight. Enjoyed it! Jean Dujardin makes me think of some kind of Mandy Patinkin / Fred Astaire lovechild. 

42 Things: Item 4: 3 Songs

Item 4 on my list of 42 things to do before I turn 42 is to listen to three songs each week that are new to me. I'll keep a running list here. (If you'd like to suggest songs, feel free to do so in the comments!)

• Week of 12/30/12: "Live While We're Young" by One Direction (turns out I had heard this but didn't realize it when I chose it from Spotify); "I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons;  and "Thinkin Bout You" by Frank Ocean.
• Week of 1/6/13: "Hold On" by Alabama Shakes, "Demons" by Imagine Dragons, and "Some Nights" by Fun.
• Week of 1/13/13: "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line, "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers, and "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars.
• [Weeks of 1/20/13 and 1/27/13 weren't documented.]
• Week of 2/3/13: "Try" by P!nk, "Daylight" by Maroon 5, and "Home" by Phillip Phillips.
• Week of 2/10/13: "Anything Could Happen" by Ellie Goulding, "Beer Money" by Kip Moore, and "Love and War" by Tamar Braxton.
• Week of 2/17/13: "Laundry Room" by The Avett Brothers, "Breathe In, Breathe Out" by Mat Kearney, and "Winds of Change" by Fitz and the Tantrums.
• [Week of 2/24/13 not documented.]
• Week of 3/3/13: "Scream & Shout" by will.i.am and Britney Spears, "Stay" by Rihanna with Mikky Ekko, and "Ukulele Five-O" by Jake Shimabukuro.
• [Ugh. Forgot to do this week of 3/10/13.]
• Week of 3/17/13: "Catch My Breath" by Kelly Clarkson, "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake, and "Cups" by Anna Kendrick.
• Week of 3/24/13: "It's One of Those Nights (Yes Love)" by the Partridge Family, "Fastest Girl in Town" by Miranda Lambert, and "Comin' Around" by Josh Thompson.
• [Weeks of 3/31/13 and 4/7/13 not documented although I did hear some new-to-me music during that time.]
• Week of 4/14/13: "Pom Poms" by the Jonas Brothers, "Beat This Summer" by Brad Paisley, and "I Can Take It from There" by Chris Young.

42 Things: Item 3: 42 Newbery Award Winners

Here's the list of Newbery Award winners I've read or re-read this year (as part of item 3 of my 42 things):

1. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
2. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
3. Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
4. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
5. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
6. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
7. The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes
8. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi




Completed titles will be struck through as they are finished.

42 Things!

Some folks out on the interwebs have posted lists of 40 things they want to do before they turn 40,* and I've been inspired. Unfortunately, I'm a little late to the game, so I'm going to shoot for 42 things before I turn 42 on January 7, 2014. As many of you know, the number 42 has galactic significance, so this seems like a good year to try new things!

Here's my list. Thank you for following along!

1. Renew my passport. You never know when you might have to skip the country win a fabulous international vacation.

2. Try six new Crock Pot recipes. (Why six? Well, it's a nice, non-intimidating number and is one-seventh of 42.)

3. Read (or re-read) 42 Newbery Award winning books. (Eventually I want to read them all.) (Follow along with my list here.)

4. Listen to three new-to-me songs each week. (My list is here.)  

5. Blog more, shooting for at least two posts per month.

6. Finish an article on group processing in archives and submit it for publication.

7. Revise a previous devotion/blog post and submit it to My Ministry Minute.

8. Learn to crochet a hat.

9. Bake a cake from scratch.

10. Lift weights an average of twice a week. (Jennifer has said I can count toning classes toward this; thank you, Jenny!)

11. Figure out WordPress.

12. Donate (at least) 25 articles of clothing to charity.

13. Work on some kind of puzzle (jigsaw, crossword, etc.) at least twice per week.

14. Read something every day (this is an easy one for me).

15. Meet some more of my online friends in person.

16. Play my flute again (even if not in public).

17. Take 42 self-portraits during the year.

18. Send 42 pieces of handwritten mail during the year.

19. Visit a new-to-me state.

20. Walk a 5K for charity; try to raise $420.00.

21. Visit a new-to-me state park in Georgia.
22. Lose (at least) ten pounds.
23. Complete a Whole 30 diet program (I've done this before and want to do it again.).
24. Schedule and complete a wellness assessment at work. Do it again next year to compare the numbers.
25. Unplug for a day: no computer, no phone.
26. Watch seven "best picture" winning movies that I haven't seen before. (Here's my list.)
27. Go to a petting zoo. Take pictures. (I've been to petting zoos before, but it just seemed like a fun thing to do again.)
28. Get back into good enough shape to walk 30 minutes straight on the elliptical machine. COMPLETED! Managed this on my first try, 1/15/13.
29. Read one of Shakespeare's plays that I haven't read before.
30. See a play on campus.
31. Go to a concert on campus.
32. For one week, get 30 minutes of exercise every single day, even on the weekend.
33. Go on a Rose Hill Ramble.
34. Take some kind of crafting class during the year.
35. Have a facial.
36. Write about my completed experiences in a journal. (I'm a journal hoarder.)
37. At least once per week, play a game with the XBox Kinect or the Wii Fit.
38. Sponsor/"adopt" an endangered animal.
39. Have a slumber party with my two BFFs; possibly turn this into a girls' weekend if our schedules permit.
40. Go to a firing range.
41. Re-read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, at least the first four books of the trilogy. (Yes, I mean that. There's a fifth book I haven't read yet.)
42. Buy a new towel. COMPLETED! I ordered this one.

And away we go!






*Aside from Helen, I don't know any of the people whose lists I linked to; my apologies if there's anything offensive out there.

Happy 2013!

Time to blow the dust off the ol' blog and say hello. In lieu of new year's resolutions this year, I'm planning a list of "42 things to do before I turn 42" (I've missed my chance at 40 before 40, I'm afraid, and 41 is almost here). One of those goals is to blog more, so maybe I'll actually do it this time!

Hopefully this is just the first of numerous posts for 2013. Hold me to it, ok?

My Letter to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal

Dear Governor Deal,

I am writing as both a citizen of Georgia and as an archivist to ask you to intervene in the proposed closure of the Georgia Archives. In addition, I hope that you and your budget office will find a way to restore some of the previous cuts and return the Archives to five days per week of public access hours.

I am disappointed in Secretary Kemp’s plan to allow the Archives to absorb all of his office’s three per cent cuts that you have requested. It seems that further discussions need to be held with all of his employees before decimating the office required by state law to be available to ensure access to state records (Georgia Public Records and Open Records Act 50-18-70). Our records “shall be open for a personal inspection by any citizen of this state at a reasonable time and place, and those in charge of such records shall not refuse this privilege to any citizen.” Further reductions in the Archives’ staff and elimination of open hours do not fulfill this mandate.

My own career as an archivist began with an internship at the Georgia Archives when it was still located in downtown Atlanta. The staff there was excited about preserving and sharing Georgia history. Their enthusiasm encouraged me to pursue my interests in historic documents and research, and I worked as a state employee at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and at Georgia State University doing just that. I am now employed as the Head of Special Collections at your alma mater, and I still love sharing history with Mercerians. I am sure you remember the excitement of conducting research from your own college days and hope you will find a way to enable other Georgians to connect with their history and records.

Sincerely,

Laura M. Botts, C.A.