time well spent, as usual

I just memorized all of the presidents of the united states in order. This is because I purchased the presidential flash cards at the "One Spot" (ie $1) at Target. Now I wish I had purchased the US geography set, to learn state capitals.

There are some facts on the backs of the cards, including a favorite of mine, that Millard Fillmore read the dictionary during breaks as a young mill worker. Oh, and Martin Van Buren is the only president whose first language wasn't English (it was Dutch). I am trying to learn some of the facts now and also what they look like.

Over break I read 6 complete novels, and finished 3 other novels. That is more than I read during the entire semester in which I read only four novels (3 of them pretty short), one play, and two complete poetry collections (though I did read a lot of short stories and other things).

Ahhh, something is wrong with me when I get too into categorizing & calculating & making lists! I am also close to being done with first season of BIG LOVE, and while I was snowed in in C-ville I finished a season of MAD MEN and the first season of TRUE BLOOD. So, I'm also a tv-whore. But I was also drawing books while watching TV. Except for today, when I watched an episode of BIG LOVE while memorizing the presidents (Woodrow Wilson -- only president with a PhD).

I only wrote 1.5 stories over break. The .5 may not really be halfway done, so that is a generous assessment. I wanted to write 4. But, in fact, I still have a week of break left over to potentially complete this goal.