<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850</id><updated>2009-11-27T04:34:42.697-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Turn it to !!</title><subtitle type='html'>kickin' it old school for a title</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default?orderby=updated'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25&amp;orderby=updated'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>500</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-8253304499836942101</id><published>2009-02-03T23:20:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-02-03T23:37:52.539-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SYlFw4GuqJI/AAAAAAAADAw/4yFr96YjuRA/s1600-h/Picture+5.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SYlFw4GuqJI/AAAAAAAADAw/4yFr96YjuRA/s320/Picture+5.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298843142574745746" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SYlCw3RKK0I/AAAAAAAADAY/rHZ19xTC9kM/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-8253304499836942101?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/8253304499836942101/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=8253304499836942101&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8253304499836942101'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8253304499836942101'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SYlFw4GuqJI/AAAAAAAADAw/4yFr96YjuRA/s72-c/Picture+5.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-2606147334614129444</id><published>2009-01-20T22:16:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-20T22:16:37.300-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9wx21XlI/AAAAAAAAC9g/809gH4XbyDg/s1600-h/high+angle-matt+balloons.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9wx21XlI/AAAAAAAAC9g/809gH4XbyDg/s320/high+angle-matt+balloons.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9xDtBRoI/AAAAAAAAC9o/DV_EO6YluPE/s1600-h/low+angle-Dave+ballons.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9xDtBRoI/AAAAAAAAC9o/DV_EO6YluPE/s320/low+angle-Dave+ballons.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9xHFXYLI/AAAAAAAAC9w/XmVOXWdOGzA/s1600-h/asymmetrical-charin+hand+shadow.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9xHFXYLI/AAAAAAAAC9w/XmVOXWdOGzA/s320/asymmetrical-charin+hand+shadow.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9xGqva-I/AAAAAAAAC94/8CCxj_ieKV4/s1600-h/Distant+View-balloons+and+plane+copy.jpg"&gt;&lt;img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9xGqva-I/AAAAAAAAC94/8CCxj_ieKV4/s320/Distant+View-balloons+and+plane+copy.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-2606147334614129444?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/2606147334614129444/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=2606147334614129444&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/2606147334614129444'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/2606147334614129444'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2009/01/blog-post.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/SXa9wx21XlI/AAAAAAAAC9g/809gH4XbyDg/s72-c/high+angle-matt+balloons.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-7445992757360563706</id><published>2007-02-04T22:06:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:50.393-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbJhkhWybI/AAAAAAAAAAM/vIQoT9ofRXs/s1600-h/Watoto+166.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbJhkhWybI/AAAAAAAAAAM/vIQoT9ofRXs/s320/Watoto+166.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbJh0hWycI/AAAAAAAAAAU/rp5hmMi2hUM/s1600-h/Watoto+152.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbJh0hWycI/AAAAAAAAAAU/rp5hmMi2hUM/s320/Watoto+152.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbJjEhWydI/AAAAAAAAAAc/kNTMsf_Hyz8/s1600-h/Watoto+155.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbJjEhWydI/AAAAAAAAAAc/kNTMsf_Hyz8/s320/Watoto+155.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbJjUhWyeI/AAAAAAAAAAk/UAgr8VDVUUI/s1600-h/Watoto+160.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbJjUhWyeI/AAAAAAAAAAk/UAgr8VDVUUI/s320/Watoto+160.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-7445992757360563706?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/7445992757360563706/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=7445992757360563706&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/7445992757360563706'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/7445992757360563706'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-post_04.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-9054098547741854182</id><published>2007-02-04T22:14:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:49.689-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Phillips family fun center</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;The Phillips are pretty much my new favorite family ever.  I was invited into there home this summer, and have tried to go back as much as possible since then.  Which is often, because they host lovely parties all the time!  Here are a few photos from a birthday party for Steven.  Lucky you, there are only a few because I was too lazy to go downstairs to catch the rest of the big screen American Idol party, but was later regretful for not doing so.  May I present; me and my new friends Steven and Jenny, partaking in free food and ice cream, at the Phillips' home.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbLXEhWyfI/AAAAAAAAAAs/j4AQpgmHTu8/s1600-h/Watoto+165.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbLXEhWyfI/AAAAAAAAAAs/j4AQpgmHTu8/s320/Watoto+165.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbLXEhWygI/AAAAAAAAAA0/GhTysLjTfys/s1600-h/Watoto+176.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RcbLXEhWygI/AAAAAAAAAA0/GhTysLjTfys/s320/Watoto+176.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"&gt;&lt;img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-9054098547741854182?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/9054098547741854182/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=9054098547741854182&amp;isPopup=true' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/9054098547741854182'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/9054098547741854182'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-post_2638.html' title='Phillips family fun center'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-8443325640921349760</id><published>2007-02-10T14:50:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:49.284-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rc5MRm-iW7I/AAAAAAAAAA8/d9v6hENzvFA/s1600-h/CIMG0202.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rc5MRm-iW7I/AAAAAAAAAA8/d9v6hENzvFA/s320/CIMG0202.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-8443325640921349760?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/8443325640921349760/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=8443325640921349760&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8443325640921349760'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8443325640921349760'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-post_10.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-2330819384637740348</id><published>2007-02-19T18:24:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:49.052-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpb5fRKaTI/AAAAAAAAABE/Tfsa_RMBWyA/s1600-h/IMG_0033.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpb5fRKaTI/AAAAAAAAABE/Tfsa_RMBWyA/s320/IMG_0033.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpb5vRKaUI/AAAAAAAAABM/JzhEvZY7At8/s1600-h/IMG_0064.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpb5vRKaUI/AAAAAAAAABM/JzhEvZY7At8/s320/IMG_0064.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpb5_RKaVI/AAAAAAAAABU/47RDD7vsR8M/s1600-h/IMG_0075.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpb5_RKaVI/AAAAAAAAABU/47RDD7vsR8M/s320/IMG_0075.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpb5_RKaWI/AAAAAAAAABc/i_u4OuS824Y/s1600-h/IMG_0077.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpb5_RKaWI/AAAAAAAAABc/i_u4OuS824Y/s320/IMG_0077.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-2330819384637740348?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/2330819384637740348/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=2330819384637740348&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/2330819384637740348'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/2330819384637740348'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-post_19.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-4323684144374248326</id><published>2007-02-19T18:28:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:48.446-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpc9_RKaXI/AAAAAAAAABk/4Dy1vtIeYXM/s1600-h/IMG_0101.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpc9_RKaXI/AAAAAAAAABk/4Dy1vtIeYXM/s320/IMG_0101.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpc-PRKaYI/AAAAAAAAABs/zBwRrmJeLuM/s1600-h/IMG_0102.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpc-PRKaYI/AAAAAAAAABs/zBwRrmJeLuM/s320/IMG_0102.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpc-fRKaZI/AAAAAAAAAB0/59RDgdbAt5o/s1600-h/IMG_0108.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpc-fRKaZI/AAAAAAAAAB0/59RDgdbAt5o/s320/IMG_0108.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpc-fRKaaI/AAAAAAAAAB8/Z95SF3EX2i8/s1600-h/IMG_0109.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpc-fRKaaI/AAAAAAAAAB8/Z95SF3EX2i8/s320/IMG_0109.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-4323684144374248326?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/4323684144374248326/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=4323684144374248326&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/4323684144374248326'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/4323684144374248326'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-post_7201.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-1474094608872566000</id><published>2007-02-19T18:36:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:47.588-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Post Valentines heart breaker art!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RdpesvRKabI/AAAAAAAAACE/DovFlux2MhI/s1600-h/IMG_0116.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RdpesvRKabI/AAAAAAAAACE/DovFlux2MhI/s320/IMG_0116.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RdpesvRKacI/AAAAAAAAACM/n2QS5g5MdrI/s1600-h/IMG_0115.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RdpesvRKacI/AAAAAAAAACM/n2QS5g5MdrI/s320/IMG_0115.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpes_RKadI/AAAAAAAAACU/EvcuK2zwcL8/s1600-h/IMG_0112.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpes_RKadI/AAAAAAAAACU/EvcuK2zwcL8/s320/IMG_0112.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-1474094608872566000?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/1474094608872566000/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=1474094608872566000&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/1474094608872566000'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/1474094608872566000'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/02/post-valentines-heart-breaker-art.html' title='Post Valentines heart breaker art!'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-1791703121000692283</id><published>2007-02-19T19:42:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:47.152-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='The plague'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='black-death'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='I&apos;m cooler than you'/><title type='text'>The Plague</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpwc_RKaeI/AAAAAAAAACc/WXX6Zikka7A/s1600-h/plague.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rdpwc_RKaeI/AAAAAAAAACc/WXX6Zikka7A/s320/plague.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033459176862018018" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  I'm sick.  Horribly sick.  But I'm tired of sleeping and watching movies, so I thought I'd post a bit.  However, my mental faculties must have gone on vacation and left me here to die alone and sick.  So I can't actually write much.  I tried to go to work today, but decided that, after saying things backards and upside down to customers, dropping things, and watching the ceiling spin, that I should go home.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But I can push buttons.  I'm good at that.  So I pushed a few buttons, and posted some pictures.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some movies I've watched, in the last 48 hours and beyond, and their relative sick ratings:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;The Science of Sleep&lt;/span&gt;, by Michel Gondry:  5 hearts!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Weeds&lt;/span&gt;, a Showtime series: 4 hearts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;The Last Kiss&lt;/span&gt;:  a tricky one.  A little too sexy, and a little too mainstream romance, but deep down, I liked the message, about how stupid our 20 something generation is.  Hmm, how about 3 hearts?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Pan's Labyrinth&lt;/span&gt;: no hearts at all.  yuck.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Children of Men&lt;/span&gt;:  1 heart, for it's realistic visual portrayal of a slightly futuristic city.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Marie Antoinette&lt;/span&gt;: 4 hearts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Rabbit Proof Fence&lt;/span&gt;: 5 hearts!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Amores Perros&lt;/span&gt;: 4 hearts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;THX: 1138&lt;/span&gt;: 3 hearts, because it wasn't super exciting, but for a 70's flick, which happens to be George Lucas' first film, it's totally amazing with its cinematography, concept, and effects.  Kind of a 1984 thing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Garden State&lt;/span&gt;: 5 hearts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Munich&lt;/span&gt;: 5 hearts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;             The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada: &lt;/span&gt;2 hearts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;             I Am Trying to Break Your Heart&lt;/span&gt;:  1 heart&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Princess Mononoke&lt;/span&gt;: 5 hearts!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And, strangely enough, there are waaaay more, but I can't recall with my crazy mind.  Because, after I heard the buzzer on the oven, I opened the fridge and looked around in there for 5 minutes trying to find my baking garlic bread.  And now it's burnt.  Stupid being sick.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-1791703121000692283?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/1791703121000692283/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=1791703121000692283&amp;isPopup=true' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/1791703121000692283'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/1791703121000692283'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/02/plague.html' title='The Plague'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-2945424259155846090</id><published>2007-02-24T15:16:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:46.805-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Lame</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/ReDIKfRKafI/AAAAAAAAACo/2cM-w1uDDtQ/s1600-h/SM1082%7ECripple-Fight-Posters.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 212px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/ReDIKfRKafI/AAAAAAAAACo/2cM-w1uDDtQ/s320/SM1082%7ECripple-Fight-Posters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035244465917946354" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Oh, I'm so clever and ironic sometimes.  Good thing I've at least got that, cuz everything else is going downward rather quickly this week.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First it was the black death, which is still lingering.  It was a terrible flu, one that kept me chained to my bed for a few days.  And I'm not sure if it was the meds or the plague itself, but it turned my mind to mush.  That whole looking-for-oven-baking-goods-in-fridge episode was not the only of its kind that week.  In fact, I do believe I set a new record for most ridiculously stupid things done in one week, especially if you count all the walls I walked into.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But this week holds new treasures!  I've torn up my ankle, and have a luxurious boot thing and a pair of haute crutches to prove it.  As if this elegant fashion statement was not enough, I've developed some lovely shaded bruises under my arms and on the palms of my hands from those damned crutches.  Never one to let a mass of unsightly aluminum and velcro bog down my style, I've decided the bruises really go well with all the lavender toned spring fashions this season.  I'll just match them to my eye shadow.  Very hot (with only a slight possibility that I may look like I got punched in the arms AND eyes).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How, you ask, did I do this?  Hmmmm...well, let me think.  Oh yes, I was defending a friend's honor in a bar fight with 50 bikers, and I totally kicked their asses.  All I got was a few small  ligament tears and a nasty sprain, but you should have seen those guys.  Yes, that's how it happened.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The most unfortunate part about my disabled status is that I just got over being incapacitated for a week.  I was going stir-crazy stuck in my house.  I never thought I'd say this, but I got reaaally sick of watching movies.  I was ready to get back out there and face the world, and catch up on a million things, like a clean house and clean laundry, for example.  Perhaps my over-zealousness is the real injury culprit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, I can't do anything.  My house is still a disaster, and I have no clean clothes.  That's ok, since I can barely dress myself anyway.  All the little things are extremely difficult, and it's driving me crazy!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Though, I have picked up a few tricks with these things.  I've learned to only eat foods in the fridge that are already in containers.  That way, I can hobble to the fridge, pull out a container and throw it over to the table, all food intact, then hobble over to the table to eat (you know, since you use your hands to move the crutches, you can't carry anything?).  I've got a water bottled filled too, so I can just roll it into the next room if I'd like a nice cold...martini...while I'm icing my ankle on the couch.  And, best of all, I've figured out how to use the crutches like hands, picking up items and hucking them to their new destinations.   Ah, pathetic really, I feel like an awkward and disabled robot, like whats his name--Johnny 5?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyhow, it's rather painful and frustrating, given last week and all.  But I think I'll be in for a somewhat quick heal.  That means, I'm having my pity party now, so send cookies and cards filled with cash while you can.  I mean, if there is one thing crutches are good for (and it's not lookin' hot), they elicit a great amount of pity.  I had table-side service at the coffee shop this a.m., with doors opened and seats given up.  No cash yet, though, still working on that, since I haven't figured out an ingenious way to carry around a tin cup full of coins without dropping it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/ReDQRPRKagI/AAAAAAAAACw/SwlDMYaaHt8/s1600-h/2healing.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 285px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/ReDQRPRKagI/AAAAAAAAACw/SwlDMYaaHt8/s320/2healing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5035253377975085570" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Wooden crutches?  This guy must have some serious bruises.  Where is that St. Paul when you need him? (Is it just me, or do his thigh muscles look extremely toned for someone who can't used his legs?)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-2945424259155846090?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/2945424259155846090/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=2945424259155846090&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/2945424259155846090'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/2945424259155846090'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/02/lame.html' title='Lame'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-3891243303369586499</id><published>2007-03-14T15:53:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:46.564-08:00</updated><title type='text'>O.M.G.</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;So, being the fancy wine bar mistress that I am, my boss picked little old me to accompany him to "Taste Walla Walla", a winery tasting event showcasing over 50 wineries and wine makers from Walla Walla.  Oh yes.  All free.  Did I also mention it was on the top of the Columbia Tower downtown?  Yes that would be the 76th floor, in the private members only club!  I forgot my camera (can you believe that?), but swiped some internet pics of the fantastic view!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiHHXYmtOI/AAAAAAAAADs/YpkJQ6p6Szw/s1600-h/ccolumbia+tower+view.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiHHXYmtOI/AAAAAAAAADs/YpkJQ6p6Szw/s320/ccolumbia+tower+view.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041928343447319778" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;View from the top!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiF7nYmtKI/AAAAAAAAADM/THqbQrVS9wc/s1600-h/blding.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiF7nYmtKI/AAAAAAAAADM/THqbQrVS9wc/s320/blding.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041927042072229026" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;View from the bottom!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiF73YmtLI/AAAAAAAAADU/9AbH3mCjleE/s1600-h/big+pic.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiF73YmtLI/AAAAAAAAADU/9AbH3mCjleE/s320/big+pic.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041927046367196338" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;View from...my private jet?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiF73YmtMI/AAAAAAAAADc/y8P1JwseuzU/s1600-h/tower+lounge.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiF73YmtMI/AAAAAAAAADc/y8P1JwseuzU/s320/tower+lounge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041927046367196354" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ooh La La, the entry way!  At the top of that staircase awaits over 50 wine makers all waiting to give me free glasses of all their different kinds of over-priced wines, lots of free exotic cheeses and fruits, and a bunch of fancy glass bottled Italian water.  Yes, I am the princess, thank you.  Plus, they all assume I'm someone important who may be interested in selling their wines (well, I guess I am, really), so they crown you with all kinds of princessy-ness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiF8HYmtNI/AAAAAAAAADk/DcZO4UYXF2E/s1600-h/Stratus_panoramic.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiF8HYmtNI/AAAAAAAAADk/DcZO4UYXF2E/s320/Stratus_panoramic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041927050662163666" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's the private lounge, yummy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiHHnYmtPI/AAAAAAAAAD0/Wt41TRVIsjY/s1600-h/paina.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RfiHHnYmtPI/AAAAAAAAAD0/Wt41TRVIsjY/s320/paina.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041928347742287090" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The main area for tasting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And did I tell you about the bathrooms?  The private rooms with floor to ceiling windows, exotic decor, and couches?  Oh yes, peeing in front of the whole city is thrilling.  And to top that off, my tipsy boss made me steal our glasses as keepsakes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The only drawback to this fantastic time was how you could feel the building swaying in the wind.  Which is a bit scary after a few glasses of wine, looking down over the edge, I must say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Unfortunately, I had to take very tiny tastes of the hundreds of wines, because I actually had to go back and serve wine, but I went back much more a wine snob, I assure you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-3891243303369586499?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/3891243303369586499/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=3891243303369586499&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/3891243303369586499'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/3891243303369586499'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/03/omg.html' title='O.M.G.'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-7543837690655885877</id><published>2007-04-04T00:37:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:45.591-08:00</updated><title type='text'>It's my birthday today....</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;It's that time of year again.  I haven't posted recently, I know.  It's been a busy month.  But, look forward soon to many exciting....video posts!  I got a video camera for the big b-day, so that instead or merely documenting interesting images in my life via photograph, I can capture&lt;br /&gt;Every, Single, Moment,&lt;br /&gt;of my entire life, and force you to share it with me. &lt;br /&gt;And you thought the photos were enough.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RhNV4O3aI-I/AAAAAAAAAEA/fCZfeRzNMcY/s1600-h/26.png"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RhNV4O3aI-I/AAAAAAAAAEA/fCZfeRzNMcY/s320/26.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5049474031763989474" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;As birthdays go, it's been a good one, though I'm starting to feel the age thing a little heavier every year.  But a friend pointed out today that it's not so much that I've rounded the curve and begun hurdling headlong toward 30, but that I am still in the middle third of my twenties, officially "Mid-Twenties".  I think I like that better.  It's more glass half-full kind of thinking. I'm still not sure I'm yet thankful for it, but they tell me that one day soon I'll be more appreciative that every time I go out, even occasionally at the movie theater, I get carded.  When I show them my old lady i.d., they usually roll it around for a good couple of minutes with the suspicion that it's a fake.  Hooray for youthful appearance, I think...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Alright, as I'm officially no longer in my early twenties, I need to hurry off to bed to get a full nights sleep!  Happy birthday to me!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-7543837690655885877?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/7543837690655885877/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=7543837690655885877&amp;isPopup=true' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/7543837690655885877'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/7543837690655885877'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/04/its-my-birthday-today.html' title='It&apos;s my birthday today....'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-8405963558901318528</id><published>2007-04-05T23:35:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:45.334-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Oh those darn personality tests again...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RhXyxu3aJAI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/1VGnJE00UeQ/s1600-h/Warhol%20Freud.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5050209493373821954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 260px" height="298" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RhXyxu3aJAI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/1VGnJE00UeQ/s320/Warhol%2520Freud.jpg" width="217" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; I know, I know. Most of you, who aren't INFJ, are totally sick of all the talk about this. But I ran across it in conversation with a friend today, and was browsing around about the types again. I guess I find it interesting because of how peculiarly accurate it is, and I'm wondrously amazed each time I read it again. I think it also interests me because it makes me feel less crazy. My friend who recently took the test said she cried when she first read her type because she realized this is who she is, no matter how many people frown upon certain traits of hers. She realized she was not a failure, but that there were many others like her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyhow, I'm sure I'm getting a bit grand here, but I thought I'd share. This is from the meyers briggs test. A bit long, but if you're cruising around blogs killing time, might as well read. And take it yourselves, if you've the time. It's quite amusing. And eerily accurate. Does that mean I've been put in a box?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ffff;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;As an INFJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in primarily via intuition. Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit with your personal value system. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ffff;"&gt;INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INFJs place great importance on havings things orderly and systematic in their outer world. They put a lot of energy into identifying the best system for getting things done, and constantly define and re-define the priorities in their lives. On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous. They know things intuitively, without being able to pinpoint why, and without detailed knowledge of the subject at hand. They are usually right, and they usually know it. Consequently, INFJs put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions. This is something of a conflict between the inner and outer worlds, and may result in the INFJ not being as organized as other Judging types tend to be. Or we may see some signs of disarray in an otherwise orderly tendency, such as a consistently messy desk.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INFJs have uncanny insight into people and situations. They get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them. As an extreme example, some INFJs report experiences of a psychic nature, such as getting strong feelings about there being a problem with a loved one, and discovering later that they were in a car accident. This is the sort of thing that other types may scorn and scoff at, and the INFJ themself does not really understand their intuition at a level which can be verbalized. Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the INFJ is as genuinely warm as they are complex. INFJs hold a special place in the heart of people who they are close to, who are able to see their special gifts and depth of caring. INFJs are concerned for people's feelings, and try to be gentle to avoid hurting anyone. They are very sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. Situations which are charged with conflict may drive the normally peaceful INFJ into a state of agitation or charged anger. They may tend to internalize conflict into their bodies, and experience health problems when under a lot of stress.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because the INFJ has such strong intuitive capabilities, they trust their own instincts above all else. This may result in an INFJ stubborness and tendency to ignore other people's opinions. They believe that they're right. On the other hand, INFJ is a perfectionist who doubts that they are living up to their full potential. INFJs are rarely at complete peace with themselves - there's always something else they should be doing to improve themselves and the world around them. They believe in constant growth, and don't often take time to revel in their accomplishments. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right. In deference to the Feeling aspect of their personalities, INFJs are in some ways gentle and easy going. Conversely, they have very high expectations of themselves, and frequently of their families. They don't believe in compromising their ideals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;INFJ is a natural nurturer; patient, devoted and protective. They make loving parents and usually have strong bonds with their offspring. They have high expectations of their children, and push them to be the best that they can be. This can sometimes manifest itself in the INFJ being hard-nosed and stubborn. But generally, children of an INFJ get devoted and sincere parental guidance, combined with deep caring.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the workplace, the INFJ usually shows up in areas where they can be creative and somewhat independent. They have a natural affinity for art, and many excel in the sciences, where they make use of their intuition. INFJs can also be found in service-oriented professions. They are not good at dealing with minutia or very detailed tasks. The INFJ will either avoid such things, or else go to the other extreme and become enveloped in the details to the extent that they can no longer see the big picture. An INFJ who has gone the route of becoming meticulous about details may be highly critical of other individuals who are not.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The INFJ individual is gifted in ways that other types are not. Life is not necessarily easy for the INFJ, but they are capable of great depth of feeling and personal achievement.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ffff;"&gt;Possible Career Paths for the INFJ:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ffff;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Clergy / Religious Work&lt;br /&gt;Teachers &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ffff;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;Writers&lt;br /&gt;Medical Doctors / Dentists&lt;br /&gt;Alternative Health Care Practitioners, i.e. Chiropractor, Reflexologist&lt;br /&gt;Psychologists&lt;br /&gt;Psychiatrists&lt;br /&gt;Counselors and Social Workers&lt;br /&gt;Musicians and Artists&lt;br /&gt;Photographers&lt;br /&gt;Child Care / Early Childhood Development &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;What's interesting is, these have all been my main career choices, and I have at some point and in some way tried to persue each of them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-8405963558901318528?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/8405963558901318528/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=8405963558901318528&amp;isPopup=true' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8405963558901318528'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8405963558901318528'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/04/oh-those-darn-personality-tests-again.html' title='Oh those darn personality tests again...'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-5639436095528938385</id><published>2007-04-06T00:00:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:45.180-08:00</updated><title type='text'>blogging</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RhXxzu3aI_I/AAAAAAAAAEI/Tyamcym9SWg/s1600-h/messy-desk.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5050208428221932530" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 169px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 202px" height="191" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RhXxzu3aI_I/AAAAAAAAAEI/Tyamcym9SWg/s320/messy-desk.jpg" width="170" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; So, this new week of blogging only means 1 thing. I've cleaned up and organized my disastrous desk so that I can easily fit my computer there. If you go back and look through post times, you will see a distinct pattern. By this time pattern you can track how often I clean. There are times when I write consistently for a month or so, and then I stop for 2. This designates a few weeks of me managing to keep my desk spaces tidy, and then how long I ignored its growing, mountainous disaster. Along with my unpaid bills, unopened mail.... Naughty. Tisk. But hey, it totally fits my profile.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-5639436095528938385?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/5639436095528938385/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=5639436095528938385&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/5639436095528938385'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/5639436095528938385'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/04/blogging.html' title='blogging'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-165399931993127735</id><published>2007-04-16T11:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:45.021-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Blog?  What's that?</title><content type='html'>I know, I keep making promises to write and then rather slacking off.  This has kind of taken a back seat to life lately, as these things seem to eventually go.  It's been a busy month.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But I thought, really, to write short boring ones, it doesn't take much, so I'm going to try to update short thoughts.  For myself, I suppose.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My two recommendations of the day:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think I may have already mentioned this a bit back, but I'm listening to it right now, and remembering the sheer awesomeness that is &lt;a href="http://myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory"&gt;Ghostland Observatory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;.  Most super live performance ever. Think sassy soul singer trapped in the body of a native, and the band of rock.   So if you ever get a chance to see them, do.  I believe they are playing at Sasquatch, Seattlites.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recommendation 2:  Smoke Signals, by Sherman Alexie.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But it's not quite as good, unless you've seen Ghostland Observatory.  So watch, and then go listen.  This will bring you awesome super sparkle points, and you'll be glad you did.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RiPI0U-wDrI/AAAAAAAAAEY/d4PMhImSodY/s1600-h/ghostland.jpeg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RiPI0U-wDrI/AAAAAAAAAEY/d4PMhImSodY/s320/ghostland.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5054104008150486706" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RiPKnU-wDsI/AAAAAAAAAEg/vOX_L0ZN8bg/s1600-h/smoke2.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RiPKnU-wDsI/AAAAAAAAAEg/vOX_L0ZN8bg/s320/smoke2.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5054105983835442882" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;And this is why the movie and the band together equal awesome.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-165399931993127735?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/165399931993127735/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=165399931993127735&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/165399931993127735'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/165399931993127735'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/04/blog-whats-that.html' title='Blog?  What&apos;s that?'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-8569003467603169237</id><published>2007-04-21T01:18:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:44.577-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Two time high school drop-out post high school drops out of college; soon to be re-admitted post drop-out</title><content type='html'>In my favorite word borrowed from Infamous Jen's husband, "Woot."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've made it into college, again!  Thanks to all of my dear friends, ahem, professional colleagues, who labored to help me get in by writing lovely recommendations!  I've not only been accepted, but received a scholarship as well for my "outstanding academic and community achievements".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RinaIp_LiVI/AAAAAAAAAEw/7P7znAweuQU/s1600-h/images.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RinaIp_LiVI/AAAAAAAAAEw/7P7znAweuQU/s320/images.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5055811898944751954" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;My first reaction was to jump around in excitement.  But my second reaction was to shrug it off, dismissing it as something that happens in thousands of silly 18-year-olds lives everyday, and I better have gotten in or I'd be dumber than a high school kid.  I rounded it off further by attributing the quick decision for admission surely to the lack of competition.  How many other 26 year olds were applying for a transfer to this private school?  I must be the only one, and they had a quota to fill, so it was a quick decision.  Plus, even if they didn't, and I was denied, I didn't really try that hard anyway.  I procrastinated. (Can you guess why?)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, as I'm learning from another self-competitive friend, this is a reaction to be chastised.  So instead of saying all that, I'm going to remember that I did work incredibly hard to get in, and I was actually admitted, with a scholarship to boot, so...hooray!  I accomplished something difficult that I set out to do, and I'm excited.  Not bad for someone who, over the span of 10 years, has managed a quadruple major in 'drop-out'.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;People often find my multiple drop-out status surprising once they know me.  I was never much one for school.  Not that I wasn't good at it, in fact I usually received very high grades (except in the dreaded math, but more on that another day.)  It was more the conceptual idea of school that I didn't like.  I thought that putting a bunch of kids of the same age together in tiny rooms during early mornings or hot afternoons, blabbing boring repetitions at them from aging school teachers of a past generation, and then basing their entire worth on the ability to recall every detail in a single slot of 50 minutes with a number 2 pencil, was, in fact, absolutely ridiculous.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was sure there was better ways to learn.  Ways that took into account each individuals learning style, talents, and progression.  Just because someone isn't excellent in testing skills does not make them an idiot.  I knew plenty of brilliant D average students.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I was definitely sure there were better ways to learn than in an environment that resembled daily gang warfare.  I thought kids were stupid, and cliques were stupid.  I thought the constant degradation of peers was stupid.  And I thought the adults who put us all into this situation purposely were stupid.  Especially because they were so shocked that such a system could create drop-outs and dangerous, traumatizing, social dynamics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And really, what 16 year old isn't smarter than everyone else?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"&gt;WARNING: EXTREME DIGRESSION IN NEXT SECTION&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The day that solidified my position on school-hate came when some tall, beefy, Hawaiin guy named Mark, who happened to be, of course, one of the "most popular kids in school", did something I found incredibly juvenile.  Not that this was the first time I'd seen something juvenile happen at school, but I decided to make sure it was the last.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mark was, of course, some fabulous football captain.  I thought people that could hit other people hard and then go shopping at the mall for new Abercrombie wear in a single day did not deserve some kingly status.  So I didn't like him (that, and I was soooo punk rock).  But there he was, walking around being a jerk, being popular.  He was mean to everyone, and frequently tormented me because I dressed differently (dude, thrift store cardigans seriously are cool--haven't you ever seen a Nirvana video??).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This day, however, he had picked other sources of entertainment.  We were in the same photography class (But I was in it because I'm an artist--he was just looking for an easy A---soooooo passe).  We had a "field trip around campus to take pictures" day (otherwise known as lazy teacher wanted to go smoke weed in his car or go home for a long lunch).  Mark decided it was hilarious to go around trying to snap shots of girls asses as they walked by.  Most notably the ones that nobody really wanted a picture of.  Him and his buddies giggled a lot at the humiliation of lesser attractive girls while high-fiving each other at their genius.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;During this time, some teacher poked his head out of class to see what the ruckus was about.  But seeing the "football boys", he sort of just laughed and waved his hand, gave a slight admonission so nobody could say he didn't, then went back to his business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was the day I left school early to tell my parents I was dropping out.  This was the most ridiculous display of behavior I had ever seen.  And it wasn't the first time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's not because I hate football (well...maybe), or thought I was too cool (hmm...wait), but simply because there was a system designed here that specifically encouraged this behavior over actual learning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"&gt;DIGRESSION SOMEWHAT OVER&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know I had a lot more to learn about human/sin nature, but I still feel pretty firm that the present day public school system is silly.  I'm not one of those "pull your kids out and boycott the school" people, as that doesn't help improve what we've got, but I'm still not sure why were so obsessed with this failing model.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I dropped out after my sophomore year of high school.  When I explained my feelings and theories to my parents about why I needed to quit, they were actually supportive of this decision (rad!), which was somewhat surprising to me. So they gave me the stamp of approval.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I spent this year designing a new system of schooling.  I bought my own learning materials, and began schooling myself.  Pretty fancy ideals, and slightly impressive!  But, being 16 got the better of me, and I spent more time doing 16 year old stuff (social social!) than actually working on my "better world" project.  And I decided it wasn't quite as glamorous to be home with your parents everyday, and I missed all that social crap I swore I hated.  I missed my friends.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yep, I went back.  This time in another city.  I made a bunch of great friends.  I also found a boyfriend (sooooo punk rock).  My parents were definitely not fond of these new friends, or the boyfriend.  Maybe because they don't want to Save the Queen.  Anyhow, there is a big long story to it (for telling in another life), but they decided they would strongly encourage me to drop out again.  Just shy of graduating.  Ooh, is that ever a complicated story.  But suffice to say, I'm an A-average double time high school drop-out!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I prefer to refer to it as a G.E.D. winner!  And oh the stories I could tell about my GED graduation.  Ah, things close to my heart, Pandora's Box. anther time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So even though I never made it through high school, and then went to 3 different colleges 'finding myself' or something, I've finally made it back after quite some time away!  Hooray for sticking to goals!  Hooray for getting accepted!  Hooray for re-enslaving myself to The Man, and The System!  I can't tell you how excited I am.  Really!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-8569003467603169237?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/8569003467603169237/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=8569003467603169237&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8569003467603169237'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8569003467603169237'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/04/two-time-high-school-drop-out-post-high.html' title='Two time high school drop-out post high school drops out of college; soon to be re-admitted post drop-out'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RinaIp_LiVI/AAAAAAAAAEw/7P7znAweuQU/s72-c/images.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-1890170121484264490</id><published>2007-05-06T01:08:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:44.405-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Cinco De Mayo: Let's get wasted!!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rj2NL8FHc5I/AAAAAAAAAE4/SrLCLkzUfNs/s1600-h/cinco+de+mayo.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 204px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rj2NL8FHc5I/AAAAAAAAAE4/SrLCLkzUfNs/s320/cinco+de+mayo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5061356792479970194" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;"What are you doing for Cinco De Mayo?" asks Everyone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Nothing" I reply.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Why not?" inquires Everyone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Ummmm...because I'm not Mexican.  Nor do I live in Mexico.  Nor do I know that much about it."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm gonna send $5.00 to the first celebrator that can, without doing a google search, tell me what Cinco De Mayo is a celebration of.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think it's another  dumb thing that Americans do.  We steal other people's holidays, commercialize them to make a buck, and then honor them in celebration by getting totally wasted and puking all over our taco meal or sombrero.  And about 95% of us have no idea what the holiday is even about.  This behavior somewhat puzzles me.  So I took it to Wikipedia to find out what the deal is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"&lt;b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;Cinco de Mayo&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt; ("The Fifth of May" in &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language" title="Spanish language"&gt;Spanish&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;) is primarily a regional, and not a federal, holiday in &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico" title="Mexico"&gt;Mexico&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;; the date is observed in the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States"&gt;United States&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt; and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. It commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacio_Zaragoza" title="Ignacio Zaragoza"&gt;Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt; over &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France" title="France"&gt;French&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt; forces in the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Puebla" title="Battle of Puebla"&gt;Battle of Puebla&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt; on &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_5" title="May 5"&gt;May 5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1862" title="1862"&gt;1862&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;However, the Mexican victory at Puebla only delayed the French invasion of &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City" title="Mexico City"&gt;Mexico City&lt;/a&gt;, and a year later, the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_intervention_in_Mexico" title="French intervention in Mexico"&gt;French occupied Mexico&lt;/a&gt;. The French occupying forces placed &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I_of_Mexico" title="Maximilian I of Mexico"&gt;Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico&lt;/a&gt; on the throne of Mexico; Maximillian and the French were eventually defeated and expelled in &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1867" title="1867"&gt;1867&lt;/a&gt;, five years after the Battle of Puebla.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"&gt;A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grito_de_Dolores" title="Grito de Dolores"&gt;Mexico's Independence Day&lt;/a&gt;; Mexico's Independence Day is &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_16" title="September 16"&gt;September 16&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;i&gt;dieciséis de septiembre&lt;/i&gt; in &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language" title="Spanish language"&gt;Spanish&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h3 style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;span class="mw-headline"&gt;Mexico&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"&gt;Cinco de Mayo is viewed as a relatively minor holiday in most of Mexico, and it is observed, if at all, in varying degrees&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;sup id="_ref-NatGeo_0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_mayo#_note-NatGeo" title=""&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sup id="_ref-SanMig_0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_mayo#_note-SanMig" title=""&gt;[2]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; The holiday is celebrated vigorously in &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puebla%2C_Puebla" title="Puebla, Puebla"&gt;Puebla, Puebla&lt;/a&gt;, where the battle was fought, and throughout the state of &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puebla" title="Puebla"&gt;Puebla&lt;/a&gt;; celebration is more limited or non-existent in the rest of the country.&lt;sup id="_ref-MexOnLine_0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_mayo#_note-MexOnLine" title=""&gt;[3]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; For the most part the celebrations combine food, drink, music and dancing.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;a name="United_States" id="United_States"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h3 style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;span class="mw-headline"&gt;United States&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h3&gt; &lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"&gt;In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has taken on a significance beyond its significance in Mexico.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="_ref-UCLA_0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_mayo#_note-UCLA" title=""&gt;[4]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"&gt; Commercial interests in the United States have capitalized on the celebration advertising Mexican products and services with an emphasis on beverages, foods, and music.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;sup style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" id="_ref-Alb_0" class="reference"&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_mayo#_note-Alb" title=""&gt;[5]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; The date is perhaps best recognized in the United States as a date to celebrate the culture and experiences of &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_American" title="Mexican American"&gt;Americans of Mexican descent&lt;/a&gt;, much like &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick%27s_Day" title="St. Patrick's Day"&gt;St. Patrick's Day&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest" title="Oktoberfest"&gt;Oktoberfest&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year" title="Chinese New Year"&gt;Chinese New Year&lt;/a&gt; are used to celebrate those of &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_American" title="Irish American"&gt;Irish&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American" title="German American"&gt;German&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_American" title="Chinese American"&gt;Chinese&lt;/a&gt; descent, respectively. As a result, the holiday is observed by many Americans regardless of ethnic origins, particularly in cities and states where there is a large population of Mexican origin. Although it is no more an officially-recognized holiday than St. Patrick's Day, many cities with large populations of Mexican origin honor the day as a symbolic representation of Mexican pride and as a representation of a culture that blends both Mexican and American roots. Celebrations tend to draw both from traditional Mexican symbols, such as the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_de_Guadalupe" title="Virgin de Guadalupe"&gt;Virgin de Guadalupe&lt;/a&gt;, as well as prominent figures of Mexican descent in the United States, such as &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Ch%C3%A1vez" title="César Chávez"&gt;César Chávez&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;The reference to the Battle of Puebla is seen as a symbolic cultural link to those who had to overcome insurmountable odds while facing adversity. In neighborhoods such as East Los Angeles, the Mission District of San Francisco, East San Jose and elsewhere throughout the Southwest, Cinco de Mayo is most accurately characterized as a day of celebration to honor a culture that fuses Mexican heritage and American life experience. To celebrate, many display Cinco de Mayo banners while &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_district" title="School district"&gt;school districts&lt;/a&gt; hold special events to educate students about its historical significance. Special events and celebrations highlight the Mexican culture, especially in its music and regional dancing. Examples include &lt;i&gt;ballet folklórico&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;mariachi&lt;/i&gt; demonstrations held annually at the Plaza del &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo_de_Los_Angeles" title="Pueblo de Los Angeles"&gt;Pueblo de Los Angeles&lt;/a&gt; near &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olvera_Street" title="Olvera Street"&gt;Olvera Street&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"&gt;Alright, awesome.  If you're Mexican, living in the US, and you know and care about your history and roots in political Mexico, then by all means, celebrate!  But if you're an American without any Mexican friends or ties to Mexico, and you've no idea what Cinco De Mayo actually represents, than keep your overindulgent Tequila shooting behavior to regular Friday nights, and try not to blame it on a holiday you can't pronounce!  Unless tortillas are on sale, of course.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"&gt;(And no, I don't celebrate the Guinness national holiday, I mean, St. Patrick's Day either).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-1890170121484264490?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/1890170121484264490/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=1890170121484264490&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/1890170121484264490'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/1890170121484264490'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/cinco-de-mayo-lets-get-wasted.html' title='Cinco De Mayo: Let&apos;s get wasted!!!!'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rj2NL8FHc5I/AAAAAAAAAE4/SrLCLkzUfNs/s72-c/cinco+de+mayo.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-1124030699162310093</id><published>2007-05-07T23:24:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:44.284-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Seattle</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkAXm8FHc6I/AAAAAAAAAFA/_Xm70g92pJQ/s1600-h/IMG_3672.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkAXm8FHc6I/AAAAAAAAAFA/_Xm70g92pJQ/s400/IMG_3672.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;Just found this.  Makes the city actually look kind of large.  This was taken near Alki last summer, on an adventure with Kayla.&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-1124030699162310093?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/1124030699162310093/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=1124030699162310093&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/1124030699162310093'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/1124030699162310093'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/seattle.html' title='Seattle'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkAXm8FHc6I/AAAAAAAAAFA/_Xm70g92pJQ/s72-c/IMG_3672.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-5037198952786650731</id><published>2007-05-13T23:39:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:44.088-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Old Stuff</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So many changes &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;occurring&lt;/span&gt; these days.  I was &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;prompted&lt;/span&gt; to look back through old photos, as I am often prone to do.  Here are a few I recently scanned in from my grandma.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;        &lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgEO8FHc7I/AAAAAAAAAFI/lZ9BHJybUvo/s1600-h/scan0003.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgEO8FHc7I/AAAAAAAAAFI/lZ9BHJybUvo/s400/scan0003.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;                                                                             My late grandfather and often &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;surrogate&lt;/span&gt; father and I.&lt;br /&gt;                                                                            We often stopped to check out these sheep.  I miss him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgEPcFHc8I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/TYa5NV3jRUY/s1600-h/scan0005.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgEPcFHc8I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/TYa5NV3jRUY/s400/scan0005.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;                                                                                 Ooh, I was skinny once!  Oh to be 18 again!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgEPsFHc9I/AAAAAAAAAFY/LvZZj41SxPY/s1600-h/scan0001.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgEPsFHc9I/AAAAAAAAAFY/LvZZj41SxPY/s400/scan0001.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;                                                                   My grandmother and I.  I celebrated mother's day with her today!&lt;div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"&gt;&lt;img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-5037198952786650731?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/5037198952786650731/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=5037198952786650731&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/5037198952786650731'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/5037198952786650731'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/old-stuff.html' title='Old Stuff'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgEO8FHc7I/AAAAAAAAAFI/lZ9BHJybUvo/s72-c/scan0003.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-6839822577370741155</id><published>2007-05-14T00:02:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:43.461-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKG8FHc-I/AAAAAAAAAFg/TYRKfMv0M2Y/s1600-h/0323240-R1-041-19.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKG8FHc-I/AAAAAAAAAFg/TYRKfMv0M2Y/s320/0323240-R1-041-19.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKHsFHc_I/AAAAAAAAAFo/XmqxneAoafk/s1600-h/0323240-R1-051-24.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKHsFHc_I/AAAAAAAAAFo/XmqxneAoafk/s320/0323240-R1-051-24.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKIcFHdAI/AAAAAAAAAFw/BekG-wIhb4Y/s1600-h/0333030-R3-069-33.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKIcFHdAI/AAAAAAAAAFw/BekG-wIhb4Y/s320/0333030-R3-069-33.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKIsFHdBI/AAAAAAAAAF4/xOJQZpu7SCc/s1600-h/matts+a+thug.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKIsFHdBI/AAAAAAAAAF4/xOJQZpu7SCc/s320/matts+a+thug.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-6839822577370741155?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/6839822577370741155/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=6839822577370741155&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/6839822577370741155'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/6839822577370741155'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKG8FHc-I/AAAAAAAAAFg/TYRKfMv0M2Y/s72-c/0323240-R1-041-19.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-8054532265039798246</id><published>2007-05-14T00:06:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:42.917-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKwMFHdCI/AAAAAAAAAGA/ytXH7H-lnZc/s1600-h/IMG_0569_0119.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKwMFHdCI/AAAAAAAAAGA/ytXH7H-lnZc/s320/IMG_0569_0119.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKwsFHdDI/AAAAAAAAAGI/q8bvgftGW08/s1600-h/0299630-R6-007-2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKwsFHdDI/AAAAAAAAAGI/q8bvgftGW08/s320/0299630-R6-007-2.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKxcFHdEI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/3yJDINu-QQk/s1600-h/0365680-R1-045-21.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKxcFHdEI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/3yJDINu-QQk/s320/0365680-R1-045-21.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKy8FHdFI/AAAAAAAAAGY/IIJdST2vD_k/s1600-h/0365680-R1-051-24.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKy8FHdFI/AAAAAAAAAGY/IIJdST2vD_k/s320/0365680-R1-051-24.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-8054532265039798246?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/8054532265039798246/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=8054532265039798246&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8054532265039798246'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8054532265039798246'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post_14.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgKwMFHdCI/AAAAAAAAAGA/ytXH7H-lnZc/s72-c/IMG_0569_0119.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-8590003544500741013</id><published>2007-05-14T00:08:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:42.314-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLIMFHdGI/AAAAAAAAAGg/00nUeY-SFCY/s1600-h/989ver0-R1-024-10A.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLIMFHdGI/AAAAAAAAAGg/00nUeY-SFCY/s320/989ver0-R1-024-10A.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLIcFHdHI/AAAAAAAAAGo/OSHutCg-wrg/s1600-h/IMG_1474.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLIcFHdHI/AAAAAAAAAGo/OSHutCg-wrg/s320/IMG_1474.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLIsFHdII/AAAAAAAAAGw/akyG9An5OKM/s1600-h/IMG_1487.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLIsFHdII/AAAAAAAAAGw/akyG9An5OKM/s320/IMG_1487.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLKcFHdJI/AAAAAAAAAG4/6DXbq48QEiI/s1600-h/IMG_1375.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLKcFHdJI/AAAAAAAAAG4/6DXbq48QEiI/s320/IMG_1375.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-8590003544500741013?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/8590003544500741013/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=8590003544500741013&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8590003544500741013'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/8590003544500741013'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post_2499.html' title=''/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgLIMFHdGI/AAAAAAAAAGg/00nUeY-SFCY/s72-c/989ver0-R1-024-10A.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-3509979296432889306</id><published>2007-05-14T00:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:41.696-08:00</updated><title type='text'>So, it's official...</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;Soooo, I guess I can officially mention that Matt and are are back together, after quite some time apart.  I suppose at this point the story is ours, and sharing personal details are for personal times!  But I figure since Beth cornered me in the ladies room this morning to see if the scoop was official, I guess it can go public!  So, since reminiscing is my thing this evening, here are some of my favorite pictures from the years past in our relationship.  Oh yes, that weird blond phase and all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgMuMFHdKI/AAAAAAAAAHA/Vb0v4KOgHx4/s1600-h/0037410-R3-055-26.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgMuMFHdKI/AAAAAAAAAHA/Vb0v4KOgHx4/s320/0037410-R3-055-26.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgMusFHdLI/AAAAAAAAAHI/ToBZ1NsxDqo/s1600-h/0037410-R3-053-25.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgMusFHdLI/AAAAAAAAAHI/ToBZ1NsxDqo/s320/0037410-R3-053-25.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-3509979296432889306?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/3509979296432889306/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=3509979296432889306&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/3509979296432889306'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/3509979296432889306'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/so-its-official.html' title='So, it&apos;s official...'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/RkgMuMFHdKI/AAAAAAAAAHA/Vb0v4KOgHx4/s72-c/0037410-R3-055-26.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-2209864007744089578</id><published>2007-05-29T23:44:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:41.435-08:00</updated><title type='text'>M!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0ddoVbDfI/AAAAAAAAAHo/fdICXpGizLY/s1600-h/2952003-R2-045-21.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0ddoVbDfI/AAAAAAAAAHo/fdICXpGizLY/s320/2952003-R2-045-21.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0deYVbDgI/AAAAAAAAAHw/gMliy6Ud42Y/s1600-h/2952003-R1-005-1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0deYVbDgI/AAAAAAAAAHw/gMliy6Ud42Y/s320/2952003-R1-005-1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0deoVbDhI/AAAAAAAAAH4/C93iBBCTPmc/s1600-h/2952003-R1-009-3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0deoVbDhI/AAAAAAAAAH4/C93iBBCTPmc/s320/2952003-R1-009-3.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"&gt;&lt;img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-2209864007744089578?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/2209864007744089578/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=2209864007744089578&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/2209864007744089578'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/2209864007744089578'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post_6615.html' title='M!'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0ddoVbDfI/AAAAAAAAAHo/fdICXpGizLY/s72-c/2952003-R2-045-21.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11685850.post-7416508055720104058</id><published>2007-05-29T23:45:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T06:37:40.999-08:00</updated><title type='text'>D!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0dloVbDiI/AAAAAAAAAIA/a8EhPGy2Z54/s1600-h/2952003-R2-067-32.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0dloVbDiI/AAAAAAAAAIA/a8EhPGy2Z54/s320/2952003-R2-067-32.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0dl4VbDjI/AAAAAAAAAII/cKJRRR7SofE/s1600-h/2952003-R2-065-31.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0dl4VbDjI/AAAAAAAAAII/cKJRRR7SofE/s320/2952003-R2-065-31.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0dmIVbDkI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/_Q8ne6aia38/s1600-h/2952003-R2-063-30.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0dmIVbDkI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/_Q8ne6aia38/s320/2952003-R2-063-30.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'&gt;&lt;a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'&gt;&lt;img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/11685850-7416508055720104058?l=iheartichoke.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/feeds/7416508055720104058/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11685850&amp;postID=7416508055720104058&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/7416508055720104058'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/11685850/posts/default/7416508055720104058'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://iheartichoke.blogspot.com/2007/05/d.html' title='D!'/><author><name>Heartichoke</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12977855398304420357</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='16901715556685765767'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zFXygLiWxFc/Rl0dloVbDiI/AAAAAAAAAIA/a8EhPGy2Z54/s72-c/2952003-R2-067-32.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry></feed>