The Mobius Bench

I've always been intrigued by the Mobius strip--you know, where you take strip of paper and make it a loop, first giving it a half twist? According to Ivars Peterson: "Ever since its discovery in 1858 in a purely mathematical context, the Möbius band has played a role not only in mathematics but also in science, engineering, literature, art, music, dance, crafts, playthings, puzzles, and magic tricks." The latest discovery: You can sit on them, too. Actually, the bench pictured here has been at the Shops on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California since 2003. Read more about it here. See more pictures here and here.

Peeps A-Plenty

Check out NerdMom's post on everyone's favorite Easter-time treat: Peeps!

And the winner is...

...April again! Congrats April on your awesome 80's song knowledge! You rock!

The line was from Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker", which was actually released in 1979, (though it was played plenty in the 80's). I will try to only use songs released in the 1980's--this exception was a mistake on my part! Sorry!

I also apologize for the delay in posting the answer. I spent many of the last 24 hours fighting with my computer while trying to uninstall/install software. I was replacing Norton Internet Security, which, much like a hawk, was holding on with all its might, its claws dug firmly into every application I have. It wasn't until this morning, after some sleep, that I was able to pry the last talon away. And I'm still cleaning up feathers.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Your love is like a tidal wave, spinnin' over my head

Sound familiar? Tell me what and who it's from here. The answer and winner will be posted late Friday.

Bruchko

I have finished my first book of the year. (Yes, I know it's April.) My bro-in-law Gabe gave me Bruchko by Bruce Olson for Christmas this last year. The note on the package said it was "off the hook" and, being as un-hip as I am, I thought it was some sort of clue as to what was inside (like a phone or a new-fangled fishing pole), not that he was just saying it was cool. Well, Gabe was right: This book is off the hook. It's about a guy who goes and lives with this Indian tribe in South America to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a really amazing story and one of those books you don't want to put down. Near the end the story gets kind of choppy, like he got 80% through and just wanted to finish the darned thing. (Somepost I'll tell you why I relate so well to that.) Anyway, I highly recommend the book.

Unbelievably Mandisa

All three American Idol contestants in the bottom three tonight had never been in the bottom three before: Mandisa, Elliot Yamin, and Paris Bennett, Mandisa having received the lowest number of votes. This is so hard to believe (even though I did mention her in my previous post)! Regardless, I expect she's going to have a lot of opportunities when her contract with Idol is up. So, next week Bucky's got to go. Speaking of next week, did Ryan Seacrest really say they're doing music by Queen?

American Idol

Who's going home tonight? Country week should have been Bucky's time to make himself look like he belongs in this group, but he didn't take the opportunity. His performance last night was okay but he's just missing that star quality. I missed Taylor's performance last night, but I'm wondering if people are getting a little bored with him. And Mandisa has been a little off the last two weeks, even though I think she's definitely final four quality. Well, it will be interesting to see which way it goes.

Happy Birthday Blog!

Tomorrow, April 1, is my blog's first birthday! As this day has approached, I've thought that With Reckless Abandon should start acting like the grown-up blog that it is. I've been posting more frequently, have a weekly feature, and have even seen some international traffic (although I'm pretty sure my Italian visitor was here by mistake). I'm eventually going to post a picture, too. Thank you to the handful of readers that have been reading from the start and the many more that have, for some reason or another, decided that reading my blog is worth a minute of your day! If you're new here, and like what see enough to check back occasionally, drop me a note and let me know you're here! And if you're from Italy and you're not here by mistake, please accept my apologies. I would say something nice in Italian here but I don't know any Italian words, only food.

And the winner is...

...that 80's girl April!!! She correctly recognized this week's mystery line as Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer". Way to go April!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Gina works the diner all day

What's it from? Who's it by? Tell me here.

Scout Songs

When I was very young, my older brother was a Boy Scout and my dad was a Scout leader of some sort (I think even after my brother was no longer a scout). I would often go to the meetings with my dad, so he has always joked that I was an honorary Boy Scout. Since I spent some of my formative years attending Boy Scout events, I was quite excited when I happened across scoutsongs.com, a virtual songbook. I looked up my favorites and they're all there! I grew up singing Pink Pajamas. In fact, even though I knew the tune was from a better-known song, for the longest time I seriously thought the chorus to the Battle Hymn Republic went:
Glory, glory, hallelujah.
Glory, glory, what's it to ya'?
Another longtime favorite of mine is Johnny Verbeck. If you grew up with Scouts too, enjoy!

Get a Blog

If you have read the comments on the previous post, you noticed that every winner of the Friday lyric contest is blogless, I repeat, blogless. And since they have no blogs to which I can link, they are requesting Starbuck's prizes. Well, I have a few words for these "winners"... Kick your Starbuck's habit and start a blog! (I say this to them because I know them personally. If you're new here, don't worry, I don't treat all my readers this way.) But maybe you can help me out: If you want to give away Starbuck's gift cards (say you own a Starbuck's; or maybe you can't stand the stuff but people keep you giving gift cards; or perhaps you're the president of the Corporation for American Coffee Addiction) and you want to donate Starbuck's prizes for 80's lyrics winners, I will gladly accept the donation and distribute the prizes. Yes, April, even retroactively.

And the winner is...

...loyal blog reader Maya!!! Congratulations Maya!

The line was from "Always Something There to Remind Me" by Naked Eyes.

I was asked by one reader if the prize for this weekly contest could include some link love. The answer is absolutely. Just make sure you include a link to your blog when you email your answer.

Congratulations to all of you who got the right answers!

Speaking of song lyrics...

If you're like me, you've often wondered what in the world Yankee Doodle has to do with macaroni. You know:

Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony;
Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni.

I always thought it was one of those things that got changed over the years through a series of misunderstandings. I was wrong. "Macaroni" is Merriam-Webster.com's word of the day today. Read on.

macaroni \mak-uh-ROH-nee\ noun
1 : pasta made from semolina and shaped in the form of slender tubes 2 *a : a member of a class of traveled young Englishmen of the late 18th and early 19th centuries who affected foreign ways b : an affected young man : fop

Example sentence: "If he...talks about London and Lord March, and White's, and Almack's, with the air of a macaroni, I don't think we need like him much the less." (William Makepeace Thackeray, The Virginians)

Did you know? As you may have suspected, the "macaroni" in the song "Yankee Doodle" is not the familiar food. The feather in Yankee Doodle's cap apparently makes him a macaroni in the now rare "fop" or "dandy" sense. The sense appears to have originated with a club established in London by a group of young, well-traveled Englishmen in the 1760s. The founders prided themselves on their appearance, sense of style, and manners, and they chose the name Macaroni Club to indicate their worldliness. Because macaroni was, at the time, a new and rather exotic food in England, the name was meant to demonstrate how stylish the club's members were. The members were themselves called "macaronis," and eventually "macaroni" became synonymous with "dandy" and "fop."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Now I'll be able to rest easier--one more of my life's mysteries solved.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

I'm going to have to start posting my Friday feature on Thursday nights since I'm not able to get to the computer until 9:30 AM (Pacific). Well, to make up for the late posting of the question, I will not post the answer and winner(s) until Monday. (Okay, maybe that has more to do with the fact that I will be away from the Internet until then.) So here it is:

As shadows fall, I pass a small cafe where we would dance at night

What and/or who is it? First with each answer gets all the fame and fortune associated with having your name posted on my blog! Email answers here.

My Idol Picks

And now for my latest top-4 American Idol selections:
Mandisa
Chris Daughtry
Kellie Pickler
Katharine McPhee

Mandisa and Chris are my favorites. They both were amazing tonight. My guess for who's going home tomorrow: Lisa Tucker.

Locals Only

For those of you in the Fresno area: If you haven't tried Mother Mary's Wood Flavored Pizza yet, you've got to try their garlic knots. If you have, you know what I mean. They're covered in garlic butter and parmesan cheese and you get a dozen of them for five bucks! Don't let Mother Mary scare you off with her wooden spoon.

Getting Sucked In

I'm on the countdown for the upcoming women's retreat I'm attending: 4 more days to go! I'm counting down partly because I'm looking forward to it but partly because I'm co-leading a craft project at the retreat. Saturday I was cutting paper. I've been busy punching holes in paper bags today. Tomorrow I will tackle ribbon cutting. We are making these very cute scrapbooks out of paper bags. (Did you even know you could do that?) Hopefully the prep work we're putting in will make it fun and easy for the ladies who participate this weekend.

I love doing crafty stuff. I love making all kinds of things really. I like to cook. I like to sew. I like to write songs, blog entries, and code. But I decided a long time ago: I WILL NOT GET SUCKED INTO SCRAPBOOKING!!! Every time I talked to a scrapbooker the first thing out of their mouths was always "I'm so behind." I have enough things I'm behind on--I don't need to add another. A friend used to tease me that she was going to drag me into it. Her husband said it was repayment for getting her started drinking coffee. (I really still don't know what I had to do with that Jeremy.) I resisted for years (literally). But I give. In the words of Mr. Sparkle "Join me or die. Can you do any less?"

Baby Got Book

I just watched this video at Two Blonde Boys. Watch it. It's hilarious!

And the winner is...

Congratulations April (totally an 80's girl) for correctly answering this week's 80's lyric...
Everybody Have Fun Tonight
Wang Chung