Odds and Ends

I keep thinking of things to write but not actually writing them, so I am just going to do a brain dump and start clean.

Thing 1:
13 Things that saved Apollo 13
I admit I haven't read this entire series yet but it's been really interesting so far. Amazing how much of it still applies to missions today.

Thing 2:

(no, not that Thing 1 and Thing 2)

I loved this video that Becca passed along. If only my childhood toys had included "barrier breaking feminist vision"!

Thing 3:
Right now I'm reading Sarah Vowell's latest book, The Wordy Shipmates. This woman cracks me up. Daily Show viewers and NPR listeners may recognize her as the nerdy snarky girl with the twangy voice (yeah, I know that's not too specific). When I read her writing, I can hear her speaking in my head and I know we'd have a great time hanging out together. It got me thinking about my ultimate ladies only dinner party. Only fabulous women would be invited, women who can hold their own talking about anything and still crack me up. They are all brilliant, fearless, and unafraid to speak their minds. Although I could go totally historical, there are too many options, so I narrowed it down to the past 100 years and came up with this list (in no particular order):
Sarah Vowell, author
Molly Ivins, journalist and author
Tina Fey, actress/comedienne
Frances Perkins, first female Cabinet member (loved this book about her)
Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady
Katharine Hepburn, actress
Julia Child, chef
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, industrial engineer (and mother of the Cheaper by the Dozen family)

Assuming my imaginary dinner table seats 12, that leaves me three more spots. Who else should I invite? (Note: Oprah will not be invited)

Thing 4:
When I write off the top of my head, I use an abundance of parentheses (do you mind??)