Weekend Assignment #358: Drive

Considering my 75-miles-a-day commute and the fact that I'm about to drive a rented car to Los Angeles, there's one thing on my mind at the moment (well, aside from the Doctor Who convention I'm going to):

Weekend Assignment # 358: Drive
Is driving something you actually enjoy doing, or is it merely a means to an end? Do you ever go for a drive for fun, or revel in certain kinds of driving?

Extra Credit: If time and money were not at issue, and you wanted to go somewhere 500 miles away, would you prefer to drive, be driven, take a train or fly? (Okay, you can also choose to go by boat.)

You know how this works, right?

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, February 24th, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Don't forget, or I'll probably miss out on linking to you!

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment #357: The Art of Packing, I asked how much stuff, particularly technology, you tend to bring on a trip. Please click on each person's name to see the full entry:

Julie said...

Generally, my electronic gear consists of my backpack with DSLR gear and laptop, plus a cellphone and charger. If I know I'm not going to have time to shoot then I'll take a different laptop bag, or try to cram everything into a wheeled carry on bag we bought last year that has room for a laptop and a change of clothes or two. Or, I may just get radical and only take the cell phone or replace the laptop with my tablet.

Karen said...

Meanwhile, I get to borrow his iPad for my trip next weekend. This both thrills me and makes me nervous. I'm considered a bit of a techie, especially by people over age 70; but smart phones, PDAs and iPads are outside my experience. I don't even use my cell phone for anything but phone calls, the occasional photo if I forgot to bring my camera, and rarely a text message if there's no good alternative. I've never browsed the web with my phone, and my iPod is an old monochrome one. So now we've got less than a week to get myself and the iPad ready for my trip.

Anne said...

I used to travel light. Before the electronics. I don't bring a ton of extra clothes. I never bring a hair dryer. My suitcase never weighs more than 50 pounds. But I am always plugged in. I am on vacation. With me are: [click to see the list!]

Florinda said...

No, I don’t travel particularly light. I’m just lucky that I’m small, and my clothes and shoes take up less space than most adults’ do. That leaves me some room for the books. And yes, I absolutely plan those in advance too. It’s a tricky thing timing-wise; it’s not that hard to set aside a few books as designated travel reading, but scheduling my reading so that I don’t have an unplanned in-process book that I have to bring along to finish is a delicate enterprise.

Have a great week, and drive carefully!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #357: The Art of Packing

I'll be going out of town on President's Day weekend, and I'm already thinking about what to take along:

Weekend Assignment # 357: The Art of Packing
When you go on a trip, do you travel light, or try to make sure you have everything you might conceivably need? Specifically, what do you bring along by way of electronics?

Extra Credit: What's the most important thing you ever lost, broke, or forgot to bring on your trip?

Here are the guidelines in case you'd like to participate - and I hope you do!

1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, February 17th, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Don't forget, or I'll probably miss out on linking to you!

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. I'm always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If I use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. I reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

For Weekend Assignment # 356: Brrr!, I asked about recent weather in your area. Please click on each person's name to see the full entry:

Julie said...

Unless you've been living in a cave, you might be aware that there's a football game in Arlington on Sunday. So really, we were just asking for it. The Steelers and Packers fans are calling us wimps, but what they don't understand is that this type of weather is atypical, and when it does happen it rarely lasts for more than a day. The temps bounce back up, the stuff melts, and it's business as usual again. People down here don't get to practice driving on ice and snow on a regular basis. We don't have snow tires or snow chains, and we certainly don't have the heavy duty road deicing equipment they have up north.

Anne said...

Yesterday, my office was closing early, so I called my dentist to see if my appointment was still on.  It was.  I arrived early and they took me early.  When I walked out the door, the blizzard was in full swing.  It took 45 minutes to drive the three miles home. I live in a cul de sac, so there are three snow plows required to get us out.

Karen said...

Yes, I know I live in Tucson, but we did have a winter. Really! We were in the throes of it when I wrote the questions above. No, we didn't get any snow; in fact it's been unseasonably dry. But it has been cold. How cold? Consider this: the all time record for the lowest temperature for Tucson in February was 17 degrees, set in 1899. In the early hours of February 3rd and again on the 4th, it hit 18 degrees here! I went out and bought myself a winter jacket, which John said I'd never wear. I think I've worn it every day since then.

Have a great week, whether or not you're planning a trip!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #342: How Do You Do Halloween?

NOW CLOSED!

Hi, folks! It's that time of year again!

Weekend Assignment # 342: How Do You Do Halloween?

Each year at this time, we are told that Halloween is second only to Christmas in its commercial impact. Once an amalgam of religious holidays, it has grown over the years, at least in the U.S., and it's not just for children as it may have been half a century ago. What, if anything, do you personally do to celebrate Halloween? Have you ever participated in an alternative or related holiday, such as the Dias de Los Muertos, Samhain, a church Harvest Festival, etc.?

Extra Credit: What was the last Halloween costume you wore, and when?

Here are the guidelines if you'd like to participate. Please note that while Carly is on hiatus I've loosened up the deadline just a little.

**1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, November 3rd, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I really want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Please post the URL itself rather than a live link.

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. We're always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If we use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. We reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

Last week's Weekend Assignment #341: Overexposed inspired three responses. Please click on each person's name to see their full entry:

Anne said...

Anyone who was ever made “famous” by a reality TV show. I am pointing in particular to The Hills and the Housewives shows. I have not watched any of them, but I have seen enough commercials. I will also throw in Paris Hilton, Omarosa, and whatever show “The Situation” is on.

Florinda said...

I couldn’t limit myself to just one response to this, and I suspect I’m not the only one who has a list of people they wish would just go away. There are some I hope will go away by November 3rd, but that’s not really what this question is addressing, so I’ll stay away from the politics today.

Karen Funk Blocher said...

Frankly, by the time Twilight became ubiquitous as bestselling books and movies, I was so sick of the whole thing that I never gave the franchise the chance. What I've read or heard about Edward and Whatshername does nothing to entice me. So to tv producers and book publishers, here's my plea: don't you think this vampire glut, and by extension the zombie glut, has reached the point of diminishing returns? Can we have something else now please?

That's it for now. I look forward to reading about your Halloween celebrations, or lack thereof. Have a great week!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #341: Overexposed

NOW CLOSED!

Hi, folks!This week's WA question is a simple one:

Weekend Assignment # 341: Overexposed

Some things (or people) explode into the culture, are really big for a while and then overstay their welcome. Who or what are you really tired of seeing, hearing or reading about these days?

Extra Credit: What discarded bit of pop culture do you remember fondly?

Here are the guidelines if you'd like to participate. Please note that while Carly is on hiatus I've loosened up the deadline just a little.

**1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, October 28th, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I really want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Please post the URL itself rather than a live link.

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. We're always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If we use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. We reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

Last week's Weekend Assignment #340: How Far Would You Go? inspired three responses. Please click on each person's name to see their full entry:

Anne said...

Oh, am I sorry to say I am in the “don’t even bother” category. It starts with music – I had really bad concert luck at an impressionable age. I live outside of Chicago and went to college in Washington DC. So inevitably, any time that a band I loved was touring at home, I was at school. Also, the only artist I loved more than Bono was Freddie Mercury, who died just as I was coming-of-concert-age. I would have gone pretty far to see Freddie Mercury live.

See also Anne's response to the previous Weekend Assignment, newly-added to the entry below this one.)

Stephen Watkins said...

Who’m I kidding?  I’ve never really gone anywhere to see anyone even remotely bordering on famous.  Heck, I’ve lived in Atlanta, now, for four years, and yet I’ve never even taken the time to go to Dragon*Con - a fantasy and sci-fi convention that regularly draws celebrities of various kinds (writers, actors, directors, etc.) involved in the production of many of my favorite fantasy and sci-fi entertainments.  That’s right… I’ve never even gone to the trouble of driving downtown to catch my favorite writers, actors, and characters.

Karen Funk Blocher said...

Back in 1990 through 1993, I used to drive the 500 miles or so to the Los Angeles area a couple times a year, indulging my Quantum Leap and Doctor Who habits. I think there were two years in which the Gallifrey One and Quantum Leap conventions were the same weekend, and my friends and I scrambled to attend both. Other times we drove to Universal Studios and managed to talk to people in the production office, interviewing writers, actors, producers or directors, or some combination thereof. On one of our last Leap trips, my car's transmission died forever north of Palm Springs. I sold the Capri to a junkyard and we flew off to Los Angeles, where we watched filming on the Universal lot, and interviewed Scott Bakula for the first and only time. Oh, and I lost our return airline tickets and hard to borrow money to buy more. It was a heck of a weekend, but absolutely worth it.

That's it for now. I look forward to reading what you're sick to death of, and what you wouldn't mind seeing back again. Have a great week!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #340: How Far Would You Go?

NOW CLOSED!

The stars of my favorite tv show, Doctor Who, are coming to the U.S. next month for five days of location shooting in Utah, a mere 600 miles from my home in Tucson. My urge to drive to Utah and find them is the inspiration for this week's Assignment.

Weekend Assignment # 340: How Far Would You Go?

Some people travel hundreds of miles (in extreme cases, thousands of miles)  to see a concert by a favorite performer, or to meet their favorite writers at a convention, or to attend some other kind of public appearance by someone they especially admire. Other people don't even bother to go downtown to take advantage of such an opportunity. How far would you go to meet one or more of your favorite writers, actors, musicians, comedians or other artists, and to attend a performance by him or her or them?

Extra Credit: What is the farthest you have ever gone in a similar situation?

Here are the guidelines if you'd like to participate. Please note that while Carly is on hiatus I've loosened up the deadline just a little.

**1. Please post your response no later than than 12:01 AM on Thursday morning, October 21st, your local time. You can do this either in a blog entry of your own or in the comments section of the assignment entry. No submissions will be accepted after that time unless I really want to.

2. Please mention the Weekend Assignment in your blog post, and include a link back to the original entry. Using one of the logos shown here is encouraged but not mandatory.

3. Please come back here after you've posted, and leave a link to your entry in the comments to the assignment. Please post the URL itself rather than a live link.

4. Visiting other participants' entries is strongly encouraged!

5. We're always looking for topic ideas. Please see the "Teacher's Lounge" page for details. If we use your idea, you will be credited as that week's "guest professor." Help me out, folks, because sometimes I run dry when doing this week after week!

6. We reserve the right to remove rude or unpleasant comments (not to mention comment spam), and to leave entries off the linking list if the person has been rude or unpleasant, or fails to mention the Weekend Assignment in the entry.

Last week's Weekend Assignment #339: Happy Endings inspired only a few responses. Please click on each person's name to see their full entry:


Stephen Watkins said...

It was spent frantically packing.  My roommate, a buddy of mine, had just gotten married.  I was renting a room in his house, but he was coming home with his new bride, and I needed to vacate the premises, and pronto.  This was another reason why I felt that the time was right for my move to “A-town”.  If I was going to have to move out of my buddy’s house anyway, why go back to renting a small apartment in a dead-end town?

Karen Funk Blocher said...

I thought that, this being my last day in the F-M school district, it would be nice to visit a few teachers from when I was younger - much younger. The school in which I went to fourth through sixth grades was long gone, and the junior high had moved even further toward the edge of town several years earlier. But Manlius Elementary still existed, and was right across the street from Temple's Dairy Store in the village of Manlius, about a mile from my house. So that's where I went.

And oops! We missed out on Anne's entry!

I had mismanaged my on-campus dining funds, such that I had a couple hundred dollars left on my i.d. So we went over, ordered pizzas and I let the kids go grocery shopping in the cafe. That was a lot of bags of Doritos. Then we sat down to eat, and figure out how the heck we would manage to keep in touch: with me going home, Christine going home to St. Louis, etc. The difference this year was that Christine and I weren't coming back to school in the fall.

That's it for now. I hope some of you will take the time to tell us how far you would go, or have gone, to see your favorite celebrities. Have a great week!

Karen