I am such a horrible blogger.

• I like researching random topics, usually historical. Google Books makes me super happy. I get to read obscure books that I never would otherwise. I especially like "Who's Who" books and other lists of names. Well, lists of anything, actually. I don't say this to be offensive, I really think we all fall somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. At least I do. Not terribly, but I'm gifted and pretty socially awkward. Anyway, we all have our little idiosyncrasies and mine is lists.
• I love the fact that there were multiple at the University of Alabama back in the 1830s and 1840s. They looted professors' homes, shot guns everywhere, destroyed Bibles, vandalized the chapel, sexually harassed women, set fires, and were generally just little punk hooligans. One year, the entire senior class was expelled plus some undergrads. We've always been a party school. Now we just have frat parties and The Strip. Roll Tide!
• On that note, I also love the fight song. Here it is:

Yay, Alabama! Drown 'em, Tide!
Every Bama man's behind you, hit your stride!
Go teach the Bulldogs to behave, send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave!
And if a man starts to weaken, that's his shame!
For Bama's pluck and grit have writ her name in Crimson flame.
Fight on, fight on, fight on, men!
Remember the Rose Bowl, we'll win then!
Roll on to victory, hit your stride!
You're Dixie's football pride,
Roll Tide, Roll Tide!

Hot actor edition

Here's a list of actors who make me happy.

• Robert Redford. I love The Sting. Besides, he was so hot. I mean WOW. Sadly, he now looks like an old boot.
• Paul Newman. Wow, what a man. I love the fact that he and Joanne Woodward were married for almost 50 years. His charity work is also incredible. And those gorgeous blue eyes.
• Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor. So attractive in a very quirky way. And British.
• Benedict Cumberbatch. He's Sherlock Holmes in the new BBC series Sherlock. He is also extremely attractive. I guess my type is tall, pale, and dark-haired. Just like me.
• Jimmy Stewart. So adorable. Mr. Smith goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, Vertigo, and Harvey. His voice is awesome.
• Cary Grant. Ooh la la.

Rocky Hill Castle

• Rocky Hill Castle is an abandoned antebellum mansion up in Lawrence Co. Col. Saunders hired a French architect to build the house, but he went way over budget. (Some things never change.) When the Colonel saw the huge bill he got angry and refused to pony up the extra. The architect stormed off, swearing to shake the damn house off its very foundation, and just swearing in general. He died not too long after, and the family began hearing loud knocks and bangs. A year or so before the Civil War, Col. Saunders had a massive six-story tower added on to the house. It clashed horrendously, but since when have men cared about that? During the war, two young Confederate soldiers died in the tower. Neither of them are said to haunt the property, but during Reconstruction a new ghost appeared. She's a beautiful young woman who hangs around the tower and in the wine cellar. She wears a lovely pale blue dress, and never says or does much of anything. But the one time she did speak to Mrs. Saunders, she managed to scare the whole family away.
• Up next, my personal favorite, The Drish House!

Storytelling

• A local legend died the day before yesterday. Southerners tell good stories; just think about all the authors we have: Harper Lee, William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Mark Twain, Tennessee Williams, Margaret Mitchell, Alice Walker, Eudora Welty, Kate Chopin, and Zora Neale Hurston. All that to say, the ability to tell a good story is practically innate here in the South. But for as long as I've been alive, much longer, actually, Catherine Tucker Windham was the best of the best. I doubt her books are widely known outside the South, but here they're truly a rite of passage. In the '60s and '70s she authored a series of books Thirteen (Insert state here) Ghosts & Jeffrey. There were two books about Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Southern (from several states), and there may have been one about Florida. When the school library put them out around Halloween each year the list to check them out was a mile long, but I read them all. There are thirteen stories in each book, plus the story and photo of Jeffrey. Jeffrey is the ghost that haunts Mrs. Windham's Selma house, and a picture of him appears in each book. I never got to hear her tell stories in person, but I often listened to her on the radio. I especially liked her stories about her days as a UA co-ed in the 1930s. Her tales were a very important part of my childhood. In fact, I'm about to dig out my copy of Alabama Ghosts. I'll post again tonight and give y'all a quick recap of each of the stories. Otherwise, you'll never know what you're missing. :)

Ach! This blog will not die!

• Google Scribe. Still in beta mode, but it's really fun. It's predictive text for Google Docs. Not sure how useful it is, but I was sold when it managed to figure out "Jabberwocky," "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
• Google books. I love the obscure old books you can find.
• Illuminated letters and fancy lettering
• Doctor Who. I love Matt Smith.
• Graham Norton. Funniest gay Irishman I can think of off the top of my head.
• Having geek parties with Mary Ruth
• Gummy worms
• Cheese pizza
• Dr. Pepper
• Vitamin Water (Dragonfruit and Raspberry Apple!)
• Oreos
• Pin-up girls. Does the sound weird coming from a straight female? I don't care. Pin-up girls kick ass. In fact, my secret goal is to one day be a pin up or burlesque dancer. That's why my college education is so important.
• Speaking of burlesque, my fashion idol/ girl crush? Dita von Teese. She is so freaking cool. I've always loved anything bawdy or risque. Not crude or vulgar. Sexiness and vulgarity are mutually exclusive.

Psychology

• Psychology. I watched this show today, I don't remember what it was called. But there were ten people in a house, five suffered from mental illness, five did not. Three mental health professionals observed them performing activities designed to bring out symptoms of specific illnesses. They had to diagnose the five with mental illnesses. They were only correct about two of the ten: bulimia and OCD. They were wrong about depression, bipolar, and social anxiety. Pretty interesting, and a great reminder that you can't always tell when someone is suffering.

Another delay.

Well, it's not like anyone reads this, but here are some more things.

• Late nights
• Giving people presents
• Cheese calzones 
• Rhinestones
• Superhero movies
• The library
• The smell of books
• Genealogy
• Arby's 
• Horseradish
• X-Men
• Coke
• Chili fries
• Maxi dresses
• The name Callie
• Being sketchy
• Sitting on the steps of the school in the middle of the night and talking with friends
• New bottles of shampoo
• Morgan Freeman's voice