Courtney Hurst

Can we change people’s behavior by making the desired outcome more fun to reach?  This is such an amazing experiment!

1. What gift are you most proud of giving?

This one is hard to narrow down, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE giving gifts, and I try really hard to find the “perfect” gift.  However, the one that springs to mind is a Christmas stocking I made for my mom while I was in college.  Mom made all of our stockings.  They are beautiful, and I remember how hard she worked on them and how much time it took to make 4 of them (and then one for Chelsea, when she joined our family, of course!)  All that time, Mom used a plain red velvet stocking.  I surprised her Christmas morning by replacing her plain stocking with the new one I had made from a kit (the same company she had used for all of ours).  I sort of forgot to check what size the stocking was when I ordered the kit, and so now my mom’s stocking is about 3 times bigger than all of ours, haha.

2. What’s the best gift you ever received?

Okay, so I read some of the other answers.  Everybody said something sweet, like love and salvation, etc, etc.  However, I’m clearly not sweet.  The best gift I ever got was this computer I’m using right now.  My parents got it for me, and it has saved my sanity.  Second place?  It goes to the dollhouse my dad made me when I was little.  It was huge, intricate, full of beautiful furniture, and I loved it.

3. In honor of my husband: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

I’ve never broken a bone (knock on wood), but one time I fell through an attic trapdoor headfirst and scraped my back all along the stairs.  I wasn’t terribly injured, but it was scary!

4. They say everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. Who’s 15 minutes has gone on far too long? (The Gosselins are not acceptable answers, be more creative.)

New York, that chick whose real name is Tiffany from reality television.  Ugh.

5. You have 20 minutes and $1000. What do you buy?

An art deco style vanity with a big mirror.  Or a shopping spree at Target – it would probably only take about 10 minutes.

6. Tell me three blogs that I need to read.

Hmm, I read a lot of political blogs, so I don’t usually recommend them to people unless I know they would appreciate them!  Here are some of the others I like:

a. Brooke Schwab’s Photography blog My friend from high school/pledge sister who also happens to be one of the most in-demand wedding and event photographers in Houston (and elsewhere!)  She shares some of the “stories” of the couples she works with, as well as the best photographs from their sessions.  I hope if I ever get married I can afford to hire her!

b. A Texas Girl’s Adventures in Canada A Houston girl moves to Canada, adventures ensue!   A blogfriend with many of the same interests, and a fun writer.

c. Instapundit Fine, I couldn’t help myself – a mostly political blog.  Glenn Reynolds is a law professor at the University of Tennessee (the other UT) who writes about libertarianism, politics, media, technology, and other interesting stuff.

7. Would you rather go without pizza or ice cream for the rest of your life?

Ice cream, hands down.  I pretty much already live without it.

8. Would you rather go to a beach or a snowy mountain?

Beach.  Snow is a good background through the window when you’re cozy next to the fire.

9. Are you a night owl or a morning person?

Total night owl.  I’m writing this at 11:21pm.  My brain doesn’t start to function until about 10am, after a Diet Coke.

10. What word do you always misspell?

I get “e” and “i” mixed up when I’m typing fast, but spell check usually corrects that before I even notice.  I’m a pretty decent speller.  I won the fourth grade spelling bee, even.  I got third place the year before by misspelling “fittness”.  [Yikes - don't kill me!  The word "whose" is misspelled in Question 4.  :)]

Yay, I’m so glad I finally got to participate!  To read everyone else’s answers, including the originals at Chelsea’s blog, click the pic:

or someone might have gotten raped.  And they all might have been killed.

College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjx5_-SPhk0&feature=player_embedded

From Deceiver:

Juan Alberto Ovalle, hereby known as “that idiot,” faces two felony charges of attempted sexual assault on a child and Internet luring. When he’s not using graphic language to seduce a child, he narrates “a popular audio version of the Bible in Spanish” and produces a radio program for Focus on the Family.

He got caught trying to have sex with someone who he thought was a 15 year old girl in a child predator sting.

Ed Morrissey’s been talking about “the bow” all week.

Personally, I wouldn’t have immediately have thought anything of Obama’s bow to King Abdullah.  After hearing that it was going against over 200 years of American diplomatic tradition for the President to bow to royalty, I thought maybe a bigger deal, but easily forgotten.  But the combined effort of Obama’s supporters, the media, and his Administration to deal with this is like watching the Keystone Cops.

1. First, it was said he dropped something or was picking something up off the floor.  This was allegedly why the media didn’t mention the gaffe in the first place.

2. Second, primarily from Obama supporters, the defense is:  ”This is so stupid. A mistake or whatever.  Who cares?”  Unfortunately, after 8 years of lectures on how the world hates us because Bush is so imbecilic, I’m no longer persuaded by such an argument.  Particularly from the loudmouth hypocrites making it.

3. Finally, it’s the White House’s outright denial:

“It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah,” said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Please. Don’t insult our intelligence.

Remember, Obama’s following Bush here.  People harped on his international gaffes all over the place, but you never saw this kind of orchestrated response to defend him.  Honestly, if people weren’t so eager to crown Obama as a blameless miracle man, a lot more of this stuff would just roll right off.

UPDATE:  Clearly, I missed some of the explanations.  From Sisyphus:  Top 11 Possible Explanations for Why The President of the United States Appeared to Bow Down Before the King of Saudi Arabia.

My favorite:

11. Staff placed the teleprompter too low

Go read the rest.

Vanity Fair drops its annual “green” issue after only three years:

“With so much else going on relating to the global financial crisis, we have been focusing on that of late”. Environmentalists are concerned that the decision may have an unwelcome effect on the perception of green issues. “It is vital that green living is not treated as a trend that comes and goes, but that it becomes part of the way we live,” says Colin Butfield, head of campaigns at WWF.

It’s the price you pay when you rely on Hollywood and the fashion world to carry your message.  They’ve proven to be fair weather friends for nearly every special interest issue.  Remember when everyone wore red ribbons to the Academy Awards?  Or Farm Aid? Even Africa eventually faded out.

Via Tim Blair.

Love this true story about a woman who tracked down her stolen computer and wallet, then claimed them in person, using Facebook.  

It turned out Bransky lived just minutes away, so Mote hopped in her car in sweats, Uggs and a super-sexy hair clip and headed to Jamie’s place. The pair drove to Bransky’s apartment, unsure of how they’d obtain her stuff but determined to investigate further. But what would they find?

Read the whole story, involving alcohol, status updates, a couple small dogs, and a grown man peeing himself.