Elise Fallson and "Ologies" - Challenge Participant Feature

Today I welcome the lovely Elise Fallson to share her theme for the Challenge. And it was very unique. And informative! Careful, you might learn something…

What made you chose _ologies as your theme?

My theme last year was Entomology and since is went pretty well, I decided to look for another _ology theme. Trouble was I couldn’t decide on just one. There were many fascinating and odd _ologies to choose from that I decided to highlight them all. Well, not really all of them, but just the ones I found interesting or quirky. Then, when I found a list of _ologies from A-Z online I thought to myself, “Jack pot!”

Which one was your favorite?

That's a hard question to answer because I liked so many for different reasons. For example, D for Dactylology comes to mind because ASL (American Sign Language) interests me and when I stumbled upon songs interpreted using ASL, I was glued to the screen. I can't tell you how many times I've watched those videos, they always impress me. H for Hoplology is another one I enjoyed because I've been a fan of the fighting arts for many years and found the video of the longsword technique simply awesome. Then there's R for Rumpology and that was just butt-loads of LOLs to write. And I have to admit, I did enjoy I for Ichnology, but only because I masterfully managed to slide in a music video of Jensen Ackles doing Eye of the Tiger. Grrrrr  ==swoon==

I'm sorry, did you ask for just one? ;)

You kicked off the Challenge with the science of stupidity – agnoiology. Just so no one ends up studying us, what’s it all about?

Unfortunately, I feel the human race will always be under the microscope when it comes to studying stupidity.  Agnoiology however, centers on the study of culturally induced ignorance mainly through the publication of inaccurate or misleading data. I guess it just boils down to one group of people wanting to control another group by keeping then intellectually inferior. The dumbing down of the masses isn't a new strategy, but it does allow government to maintain control over the masses.

You HAVE to describe rumpology for us!

Ahhh, finally. I couldn't bare waiting a second longer to reach the bottom of this post!  Rumpology, sometimes referred to as "Bottom Reading," is fortune telling by reading people's butts. A 'rump reading' is performed by a rumpologist who examines crevices, dimples, warts, moles, and folds of a person's buttocks in much the same way a chirologist would read the palm of the hand. And to add some much needed creditability, astrologer Jackie Stallone (actor Sylvester Stallone's mother) states that rumpology is known to have been practiced in ancient times by the Babylonians, Indians, Ancient Greeks, and Romans (hard evidence proving this theory pending). You think Sylvester get free readings from his mom?  

You struggled with J but finally found Japanology and stated you find Japan fascinating. What are some of the things you’d like to see if you visited? (And you should visit – I lived there as a kid and it’s an amazing place.)

I'm glad I found J for Japanology because I've always held a fascination for Japanese culture, food, art, tradition, and really the Far East in general fascinates me. If I were to visit Japan there is so much I'd want to see that I could fill up an entire post, but off the top of my head I'd want to . . .

• Go to Hiroshima's memorial park.
• Visit Osaka and Kyoto mainly for the history and to visit the temples and shrines. 
• Visit Tokyo, go shopping in Akihabara, get drunk in a Karaoke Bar, ride the bullet train. (: 
• Climb Mount Fuji.
• Visit Tokyo National Museum, Hakone Open-Air Museum, Adachi Museum . . .
• Visit a samurai district.
• See the forging of a true katana sword.
• Eat in a real sushi restaurant where the food comes to you on a conveyor-belt.
• Eat ramen soup in Fukuoka.
• Go to a sumo tournament.
• See the cherry blossoms in March/April . . .

     Anyone want to take me to Japan???? 

Yogurtology isn’t really a field of study – what is it?

I had a hard time finding a y_ology word but luckily (thank you internet) I came across this: Yogurtology, a chain store that sells frozen yogurt and ice cream. I've never came across one, but if I ever did, I'd probably wander in for some frozen yogurt.

Any meltdowns or freak-outs during the Challenge? 

YES, during my Q post for quinology. I only had prewritten posts up to Q, so when my Q post went live, I started to freak out. Luckily, I had a butt-load to talk about the next day for R. (;

If you participate in the Challenge next year, do you have any themes in mind? 

I'm not sure if I'll participate next year but that hasn't stopped me from bouncing around some ideas. I may have a few things brewing but, mum's the word. (; 

Thanks for having me over today Alex, it was fun revisiting some of these old posts. (=

Elise, thank you for enlightening us!!

Co-host Ninja Captain Alex is the author of CassaStar and CassaFire and his blog can be found HERE

Stephen Tremp

Road Trip 2013: Let's gather for Another Pit Stop!

Hellooo? Is there anybody out there? Is anyone still on the road visiting A-Z participants from April 2013? I'm calling another pit stop, so pull your virtual car into a spot here, and let's catch up.

Hundreds of us set out in May for a road trip around the world. Some headed for the fast lane and kept on trucking. Some took the back-roads and meandered. Some of us have run out of gas, some have had our cars breakdown, and some have been called home for pressing family matters.

However far you made it, no matter what number of blogs you visited, I still want to thank you for participating. I know it's meant a lot to many bloggers who for whatever reason didn't get a lot of visits during the Challenge. THANK YOU for persevering, however far you came.

It's not over though! You can still visit for as long as you like. The big list is still clickable, as is the Reflections list. How about making just one visit now? You know how exciting it is to get someone new at your place! Give someone that thrill.

As for me and my trip, I've converted to “Sunday Drives”. I take some time on my down-time-day-of-rest to hit a few more Reflections posts. I promised to read them all and I will. I'm concentrating there, and will return to the “big” list after that.

May your road be smooth, may you hit all the green lights, and don't forget to enjoy the scenery!

~Tina