JESUS!

My mom: I know we sometimes slide stuff under the couch in the living room, did you look under there to see if any of your stuff found its way there? Why don't you take a look under there.

Me: (looks under couch) JESUS!

My dad: What? What's under there?

Me: Jesus. The manger Jesus.




You see, every year my mom sets out our manger set for Christmas. Usually, she doesn't set out the baby Jesus until Christmas day (because he hasn't been born yet. Get it?). This year, she put him out there with the wise men and other people on the foyer table. I joked with her that Jesus shouldn't be out yet since he hasn't been born. Apparently while I was away at school she moved him and hid him under the couch.

She hides him every year. And every year, it's under the couch.

A Nutcracker Christmas

Today, the Nutcracker movie was on the Ovation channel. I have never seen this, but I did have a book that I read as a child that told the intriguing story.

I have to ask, why is this movie not a Christmas staple? Sure, it is on stage everywhere that has major ballets during Christmastime, but I think this should be a story that is told more often. It reminds me a bit of Alice in Wonderland...it is so strange and childish that it is entertaining to adults as well.

During the movie, my favorite part of the ballet is the Tea (Chinese dance), which is also in the film Fantasia, where tiny mushrooms dance to the tune.

Try to watch the dancing mushrooms and not smile. They are adorable.

What a wonderful World

I was reading some of the celebrity playlists posted on iTunes when I came across BB King's. When I read this, I just thought it was very inspiring, especially to read it from an 80-something year old musician who has seen so much of the world.


"What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)": "It seems to me that everything we've talked about, at the moment, has been a personal thing to me. Now at almost 80 years old I look around and I see, like in that song 'I hear babies cry and then I think to myself what a wonderful world' because these children that are being born today, growing up today, will learn much more than I'll never know, and that's a fact. And then the way Louis sings, he didn't have a beautiful voice to some. But to me it was...that gravel voice, no one had one like it."

Inspiring.

Is it possible...?

I wanted to Google "is it possible to drink a gallon of milk in one hour" because my roommate claims it's not true (due to the size of your stomach and volume of a gallon).

I got as far as "is it possible to" in the search field and the automatic suggestion scroll yielded some interesting results. Apparently there are many women out there who are sexually uninformed...the first three results were:
"is it possible to get pregnant on your period"
"is it possible to be pregnant and still get your period"
"is it possible to get pregnant right after your period"


I am not going to get into the exact science of it, but YES, you can get pregnant while on your period or right after. And I am sure there is some scientific miracle that allows you to get your period while pregnant, but I don't know the exact details of that.

ANYWAYS...

back to my milk drinking conundrum.
One of the first results was this, a site where a guy dared his coworker to drink a gallon of milk in an hour, and hold it in for another hour.
http://www.loudermilk.org/milk/

I really want to try this. I mean, I hate puking, so I know that would NOT be fun...but the idea of drinking a gallon of milk in an hour seems like a piece of cake. Actually, I would probably be unable to eat a piece of cake in an hour b/c it's too sweet, so that's a bad analogy. But when super thirsty at dinner, I have the capability of drinking a third of a gallon of milk. My favorite cup at home is a 3/4 liter cup that makes the meal so much better by not raising the need for me to refill it as much (maybe only once, now).

Without a meal, I could totally stomach more milk. I LOVE milk. It would be great.
Someday, I will be up to this challenge.


One thing I wouldn't be able to stomach is a ton of peanut butter. Three hours ago I ate banana slices dipped in melted peanut butter and chocolate chips. And I STILL want to gag. I didn't even finish it...I ate half a banana. So, I don't recommend that.

Controversial? Or ground-breaking?

Our ethics teacher showed us some United Colors of Benetton ads in class yesterday, and here is one of them. What does this represent, what do you think is the message? What is the brand trying to say?


Opinions?

Bruce Willis in HSM3

I know what you're thinking. Ew, High School Musical.

But this? It's worth it.

No biggie.

Today my Ethics teacher showed us a clip that moveon.org made for youtube.

After showing this, some girl raised her hand, asking what it was for, since she didn't understand what it was advertising. The teacher explained it was for MoveOn.org, an anti-Bush site. He also said "I'm also not sure how old this is...I believe it said somewhere in there '3 trillion dollars in debt'...Ha, that's a small number compared to now, three trillion was the good ole' days."




PS: this video is a parody of this original video:

Halloween Playlist

I forgot to post this one, I guess it's a little late, but oh well.


I have here a playlist I made for our Halloween party. Enjoy.


Funeral for a friend/Love lies bleeding--elton john
Wild night--Van morrison
After midnight--eric clapton
scarecrow--beck
midnight rambler--the rolling stones
time of the seasons--the zombies
Slayed--overseer
brain damage--pink floyd
7 deadly sins--traveling wilburys
sunday blody sunday--U2
Lucretia MacEvil--Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Scary Monsters and Super Creps (live)--David Bowie
Black Magic Woman (Gypsy Queen)--Santana
World Wide Suicide--Pearl Jam
Evil Gal Blues--Dinah Washington
Sympathy for the Devil--The Rolling Stones
Hollywood Nocturne--The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Monster--Steppenwolf
I'm your boogie man--KC and the Sunshine Band
Don't fear the reaper--Blue Oyster Cult
The Killing Moon --Echo and the Bunnyman
The Boogie Monster--Gnarls Barkley
Lie in OUr Graves--DMB
Zombie Zoo--Tom Petty
Skeleton Song--Kate Nash
Evil Ways--Santana
A-Punk--Vampire Weekend
Poison Cup--M Ward
Monster Hospital--Metric
She Drives me Crazy--Fine Young Cannibals
Shadowplay--The killers
Brain Stew--Green Day
I Like Nightmares--The Who
Boris the Spider--The Who
Gravedigger--Dave Matthews
Mack the Knife--Bobby Darin
Bones--The Killers
Cherub Rock--Smashing Pumpkins
Phantom Punch--Sondre Lerche
Bad Moon Rising--CCR
Killer Queen--Queen
Witchy woman--the eagles
superstition--stevie wonder
evil woman--soul hooligan
I put a spell on you--Screamin' jay hawkins
Ghost riders in the sky--the blues brothers
stray cat strut--stray cats
house of wolves--my chemical romance
kiko and the lavender moon--los lobos
werewolves of london--warren zevon
blood--my chemical romance
twisted nerve--bernard Herrmann
Devil inside--INXS
Evil woman--the doobie brothers
alfred hitchcock tv theme--jeff alexander
moondance--van morrison
phantom limb--the shins
dead!--my chemical romance
friday night--lily allen
devil's haircut--beck
young blood--the coasters
season of the witch--the blues brothers
strange brew--cream

huh?

I was standing on the streetcorner waiting for the light to change to cross Michigan Avenue when I see a college-aged boy, wearing jeans covered in patches (not like, "i have holes" patches, but like "7-inch quilting squares of various colors" kind of patches, like he is dressed to be in some theatrical production) running across the busy intersection, almost hit by two cabs. He stops and the cabs stop, approximately 5 feet from each other, and the guy dramatically waves his hand and bows, as if giving permission to the cab to continue moving while he waits for it to pass. The cab driver waves his hand angrily, then the buy leaps several times across the street, sweeping his arms at his sides as if to gain the momentum of a prancing elf, to the sidewalk where I am standing.

He takes off his burnt-orange crocheted winter hat, tosses it on the ground face up, and proceeds to sing or shout or something. It took me a moment, amongst the street noise of the cabs honking, cars vrooming and people shouting to hear what he is singing, which happened to be "99 Red Balloons" by Nena. I stood there, staring at the traffic light, grinning and lauging to myself at the strangeness that just happened.

Things darken in the Twilight

If you haven't already heard, the movie adaptation of Twilight (based on a book) is garnering a LOT of attention from fans, namely 13-17 year old girls. In the past week, this has been in the news A LOT, because girls have been dying, slowly, from their lack of Robert Pattinson bites. Seriously.

Apparently there have been events at malls and stuff to promote the movie and give out free stuff/let fans get autographs/let fans meet the cast. And the stores have waved their white flags early to the voracious fans, letting them come in a day early or before the designated time of the event, thus leaving the people later in line to cry of disappointment. Some fans were sad, many were ANGRY.

-One fan, according to the news, equated not meeting Pattinson with "getting shot in the stomach"
-One fan claimed the stores were exercising "false advertising"

And, in semi-unrelated news, a young girl asked the vampire-playing actor to "bite her." Yes, these are our future leaders.

What's up, NASA?

In my Reporting and Writing class today, we had a lab that asked us to write on 3 topics that should be reported on more.
My 3 topics were:
-24 hour news (and how it's completely unnecessary)
-Russian-American relations (remember when we hated you back in the cold war? well, we're cool now. Wait, except for that whole Georgia thing. Except, well, I don't know anymore)
-Nasa and Space Exploration

That last one gathered most of my interest, yet strangely enough, was the shortest paragraph of the three. Basically I said "When's the last time you heard about NASA? I bet a WHILE." Did you know that we just found out our Mars lander unit DIED on Nov. 2nd? As in, we can't communicate with it anymore? Yeah, well it HAPPENED. And no one cared. Except me. Because that means MARS PICTURES! And they found ice and minerals that show signs of water! And they gathered SAMPLES! And it was, according to some NASA website, the most successful mission on Mars YET. Thrilling. There's also a Mars ROVER, (which is drastically different from a LANDER, but I am really not sure how) that is encountering DUST STORMS. I really hope it makes it. Didja know that we're going into space soon with a SHUTTLE?! TONIGHT! At 7:55pm EST! Fingers crossed it looks something like what happened in that movie with Jodie Foster (Contact). Speaking of Contact, remember all those space movies? What happened to that trend? Red Planet? Apollo 13? Mission to Mars? So many movies destined to be repeated on TNT and USA for forever.

I also wrote in my paper how we should focus more on NASA because they come up with cool stuff, like cushy mattresses and space blankets that look like foil (super-futuristic). And CAT scanning machines and MRI machines and flash-frozen food (um, hello Ore-Ida taters!). So yeah, NASA is pretty big news.

Now, I think I will check NASA news daily just so I can be a super nerd. And because it's the closest I can get to the nerd-dom that I experienced when visiting the Fermi Lab for an AP Physics field trip senior year of high school.

I also have to say I got a kick out of hearing one of my classmates write about an under-reported story she found about a cat who was found after being missing for 13 years. At the end of her paragraph she said she wrote "I know this is not really news-worthy, but I had to write on it because it made me laugh out loud."



In other news, it looks like Batman left his grappling hook and wire hanging off of my classroom building. Or, at least that's what it looked/sounded like from the 14th story window.

Jim Gordon took an axe, gave his mother forty whacks...

Well, not exactly an axe, but a hammer.


I was listening to the song "Layla." I looked at the iTunes info and it said it was Derek and the Dominoes. I thought it was a Clapton song. I went to wikipedia where I found that this band was created by Clapton and the song had a bit of Duane Allman guitar in it.

Well, I was reading the wikipedia page and found that separate sounding parts of the song were composed separately by Clapton and a guy named Jim Gordon. Of course, thinking he was the police dude from Batman, I wanted to read up more on this guy. I was skimming past his musical career stuff trying to figure out if he was famous for anything I knew, and apparently he's worked with every musician EVER (not really, but a lot). Then, I see the title "retirement and incarceration." Of course, this piqued my interest. I read onward. This is what I found (from Wikipedia.com)

---
In the late 1970s, Gordon complained of hearing voices in his head, primarily those of his mother. Unfortunately, his physicians did not diagnose his condition as schizophrenia and instead treated him for alcohol abuse.

In June 1983, he murdered his mother with a hammer. It was not until his trial in 1984 that he was properly diagnosed. Due to the fact that his attorney was unable to use the insanity defense, he was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison with a possibility of parole. He has served his sentence at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, Atascadero State Hospital in Atascadero, and the State Medical Corrections Facility in Vacaville. As of 2008, he remains incarcerated. Currently, there is a petition on line to assist him in either being released from prison or placed in a facility where he is able to receive more sophisticated treatment.
---

WHOA. That is more than I was expecting to find.
Imagine listening to the guitar/piano slower half of Layla while reading this. A bit ironic.

I always am so curious about morbid things like this. Poor guy...no one helped him in his opening stages of schizophrenia.

Supernova Girl

I was randomly humming the song from Zenon: Girl of the 21st century today. Remember that? "Zoom zoom zoom, make my heart go boom boom--my supernova girl!"

Yeah, so I was singing it aloud when I realized that the lyrics are slightly more intelligent than I thought, or at least one part is.

Here is the beginning of the song until the chorus:

___
Stargazing megafast
You hit me like a cosmic blast
You've given me a Technicolor world

Putting me in Overdrive
Speed of light, I'm so alive!
Could you be my supernova girl?

Interplanetary, Megastellar, Hydrostatic
There's no gravity between us
Our love is automatic!

(Zoom Zoom Zoom) Make my heart go
(Boom Boom) My Supernova Girl(x4)
____

So that stanza before the chorus says "there's no gravity between us, our love is automatic"...well, if you know any physics, then you know that there is always gravitational attraction between any two objects on our planet. For example, if a glass of water is sitting on a table next to a lamp, there is a gravitational force between the lamp and the table, the glass and the table, and the lamp and the glass. My high school physics teacher would always joke (and I would always laugh, b/c I'm a nerd like that) that if someone were to hit on you and say "don't you feel some attraction here?" you could always respond "No, it's simply gravitational."

Get it? Gravitational attraction! Haha! ahh....

So, back to the song, the lyrics go "There's no gravity between us, our love is automatic," implying there is no gravitational attraction, just a loving attraction!

Amazing! Clearly the writer of this song knows his/her basic gravitational physics!

Well, I thought it was pretty amazing.

Gross!

This guy apparently gets a lot of freebies, and his favorite by far is this company cookbook he got with a bunch of terrible, gross, recipes.


http://www.amalah.com/photos/the_company_cookbook/index.html

This is Daniel Cook

I love the kid's short show "This is Daniel Cook," about a 6-year old boy who learns about people's jobs. Basically Daniel just makes hilarious candid remarks to which the older people really don't know how to respond.

Today he met a train conductor.

Daniel: Is this an old train or a new one?
Old Train guy: Well, this is an old one. This was made in 1912.
Daniel: WOW! I was born in 1996.
Old Train guy: Holy cats!

EDIT:
Here is a preview for the show. It makes me smile (and laugh) every time I see it.






I also just found this. "Water is the best way to un-thirst you"

iTunes secret messages

As I scour my billion-song iTunes for some perfect songs for my Halloween mix, I have encountered a few odd things...

When I search "Evil,"
Hannah Montana's "life's what you make it" and "Nobody's perfect" show up

When I search "Bone"
Madonna's entire "erotica" CD shows up

When I search "Die"
Aaron Carter's version of "Run rudolph run" shows up.


Hmmm...

105%

Do you think hookers go as moderately clothed college girls for Halloween?
-Tanner Boyd




This is why I love Collegehumor.

those brownies must be delish

Alex: Hey.
Me: Yeah?
Alex: Have you tried one of these brownies?
Me: nah.
Alex: They're REALLY good.
Me: Kay.

*2 minutes later*
Alex: Did I already ask you if you've tried one of these brownies?
Me: Yes, just a second ago.
Alex: What did you say?
Me: That I didn't.
Alex: Ugh, they're really good.

*5 minutes later*
Alex: Melissa?
Me: Yeah?
Alex: Nevermind.
Me: What?
Alex: I was gonna ask you again about the brownies, but I thought it might...
Me: ...be too much?
Alex: Yeah.

Ahhh, Thanksgiving.

Has anyone ever noticed that probably the biggest week of the year for America is Thanksgiving week?

The day before Thanksgiving is known as the biggest bar night in the year (due to people not having to work the next day and people having a "homecoming" with their buddies).

Thanksgiving, of course, is the biggest gluttony celebration there is, AND there is football on that day AND parades.

Then, of course, is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which is known to be the busiest shopping day of the year, when most people do their Christmas shopping.

What joy. All in celebration of a little event where some Native Americans taught pilgrims how to grow corn to survive the long season ahead, and the pilgrims returned the favor by giving them disease and stealing their land.



How proud I am to say "I'M AMERICAN!"

like...toaster?

I was reading a definitions list my Spanish teacher sent the class, and came across this definition:

"The use of words that sound like their meanings."

Aloud, I thought "like, Toaster?"

Then I read the word it was defining: onomatopoeia.


Silly me.

Subway?

Alex and I were heading toward the bus stop last night when a teenage couple stopped and asked us a question.

"Where's the closest subway?"

Alex paused, thinking.
At first I was confused (this isn't NYC, we call the train "the El"), then I took initiative and responded.

"You mean the train? Well, see that street there? That's Chicago. Walk about two blocks that way, and right in front of the McDonald's you'll see stairs going down. Take those down and there you are!"
The girl nodded and said "Thanks."

As we were walking away, Alex said "See, I paused because I thought she was talking about the sandwich place."
"But I said 'the train,' right?" I replied.
"Yeah, but she didn't say anything when you said that, so I don't know if she meant the train or the restaurant."
"oh."

Well, we figured out there was a Subway near there, anyways, but it wasn't located underground down some staircase. Hopefully the couple found their way.

The Office is super annoying.

Yeah, no creative title for this, not even a title I thought was creative but wasn't.

After the third season or so, I made the discovery that The Office is just a major disappointment. Jim and Pam are going to take a trillion years "to happen" (even when they were dating in the 4th season, it wasn't going very far...). Michael is super obnoxious and awkward. Seriously? Four seasons of this? Michael is just plain annoying. Not funny, not silly, just nerve-jitteringly obnoxious. I cannot find more than two words to describe his annoying obnoxiousness, but there is much more anger and frustration in these two adjectives than it may seem.

I CANNOT STAND THAT CHARACTER. How can I watch a 30-minute show with that?
I look forward to episodes that don't have much Michael, but there are not many. Even when there was a focus on Andy, I wasn't sure which was worse, having to endure 30 minutes of Michael or 30 minutes of Andy. Oh, and when Michael and Packer are together? Not funny. Just stupid and annoying. Ughghhghghghghhhh.

That is why last season I probably saw only 3 episodes or so. And I am definitely not going to watch the season premiere this week.

I am also kind of pissed at the show currently because I went through some trouble to get free IMAX movie passes to "Eagle Eye" that happens to be this Thursday and two friends have either cancelled on me or just said they were busy because they can't manage to watch the show on repeat online that night or tape it to watch later. No, that would be too easy. Because these Eagle Eye passes are just falling from trees.

I mean, seriously. Even if the movie sucks, it was FREE. And in IMAX. And you got to go out and walk around the city (a SHORT walk, for the lazy folk) on a beautiful night to get to the theatre. And you see people, instead of shutting yourself in a dorm room huddled around a TV.


I am just sick of our generation. Everything sucks. But that's for another post.

It's all been done

Why do all teen shows think they are original?

And I watch MANY teen shows, so I should know.

All the shows that have no twist, that are just about teens in general (90210, Gossip Girl, the OC, One Tree Hill, Degrassi, Dawson's Creek, My So-Called Life, etc) are really going nowhere in the world of cutting edge entertainment.

We, the audience, have seen everything. You can't surprise us. For the past 20 years or so, teen shows have thrived. Many have shared storylines. Even if you combine these so-called "intense" storylines, it will not be mind-blowingly surprising.

Therefore, when 90210 says it's gonna be different, it's gonna be hot, sexy, provocative, I somewhat disagree. I am sure it will be the first two things, but the last one? Provocative doesn't even exist anymore. I have seen characters in teen shows commit suicide, blow up a school, have sex, come out of the closet, cheat on their boy/girlfriends, have car accidents, wear skanky clothes to school, smoke weed, snort cocaine, take ecstasy, take barbituates, steal drugs, drink, give oral sex, get stalked, deal with racism, become anorexic, have affairs with their teachers, stab someone, get pregnant, have an abortion, get raped, have abusive family, have abusive boyfriends, get discriminated for religion, become a rock star, have cancer, become paralyzed, deal with bipolar disorder, expose themself to a video camera, then have it spread across the school, street race, go to prison, be in gangs, punch each other, post sexy photos on the internet, become a stripper, start a band, almost become a prostitute, become engaged, and more.

And this was only on ONE SHOW (degrassi of course).


I. Have. Literally. Seen. Everything.

Everything.


Do you not get this? There are no more subjects to cover!

I am surprised Degrassi lasted this long only repeating a FEW storylines! How did they come up with so many!?

So, 90210, don't tell me you will be shocking. Don't tell me there will be stuff I've never seen before. Unless you are showing porn or something, you really can't surprise me on what you will show on national television.


This is not to say, of course, that I won't watch 90210.
Shenae Grimes is gonna be on it...and she's my favorite character from Degrassi. So I will definitely tune in so I can yawn.


As for Gossip Girl: why do people think this is a super provocative show? Teens having sex has happened in other shows before. MANY shows before. Why is this so new?


That is all.

The Master of Sales

I went shopping today with Alex, and I spent a total of $37. You may say, "ok, no biggie, you probably got two shirts or something." But no, I am the Master of Sales, and I stretched every dollar.

At the beginning of the summer I saw these cute halters at Anne Taylor for about $40. I didn't get them then because I was NOT going to pay $40 for a cotton jersey halter with no special embellishments or anything.
Then, yesterday, I remembered that halter I looked at a couple months ago and thought "I bet it's on sale now!" And I checked the website and it was on sale for $15 on the website. I need some sleeveless shirts asap for summer, so I didn't want to order it online. I went to the mall and bought it and now I am the proud owner of a navy blue with white polka dot halter for $15.

We sauntered over to Old Navy and there was a $2.99 sale, which was just screaming my name. I got three striped tank tops (a purple/violet, a navy/teal and a black/white), two short sleeve boat necks (one navy/teal, one violet/purple), and two pairs of XXL boys' boxers (both black, one with multi colored stripes, one with multi colored skulls). My tally there was about $23.

Oh, and Alex scored a free Dark Knight "WHY SO SERIOUS?" shirt (made with an american apparel tee, too!) from her city job, so that was just a bonus.

So that comes to one free Dark Knight tee, two short sleeved tees, three tanks, one halter, and two pairs of boxers for around $38. That averages to about $4 an item.


Beat that.

Doesn't this book look great?

Is it just me, or is it very strange to have a commercial for a book?

Today I saw a commercial selling James Patterson's "SAIL".
At first it was confusing because I thought "they can't be selling a book, that's too weird!" How can you represent a book through visuals and audio when it is an object filled with written words? Is it strange only to me?

Sure I broke the law...but it wasn't here...

I have a question.

You know how certain jobs require you to take drug tests?
You know how marijuana stays in your system for a while?

Well...

What if you got a job in January, then went to Amsterdam at the end of January. Then, in Amsterdam, where smoking pot is legal, you, well, smoked pot. Then you came back, took a drug test, and failed (due to the lurking marijuana in your system). Would you be fired from you job? Because you weren't breaking the law...

Or maybe the job description says you couldn't do drugs while employed there...then in that case, I guess you were breaking the rules. But if you were halfway across the globe where smoking pot is legal, I don't understand why you should be penalized.


I dunno.

Oh, children

At the post office today there was this little girl (I'd guess 3 yrs old), and she was with her mom. She wanted to go sit on a bench that was close to the front of the line, and her mom said she could, but she(the mom) would have to wait in line while her daughter sat there. The girl was upset her mommy couldn't go up there and be by her while she sat, so she started whining, which escalated to balling. She was soon crying, telling her mommy she didn't want to go over "there" alone, because "that man over there is scaring me!"

Good thing she didn't specify which man.

Some man came in with his two sons while I was closer to the front of the line, and one of the sons, who I'd guess is five or so, went up to the trash can and pushed in the lid, sticking his head partially inside. Then he said "Ew, that smells."
I basically couldn't stop laughing, and the people around me in line were staring at me. I laughed even harder when the kid's dad said "Well yes, that is a garbage can."

I smell bread.

Ugh, I was making an english muffin sandwich today and the smell of the stuff was disgusting. The bread I mean. Bread has a gross smell.



Oh no, does this mean I'm gonna die?http://www.marsinvestigations.net/culturalreferences/1159/mash







PS: If this is what a muffin is to the English, what is a regular muffin? A muffy?Muffer? Muffleton?



PPS: I know I never posted those pictures of those sweet watches and alarm clock. I'll get to it.

Gwen Stefani and Pink Floyd aren't the same.

It's time to come up with some more genre-describing words. "Rock" "Alternative" and "Pop" are WAY too generic to describe music. According to my iTunes...

the following albums are "Rock":

• Gwen Stefani "The Sweet Escape"
• Aerosmith "Nine Lives"
• Alanis Morissette "Jagged Little Pill"
• The Beatles "Anthology"
• Beck "Sea Change"
• Dave Matthews Band "Crash"
• Fall Out Boy "Infinity on High"
• Jet "Shine On"

These are "pop":

• Alanis Morrisette "So-Called Chaos"
• Ashlee Simpson "Autobiography"
• The Beatles "Anthology" (a diff. disc)
• Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
• Jack Johnson "In Between Dreams"
• KC and the Sunshine Band "Best of..."
• Madeleine Peyroux "Careless Love"
• Paul Simon "There goes Rhymin' Simon"
• Van Morrison "Best of..."

These are "Alternative":

• Beck "Guero"
• Hellogoodbye "Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!"
• The Killers "Sams Town"
• OK GO "Oh No"
• Snow Patrol "Eyes Open"
• White Stripes "Get Behind Me Satan"
• All-American Rejects "Move Along"
• Jem "Finally Woken"

Even Jazz seems confusing...look at these songs that are considered "jazz":

• "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse
• "Autumn in New York" by Billie Holiday (which I agree...this is what I think of as jazz)
• "Julia Ann Johnson" by H. Ledbetter
• "freefall" by Spyro Gyra

Since when is Van Morrison in the same category as Ashlee Simpson?
It's time people came to creatin' more words, because I think you'd agree that the artists on these lists don't sound anything like eachother.

I feel like in the last five years, the only new words we've come up with to describe a new genre of music is "emo"...well what about MIA? That should be like...hipster hip-hop...like urban outfitters hip hop. Let's come up with some new words, people!

So that's how they're doing it.

I didn't know it was so easy!

The Ha Ha Ha Times

Ugh, Joker, I totally agree.

Music and Lyrics

You know how songs can trigger a very specific memory? Today we had a street barbecue at our school, and they were playing all sorts of music, and some just made me think of very specific moments in my life.

Gavin DeGraw--I Don't Want To Be
I haven't heard this song in so long, and it reminded me of this very specific moment where I was a senior in high school, riding home with Nicolette and Kristen, (and maybe Heather D?) and I remember them all talking excitedly and nervously about the Spanish Honors Society induction that was coming up, and how they were all happy about being in it. I remember feeling so jealous that I was not included in this conversation, because I was just under the requirements for SHS. I had one B that brought my overall Spanish GPA down just a smidge enough to affect my never being able to be inducted in the society, EVER. I was so upset for some reason, and looking back, I am still a bit upset that I was so close (yet so far away). But, all that would've done for my life would be something to put on my "resume" to apply to colleges...and that probably would've gotten me nowhere special.


Regina Spektor--Fidelity
I remember blasting this song on repeat when I was packing up last year to go home for Thanksgiving Break. I probably left about an hour later than I normally would have had I not been dancing and singing around my room!
It also reminds me of the episode of Veronica Mars (where I was introduced to it and hated it...I later learned I loved it) where her and Logan sneak off to make out in the library...and how much I miss that show.

Any other songs that remind you of anything?

No longer a problem, my furry tailed friend.

My grandma gave me a TooTall chocolate bunny for Easter. His ears stuck out about 2 inches above the top of the box...and his feet were 2 inches from the bottom...so clearly he was not too tall, but the box was poorly made.

Well, I guess height is no longer an issue, Too Tall! Mwahaha.

Maybe this is why I dreamed of killing a small bunny in my dream the other night. It was really quite disturbing and sad.

I clean up a little nicer than this.

Before the school year ends, we have to do these final presentations of a project we did throughout the semester. This week were the presentations, and you do them with your group. The teacher instructed us to do a formal business-like presentation, and therefore we were to dress nicely.

I already did mine on Tuesday, so I was just a member of the audience today.

Before class began, one of the groups was running through their presentation to make sure they had their transitions all worked out and met the required time limit. After their mock presentation, one of the guys in the group comes up to me and politely asks "Hey, do you mind if we go first presenting today? We just want to get it over with." And I told him I had already presented Tuesday, and that I therefore do not care if he goes first, because I am just an audience member today.

I look at his suit, crisply ironed, with a starched white shirt underneath, and a tie that has a Windsor knot that would put any GQ editor to shame.
I then look down to my frayed jeans, my 3-year-old dirty frayed Converse, and my heather-grey shirt I have had since 5th grade that reads "class of '99!"
I then ask, "I hope this is not what you think is my definition of 'business-like attire.'"

Then a couple of my friends showed up as this conversation was happening, and Adam laughed as the guy walked away and I said "I clean up a little nicer than this."
Then Evan jokingly commented "maybe it was the necklace," referring to my $2 clearance, plastic round-beaded necklace, which while it is pretty awesome, would definitely not hint at a well-thought out plan for my wardrobe choice for the day.

Why does having to sign up for classes have to be so difficult? There are so many things to take into account.

• the class counts for something (major, CORE, minor)
• the class is at a reasonable time
• the class is interesting
• the teacher is good
• the class doesn't interfere with another class scheduling (whether it be at the same time or at a different campus and transportation time must be allowed)
• pre-requisites to sign up for the class

That being said...I have spent an hour looking at classes and have one picked out so far.

Spanish Words.

Some words in foreign languages just don't seem to connotate the action/thing they are representing. Perhaps it is just because I learned English first.

For example, when I think of the word "sparkle", I think of a pretty little star, twinkling in the sky. Or glitter. Or a pretty dress. Or a diamond. Something beautiful.

The word for "sparkle" in Spanish is "relampaguea" (ray-lahm-pah-GAY-uh)

When I hear "relampaguea" I think of regurgitated cafeteria food. I dunno, I just don't see something all pretty and twinkly with the word "RELAMPAGUEA!!!!!"


Next, I would like to say I have found a new word in my (Spanish) dictionary that I hope to be able to use soon.

This word is "jilipollada" (hil-ee-poy-YA-dah) which means "silly thing to do" or "stupid thing to say"
Or, according to my dictionary, if I use it in the way "esos son jilipolleces" it means "that's a lot of bull."



Lo siento, esto es jilipollez.

Thinking out loud, edition 2

"Naw, I am not in the mood for eggrolls today."

My My Hey Hey

I was listening to Neil Young's "My My Hey Hey" today, and as he sang the famous lyrics:

It's better to burn out

Than to fade away

It made me think...did Britney Spears burn out or fade away? I mean, it was a gradual spiral, right? Or do you think she just had a huge burnout?

What are the odds?

I just dropped a nickel and it landed on its edge.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?


I am going to take this as a bad omen.

Things that make me laugh

From an article yesterday on collegehumor.com :

"I'm a million years old!" exclaimed Summitt's mother after Pat's eighth title.

Banderillas de tiniebla!!!!

I just found my new favorite Spanish phrase.
"banderillas de tiniebla."

It means "short spears of death."


It's moments like these that make me cherish those 8 years of Spanish.

It's either you or the hobo

Today, as an "incentive" to read our cover letters we had to write for homework, our teacher brought in candy bars as a treat.

But "incentive" really wasn't the right word, since we all had to present our cover letters anyway, but that just says the teacher is not big on vocab.


Quote of the day?
Meghan: Naw, I don't want it(the candy bar) just yet...I want to see what he has left.
Christina: Take it, really. It's either you or the hobo.


Then, some girls presented a campaign commercial for Sensodyne toothpaste.
Girl: ...then it will change to a shot of a male and female from the ice age....
(whispering)
Me: Did humans even live during the ice age?
Christina: Last time the commercial was on talking teeth. I don't think we're really going for reality here.

[[But then I did some research online and found humans did, in fact, live during the ice age. My bad. That's what you get when you get your historical facts from an animated movie about a talking sabertooth, mammoth, and some sort of sloth.

Wait, there was a human baby in that movie. Dammit.]]


And for a final note, I left class with two full-size Butterfingers and a Baby Ruth. That's right, FULL SIZE.

Solution!

I have a fantastic idea, that will solve a good 60% of my general annoyances:

outlaw/ban/get rid of

Cell phones and cigarettes!

Don't you think the world would suck much less without them?

Of course, it would leave us to deal with generic human stupidity, but that's only 40%.

karma-karma-karma-caramel machiatto

Is it that much to ask? Really?

I went to my school's food market, and they don't carry Vanilla ice cream. Sure, you'd think it's no big deal, except for the fact that they carry every single Ben &Jerry's flavor in the inventory, but I can't get a freaking plain ice cream.

No...instead, I can get blueberry whipped coconut pineapple waffle cones in marshmallow creme and caramel sauce. Or banana yogurt with raw cookie dough and coffee mocha-frappa-whatsa with a cherry on top BUT I CANNOT GET A FREAKING TUB OF VANILLA ICE CREAM.


WHAT THE HELL.

Humans are disgusting creatures.

I was thinking how basically every part of the human body is gross. Is there a part that isn't disgusting? The mouth, for example, has morning breath, is the first part of your digestive system, it kisses strangers, perhaps even swapping spit, etc etc.

The hands touch everything around you, picking up germs here and there. They also handle your food, which you eat! EW! They rub your eyes when you're tired, etc. etc.

So, my question is, which body part is the least disgusting? I guess something lame like "the back" or something like "shoulder" could win, but those are lame, only connecting parts of the major body parts.

Or, what is the most disgusting?

Hannah FAN-tana

Martha is a FOOL

Happy day-after-April-Fool's-day Day!!!


So, my teacher, the most predictable of all, pulled what he thought was the CLEVEREST PRANK OF ALL on our class yesterday. Can you guess what it was? Think: teacher, prank. Teacher, prank.

Give up?

A FAKE POP QUIZ!
HAHAHAhahahlame.

And I knew it was a prank.

He was all "someone informed me that no one has been keeping up with the readings [true, but i had kept up with the readings...and if you were keeping up, you should've been done reading the entire book three weeks ago, so he was screwing over even people who had read]." So he then passes around some quizzes, saying "if you HAVE been keeping up, then this should be no problem."

Immediately, I'm like DING!, it's a prank. He'd totally do this. I mean, he's the kind of teacher who drinks Coca-Cola to feel like a kid again (and he does), or has a giant photo of Mickey Mouse in Disneyworld in his office (and he does).

So I turn to my friends and say "dude, this is totally a prank...he'd totally do this."
So I just sit and stare at the paper until he says "can anyone say APRIL FOOL'S?!?!" and there's a whole bunch of "UGH! HEY! GEEZ! You're so MEAN! Ugh! You got me! haHA!"s flying around until it dies down. I swear...sometimes the girls in this class (seriously, THREE boys...20 girls) are not too sharp.

As for the fact that we don't actually do the readings, he said "Eh, it's your own loss...if you'd been reading, then it'd improve the work on your assignments, and that's your problem."




And the only other prank I saw that day was pretty funny:
On the bulletin board on our floor, someone had posted an "ad" that read:

You wanna learn how to dance? Joe Smith(or whatever his name was) knows how! And he'll teach you, free! He is offering personal dance lessons starting April 1st in his room, (insert room number here)! Call today, since spaces are limited!

Then there was a picture of the guy mid-dance, and on the bottom were those little flags you can tear off with his name and cell number. I am sure he got tons of phone calls and was like "what the heck are these people talking about?!"
It was SO choice. I wish I took a picture of this, but by the time I thought of that, the ads were gone.

_______

And today on the Martha Stewart Show...
Seth Meyers was on! He's like, my fave from Saturday Night Live. Apparently he is head writer now, so he only appears on Weekend Update, and writes the rest of the time. No more funny skits!!! THIS STINKS!

But he was hilarious and I wish I had taped the episode.

They made "rhubarb fool" for April Fool's day (I watched 10 minutes of this nonsense and still really have no idea what this dessert is), and Martha, as usual, was being super awkward and annoying. She was teaching him how to cook, and by "teaching" I mean "being very condescending".
There was a part that required a food processor, and she was like "Here, Seth, put this mix into the food processor...do you have one of these?"
Seth: No.
Martha: Have you ever seen a food processor before?
Seth: No.
Martha: Do you cook? Ever?
Seth: No.
Martha: Do you have a kitchen?
Seth: Yes.

Then she was teaching him how to use it...
Seth: ooh, this should be pretty easy, I only see an on/off switch!
Martha: Just hit "on" and wait for it to mix until smooth. You're doing very good!
Seth: Thanks, I know.
Martha: All right, we can take this out now. Did you see the pulse button? That's good for cleaning the blades and such. Here, push that button.
*seth pushes the pulse button*
Seth: OOH! AHH!
Martha: You like that?
Seth: (sarcastic) Yes, of the three choices of On, Off, and Pulse, it's my favorite.

Then when they were done, he made a funny little quip: "You could throw a comma in there and be all 'We're making some rhubarb, FOOL!'"


Overall he was just being awesome, and Martha was being condescending, as she is with all her guests.



Oh, and Jonas Brothers were on Ellen today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYTYAa9sXE0&feature=related
The middle Jonas basically admitted that girls just walk into their house now, wanting to meet them.




And since we're on the topic of Jonas Brothers,
if anyone wants to purchase me the Hannah Montana/Jonas Brothers concert DVD whenever it comes out....


that'd be pretty sweeeeet.

take me out to the ball game

My family and I are Sox fans, and it is funny hearing my die-hard Cub fan roommate support her team.

Except tonight, after they lost the season-opener.

"Of COURSE they couldn't just lose, they had to lose in a spectacular way!... It's like UGH! Cubs."

El odio a los Emos

Have you heard about a recent emo-bashing insurgence in Mexico? I am not an emo myself, but I find this...I can't even find the word for it. Odd, yes. Frustrating? I guess, yeah. I don't know, tell me what you think.

There's been riots and these mobs attacking groups of emo kids in Mexico.
Here's two blogs with a bunch of links to stuff, but some links are to Mexican news sites, so if you don't know un poco de espanol, you may have to put the site into google and do a translation.
http://danielhernandez.typepad.com/daniel_hernandez/2008/03/violence-agains.html
http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/letter-from-mexico-city/more-on-the-emo-attacks-in-mex/index.php

There really hasn't been a definite word yet as to why there is so much hatred, but some believe it is because it is almost a feminine way for guys to dress, and this hatred is more of an anti-gay hatred.

Here's a video that was linked from the second blog I posted above, and from the site I got it from, it says:
"In Mexico, emo culture is a butt of many jokes. It is either despised intensely or generally ignored. But it's only the despising sentiment that lately has been getting wide airply. In the above clip, a Televisa on-air personality named Kristoff expresses a serious dose of anti-emo rhetoric and switches to English to say, on network television, "Fucking bullshit" to the emo movement. Some emos I've interviewed point to the Kristoff clip as a defining provocation of the current wave of anti-emo violence. Now check out this clip from another Televisa program where three emos are interviewed about the attacks. At the end, the kid on the left asks if he can say more thing: he directly accuses Kristoff of spreading anti-emo hate."


That clip is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEQshjri6P8
If you don't speak/understand Spanish, he's basically saying "emo is a thing that 15 year-olds follow, and they only do it because they like the singer of the group, not the actual music." He also says "Is it really necessary for you to create a new genre for this? Were you not satisfied enough with punk, dead-metal or the current bands out there? Was it necessary to be like 'no, the rest of the music out there is the same...they aren't emotional enough. It's fucking bullshit. There isn't a movement, a new way to think, this isn't music. You are confusing the hard rock, punk, and screamo together with the current music to justify your stupid and cowardly movement."


What do you think about this?

WHAT??!

WHAT?! I just found out that Miley Cyrus (yes, hannah montana)'s older brother is the lead singer of Metro Station. And Miley's costar, Mitchell Musso, his brother is in Metro Station too! WHAT? I heard this band on the-n during one of their commercials featuring all the stars from their shows.
Ok, ironically enough, I will post here all the summer promos EXCEPT the one with the song (because I can't find it). Huh. If you do find it, I believe it is called "summer '07 promo pool party" or something of the sort. It is tagged to some or all of those.

There was a series of promos airing during summer, and these are them:
Pool Party: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpykEl9tYpA&NR=1
Valery Ortiz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_I8bwx5Z4s&NR=1
The Guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQIgUte63Xc&feature=related
Charity Laughs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aqMuuWnnqg&NR=1
Sunrise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD8_h3tSJWM


There are so many the-n promos I love. Like this:
On Top Of The World: http://youtube.com/watch?v=a8OKf6nP6Rw
Times Square: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_lk4pkG5QLw&feature=related
City Lights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHI-GPHtDDc

and here is their myspace. The song in the video is "seventeen forever".

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=82052063

Thinking out loud, edition 1

Have you ever thought something that only makes sense to you, but you said it out loud and made a complete fool of yourself?

I find that this happens when you have a train of thought going on in your head, and then no one around you knows where the hell what you just said came from.

An example today, where i PREVENTED myself from acting a fool:

So there has been a nickel sitting on the edge of the arm of the couch in our living room area that has been there for three days now. I have wondered why none of my roommmates have claimed it, since it has been there so long. And why a nickel? Why no other coin? A penny is understandable, I mean, those are everywhere, and who the heck wants a penny?


So today in class, I am walking to my seat and next to this one girl's backpack and purse pile, there is a nickel on the ground.
I was thinking "Another nickel? Why are there nickels everywhere?!" And I almost said that out loud, but I held it in.

Can you imagine what people would have thought? They would have thought I was crazy. Unless they already do, which is understandable.


What are your random "thinking out loud" thoughts? don't even explain them, they are so much better when you don't know the story leading up to them.

ASRTD?

Today I met up with a friend from high school, Briana. We were with her sister and mom, and some of their family friends.

We went to Crate and Barrel, CB2 and Crate and Barrel Outlet. It was insane. But we had fun.

(there's a crate filled with egg cups in different colors, and the sign above it reads: "Asrtd. egg cups")
Briana: I thought this was a word at first (points to Asrtd). I was like "why would someone name it like this? This is so difficult to say! Then I realized it was an abbreviation for "assorted." Like at Ikea, where everything is named "norseteborg!" The worst is when you have to buy it and tell the person who works there. You don't want to sound like a fool, and mispronounce it. They might be like "um, it's norsteBURG. Gosh."

i gotta have faith!

When I was driving around today I heard "Faith" by George Michael on the radio.

It's hard to imagine that that was the same singer behind "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go!"



Wait...no it's not.

laundry humor

Me: So I couldn't get to the dry cleaners today because they closed at 5, and I got there a few minutes after that.
Eric: so they were...*tugs on shirt*...clothesed? Do you think that's what they put on the sign when they aren't open? "We're clothesed?"

I don't care for jelly beans

Don't call me.

*phone rings*
Eric: I'm not getting it.
Me: You're closer.
Eric: Come ON. You're on a stool...I'm laying down, on the couch.
*phone rings again*
Eric: Dammit! This is bulls**t! (picks up phone) Hello?

FREE STUFF!!!

I love free stuff.

That's why I JUMPED, yes JUMPED at the opportunity to send in for a free projection alarm clock from Pop-Tarts.
I got it in the mail this past week, I'll post pictures later!


And my mom was like "did you see your Barbie watch?" I was like "what?" and she revealed to me a neon yellow wristwatch with pink flowers that my brother found in the cereal box the other morning. It, by the way, is everything I could dream and more in a watch.

I will post pictures of it along with the alarm clock.

I love being home.



ever had a cool cereal box prize? tell me about it and comment!

Quote of the day

Eric, watching Mission To Mars, commenting on how Don Cheadle looks unkempt when they discover him on mars: "I didn't know there were homeless people on Mars!"

I'm always ready for a challenge

So I had a full gallon of milk that I opened last night, hoping that I could finish it before I left for the weekend. I was up for the challenge. Unfortunately, half the gallon was gone when I had to leave. Challenge failed.

But a challenge I completed was trying to not drive to Indiana today. I made a wrong turn after I drove my dad to the airport today...I took the expressway south instead of north...(I knew I made the mistake right after I made the exit) so I was driving on some random road for a while, then I took an exit and was driving on that trying to find somewhere to turn around. It was pretty difficult. I was up for the challenge, though, and found my way home before I crossed the border. And I didn't need to ask for directions or call anyone or anything!

Don't worry, I was only on the wrong road for about 15 minutes...so I really wasn't even close to the border.

You sing a sad song just to turn it around...

So, let me tell you of the evolution of my bad day. (don't worry, it ends happily.)

It all began this morning, waking up an hour and a half before my class begins (when it only takes me 20 minutes to get ready for class). It's all about the transportation...



Let me give you a brief backstory here. I have a class at the other campus at 8:30am. It takes me about 18 minutes from the time I wake up to get ready for school. There are 4 methods of getting to the other campus, and disadvantages of each.
1. The school shuttle (more like the school glacier that is completely unreliable and slow)
2. The El (which takes about 40 minutes during rush hour, and especially unreliable because it likes to go super slow between stops)
3. A taxi (which would cost about $20, and really isn't that necessary. But of course, it's fastest)
4. The public transportation bus (my preferred method, because I get to class on time, but I have to catch it about 1 hour before class in order to arrive on the campus by 8am, but if I waited for the next bus, I would most likely get to class at 8:45, therefore late to class)

If I had a car, it would be the fastest, because a direct drive from one campus to the other is like fifteen minutes, tops.

Ok, so I leave my room this morning with Katie around 7:25. We usually try and catch the bus that arrives at 7:32. So we are walking (the stop is a few blocks away) and we are waiting for the light to change to cross the street and catch the bus when OH LOOK THERE GOES THE BUS. But it stops at the stop, so we have like, 70 seconds to get across the street and over about 100 feet to catch it. So here I am dodging traffic on Michigan Avenue in order to catch a bus. I run across the street only to see it start chugging along again to the next stop. By now Katie has caught up to me, and she is panting "quick.....run....to....the next stop..." so we are running, backpacks on us, four blocks trying to catch a bus moving at like 30 mph. Katie, the runner she is, catches up to it when it stops at the next bus stop, and is approximately 6 feet from the door when the bus starts moving again. Now, we could have continued chasing it, but we kind of assumed it would be highly unlikely to catch up to a bus going 50mph on Lake shore drive.

So at this point, it's like 7:38 and we are ten blocks away from our building. Katie's class starts at 8:05, so she is really in a rush. We don't want to take the el because we would have to walk 12 blocks to get to the entrance, and if we waited for a bus, we would have to wait in the cold for about 25 minutes until one came. Our only real option was the school shuttle.
As we were walking back, we were wheezing, spitting up loogies (lovely, i know...but I really am not in that bad of shape...I can take 14 flights of stairs a couple times a week and I am not exhausted).
To be honest, I don't know what was wrong with me, since I am still having some subtle wheezing when I breathe now...five hours later.
So we walk alllllll the way back to the school, to the shuttle bus stop (we get to wait indoors, so that's nice), when I see only one girl in line. (By now it's 7:42) This usually signifies that we had just missed a shuttle. Then I find out it doesn't even come until 8am (the FIRST SHUTTLE OF THE DAY) which is stupid, since it is unlikely that you'd get to class on time taking the shuttle if it arrives at 8 (because they have to empty it, then to load the bus some people are slow and/or stupid and take forever, then the trip is about 20 minutes without traffic). So here I am...just waiting...and the bus (i will applaud it on this) arrives precisely at 7:58, TWO WHOLE MINUTES EARLY! Normally the bus is 10-20 minute LATE. So I get on the bus like "sure, i won't get some time before class to relax or read, but I will get to class on time."
But that was before the trip began. When we get off of lake shore drive, there is a bumper to bumper traffic jam about 15 blocks away from my school. I was in said traffic jam from about 8:15 until 8:45.

Therefore, I arrive FIFTEEN MINUTES LATE TO CLASS.
You may think "no big deal, only fifteen minutes" but when you compare it to the fact that I got up an HOUR AND A HALF BEFORE CLASS BEGAN, it's a little ridiculous.
PS. Our shuttle caught up with the public transportation bus that I could have caught had I waited for the next one to come....but I would have had to stand in the cold.

So at this point, my joy level is at about 0%.


Later, however, it rises.
Its about 11:00, ten minutes before my second morning class ends, when EHHHH! EHHH! EHHH! EHHH(this is my siren noise)! EHHH! EHH! there are flashing lights, and it is clear that the fire alarm has gone off. I am just happy that I can leave, because this class sucks so much, so my joy level is about 20%. Our teacher usually leaves the door open to the hallway. I happen to glance out there as I am gathering my books and I see a SUPER guilty-looking kid acting as if he just, well, set off the fire alarm of a building filled with 300 people. Yeah, it was definitely him. As he paces back and forth with his guilty, furrowed brow, I see the fire alarm has been pushed behind him...by his backpack. The moron was chilling in the hallway, and leaned right up against the alarm, setting it off. Way to go, Mr. Stupid.I'm at about a 90% by now.

So I leave, and catch the bus after pretty much no wait at all, it was great. 95%

Then, to top it all off, I sit by a group of stupid people ( I assume college freshmen, 3 boys and 1 girl). I love stupid people. I love how...gosh, I can't even explain it. I just love it. Especially Mr. "Der, I Swear I didn't set off the fire alarm...what's that? It's behind me? And I was the only one in the hallway? Naw, wasn't me!" So I get on the bus and get to hear intelligent conversational topics like "dude, have you ever tried throwing one of those Nalgene bottles off a roof? They're indestructible!" or "You've heard of the El Niño, right?" To get a visual of the boys, imagine white suburbans wearing flat-brimmed baseball hats with a huge circumference.

100%

pop-up

I just had an interesting time at my library, showing Carolyn that our college library has children's books. We checked some out.

A pop-up Wizard of Oz

A pop-up Alice in Wonderland

And a pop up dinosaur book.

A contradiction of sorts

I just came back from my local convenience store.

I asked if I could request that they carry non-dairy chocolate ice cream. They used to carry it, but now they don't and I am very disappointed.

I then proceeded to buy two gallons of milk.

sweet dreams are made of these

I love that I can vividly remember my dreams.


Last night I dreamed that I had this secret power that I could harness the humidity in the air and make people visible again (since there was a disease sweeping the local elementary school that was causing kids to disappear, duh). So I went to the school and scooped up the humidity and threw it at the children in a giant ball (street fighter/mortal kombat style). Then the kids would stop fading away and they were visible again. Then the school day was over and all the kids were getting picked up from school. Unfortunately I had no ride home. Then a car pulled up, driven by KATIE HOLMES HERSELF, with a ton of passengers in it. It was like a 5-seater, but there were like 5 people in the backseat alone. Anyways, she offered me a ride, so I hopped in the passenger seat, and I had to sit on (guess who!) M NIGHT SHYAMALAN'S lap. So the entire ride to whereever we were going, he and I were talking about his movies and how cool he was (he was modest, I was the one discussing his coolness). Then we arrived at his house which was an enormous mansion. There was a giant fountain, and behind it was a small corn field and I was impressing him with all the trivia i knew from imdb and wikipedia, asking if that was the corn field that they filmed Signs in. And it WAS. (of course, the corn field was small, and they CGI'ed the rest of it). There were also these creepy/weird statues in front of the enormous fountain, that could only come from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan. Oh, and there was a huge party at his house. And I almost was cast in his new movie.

jealous?

% is more of a letter than CH is!

You know something I don't get? That CH is a letter in the Spanish language.

It shouldn't be. It is only two letters put next to each other. Just because all of our words that begin with the letter Q in English are followed by a U (quick, quill, quantum etc), doesn't mean QU is a letter. It's a combination of letters! There should be rules of the creation of letters. Like, it should be a weird squiggle or something, but if you have to lift your pencil to complete the letter, it should not be considered a letter. Unless when you lift the pencil it is to write OVER the thing you currently have drawn. Like the tail of a Q, or the top of a T (because I can't think of anyone who writes uppercase Qs and Ts without lifting their pencil...they'd look like a cursive lowercase A and a pointy question mark without the dot underneath, respectively). You can't just put two separate letters that each work completely on their own as letters, then put them next to one another and create a new letter! IT'S TWO LETTERS! NEXT TO EACH OTHER! And since we are on the topic of Spanish double letters, that goes for ll or rr. Like, seriously? You put "llama" later in the dictionary than "lugar"? LL is just two L's! NOT ONE LETTER.

But I don't know how I feel about accented spanish letters (how come ñ is its own letter, but ó is not, it's only an accented o?) Or how I feel about the funny looking c with a tail in the word façade. What do you think?

Then again, I don't know much about the creation of the Spanish language, so if you do, enlighten me.

That's all for my rant.



In related news, I had difficulty finding "chinches" in my spanish dictionary.

That's a guaranteed winner!

Haven't you guys heard? The director of such greats as BLUE CRUSH and the tv show GIRLICIOUS is remaking THE BREAKFAST CLUB!



This will either be horribly terrible...or terribly horrible.

Some current events...

"If given a choice on Super Tuesday, I'd have to go with soup. Sorry, Tuesday."
--Weekend Update 3/8/08


And yes, I know what's on your mind. You are thinking "gee, I wish they had game shows in America that are similar to those in Japan!" For all three of you stirring in your sleep over this idea, I have good news. Fox, the maker of such great game shows as "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?", "Don't forget the lyrics", and "The Moment of Truth", has decided to remake the human tetris show from Japan for us Americans to watch.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117980832.html?categoryid=14&cs=1


And for those of you who haven't already witnessed the downfall of human kind in the form of a three-minute video about human tetris, watch this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84_QL1kEmH4


enjoy, and ciao

What er yeh talking aboot?

Have you ever really thought about Canada? When you think about it, it's kind of weird, you know?
My impression of how Canadian people are is very skewed, most likely false, and highly based on Degrassi.




But seriously, I thought Degrassi was an American show until the 3rd season, when they mentioned Toronto. How could I have been so naive, you ask? I am sure you caught on to the "aboots" but I didn't until this fantastic revelation that hit me early in high school. I mean, if you were to move to Canada, you know how weird that would be, being an ex-American? It'd be like, EXACTLY THE SAME, but different. The people would look like americans, being diverse and all, with mostly caucasians. They would speak English (some would speak french, sure, but we're talking about Degrassi canadians here). And the landscape/environment/plants would look relatively the same (again, Degrassi). So what would be the difference?

I guess like I mentioned before, they would have the "aboot" accent on certain words, but it wouldn't be that obvious. And it'd be really strange, not having an MLK Jr. Day, or President's Day or 4th of July. Or thanksgiving! They have a different Thanksgiving, which I am not even sure what they celebrate. I just know that Cassie Steele celebrates with Tofurky. And Christmas would have the accompanying Boxing Day.

And have you ever wondered what the ruling of Canada was? Like, is it a monarchy? Democracy? Or what? I looked it up on the old faithful wikipedia and I was informed that it is, in fact, a monarchy. So, do people bash the queen of Canada like they do with George W. Bush? Or any president for that matter? Are there "sides" like with democrats and republicans? I guess there wouldn't be any...unless there were like "for the queen" people and "against the queen" people. Or neither, because they sure as hell don't want to re-create America.

And they have more freedom to televise stuff about abortions or other controversial topics.

I mean, am I the only one who didn't know this, or hasn't ever thought about this? I mean, I can't be the only one, right? Feel free to comment.





And let's talk Canadian TV.

If you watch Disney and The-N, you have a sampling of the finest Canadian teen shows. And you also have the sampling of the select 20 teen actors they have. Seriously, they recycle the actors for every show in Canada, it's crazy. You'd think the population is close to that of McLeansboro, Illinois, with their lack of stars. Degrassi is like the Mickey Mouse Club of Canadian Television, and they branch off from there. Take, for example, the following shows:

• Degrassi: The Next Generation (had guests like Kate Todd, Genelle Williams, and Nathan Stephenson, from RFR. Charlotte Arnold from Naturally Sadie)
• Naturally Sadie (with Miriam McDonald, Shenae Grimes, Ephraim Ellis from Degrassi, Michael Seater from Life With Derek)
• Life With Derek (has had guests like Lauren Collins, Ryan Cooley, Shane Kippel, Kit Weyman from Degrassi)
• I Was A 6th Grade Alien (Ryan Cooley, Lauren Collins, Daniel Clark, Deanna Casaluce from Degrassi, Ashley Leggat and Shadia Simmons from Life With Derek)
• Radio Free Roscoe aka RFR (guests incl. Steve Belford, Lauren Collins, Jake Epstein, Paula Brancati from Degrassi, William Greenblat from Life With Derek)
• Instant Star, granted, the creator is the same as for Degrassi, but still... (guests include Cassie Steele and Skye Regan (an extra from many Degrassi episodes)
• Pecola (Jake Goldsbie, Miriam McDonald from Degrassi)
• The Zack Files (Daniel Clark, Jake Epstein from Degrassi, Ashley Leggat and Shadia Simmons from Life with Derek)
• Are You Afraid Of The Dark (Daniel Clark and Ryan Cooley from Degrassi, Michal Seater and Shadia Simmons from Life With Derek, Justin Bradley from Naturally Sadie)
• Wild Card (Jamie Johnston, Steve Belford, Ephraim Ellis and Dalmar Abuzeid (danny van zandt) from Degrassi, Michael Seater from Life With Derek)

And movies, they do it too! The following movies have the same canadian actors, too...

• The Poet (Nina Dobrev, Miriam McDonald from Degrassi)
• Charlie Bartlett (Lauren Collins, Jake Epstein, Aubrey Graham from Degrassi, Michael D'Ascenzo from Naturally Sadie)
• Devil's Diary (Alexz Johnson, Miriam McDonald, Deanna Casaluce from Degrassi)
• The Red Sneakers (Sarah Barrable-Tishauer, Jake Goldsbie from Degrassi)
• Picture This! (Shenae Grimes, Lauren Collins from Degrassi, Justin Bradley from Naturally Sadie)
• It's a Boy Girl Thing (Genelle Williams from RFR and John Bregar from Degrassi)
• Quints (Shadia Simmons from Life With Derek, Jake Epstein from Degrassi)

and even American shows are loving some Canadian blood:

• The Best Years (Cassie Steele, Mike Lobel, Lauren Collins from Degrassi)

And trust me, there are a kazillian more, I just got sick of writing them all.


I guess if you are born in the mid to late 80's in Canada, you will be a very successful actor.

PS, in that extensive IMDB search I found that Jake Goldsbie (Toby) was in more episodes than Adamo Ruggiero (Marco) on Degrassi. And Marco has had more plot lines, like being gay, having a gambling problem, running for school president, etc...and Toby has had....none. Unless you count the...nope, none. I sometimes feel bad for Toby, 'specially since he's been on it since the 1st episode, and is literally the ONLY character to not have character development.


Learn anything new? Think of anything I didn't cover? Comment.

No Ben & Jerry's Necessary

Is it just me, or is it awesome when you get a day where you have absolutely nothing planned, and no one is there to disturb it?
I LOVE IT!
Last night, for the first time in a while, I had the apartment all to myself and it was lovely. Not to bash my roommates, but I just love my alone time. Some of you may laugh at what I did last night and think that it's pathetic, but I bet you haven't had a "Me Day" in a while, where you could just spend all the time to yourself, not needing to please anyone, no rush to be anywhere, able to do whatever you want, the nice calm quiet. Because if you have had one of those days, you would be wanting one right now.
So, last night, at approximately 5:12 PM, the night began. I began by deciding what I was going to have for dinner. I love to cook, so I decided to make Roasted Cumin Carrots (go to realsimple.com for the recipe...it's SO good) to eat with my leftover potstickers from the day before. I love carrots, but it seems to be one of the only vegetables I do like, so I like this recipe. They don't get all gross like they do from steaming, instead they get roasted and charred like you grilled them. And the scallions and cumin make them SO GOOD.
So that was a fun recipe to make. While they were getting to the point of deliciously great goodness, I made potstickers and dipping sauce. All while listening to my favorite radio station, WXRT. And while dancing around the apartment. Then I made my little plate with a portion of each thing, poured myself a tall glass of milk and sat there on the couch, listening to the music and enjoying my meal. After I finished it, I played some solitaire on the coffee table. It was so nice. I love nights like that. Later I joined Jake and his friends and watched the movie "The Guardian" for a little bit until I decided to retire early (11pm). I came back to the dorm and slipped under the sheets for a much needed sleep.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable night. I don't feel like "alone time" should be an "oh, let me pity myself and my lonelyness" time. It should be celebrated! I love having time to spend alone, watching DVDs of The OC episodes and eating a delicious meal. Who knows me better than myself? Why, myself of course. I don't need a tub of Ben and Jerry's to feel better...I just need to dance around my apartment singing to the High School Musical soundtrack. I had fun.


And I was reading the blog at the-n.com (home of Degrassi and South of Nowhere!) and for the week of Valentine's Day they have "crush outs" aka shout outs to your crushes. I was reading it and found this one, which was so fitting to this post, and I wanted to share it with you because when you read it, it's almost so cute you get a little tear in the corner of your eye.

"Ok self, you listening? Here goes... I've been with you for over 18 years now, and I know we've been through some tough times (ugh remember puberty? yikes! Let's not do that again, deal? ok good ;)), but I just wanted to tell you that I think you're rad. You're smart, can always make me laugh, and over these past 18 years, I've grown pretty fond of you. And this may seem shallow, but seeing you're face for 18 years has yet to get old, in fact I kinda like it. So feel good this Valentine's Day because there is at least one person on this planet who likes you just as you are, and lets be friends for a really long time, please? ok awesome!" - qtrocker5



See? Isn't it great to appreciate yourself?

iBienvenidos! (Welcome!)

Hola! Enter my new domain (pun!)!
I really don't know what to start with other than explaining a few quick things (first and last thing that will be quick, I'm usually long-winded).

1. De Todo Un Poco. If you don't speak Spanish, the rough translation is "a little bit of everything" or more literally "of everything a little." I should probably use more Spanish seeing as that I may minor in it, so I could write a few posts here in Espanol. But the title I thought was fitting, because there will not be a set topic of this blog. Just thoughts and comments, recipes, and stuff to do when you're bored. I know I won't just complain about life, unless I think it is worth sharing. And by worth sharing, I mean you will laugh at my misery/pain.
I can't really pinpoint any interests of mine, they are across the board, regarding music, movies, hobbies, even friends' personalities. I have a bit of everything, and that's how I like it. I get tired of things easily, and start up new interests almost immediately.

2. In Your Natural Habitat. I was walking from class the other day when I saw a car full of people stop at the stop sign, blocking the entire one-way street, and basically do a Chinese Fire Drill (not really, but everyone got out of the car and was getting something out of another part of the car). They then all got back in, put on the emergency lights and proceeded to block the lane. Of course, cars piled up behind them and were honking to get through. I thought to myself "I love watching stupid people in their natural habitat." Hence, the name of the site. However, I am not saying that you readers are stupid people. Your Natural Habitat just seemed right, because I hope that at least one entry will apply to every readers' interests at some point.


So, enjoy this blog, however long it lasts. Maybe next entry I'll write about carrots! Or Powerpuff Girls. Or both!


Well, so much for being short and sweet.
Ciao bella!