Somewhere Else

Nablopofail

2010-12-01T02:23:00.002-05:00

So this year pretty much sucked. I'm just a bad blogger. Whatever. December finds us in a very similar spot to where we started, except I've been essentially offered two different promotions at work, one of which I will probably take. I mean, whatever, right? It's only until July. Holy crap. Seven months, you guys.

If We Make it Through December

2010-11-30T02:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry I dropped off this past week. Consumed by apathy, as it goes. Also holidays. Anyway, I always start listening to this when the cold weather hits. Gotta love classic country.

I See A Darkness

2010-11-29T02:17:00.000-05:00

Picture Picture

2010-11-28T02:05:00.000-05:00

Set In Motion

2010-11-27T02:03:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I've shared this song with you before, but I can't stop listening to it.

I Told You So

2010-11-26T02:00:00.003-05:00

I apologize. But if we're being honest...I love how she sings the chorus.

Fuck You

2010-11-25T01:57:00.002-05:00

I know this song is way old news, but it's a great song to wake up to.

Cee Lo Green "Fuck You"
Uploaded by Push36. - Explore more music videos.

YouTube Wednesday, Sheep Edition

2010-11-24T02:27:00.000-05:00

That's hardcore.

Erase Me

2010-11-23T00:24:00.000-05:00

Georgia (Cover by Band of Horses)

2010-11-22T22:31:00.001-05:00

You can't embed this one, so you must click through.

Tennesse Me

2010-11-21T22:27:00.002-05:00

I was thinking that I should explain why I'm obsessed with them, but I don't think I will. I'm not really good at talking about music. So just listen to them.

New Mini-series

2010-11-20T22:23:00.000-05:00

Songs I've been unreasonably obsessed with. Not enough to buy them. Just enough to play them over and over and over. My life is so boring.

Discussion question:

2010-11-19T00:20:00.000-05:00

Is the money I save by keeping my house at 65 degrees worth the personal inactivity due to it being too cold to get out of bed?

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

2010-11-18T00:15:00.000-05:00

I love Craig Ferguson. Its true...I can't help it. His show is consistently funny and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I mean, shit, he has a robot skeleton sidekick. But Craig is someone I'll watch if I'm awake and I try not to rearrange my life for. Because if it's between getting up and going to the park and staying up and watching an hour of awesome, I should pick the park, right? Carpe diem, and all that?

Except sometimes I don't. Because you just have to leave the day where it is and watch some more Craigyferg.

2010-11-17T02:18:00.000-05:00

House

2010-11-16T22:31:00.000-05:00

So House used to be about a curmudgeonly doctor that was addicted to pain meds. And it was fun because you understood House but no one else did. But now his team understands him and how he works and he's not addicted to pills anymore and everything is weird. Not bad, indeed, last week's episode* introduced a new character that has a lot of potential, but the past season or so has been kind of lame. To the point that I wait a while to watch the episodes I've missed. Part of that is it's an hour long and my attention span is short. Part of that is it's been a long time and the show is about ready to be wrapped up. There is a point at which things need to end.

*Since I have to watch things online I stay a week behind as per hulu's availability for House.

The Big Bang Theory

2010-11-15T02:03:00.000-05:00

Nerd comedy. Theme by BNL. That's all you need, really. You should be watching this show if you're not. Jim Parsons is amazing.

This is one of the first shows that I watched an episode and then watched that same episode again (both times on a plane) and it was still funny. It's just a hoot.

30 Rock

2010-11-14T01:57:00.000-05:00

30 Rock is a show about a comedy on NBC. Very Meta. It used to be well-written and fun but in the last season or so it's less funny than it used to be. I don't have any evidence to back that up, but that's how I feel. It's still fun, because it's ridiculous, but it seems like they're having trouble coming up with new episodes. Also, Alec Baldwin bothers me. Also, I love Kenneth's character despite the weird Stone Mountain thing they do for him (Stone Mountain isn't really hicky at all). Also, I like to say also. God, when you look at it too long it looks so awkward. Also. Also. Also.

Mid-series freakout

2010-11-13T23:33:00.002-05:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special over-thinking edition of Somewhere Else. Or, we were going to, until I went and over-over-thought everything. Basically I've been tapped for a promotion at work and it'd be pushing a vegetarian agenda on my coworkers and customers. Which is cool, since I am vegetarian, but I have qualms about 1. being the night bakery manager three nights a week and being the healthy eating person the other two and 2. being a fat person whose job it is to teach people about eating right. But I think 1. is more hilariously ironic and 2. is more me trying to talk myself out of it. I don't know. But I'm all freaked out either way, because the store manager came to talk to me specifically about it and she never talks to me about anything. And I think my direct boss would hate having me move to part time. I don't know.

I guess it all depends on the money.

The Mentalist

2010-11-12T22:43:00.003-05:00

The Mentalist is sort of the last on my list of shows. Well, that and House. If I were going to kick a show off it'd probably be The Mentalist. But the back story is cool and the shows are clever and Simon Baker is really pretty. It's one of the only shows that I actively watch (rather than have on while I do something else) and most of the time I find whatever crime they're solving interesting. Plus it's super cool that the main character is so damaged and vengeful. It loses points for being an hour-long show though. My attention span is limited.

Modern Family

2010-11-11T11:24:00.005-05:00

Modern Family is a hoot. Think of Arrested Development, in that it is focused on family groups and it's tightly-written, but then don't think too much because (1) Arrested Development is a masterpiece and (2) Modern Family relies on more realism than AD did. But that's not to say that Modern Family isn't excellent. Every character is likable and easy to relate to (I would love to not tell my family I was adopting until after I had obtained the baby). Sometimes they go a little over-the-limit on the loving family thing, but it's usually adequately funny in the rest of the episode to make up for it (I don't like my comedies to be mushy).

How's that for battery!

YouTube Wednesday!

2010-11-10T11:23:00.000-05:00

Glee

2010-11-09T01:51:00.000-05:00

I like Glee because it's really stupid. In much the same way that I liked Desperate Housewives for the two years I watched it, I like seeing the plots because I'm sure I could do better. Not with the singing and dancing stuff--that part is awesome--but with the plots outside of the singing. The cheap writing is really fun, though, almost to a disadvantage of shows that hope for continuity. It's basically like a kids show for adults*. But who doesn't like choreographed song and dance numbers performed by teenagers? It's a fun show. `

*Which is why it's so bothersome when they do serious stuff.

How I Met Your Mother

2010-11-08T00:27:00.000-05:00

I did not start watching HIMYM when it first came on, but Daniel gave me the first three seasons (pirated, of course) and I couldn't refuse. It's a pretty clever show with an excellent cast (Jason Segel is on my list, for sure). If you've never seen it, it's centered around Ted's journey to meeting the mother of his children, whom we see in the opening* of some episodes, but it has some just-on-the-edge-of-ridiculous episode plots that are fantastic. And that's the distinction, I think. Where most sitcoms on the air today are a re-hashing of another sitcom**, you have to look for episode quality, and I think HIMYM hits the mark pretty consistently--it's blend of plausable-but-not-realistic matches the frame-story aspect quite well.

Watch this if you want a taste of how crazy awesome the show is.

*Where older-Ted is voiced by Bob Saget. Once they accomplish the meeting-your-mother aspect I'd like to see the follow-up series of How I Became Bob Saget.

**HIMYM is essentially Friends without Phoebe.

Dexter

2010-11-07T00:04:00.002-04:00

We'll start with Dexter because it comes on on Sunday and today is Sunday. Logic. I didn't start watching Dexter when it first aired, but I think I watched the first three seasons in less than three days. Dexter is, of course, about a serial killer that murders murderers. But what I like about it, particularly in comparison to the other tv dramas I've seen, is that it surprises me. I'm not saying that I've never seen anything coming in this show, but there are times when you think you know where things are going and they go somewhere else entirely. I love that.

Dexter has a fun pattern of the even-numbered seasons being much more exciting than the odd-numbered seasons, which is why it's a bit eh this year (Season 5). It feels like something's brewing for sure, but with the midpoint of the season airing today, it seems like there should be more up-front conflict. Season two was my favorite, though. The whole thing was very edge-of-your-seat.

Fun fact: even though there isn't anyone I really hate in the characters, there isn't anyone that I would really miss if they died (excluding the baby, but I doubt they'd go there).

TV!

2010-11-06T01:17:00.000-04:00

Andrew had a great idea for a mini-theme, mini being due to the lack of subject matter, but I am prepared to talk about the TV shows I actively follow. The trick is, there's only nine of them because I work nights and I feel like I should do more on my off time than sit in front of the computer. So I decided to limit myself to six hours of TV a week, not including CraigyFerg, which makes my list pretty slim. But when I'm not watching TV for the brain-autopilot option I find myself seeking out only shows that really amuse me.

I'm totally phoning this NaBloPoMo thing in this year, so maybe a theme will help me. I doubt it.

No More Hotdogs was fantastic, though.

2010-11-05T03:42:00.000-04:00

Cold!

2010-11-04T13:30:00.000-04:00

I apologize for our first YouTube Wednesday. I was really tired and I wanted to go to sleep, and it was the only youtube window I had open. Also, I mean, don't you love cokeheads?

This week has gone by really fast, which is cool because I have Saturday and Sunday off again. May be going to a party tomorrow, but I'm always kind of unenthusiastic about parties. So I don't know.

In other news, I'm really, really cold. But I don't want to turn the heat on because gas costs money. It sucks, this paying your own bills thing.

That's all I have right now. I'm freezing. That's all I can think about.

2010-11-03T22:54:00.001-04:00

Ross's Landing

2010-11-02T13:32:00.002-04:00

She should call the police. That was the thing to do, right? You call and you say, "It looks like there's a shoe in the river with a leg still attached." Except it didn't look like there was a shoe in the river with a leg still attached. There was one, now half in the water and half on the bank. And if she put it in her backpack it would get all her stuff wet.

But when would she have another chance to acquire a leg so easily? And who has time to wait on the police?

(Notes would be appreciated.)

Nablopo-oh-no.

2010-11-01T23:43:00.000-04:00

So the last time I posted here was the end of last November. Pretty shitty, I suppose. But what can I say? I have priorities and the blog is not one. Writing is not one, nowadays. I don't have a particular place in the house to write and I never feel particularly motivated to sit down and hammer anything out.

I work retail, at a grocery store. I love it so much it's almost embarrassing, but I love it because my coworkers are great and because I'm really good at it. I do feel like I'm sort of wasting my awesome, selling liquid to rich people. But I do feel like it's where I'm supposed to be right now. And Chattanooga is really awesome. Except for all the southern people. But the city is just gorgeous. Especially because there's a proper fall, and I've enjoyed the crap out of walking the dog downtown every night in the perfect autumn air.

So that's it. Maybe I'll think of a theme. Maybe I won't. Whatever.

The End

2009-11-30T22:36:00.002-05:00

It didn't occur to me that today was the last day until just a second ago. I feel like I should have something better for the last post. But I got nothin' folks. In an attempt to stop being that person who only talks about her dog, I have stopped talking.

Have you ever bought something you've wanted for a really long time and then immediately regretted it? Because I did on Wednesday. I spent way too much on things I didn't need and now I'm all stuck with them. And so excited! But also ashamed. Actually, I think a lot of my subconscious self-worth is tied to how good a deal I get on things, and while I got a good deal on these it isn't a deal at all because I didn't need them (they're notebooks, and I don't write in the notebooks I have). See how that works? But I'm still pretty stoked about getting them because I always sort of lust after them every time they come out with a new one. And I bought a subscription so now I'll get the next three new ones after this.

Anyway, that's the big turmoil in my life right now. Sucks, huh? I kind of feel like I'm retired, except I don't have any money. That and I'm still expected to go to Jenn's baby showers for the next two weekends. That's a lot of driving. For someone who is crazy. Maybe I can get by with only going to one. Anyway, life is both uneventful and ok. I can't do it forever, but it works for now.

Back Home

2009-11-29T21:55:00.002-05:00

There's nothing like being away to make you appreciate being home. More so, there's nothing like being surrounded by your family to make you appreciate living alone. It's one of those things that's cliche because it's true. Even though the drive back exhausted me to the point of only half unpacking the stuff I brought up here, I'm so pleased to be back in my house.

And that's all I've got today. Seriously, the extra hour in the car (accidents everywhere) just kind of zapped me. There's something about sitting still on an interstate that sucks the life out of you.

Ps: Eminem is not good blogging music. I don't want to turn it off because I'm enjoying it, but it's not exactly the kind of stuff that makes me want to write.

Another?

2009-11-28T21:02:00.000-05:00

I've been toying with the idea of getting another dog so Zuki will have someone more interesting than me to play with. On one hand, I think she'd really enjoy having a playmate. And I love dogs, so I'm sure I'd enjoy having another. On the other, dogs can be a lot of work, and one is enough. I'm just glad Zookers isn't the type to run off. And if you have two dogs everything is twice as expensive. So maybe I should just get her some more toys. I don't know.

I imagine this is what good parents feel when they try to decide if they should have another baby or not. On one hand, the best gift you can give your child is a good sibling. On the other, can you make a good sibling? What if this one is rotten? What if your second child is a plague on you and your family? What if your family ends up being like certain families I know and the fourth is the only really viable child? Then you're stuck with three duds. And the non-dud will kind of hate you for your obviously contagious lameness. How do you know if you're not going to fuck this stuff up?

I think I'm good with one dog for now, but I still feel bad for My Little Sentence as she has to spend all day with me. And I don't do a lot of interesting dog stuff.

Empty

2009-11-27T22:55:00.003-05:00

I have reached that point in NaBloPoMo where I can no longer even pretend that I have stuff to say. This is why themes are good. They give you stuff to do. Also I'm at my parents' house and it kind of kills any sort of desire to write that may be lurking in my brain. Squashed.

Actually, I watched a Good Eats episode on squash today. I think I'd already seen it, but I was too lazy to fast forward to the next episode so I watched it again. It has me in the mood for soup. And then I watched an episode on salad (not directly afterward, but the episode after the episode about squash) and now I really feel like going to the Olive Garden for soup and salad lunch.

Zombie

2009-11-26T22:05:00.003-05:00

I'm not feeling un-dead for eating too much, because we had lunch instead of dinner and I can never eat that much food just after I wake up. But I did watch 16 episodes of King of the Hill and now I feel all sleepy and bored. Not that it isn't a stellar show, just that I've overdosed on TV since I now live in a home with only 12 channels, 5 of which air exclusively religious-based programming.

Anyway, hope you all have a safe and happy holiday. I'm going to go find some pie.

Six Thoughts on November 25th

2009-11-25T21:40:00.003-05:00

I didn't mind the drive to/from Alpharetta and Chattanooga before I lived in Chattanooga. Now the drive to Alpharetta seems to take forever.

I don't know how I lived here for so long without killing myself. Or drinking.

Speaking of the not-drinking, turns out my tolerance has dropped to an affordably low level after essentially not drinking for over a year. It's like being a freshman again.

Related: you cannot buy wine anywhere but a liquor store in Tennessee. Grocery stores have lost half their appeal.

How long does someone have to be in a phase before it's a personality change?

How old do you think I'll be before I can not come home for family holidays. Will I want to by then?

Yellow

2009-11-24T22:35:00.003-05:00

The weird thing about being alone--the same thing that kind of got me when I was working at that summer camp--is that I live with myself. And I know how to creep myself out for serious. I'm not sleeping with a gun under my pillow or anything but I do keep the blinds closed and I do appreciate the dog being here. I don't think I really need the fancy security system but it's nice to have some sort of plan in place if someone were to break into my house. But I don't feel unsafe here. I feel fine. More so that I used to when I lived with my parents house, since I can lock my bedroom door, but less than when I lived in the dorms because there's no way in hell you could have broken into that room undetected. But fine. Secure.

Actually, wanna hear something stupid? I slept with my front door unlocked the second night I was here. The bolt lock on the front door is reversed from the other two, so I thought it was locked. But in the morning I turned the locks to go get the mail and found myself locked in. Oops. But knowing I'd slept with the door unlocked made me feel safer, if that makes any sense. Not that I'm going to keep the doors unlocked or anything, but still. I don't live in a bad neighborhood.

But that doesn't mean that weird noises don't make me wonder if there is a serial killer in my basement. Or that I don't get kind of creeped out when the dog starts to bark at the front door. Just that those feelings don't last very long.

Youtube Again

2009-11-23T22:10:00.004-05:00

It's been a pretty good day, despite a minor-character death in the family (M & J's dog), but not in an eventful way. Just good sushi and the brother and TV. So instead please enjoy Arthur, if you have not seen him already.

The Original

The Re-mix

The Designated Laugh-er

Bike Fail

Goats Goats Goats

2009-11-22T21:44:00.003-05:00

So the concert last night was predictably awesome. The Variety is a cool venue (I'd never been before) with a fair selection of seats and floorspace. Plus they check ID's at the ticket window so you don't have to wait for everyone to be carded when they open the doors.*

The first opening act was called wasn't awful, but she was just on that upper cusp of mediocre that you felt bad for her. Vocally she was great. Very solid; reminiscent of Blue-era Joni. But most of her songs came out sounding like she started to write a good song and got bored after the first verse and just went with anything that stuck. And she talked too much. Openers aren't allowed to talk that much.** I looked up her stuff on myspace and it lacks the vocal richness she had in concert, which is really disappointing.

The second opening band*** was definitely more music-oriented and kind of amazing. Sometimes I'm not into loop petals, especially when you're just using them to show off, but if you can really rock a loop petal it becomes something awesome. This dude could totally rock a loop petal. Vocally they fit kind of between Andrew Bird and the Fleet Foxes. Musically they were just intense. He even sang through his violin once, which sounds kind of gimicky to say it like that, but it was really a fantastic effect.

And then we have the Mountain Goats. They played a good mix of new stuff and older stuff (including Song for Dennis Brown which is one of my favorites) and then the customary group singing of No Children, also a favorite. There's something about standing in a room full of people, grinning ear-to-ear singing, "I hope you die, I hope we all die" that is just kind of life affirming--like you know at that moment that you're exactly where you're supposed to be. Even if the girl behind you is so drunk that she cannot keep herself upright without holding on to the stage. And we don't really need to discuss how awesome The Mountain Goats are live because it's kind of inherent in the thought. But being on a stage that was firmly cemented into the ground was cool because John Darnielle has some pretty awesome footwork. Overall, I'm really glad I didn't talk myself out of going, even if it meant posting yesterday's entry late (it seemed really silly to come home from a concert and publish an entry about how I wasn't sure about going, but it was late and I was too tired to come up with something else).

And, for the record, LittleDog did just fine by herself at night. Plus she was extra happy to see me when I got back. :)

*The way venues handle age issues is, for me, a big deal. A good venue will settle things before doors open, or at least have a few lines open for good flow. The Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte took tickets and gave out wristbands before the show so when doors opened people could just walk right in. Classy.

**And if you're going to say, "This song is an ancient Iranian poem, but I changed it so it rhymes," you should probably keep your mouth shut.

***I say band because they go by a band name, and there are two of them. But it's really just the one guy and then a support drummer.

Back and Forth

2009-11-21T15:19:00.002-05:00

Every time I make plans like this (this being to go see The Mountain Goats) I get excited and look forward to it and then try to talk myself out of it at the last minute. Two hours is a long way to drive. I don't know all their songs* and I don't really like Atlanta and I feel bad leaving my dog outside for so long and I don't really like crowds and on and on and on. Thousands of reasons not to go. But I am going to go. Because I've never seen them live on land, and because I like their new album, and because I live alone and I need to make an effort to get out and interact with things that are not my dog. Not that my dog isn't the greatest thing ever.

So tomorrow I'll let you know how it went. It was probably fabulous.

* While this is true, don't feel as bad about it as I would if it were a different band I liked because they have a lot of albums. Sixteen studio, I think, and then at least that in EP's and then collaborations and all that. A lot of music, those Goats.

Trauma

2009-11-20T23:23:00.002-05:00

So my dog has become a different dog now that she's here. She's super protective--growls at strange people and dogs--sometimes even stands between them and me. She hates being outside, she doesn't remember all her old rules...she's still my sweet puppy, for sure, but I'm fascinated by how much she changed when we moved. It's understandable, since she's never been the only dog and she's never had to adapt to a new home before.

But it's fun having something that's genuinely relieved and excited to see you when you get back. As much as it kills me to leave her alone, it's really fun to come back and watch her prance around like my own little fan club. We had to do a practice run tonight because she'd never been outside by herself at night before, and I wanted to make sure she wouldn't freak out tomorrow when I'm gone all night at The Mountain Goats. Speaking of goats, there are some that live down the street from us. I'm sure Zuki would growl at them too.

Effective Marketing

2009-11-19T20:54:00.004-05:00

Another youtube day today. Ryan Miller posted this on twitter today and it cracked my shit up. I've watched it on a loop all day. I already like Method, but if I didn't, this would have swayed me. It's just spectacular. Scrubby-dubby baby!

Then, I accidentally clicked on someone's username and was transported to their profile, where I found this little gem. I have yet to watch Twilight, but I still think it's awesome. I mean, seriously. They sparkle? No. No, I don't think they do.

And finally, since Andrew is finished with his sad song countdown, this is my favorite sad country song. It didn't fit in the year restrictions, but I never really watched CMT anyway. Please enjoy the complimentary Sims video.

Glee

2009-11-18T16:31:00.002-05:00

So I've been watching Glee this season and I can say without any qualifying that it's a bad show. The writing is inconsistent, the plot lines are terrible, it's bizarrely over-dramatic and not even remotely realistic.* But there is singing and dancing, and that's really all you need to have a hit show.

It's so fun, you guys. I mean, seriously, a boy just told his girlfriend's parents that she's pregnant by singing "She's Having my Baby." No kidding. And, since it's a hideously dramatic show, that boy is not even the actual father said the pair in question never had sex. Since it has no pretenses of realism or accuracy they can do whatever they want. It's ridiculous. So funny. And the best part is hardly anything carries over to the next show, so if something you don't like happens...chances are it won't stick. It's a good time, Glee. TV so bad it's fantastic.

*No, really. What high school has a celibacy club? And what school would allow slushy fights in the halls? Maybe I just went to a weird school.

Bad Romance

2009-11-17T21:29:00.002-05:00

I first encountered Lady GaGa during my two-week pre-move stay at my house, where I had nothing but the radio to listen to in my big empty house (I forgot my iPod). The first song I heard was Paparazzi, and I wasn't impressed. Then occasionally I'd hear Just Dance, which I recognized from watching The Ellen Show too much in my year off from life, and Poker Face. Neither of those is spectacular, nether of those is awful. Just Dance is, in my mind, superior because it's not as eventually annoying as Poker Face. But then I actually moved in for real and stopped listening to the radio...so I was kind of surprised when my friend Gunkey sent me a link to this video.

The more I watch it, the more firmly I believe that it's excellent. A music video should make you like the song, and although I'm biased because I first heard the song with the video, I do think this song is good. And the video...it's just something else. A little bit Thriller, a little bit Taken, a little bit why-the-hell-are-her-eyes-so-big. I don't like the very last scene, with the skeleton, I think it's a bit superfluous, but overall it's kind of fantastic, in both senses of the word.

Unstoppable

2009-11-16T22:09:00.003-05:00

So I'm not one to be all self-affirming, but there's something really exciting about being able to do physical stuff. Like hanging curtains, or shelves, or making a digital tv antenna using a cable you found in your creepy basement, a nail, and a coffee can.* Dad let me borrow one of his drills and since I've had it I've been very surprised at the amount of stuff I can accomplish. Part of it is my parents have very low expectations of me, since I'm a girl (not exaggerating), and I kind of mentally assume I can't do stuff because I'm used to them saying so. And, in all fairness, I'm really horrible at getting stuff straight on the wall without a lot of measuring and some pretty serious interaction with the level. But I can do it, and the rush that comes along with it is fun.

Not to suggest that there isn't a bit of a rush in owning a house. It's just a heavier kind of feeling because I know everything that's wrong with it: the leaks, the cracks in the walls, the outlets that need adjusting, the light fixtures that need replacing. And there's a lot. I know that no house is ever perfect. But I want mine to at least be adequate.

*Seriously, it works better than the one I bought. It's magic.

Home Sweet Home

2009-11-15T22:14:00.002-05:00

Zuki came to live at the house with me today. She doesn't like the back yard so much as it means being away from me. She also doesn't like me going to the bathroom, for the same reason. Or staying. But you guys, she's so damn cute it's hard to be annoyed. She's probably going to sleep inside tonight, since she doesn't have a doghouse yet and she cries every time I leave her outside. Plus the porch isn't screened in yet so it's a little weird to just leave her where she could potentially fall off. Not that I think she would.

So I'm the crazy lady who lives alone and only talks about her dog. Nice to meet you.

Blank

2009-11-14T21:55:00.002-05:00

There's something about being here in this house that makes me feel uninspired. Part of it is the fact that the TV is always on. Part of it is a lack of viable workspace. But part of it is just an overwhelming feeling of ennui. It's all I can do just to hammer this post out.

Fr some sort of substance, I will tell you: it's a whole lot more interesting to watch a game (of any sort) if there is a decent chance of seeing someone you know. I can watch UGA football games if I know Daniel is there because it's fun to hunt for him on the sidelines. But any other football game? Or a UGA game that Daniel isn't at? Meh. Same with baseball. I watched Braves games this summer and it was fantastic because Daniel was usually right behind home plate for the first two innings* and I was interested in the game and excited for the win...except if he wasn't there...then I lasted like a minute and a half before I switched to King of the Hill. We're watching the Georgia/Auburn game now and it's fascinating. But only because Daniel is there in his nonbiased** media shirt.

*We would occasionally call him while he was on TV so we could watch him talk to us on network TV. Easily amused, my family.

**Ok, wouldn't you call it unbiased? Isn't that the right way to say it? But no, on the press pass it's written as nonbiased. Which I mean, the shirt itself does not have a bias since it doesn't have feelings, so I see where saying unbiased is weird, but nonbiased? Isn't there a better way to say that?

It's Puppytime!

2009-11-13T17:12:00.002-05:00

I had decided last week while my dog wasn't at my house that it was nice to have the quiet, the lack of hair everywhere, and maybe I'd wait a while to bring her up. You know? Just a week or two.

But then I got my fence today, and it was all I could do to wait for them to finish before I left. I missed that little snot. So now I'm back in Alpharetta with my mother and my LittleDog. I have no restraint.

My Beautiful Launderette

2009-11-12T19:06:00.004-05:00

Friends, we have reached the end of this heavy-breathing hoedown. Not the end of NaBloPoMo or NaBloCoMo (comments!) but the end of this particular journey. I don't know what tomorrow will be about, but I'm positive it won't be as fun as this past week. When I was looking over my scribbles of which movies I wanted to use, I was really surprised that I hadn't done this one earlier. But I'd tried to find the clip I wanted earlier and got discouraged when I couldn't find one that included everything I wanted it to, because I think part where they're undressing each other has a really sweet intimacy about it. But then here we are on the last day and I finally found my clip. Oh, the wonders of Google.

The parallel structure of this scene is obvious, and we could talk about how the way the camera cuts back into the two couples poses a question of which relationship is more appropriate (the lady in the fir coat is Nasser's mistress) (also this film came out in 1985 so the whole gay sex thing was a shock to audiences). Or we could talk about how spectacular Nasser's dialogue is (what with the deadbeat comment followed by the comment about needing to marry Omar off, also calling them buggers even though he doesn't know they're gay). Or we could talk about how I feel like I should find that champagne thing he does attractive but I really just think it's strange. But I say we don't talk about all that stuff. I say we just relax and watch the clip.

Die Blechterommel/ The Tin Drum

2009-11-11T23:23:00.004-05:00

From French to German. From obscene to absurd. I had to work very hard to track this scene down, so I hope you appreciate it. Actually, I just kept looking in the wrong places. This is another scene where it will, I think, be obvious as to why I like it. It's just ridiculous. I mean, would you rape someone who was hiding you from certain death? I guess it depends on how long its been since you've had any.

Anyway, the actual scene starts about a minute and a half into this link. The dialogue isn't so much important as the action is. Just bizarre, this one.

Going Places/Les Valseuses

2009-11-10T23:30:00.006-05:00

The clip I am giving you is just a tease, because it's hard to find complete clips of the sex scenes in this movie and they're all in French anyway. Speaking of, I'll go ahead and translate the gist of this clip. He asks her for a favor, and the favor is for him and his friend to finger her before she leaves. She says yes, so they do, and then she asks if it's for good luck, and he says that it's good luck to touch something dirty so she gets offended.

And I know that whole thing seems weird out of context, but that's essentially her whole character is that she'll sleep with anyone, and their whole characters that they're completely sex-focused and also creepy assholes. One of the major plot points is that they can't get her to come during sex and by the end of the film she finally does (but not with either one of them). It's also worth mentioning that the French title of the film translates to "the nuts/balls/family jewels/whatever"...basically a slang word for testicles. The whole film is packed with sex scenes that are spectacularly unique and horrifically skeezy. Thus the whole film it tonight's favorite sex scene. Not favorite in that it's one of my favorite movies, because it isn't, but favorite because when I think of cinematic sex this is one of those films that has no comparison for me. It's horribly misogynistic and objectifies/victimizes women in almost every scene, but it's so unapologetic that it's kinda funny. If that makes any sense. It's like those friends you have that are jerks, but you know they're jerks so when they do jerky it's more endearing than it is annoying? I don't know. I'll give you another scene, though, since that scene was short.

In this one, Marie-Ange (Miou Miou) asks how old the girl is and she says she's 16. Then she asks if she's ever had sex before and she says no. Marie-Ange tells the guys and they agree to change that. You must keep in mind, too, that these people are strangers to that girl and her parents just kind of let her go off with them. It's a really weird scene, too, the way she lays in Marie-Ange's lap...just strange stuff. Strange movie.

Wedding Crashers

2009-11-09T23:10:00.006-05:00

So this movie isn't entirely a winner in terms of, well, anything, but it does have several fantastic sexually-related moments, one of which is our subject today. The thing I like the most* is the desperate look on Vince Vaughn's face when he starts rattling off the bullshit about wanting to learn about her personality first. Also when she calls his penis her little friend. The crazy is very well-written and well acted, which is more than I can say for the rest of the movie.

That scene is not really the one I wanted to show you. It's this one, which is more of a pre-curser to a sex scene than anything, but there are boobs which kind of qualifies it. I consider the dick-grabbing in the first one to qualify it. I make the rules. The only other thing this movie has going for it is that Christopher Walken's in it, and he amuses the crap out of me. I don't like SNL very often, but there is a census worker sketch he did that is the funniest thing I've ever seen come out of that show. Even better than Dick in a Box. But anyway, if you haven't seen the movie, I've just shown you all the good parts so you can put those two hours of your life toward better movies.

*That's not true. The thing I like the most about that scene is when she says she's not wearing panties because it makes me think of the documentary Sherman's March from Ross McElwee. I tried to find the right clip, because the way he says it is just delightful, but instead I will just have to give you the quote: "It’s three in the morning, and I can’t sleep. I keep wondering how I should’ve responded to Pat’s comment about not wearing any underpants. I mean, that’s not like telling someone that you’re not wearing any socks."

Intermission...or something like that.

2009-11-08T23:21:00.003-05:00

We're going to take a brief detour from sex scenes so you can all watch this video. Because it's kind of hilarious. Like something out of Family Guy, except it's on the news.

I mean, there are a lot of ways to end it all. You could take a whole bottle of pills. You know, you could...you could go get in a car chase and run out and act like you're gonna shoot somebody and then a cop would kill you. Right? Or you could just...you could just...really, eat one of those.

Secretary

2009-11-07T22:04:00.002-05:00

I'll admit, this is kind of an easy-target for this theme. But sometimes things are obvious choices because they're good. And you guys know I'm easily amused, right? Well, one of the things that amuses me greatly is when our on-screen protagonists come in their pants. Yeah, I know, right? But I can't help it. It was, for a while, one of the reasons I thought Glee might be a good show. But they've kind of quit doing it (the coming in his pants thing) after the first few episodes. It's not a very consistent show. But anyway, when it happens, it's hilarious. I've been trying to find a clip but it's all music videos about how the belong together. Fangirls.

But Secretary, ok, this movie starts slow but finishes strong. And weird! First time I've ever seen someone wet themselves in a wedding dress. Also, again with the sex and story combination: this scene is a major movie happening, not just good times in a suit. As always it's well acted. It kind of speaks for itself, especially in the lack of actual sex. Which of course, there is plenty of at the end of the movie. Including one with her tied to a tree that always comes to mind when people mention being uncomfortable with sex, even if that isn't what they meant at all. I assume you've all seen the film? It's kind of a classic.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

2009-11-06T23:17:00.003-05:00

It is with great apologies that I announce that there is no clip for today. The internet has failed me. Well, not totally. Because in trying to find this clip I found a description on a site called kids-in-mind.com that apparently outlines all the questionable stuff in movies so you can decide if you want your precious muffins to be tainted by its content. They captured the scene I was looking for in perfect detail: A young man is shown in a bathtub nude to the waist masturbating, and a transsexual woman takes over (we see his gratified face and hear the water splashing rhythmically). That's the scene, yes? Yes.

Again, I think what I like about that scene is self-explanatory. Actually, what I like about the movie is probably self-explanatory. Just the bathtub and the fact that he's jerking off with the door open and his face and Hedwig and the fact that she's babysitting and she just lays the baby on the floor* and throws her card in the tub afterward. Perfect. Just amazing.

To make up for the lack of proper clippage, please enjoy the story of how Hedwig met Luther.

* They do this in The Sims (2) and it always freaks me out. Why did you lay the baby on the floor? And I know there's nothing inherently wrong with laying babies on the floor, but it just seems so wrong. They're babies. You shouldn't put them on the floor.

Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

2009-11-05T21:10:00.003-05:00

One of the unexpected surprises of this project has been the amount of movie sex scenes I've been able to find on the internet. I shouldn't be surprised, because it's sex on the internet, but you can type in, as I did today, [three burials sex scene] and the exact scene you want appears. With the intro you were hoping it'd have. It's magic, the internet.

It will be obvious when you watch this scene, what I like about it. Which is to say, everything. Watch his face. Hers too, but his especially. The real key to this scene is the way the dialogue on the television functions as commentary. And it has a beautiful tie-in later on in the movie, too. Just spectacular.

By the way, if you haven't seen this movie you should. It's kind of epic, in the traditional sense of the word.

A History of Violence

2009-11-04T22:51:00.002-05:00

There's a difference between sex scenes that are sex scenes and sex scenes that are part of the film. I'm all for gratuitous ass now and then (speaking of, have you been watching Dexter this season? John Lithgow has a nice butt for an older guy.), but when you can combine the hot and the plot it's usually fantastic.

This scene in A History of Violence is just fabulous. I don't want to spoil anything if (either of) you haven't seen it, but the moment when she stops resisting is a huge turning point in the film, and the fact that he's all Bitch-Ima-take-you-on-the-stairs! is important and this scene plays back onto an earlier sex scene before the conflict happens in a spectacular way. I did not love everything about this movie, but it is of very solid construction.

Igby Goes Down

2009-11-03T23:15:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons I've been excited to start unpacking lies in the sad fact that my TV doesn't work yet and my dvd player and dvds are somewhere in the stacks and stacks of boxes in the spare bedroom. That and I still haven't seen any of my coffee machines. I have three. Anyway, that excitement has been doubled after working on today's research because I really, really, want to watch this movie again. This is probably in my top five. Only probably, though. I'm horrible at ranking things.

Anyway, I like this scene because you, as the viewer, are just as surprised as Igby. It's like...I wonder what he's rea...oh! The set-up is great, with him wiping his hands after he touches the condom wrapper...like there is an established mental distance. And the way the scene keeps cutting back to Mimi and Bunny is fantastic. Not to mention the strategic use of red! Plus it's well acted and adds to the twisted family situation in a fun way. Man, I really want to watch this movie again. Damn.

A Clockwork Orange

2009-11-02T23:01:00.006-05:00

So, as I said, it's a classic. There's nothing I don't like about this scene...the distance, the soundtrack, the way the women keep getting up and dressing and then disrobing again. The speed keeps it interesting and the writing keeps it funny and fresh, which is kind of unusual for a threesome in what is definitely not a comedy.

Fun fact: this is one of the only movies I own on VHS.

I was going to embed this, but apparently clips from this site autoplay and there's no way to turn that off. So here is a link to the scene in question. Turn up your sound. Not safe for work, unless you work somewhere awesome.

Watchin' Woopie

2009-11-01T22:52:00.002-05:00

So for part of NaBloPoMo I'm going to be running through some of my favorite silver-screen sex scenes. This is mostly because I need a theme for guidance. I was going to post one today, but then I thought...hey! introductions count as a post! And since I am swamped with this move thing (ps: am moving into my house tomorrow--it's about time!) I'm just going to keep it simple today.

I should mention that I did say favorite. Not hottest or featuring Kate Winslet or most cinematic. Favorite. And I'm easily amused. So don't be expecting anything too groundbreaking. Although number one is a classic...for sure. I just found a clip of it and it's just as good as I remember it being.

2009-05-25T23:19:00.004-04:00

Hedgewood: an experiment in home renovation

2009-04-21T23:27:00.002-04:00

I will now break my blogging silence to make the most anticipated announcement of the year:

Last week a baby squirrel almost hit me on the head.

It fell out of the ceiling of the gas station across the street from the store in Dalton where I'm probably going to buy the cabinets for my house. It was crazy. I was looking at the fountain drink selection and then whoosh. Baby squirrel. He looked terrified, and the Indian man behind the counter did too. "Shit! Shit!" He'd say. I could not respond because I was laughing so hard at the two of them. My dad came in, saw the three of us, and offered to herd the squirrel out, except the attendant left the door to the area behind the counter open and the poor little squirrel ran behind the counter, probably to score some cigarettes before he left. "Shit!" Said the attendant. "Fucking immigrants," said the squirrel. "It's about time you gave this job to a natural-born American." So my father shooed the attendant out of the gas station and the squirrel gave us our drinks on the house.

No, but there really was a baby squirrel. And it was pretty exciting. Almost exciting as the reason we were in Dalton in the first place, which is to say that we were on our way back from the closing. Which is to say that a week ago today I spent the most money I've ever spent in my life. And I'm about to spend another year's worth of Harvard tuition in the next three weeks. It's kind of surreal for me to spend this kind of money, and on American soil. But as much as I have felt like I was being stupid and melancholy for turning down Virginia and later Michigan, and in-between those American Samoa (That was a mistake, I think, turning down American Samoa. I try not to dwell on it too much.), I feel like this is a good decision. I just wish we could hurry up and finish this house so I can go ahead and move.

In other news, my the roof of my mouth is swollen. What's up with that?

January, Part II

2009-02-26T22:12:00.002-05:00

Elise, the magical Australian, flew in a week early to get over her jet-lag and see more of America than the Miami airport area. The Saturday she flew in I met Keri at her boyfriend's apartment to hang out with them until the plane got in--we were all three going to the airport. But then Keri got called into work and Darren and I ended up going without her. Darren is genuinely nice and really interesting (part of that is because he's moved a lot and people who have moved a lot fascinate me since I still have not managed to do it once).

The airport is divided into two terminals, Delta and Delta-partners (Terminal South) and everyone else (Terminal North). So it's easy: if they're coming in on a Delta plane, they will be at the baggage claim on the far-side of the airport and if they're coming in on anything else it will be on the other. Except, we learned the hard way that American Airlines comes in at neither baggage claim. They have their own secret baggage claim in the basement. There are no signs alerting you to this except when you're standing in front of the escalators to get to the American baggage claim. The lady at the information desk sent me to the South terminal, then down the wrong set of escalators. Meanwhile, Elise was exhausted, starving, and unable to convince the pay phones to let her call me. We did, eventually, find her. And now we all know that American Airlines is too good for the regular baggage claim.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were crazy handle-it days. Oil changed, laptop fixed, nails trimmed, all that stuff, just rushing around like crazy. But then Wednesday we went to Disney world. Our hotel was really nice for what we were paying (I've never used Priceline before but man, did it hook us up) and Disney was a good experience. Since it was cold and rainy the lines were minor at best, so we managed to ride the Tower of Terror five times on our first day, plus see everything else at the park. The second day was The Magic Kingdom and to continue our tradition of over-riding we caught Space Mountain five times too. And the crazy railroad thing twice. And everything else once. It was interesting to visit the parks again as an adult, because I really don't remember much from the times we visited as children. I remember having a good time, but that's about it. It was nice to place the fragments I had in more of a context. Also, my parents must have been insane to take the four of us there. Not only is that place a total moneysuck but seriously? We weren't good kids. And they took us three times. Seven years apart, mind you, but still...I'm impressed.

On our way to the Orlando airport I got stuck in a lane that had a piece of tire in the middle of it. The tire hit the bottom of my car and when we stopped I discovered a piece of the underneath of my car was hanging off. Being my father's daughter, I had a role of duct-tape in my glove box so I threw the blanket I keep in my trunk on the ground and stuck that piece back up under my car. Problem solved.

Except that we were heading towards the Orlando airport to meet up with Cassie, our fourth and final cabinmate. She had rented a car at Hertz and we were going to pick her up after she turned in her car and head to Miami as a complete set. My tape-under-the-car skills were no match for the tiger-toothed speed-bumps set up to keep you from stealing cars. The part was hanging down even further and the metal thing that attached it to the car was bent. I did the logical thing and took a picture of it with my phone and e-mailed it to my brother. He told me that it didn't look like anything serious and that I should see if someone could look at it. I was hoping Hertz could do that, but maintenance was closed. Ramona, however, used her magical GPS powers to send us to the friendliest auto shop ever. The guy there, Dennis, told me what was wrong and fixed it for free. If I lived in Orlando I'd never go anywhere but there. It was amazing.

With the car only touching the ground where it was supposed to and all our luggage in the car (It looked a little doubtful for a minute or two) we took 75 all the way to Miami. This is, by far, a better way to go than 95. Just trust me. We managed to get to the host hotel and I dropped Cassie, Keri, and all of our luggage off there. By all I mean everything in my trunk, including the broken piece off of my car and my emergency road-side kit. I caught the car piece because it was in a blanket, and made them put it back, but the emergency kit did not occur to me until we were well on our way to The Blue.

The Blue is where you should stay should you ever go to Miami. We booked through Orbitz and got a room for a deal, but to top that deal they let me leave my car there during the cruise. 24-hour secure parking (they even inspected my car with me and noted down the cat prints on the hood, you know, so if there were cat prints on the hood when I got back I couldn't get angry) for free. The host hotel would have charged 26 dollars a day, which was slightly more expensive than the port's 25 dollars a day. There were some off-site parking lots but most of them charged twice as much for cruise passengers and asked you to leave your keys with them (um...no.). The Blue, is cheaper than most of the bay hotels (mind you, it did not have the view) and had a bathroom bigger than the cabin we stayed in on the cruise. That bathroom had a TV in it that was bigger than the TV we had in the cabin on the cruise. And not only was there free wireless, but every room had its own wireless router. There was also a full kitchen, complete with dishes and pans.

But we didn't stay there before the cruise, we stayed there afterward. We stayed at the Marriott before the cruise and it was nice. Not as nice as The Blue, but the view was amazing and it was nicer than the Radisson we'd stayed at in Orlando so we felt like we'd moved up sufficiently. We went to the pre-party until we were to cold and felt to awkward to stay and then we all crashed.

Coming up: February, Part I.

January, Part I

2009-02-19T13:27:00.004-05:00

In an effort to further procrastinate writing about the cruise, the update on House Hunters: Chattanooga. I found the house I want. It's gorgeous, or at least it would be once I fixed everything. It has a garage and a back yard big enough for a LittleCrazy to run around in and lots of parking. Only snag was the six inches the front of the house had settled. Like, there was a noticeable dip in the floor and cracks in the walls and everything. But that sort of stuff is fixable. It's just $15,000 fixable. And then another $20,000 to fix the walls and door frames and ceiling back. So obviously, this needs to be considered when making an offer, right? So we made the offer with all the appraisals and stuff and my agent's broker says, "Oh, don't get your hopes up."

Why? You think we're too low?

"No, the guy at the bank who fields the offers looks for houses like this. He takes the assessments you've done and makes a slightly higher offer himself, flips it, and keeps the profit."

Sure enough, house went under contract shortly after our offer was rejected. Ass. Hole. On the fun side, though, it went back up shortly after that, because I bet the weaseldick went and looked at the house and saw how much work it needed. Because our quotes were from friends of Frank and Dad and, you know, connections. Six inches may not seem like a lot in terms of sandwiches or appendages but in terms of a sinking foundation...it's pretty significant. So house is not out of the question yet. But you know, whatever.

Part One of the cruise tomorrow. Or, you know, whenever I get around to posting it. I'm a busy kid these days.

I'll get to the past few weeks some other time.

2009-02-16T23:37:00.000-05:00

Blah blah blah found perfect house blah blah foundation issues blah blah blah assholes at bank blah blah blah Australian blah blah blah late blah blah blah Disney blah blah blah car trouble blah blah blah vegan blah blah blah turnpike blah blah blah hotels blah blah blah cruise blah blah blah amazing blah blah blah rocking blah blah blah hot crepe bar blah blah blah need more money blah blah blah everglades blah blah blah bridges blah blah blah home blah blah blah fire blah blah blah flooding blah blah blah seven-figure contract blah blah blah assholes blah blah blah auction blah blah blah...

I bought a duvet cover and matching sheets at Target at 75% off, but the sheet sets come with standard pillowcases and I use king-sized pillows. So I'm thinking I'll just use the top sheet of one of the sets to make pillowcases for both sets. Then it will match and I'll solve the dilemma of what to do with the top sheet. Because, seriously, what can you do with them, except save them for a toga party? Unless there is a way to convert them into a fitted sheet that I am not thinking of.

Appropriate title here

2008-12-19T00:13:00.003-05:00

So first, the house. I decided to go look at it again and came to the conclusion that I liked it for $80,000 just fine, but for $90,000...meh. But we looked at some other houses that great, one of which I'm very interested in pursuing. The trouble is it's a foreclosure so I'd be buying it from the bank so I have to have a letter from a bank saying that they'll give me a mortgage. Cue aunt who is a mortgage broker and also very aware of my entire financial situation, soup to nuts. Cross your fingers guys--I should find out if these people will lend me money tomorrow.

I should have written that sooner but I've been honeymooning. Not in the marriage sense but in the TV-on-DVD sense...you know that phase where you start a series on DVD and plan to watch one episode and suddenly it's six in the morning and you promised you'd get up at quarter-till-eight to help your brother get on the bus. And there are things about the show that might have factored into you not watching it as a normal TV show but now that you have all the episodes you need to find out what happens. And even though you have other things to do, all you really want to do is watch more of your show. Daniel gave me Dexter and I've been a zombie for the past few days. In fact, I just finished watching two episodes back to back. In fact, I just put two more episodes on my flash drive and I'm about to go watch those on my laptop. At least there are only three seasons. I don't think I could go without sleep for much longer.

2008-12-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

It's not that I don't trust my dog enough to let her sleep outside of the box. It's just that dad's socks are really expensive and I probably couldn't afford to replace them if she ate them.

2008-12-04T23:07:00.003-05:00

House is still up in the air. Dog is doing so well we had to drug her to keep her from getting too rowdy. This, however, was probably the highlight of my day.

2008-12-03T23:03:00.005-05:00

Update 1: LittleDog (who actually weighs 56 pounds) is back from the vet and doing well. She won't let me out of her sight which the guilty part of me attributes to the fact that the last time she did that they knocked her out and she woke up both in a cage and missing an organ. The logical part of me says that she probably knows she's supposed to follow me around now since she's almost always on a leash when she's inside.

Update 2: So the house thing went like this:

Listing price: 105,000
First offer: 70,000
First Counter: 100,000
Second Counter: 75,000
Third Counter: 97,000

This is where I was when I told you Monday about countering her counter-counter-counter offer. I wasn't sure if I should bluff and offer 75,000 again, raise a little more or just show my cards and say, "Look, this is what I can pay." I decided to offer 77,000, figuring she'd counter back at 95,000 and then I'd just tell it like it is.

She showed her cards. She can't take any less than $90,000. So I'm thinking about it. On one hand, that's about $50 a square foot, which is awesome for that area. And if I got a 30 year (fixed rate) mortgage at 6% with 5% down the payments would be right at $500 a month which would be really reasonable. But the yard is small and it needs some work and $90,000 is really more than I wanted to pay. But it's a really nice house. And I like that it has a basement. I don't know. Something to think about.

So that's the news. Oh also, my dentist sucks.

2008-12-02T22:54:00.002-05:00

LittleDog is at the vet tonight. LittleDog has been at the vet since 8:30 this morning. LittleDog had not eaten since 10:00 last night. LittleDog did not have surgery until at least 6:00pm. LittleDog was anxious this morning. LittleDog spent the whole frickin day in a cage by herself freaked out and hungry. Vet said they would call when she was out of surgery. Vet did not call. Stupid lying vet.

I have turned into my mother. Stupid anxious mother. Stupid anxious me.

To keep you updated

2008-12-01T23:52:00.002-05:00

My counter-counter offer was countered. So tomorrow I'll be countering her counter-counter-counter offer.

2008-11-30T23:25:00.004-05:00

There are a lot more houses, but I don't find the house-photo thing very interesting because pictures of houses don't feel like houses feel. Also, because I didn't think about it, there aren't actually any pictures of the fronts of the houses. Use your imagination. Also, I'm almost sure I had more pictures than what got uploaded so I may update this tomorrow if I can figure out what happened.

House Hunters: Chattanooga

2008-11-29T23:52:00.002-05:00

I said I was going to have house pictures today but I let my mother borrow my camera battery and I don't know where her camera is. This is my fault because she's let me borrow two of her batteries and they're both somewhere in storage now. Don't let me borrow things while I'm moving. Anyway, I'll hopefully have them tomorrow and we can play House Hunters: Chattanooga Edition.

In other news, NaBloPoMo is almost over, which means I've almost totally rocked it. I think I liked the themed stuff from last year because it kept me from having those blah days with nothing to say. To be fair, though, I never did a post that just said Rar rar rar rar rar. And I was totally tempted.

2008-11-28T23:25:00.002-05:00

It's impressive how much riding in a car can wear you out, even when all you're doing is sitting. But we're back in ~~civilization~~ Georgia. I'll post house pictures tomorrow.

2008-11-27T17:42:00.003-05:00

Greetings from Mississippi! The internet is very wobbly here. Yesterday I tried to post but I couldn't get the computer to cooperate and then Dad took it over for most of the day (we always update my grandfather's computer while we're here). Before I knew it Granddad had gone to bed and I hadn't posted anything. There's no cell signal in the house and we only get one bar outside, so I sat in front of the window and waited for the pages to load to update the blog on Daniel's iPhone. I still think they're too expensive, but it did come in handy. I've gone too far in NaBloPoMo to let lack of internet stop me. So even though yesterday's post sucked it still counts.

The offer on the house was countered, so I countered back. They have until Monday to respond since it's the holidays and all that.

This house has a huge bedroom upstairs for the grandkids--there are four beds. The trouble is Nich uses a cpap machine and when it slides off his faces it makes this awful snore-fart sound. And then one of us (me or Daniel) has to get up and fix it. Fixing snore-farts does not a restful make.

In other news my mother is talking about giving my grandfather weed brownies. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

2008-11-26T22:28:00.002-05:00

Will tell you tomorrow if I can. But I totally posted today. Yay for brothers and iphones.

2008-11-25T07:53:00.000-05:00

In seven minutes I need to be down the hall and dressed and packed. We're going to Mississippi to see my grandparents. It's going to be, well, it's going to be a trip. It'll be good to see everyone. I like my grandparents, all things considered. And I'm pretty tired from last week and this weekend (the switch from having nothing to do to having everything to do is jarring) so it'll be nice to have nothing to do. Because there is nothing to do in Mississippi.

Medical Breakthrough

2008-11-24T23:16:00.002-05:00

Nich had horrible hiccups today. He gets the same kind painful, achy hiccups I get so I always feel really bad when he has them. Mom suggested giving him a peppermint and telling him not to eat it (otherwise he'll chew and swallow it). So I did both. He sucked on it a while and then started making this awful noise, his face turning a deeper shade of red with every gasp. I started beating on his back while trying to get him to stand up so I could do a proper Heimlich. It was some combination of the thwacking and leaning forward that caused the mint to dislodge, which pleased both of us. Also, the hiccups were gone.

And it is with pride that I suggest my breakthrough theory in hiccup cures: choking.

2008-11-23T10:53:00.002-05:00

Am posting from Megan's apartment. We had a party last night--it was surprisingly fun considering I'm not really into parties. Since it was too far to drive back I stayed on her couch. Neighbors also partying. The way their bass vibrated the walls was oddly soothing. Jimmy, the cat, occasionally sat on my head in an attempt to get affection. He's a nice cat. Anyway, a pretty good night all in all. People are coming over to make pizza soon, but we don't have anything to bake it on except tin foil. We'll see how that works out. I'm sure it will be delicious.

2008-11-22T14:34:00.001-05:00

Did you know it's already November 22nd? November's almost over. Weird. It doesn't seem like its been that long. Time always seems bigger when it's coming up.

In other news, I'm currently in the process of putting an offer on a house. As in waiting for my agent to fax over the contract so I can sign it. Cross your fingers. I probably won't get it, but I can hope.

A confession

2008-11-21T23:50:00.002-05:00

So about a month ago a friend of mine asked me for a favor. The gist of it was she wanted to invite me to a free game and if I stayed for three days she'd get extra points. So all I had to do was log in once a day for four days and everything would be good.

Except I can't stop. I should just walk away but there's something about it that's oddly appealing. The ponies, you guys. This game is called Ponystars and despite my feelings that I should not be playing a game called ponystars I kind of enjoy it. On the plus side it's a very low-maintenance game and you only have to log in once a day. And you get to breed ponies. Colorful ponies. And as dumb as it is, it's kind of relaxing. Like a sand garden without the mess.

So what I'm saying is, let me know if you want to play and I'll send you an invitation. That and I am the lame champion.

2008-11-20T23:25:00.003-05:00

I. The thing with the biscuit in in was an apple sundae, witch is partially why I wasn't going to get it--not a huge fan of apples in desserts. However, I am a big fan of bread in desserts (except for bread pudding--weird) so this one turned out to be a winner. And cheap to boot.

II. We do trivia at a restaurant, not a bar. And we don't have a normal place because our normal place closed. So now we're experimenting.

III. The mice in the house are already dead, (un)fortunately. I like mice, but I don't think I'd want them in the house. But the fact that the dead ones are in the house and making it smell works in our favor. Still, it's sad to see them go.

IV. The possible dead guy is a plus for us too. The agent speculates that the lady's husband died in the house, which is why she's not living in it now (she apparently moved out very quickly). So the house is sitting empty and she's hoping for enough money to move home. I hate to be all "Yay! Let's benefit from her sadness!" but a good deal on the house would make my life considerably better.

V. I actually don't care for those traffic accident memorials at all. It's like, for some reason, dying on the side of the road warrants a wreath/cross/whatever but dying anywhere else doesn't. I get that you're sad, but I bet you're going to remember where the accident happened anyway. There's no need to put a marker there.

VI. Alien House: There's a three bedroom, two bathroom house in Chattanooga that looks like a spaceship. Not kidding at all. The front steps were even retractable at one point. I really wish this house was in my price-range and on the market, even if it is on the mountain.

VII. Alien Cars: Tennessee has this traffic accident response team of trucks that are neon green and have various sizes and functions. All of them have light boards that fold up and down on top. They move synchronously and block traffic while one of them goes to help the damaged car. It was a really cool thing to watch, despite the fact that it made me late.

VIII. I feel like this posts lacks anything interesting but my fingers are really cold and I don't have much else to say. That's what NaBloPoMo is about: writing when you have nothing to say.

2008-11-19T23:19:00.002-05:00

Went house-hunting again today, making two consecutive days of driving to and from Chattanooga. 85, at least the part that goes through Georgia, is way more interesting than 75 although I couldn't say why. I have pictures but they're not off the camera yet. I may put an offer on a house, but it'd be way low. There's another house that's actually an old duplex that was "converted" into a house that I'd consider too, because then I could change it back to a duplex and rent the other side. But it needs a lot of work and Zuki would have to live in the side yard and it has a big front yard and the washer and dryer (not included) are in the kitchen.

The idea of getting custom cabinets to hide the washer and dryer and therefore having secret laundry is kind of appealing to me. But the idea of whoever rents the other side having to do their laundry in my kitchen is not so appealing.

Anyway, provided we don't win the lottery this week, I think the one house is the best I could do in my price range, mainly because it's not actually in my price range but the owner really wants to sell it. Also it has mice. Also someone may have died in it.

2008-11-18T23:17:00.002-05:00

I had like 8,000,000 things to tell you about today but I'm so tired. Remind me to tell you about the alien trucks. And the alien house. And the mountain. I'm gonna go to bed now. Big day tomorrow.

2008-11-17T23:05:00.003-05:00

Went to team trivia tonight with Dorian and Lauren and Dorian's friends. We took third on a guess about Rod Stewart. So, you know, yay for Rod. I hadn't been in a while...maybe a month...so it was a nice change of pace. If I go too much I start to feel anxious about the people there. Also, the dessert I ordered (I always eat with my family before I go since it's so late) had a biscuit under the ice cream. It was apparently in the description but I hadn't intended to order it--they were out of the thing I wanted--so it was a surprise. Delicious.

I also went to the dentist today. Dude, score one for dental insurance--I can get all my teeth fixed for $211. That's ten fillings--and the white kind too. The insurance is paying like $700. And the dentist was super nice, as was the assistant. Plus my gums are still excellent. So win all around.

2008-11-16T23:05:00.003-05:00

Ashley's post made me remember something interesting I read a while ago while I was waiting for my mom at the doctors office. Did you know that some doctors consider prenatal screening to be a eugenics-based practice? It's not totally an unfair statement considering that an average of 90% of Down syndrome pregnancies are voluntarily terminated. I don't have any sources on that figure, mind, but it was in the magazine. Anyway, they say that's why some people refuse prenatal screening, and some doctors can recommend against prenatal screening. The whole idea seemed really bizarre to me.

On one hand I can understand not wanting to know if something was wrong in the vein that you're already invested in this baby and it's yours and you're going to love it no matter what. Or maybe you don't want to stress yourself out any more than you have to. But I think I'd like to know as much as I could about what's coming up. Boy or girl? Husband's or boss's? As much as I appreciate the idea of being surprised I think I'd want to know if the baby I was carrying was going to have complications. Of course, I've never been pregnant and I don't really plan to be.

It does give you the chance to opt out. As much as I'd like to say I don't think you should, raising a special-needs child is hard. And expensive. And I can see where you might want to just try again. It's a big decision. And not screening saves you from making that decision. I guess the better decision would be to adopt, since you don't have to go through all the bloating and stuff. If there's supposed to be a biological need to hold your own offspring I guess I haven't felt that one yet. I've never understood why people get so dead-set on having their own children. Why pay $10,000+ for fertility treatments when you could spend that on a guaranteed kid? Are your genes that impressive? Michael Phelps, perhaps, but otherwise I really don't understand the appeal. And it's not even one of those I-could-choose-to-understand-but-I'm-acting-like-I'm-above-the-concept things. I honestly don't get it.

Stolen from someone I knew in high school.

2008-11-15T23:32:00.002-05:00

Three things you've done in the last 33 Minutes:

Microwaved my tea.
Put the dog outside.
Started writing this.

Three things you like about yourself:

My advanced spacial-reasoning skills.
Good baking instincts.
The color of my eyes.

Three things you dislike about yourself:

My nails.
Sense of humor.
Phone anxiety.

Three things you're afraid of:

Silverfish.
Windows at night.
Heights, but not really. They mostly make me uncomfortable, not really afraid.

Three things you're wearing right now:

Red Shirt
Reasonably clean jeans.
Socks.

Three everyday essentials:

Computer.
Toothpaste.
Jeans

Three important objects

Edwin (the Laptop)
Conrad (the iPod)
Ramona (the GPS)

Three of your favorite bands/artists

Guster.
Barenaked Ladies.
Semisonic.

Three ways to be happy:

Appreciate little things.
Move to Japan/Mexico/Austria.
Don't live with your family.

Three of your favorite songs at the moment:

Starless Heaven (Guster)
Evergreen (JMB)
Left and Leaving (Weakerthans)

Three new things you want to try in the next 12 months:

Being a home-owner.
Being in Mexico.
Having a real job.

Three things you regret:

Not being a better student.
Letting my parents talk me out of American Samoa.
Not moving out sooner.

Two truths and a lie:

I don't like the color teal.
I love pickled beets.
I sent Clinton a valentine.

Three things you just can't do:

Whistle.
Steal things without feeling horrible about it.
Like the way Ben Folds sounds.

Three things you miss from your past:

Japan.
Junior year.
Camp.

Three gifts you'd like to receive:

An ice cream maker.
A cabin on the Mayercraft.
A copy of the album Parachute from when Guster was still Gus.

Three of your favorite hobbies:

Traveling.
Concerting.
Cooking.

Three things you want to do really badly right now:

Finish this.
Make muffins.
Go somewhere.

Three places you'd like to visit:

Egypt.
England.
Brazil.

Three cartoon characters:

Rocko (RML)
Norbert (TAB)
Arnold (HA)

Three things you want to do before you die:

Visit all seven continents (3/7ths of the way there!).
Make my own wine.
Hang glide or sky dive.

2008-11-14T23:58:00.001-05:00

I would post something real, but I'm tired and reading a book. And it's in an interesting part so I'd like to keep reading but I caught the clock and it's almost tomorrow so I had to post. So here. I'm posting. Ok. Back to reading.

Five Good Memories

2008-11-13T23:10:00.003-05:00

I. When Guster played at Erskine College in May of 2007 (I think...), Keri and I waited almost eleven hours in front of the venue--not because it was a hot show or anything, but because we had to check out of our hotel in Greenville by 10am and we had nowhere else to go. There is nothing close to Due West, South Carolina. Anyway, we waited on the front steps in the damp, until it was time for the doors to open and were told by the security people that we had to sit in the seats. So we sat in the seats. Then people stood in front of us and no one did anything about it. We were annoyed, to put it mildly. But as the front row got more and more wasted, gaps opened up and we managed to stick ourselves front and center, right on the bass speakers. It was a great show, and then they played Jesus on the Radio, acoustic, three inches from our faces.

II. I used to suffer from dog jealousy because I expect my little dog to love me more than anyone else and for a while I wasn't sure if she even knew that she was my dog as opposed to a general family dog. But when we go to the vet she never wants mom to take her in--she gets very distressed when I start to go sign her in. :) She likes me best, even if mom gives her more treats.

III. My first trip to Sapelo Island. There were only six of us and no one knew each other and the island was empty and cold and gorgeous. We ate dinner with a local family and slept out by the beach so we could see the sunrise over the water. I've never been colder in my life but the beach was lovely and you can only pull off that kind of stupidity when you're young.

IV. Getting a ticket to the Star Wars premier when I went to Cannes. I'd been waiting for a while and the normally steady flow of extra passes was more of a drip. Then a really nice guy with a media badge asked me how long I'd been standing there and gave me his ticket. I don't remember much about what he looked like, except that he was smiling. We were both smiling.

V. Ships and Dip I. From the beginning (driving the longest I'd ever driven to room with someone I hadn't met in person on a trip my parents didn't know about) to the end (coming back to Rutherford to find that no only were my friends hanging out in my room while I was gone but they'd added furniture. Their answer? They didn't think I'd be back until the next day.) the whole trip was a blast. Ships and Dip III was excellent as well. I have high expectations for Ships and Dip V.

2008-11-12T23:18:00.003-05:00

The problem with NaBloPoMo is that sometimes you don't have anything to say. So I'm just going to answer questions you've left in the comments this month. The Queen does this in her comments, usually within 24 hours of the original message. She is much better at this than I am.

The Frazinator asked what the dog's name was. Her full AKC (if I ever mail the papers in) name is Sweet Azuki Bean, unless I can think of something better. We call her Zuki, although mostly I just call her Zookers or Little Dog. Mom calls her Zuki-Lukey or however you'd spell that.

The Queen asked if escarpment was a well-used Canadian term. I have no idea, but there's that Sarah Harmer song about blowing holes in the escarpment. And I think she might mean that one. But I'd never really heard the word until I heard the song, so it's definitely not a well-used Georgian term.

The Freshman asked how we got the dogs to take that picture. Lots of patience and quick shutter speeds. Those dogs don't stay still for long, especially not when Daniel's laying on the ground holding a fun new chew toy/very expensive digital camera. He also asked if I was house hunting exclusively in Chattanooga. Mostly, yes. There's a city near Chattanooga called Soddy Daisy, and I'm not opposed to living there just for the name.

The Freshman then asked if I wanted to go to the Tallulah Gorge over Thanksgiving, which reminds me that I need him to text me the days he's going to be here since I lost all my text messages when they fixed my phone.

Actually, all the rest of these are from him, so we'll cover them all together. The Guster video? No outer context. That was all filmed for that video. We didn't get individual grades for things in creative writing (actually, the only CW class I took where we received scores on individual assignments was also the only class in which I failed every single paper I turned in and still made an A) but I got a solid A in the class. And I'm looking for a house with two or more bedrooms, two or more bathrooms, and under the 80,000 mark. Also, you know, good neighborhood/fence-able back yard/not rotten. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Remind me to write something valid tomorrow.

2008-11-11T23:45:00.005-05:00

It was a good day today. I got a lot of stuff done. One of those things was making an appointment for Zuki to be spayed which was surprisingly difficult. Not in the appointment-making itself but in that makes me really sad. I'm not against fixing animals--in fact I am squarely for it, and it isn't the actual procedure I'm apprehensive about so much as leaving my puppy at the vet and having her put under and her waking up in a strange place hurting and scared. Now I know she's a dog, and she probably won't be as traumatized by this as I imagine, but she's my puppy. She gets freaked out by tickle-me Elmo and those dancing hamster dolls. And I'm going to take her to the vet and let them cut her open and leave her there overnight? Her first night by herself ever?

I'm still going to do it, of course, but I still feel really bad about it. My poor little dog. But thinking about all the poor little dogs--including puppies--they put down while I was volunteering at Athens Animal Control is enough to make me feel good about the decision. I still feel bad for my dog though.

2008-11-10T22:54:00.002-05:00

I don't have anything to say today, so I'm going to link you away again. Maybe that's my theme for this Nablopomo. Not feeling like writing and therefore linking you somewhere else. To be fair, though, I've written a good bit. Just not tonight.

Gregory Corso may be my favorite poet. Like, him and Edgar Allen Poe. I don't know, I have a hard time picking favorites. But this is a link to a page with links to his stuff. The two I'd recommend are Marriage and The Mad Yak. I don't think I could articulate why I like them.

It's really the concept I liked the most.

2008-11-09T22:51:00.004-05:00

In honor of my being in a pretty spectacular bad mood tonight, I'm going to do something I'd kind of decided against.

This was my final project for creative writing. It was supposed to be 100 boxes but it ended up being less because I ran out of time and inspiration and scrapbooking glue (the kind that comes in the same dispenser as that correction stuff that feels a lot like PVC tape but is supposedly superior to white-out because it's never wet). Also, I re-used an old story because the story I was writing hit a huge bump, which is to say that I started writing it before I knew how it was supposed to end--a death sentence to anything I write. So if you knew me in high school you'll probably recognize some of the content. But the content isn't what it was about so much as the method of delivery. This is what it looked like in action

The boxes were stacked up on a table in our reading or whatever it was, and the intention was to go through the collection until you reached the guestbook. Since the boxes are constantly being shuffled and re-arranged, the net box you open is as random as these things can be. Some of the boxes link to other boxes directly, some of them reference other boxes, some stand alone. Some have writing, some have pictures, some have stuff. One of them had a finger puppet, which pleased me greatly.

I love the idea. What I forgot to take into account is that no one actually cares what the other people in their class did, so no one looked at my project except for my friends from Rutherford who could have seen it in the dorm. It was really disappointing, but that whole pre-graduation was kind of a sucky time anyway. Also, when you chop things you've written into 3.5" squares you notice every single grammar error.

But despite the crap story and the crap outcome, I still think it's one of my better ideas. I'd like to do it on a larger scale one day, with colored box sets. Like I'd ever have the motivation. Told you I was in a crappy mood.

TIDL: Number 1

2008-11-08T23:53:00.004-05:00

I always think it'd be fun to make a list of things that I don't like, except I always forget the thing that inspired me to make the list in the first place. So I'm going to start now and try to add on things when I remember.

1. Bank fees.

It'd be one thing if I were getting something for my money, but giving them cash just because I'm letting them loan out mine to other people? Are they aware that ING pays me for the privilege of loaning out my money? Because they do. I've always refused to pay my bank fees (they tried to charge me $12 a month to keep my checking account--no) with the exception of the first time my credit card payment was late (I wanted it to be sent in on the 2nd but instead of 02 I hit 20 and didn't check it again until it was too late). I felt like such an awful person--so irresponsible and ashamed and why do they even let me have a credit card? So the $25 was my stupid fee, and I've double-checked my dates ever since. Except I've stopped using my Visa lately because my Discover is so much better. Seriously, Discover gives me 5% cash-back on gas (although I probably should have taken the cash-back on travel card instead), e-mails me when my statements are up, when I'm nearing my credit limit, and they e-mail me if the payment is due soon and I haven't paid it. Which would have been a fantastic feature for my Visa card to have, because I had to use it in Canada* at a gift shop. So after two months of not having a balance, I had $6.60 on my statement, which came in the mail today. And is due tomorrow. So I just had to pay $12.00 to do an express payment so it wouldn't be late because tomorrow's a Sunday.

Why is it due on a day when they don't accept payments anyway? What is that? I tried to do a phone payment, but that costs $15. WTF? Why should I have to pay them to take my money? I'm so mad about this that I'm tempted to cancel the card, except I've had it since I was 18 and it has enough bonus points on it for a free horse or something (I have a shameful number of points. I can't believe I've spent that much money). You can be sure that I, and this is an I that hates to talk on the phone, will be calling to request the $12 be removed from my balance. Because, seriously? You want me to pay you to take my payments? No.

*Another reason why Discover trumps Visa: I used my Visa in Canada and they didn't convert it into US dollars, so I paid like 3% more than I had to, plus they charged me a foreign transaction fee. I used my Discover and they just charged me the amount it would have been in US dollars. Discover wins. Also the card is cool looking and my number was easy to memorize.

House of Wax (Paper)

2008-11-07T23:57:00.002-05:00

Today we made candy. If you know my family, you probably know what kind of candy I mean. It's white chocolate and peppermint chunks. Some people call it brittle. Some people call it bark. Most people just get anxious when it's two days before Christmas and why hasn't Mark given me my candy yet? Did I upset him? Am I not getting it this year? Maybe I should send them a gift basket.

When I was in high school I helped my mother make it. It was usually a three-day project because we gave it to just about everyone. All the family. All dad's coworkers. Everyone at the bank. Teachers, friends, faux neighbors, firefighters, bus drivers, postal carriers, and dentists. It was a lot of chocolate.

Then two semi-related things happened. I went to college and my family was in a car accident. By accident I mean they were hit by a middle-aged woman who was so drunk on a Sunday afternoon that she continued to try to drive her Honda after it had totaled my family's four-ton Ford Excursion and flipped onto its side. My dad and younger brother were both largely unhurt, just cut and bruised pretty badly. Nich was also banged up and developed OCD, something that is relatively common for people with Down syndrome who experience a trauma. My mother shattered four discs in her spine and continues to have back pain.

It's been a strange re-adjustment period, and one of the things that had to be re-worked was the candy. The amount of candy she made has slowly decreased, and last year there was no candy. I don't even like the stuff and it didn't feel like Christmas. So this year when she mentioned making it again I tried to remember how. And spent an afternoon cutting wax paper into 2-foot pieces, cutting a third of those in half and then taping the half-sheets to the whole ones.

Wax paper is vital to the candy, see, because it keeps it from sticking to the pan. Wax paper is one of the only things chocolate won't stick to. Unlike the microwave, the sink, the floor, the counters, the drawer faces and my clothes, wax paper peels right off the chocolate. So once I had our magic paper bases finished, which I managed this week, we were ready to knock out some candy. By some I mean all. By all I mean 180 pounds of molten chocolate. It sounds fun, but it gets sickening pretty fast. There is such a thing as too much chocolate, and I can tell you that it's somewhere in between a milky-way bar and 180 pounds of white chocolate wafers.

But you can rest assured that Christmas is coming this year. It's already in my kitchen, in large thirty-pound boxes. Now all we have to do is scrub all the drippings off the kitchen floor. Oh boy. Did I mention I can't wait to move out?

2008-11-06T23:08:00.003-05:00

I half-way feel like telling you about all the suck that's been going on but I don't really feel like it. Living in this house exhausts me. It's so hard to be positive here. Remind me to talk about house hunting one day when I feel like being negative. Not that I'm not totally excited at the prospect of buying a house, just that I really, really wish it were moving faster.

Instead, I'm giving you a music video. Oh, and a joyous music video it is. Seriously, I can't think about it an not smile because it's such a great combination of awesome and horrible. Mostly in that it's so randomly horrible it's awesome.

No really. They were completely serious. That's the actual video for this song.

I love those boys. I really, really do.

2008-11-05T23:13:00.007-05:00

I. There is part of me that is so amazingly happy about the election results. I know that his race is not listed among the qualities that will (cross your fingers) make Obama a good president, but I'm still really proud that, considering we're a country with a history littered with racism and prejudice, we elected him. It's progress. Not enough to counteract the predicted outcome (they're still counting absentee ballots) of California's proposition eight, but a significant step nonetheless. My parents are handling the loss well and pretty much avoiding the issue. It's pretty nice.

II. Ok, so this whole gay marriage/abortion/individual rights thing. What upsets me, aside from the obvious, is that these issues are still around. Because, seriously, Roe vs. Wade was settled by the supreme court. Remember that branch of government? Yeah, they figured out what the right answer was. Great, we're done. I feel like the chances of RvW being overturned are relatively slim, but it's being used as a way to draw party support based on emotion. Gay marriage is a slightly different issue since it's not currently legal--again, at least in California, the supreme court had spoken. Now I'm not saying the supreme court is without fault, but just maybe we could consider their point of view before we try to take away individual rights? Maybe? Anyone? I may be being optimistic about this kind of stuff but I don't think the supreme court just flipped a coin on the issue.

III. My suggestion for this whole gay marriage debacle is as follows. Nationally, all current government issued marriages should be re-classified to domestic partnerships without a change in rights or benefits. So just a different name. Individual churches, organizations, whatever, can marry you. Thus, your "marriage" is from your church which you personally subscribe to and therefore (hopefully) share views with and has nothing to do with a government backed by prejudice and exclusion. Domestic partnerships (which may need a new name because it's kind an unfortunate acronym) can be for everyone, marriages can be something you do on your own.

IV. In response to the complaints that a marriage between two people of the same gender is and attack on "traditional" marriages, I say: Dude, if that's an attack on "traditional" marriage then it's the lamest attack I've ever seen. I'm not opposed to launching a real attack: Marry a Stranger Day. Potentially dangerous, sure, but we can pass out rock-solid pre-nups at the door. Later that year we can do National Divorce Day, in which you can divorce your stranger-spouse for free.

V. My thoughts go to Bristol Palin and the father of her fetus. It's bad enough to be pulled into the international spotlight, and to have that woman as your mother, but to have it all be for nothing. Sucks and a half, I bet.

2008-11-04T23:51:00.003-05:00

If I ran elections we wouldn't do all this projection stuff. We'd announce the winner at 9:00 am on November 5th, after all the districts everywhere had reported their numbers. Tuesday night TV would be safe. I just think it's a little brazen to give states a color when only 1% of your precincts have reported. I mean, yeah, it'd be crazy for California to become a red state, but we could still wait until everything is official.

But then, if I ran elections the race would be a lot closer because every state would split their electoral college votes. Mind you, I don't have that great of a grasp of the electoral college system, but I don't think I'm really a fan of giving all your cookies to one candidate. Since it's working in my favor now I'll allow it but one day we should re-draft that stuff.

I'd also include a rule banning campaign commercials. Signs, sure. Debates, absolutely. Phone calls from humans? Knock yourself out. But no television commercials and no robo-calls.

Good luck to California with their quest to keep equal marriage rights. And, seriously, thank goodness. If would have had trouble sleeping for the next four years knowing that Sarah Palin was one pretzel away from the oval office.

2008-11-03T23:09:00.003-05:00

Following yesterday's theme of things I've been meaning to share, I have videos from Japan that I rushed to upload and then never really linked to. There's actually a bunch of them, but we'll just cover my favorites.

It wasn't the best hostel we stayed in, but our room had a balcony and a great view (see!) and the staff was super nice. I'm in love with that carrot building, by the way.

The toilet at our hostel in Beppu was connected to the light switch, so it turned on every time you turned on the lights, revealing the secret to the Toto Toilet's spraying system. See, usually you're sitting down when that happens.

That's how a kaiten zushi works. I love these. Granted, the sushi we had at the non-rotating sushi place was better, but these were always way cheap and delicious, with the added bonus of not having to order anything specific and a rotating belt to keep you entertained.

Daniel, dancing on a train. Sideways because I didn't think about video not being able to be rotated. Damn technological limitations.

I admit that this is not the most exciting video (none of these are, really) but Akihabara was a neat place. And full of flashy lights.

I really wish I lived in a place with street performers. This girl tried to catch all the bowls on her head six or seven times, but never managed to do it. It was impressive and sad at the same time.

There are lots more videos on my youtube account that are equally as enthralling as these. Which is to say, not very. But it's still little slices of Japan. I don't think I've ever missed a place as much as I miss Japan. It was so nice there. If I were better at languages I'd learn Japanese ~~and move there~~.