I think we're under attack....

Is it any coincidence that less than 10 minutes after fireworks were going off left and right, there were sirens tearing through town?


PS- Was there any talk of a Y2K+4 crisis? Why is my instant messenger down now that I can't get to sleep and want to see who's up? What a lousy start to my new year!!

Starting points for your resolutions (can you tell I'm "relaxing into the new year" by staying very cozy in my apartment??)

- Want to get into better financial shape? Try the Basics Page from SmartMoney.com.

- Want to get rid of the clutter? Try About.com's advice on organizing or the more philosophical advice from Discardia.

- What to be funnier? You can start with some anecdotes from Reader's Digest.

- Want to be smarter? or at least sound smarter... There are lots of word-of-the-day lists like those at Dictionary.com or at Merriam-Webster.

- If you're like 3XK, maybe you should look into being more liberal. I prescribe 30 days of reading Alternet.org.

Public Service Announcement:
A few things to keep in mind if you make some new resolutions tonight:
(some of these have vague psychological justifications, others are personal experience)

- It takes 30 days committed to your new rule for it to stick- do whatever it is (or avoid whatever it is) 30 days and it becomes a habit. EVERY day.

- Make reasonable demands- I have a friend who swore off desserts for Lent last year. She and I are serious cake-a-holics, and we were on a cruise when lent began. Seriously bad for keeping your resolutions. Make reasonable demands on yourself.

- Make notes or reminders of your goal- I put up little signs to myself when I know I'm not going to be good about something. Also, when I'm on my exercise kicks (semester breaks always make me lazy), I mark every day that I exercise. It's encouraging to see a month full of X's.

This page offers more (though some similar) advice.

Grads recapture college days in alumni communities

So apparently, alums all over are moving to theme-neighborhoods. Here's the kicker though:
"Being true to your school does not come cheap: At the Georgia Club, cottages start in the mid-$200,000s. At a planned 800-acre Georgia Tech Club in Alpharetta, single-family homes are expected to range up to nearly $1 million."

Interesting price difference... Why oh why didn't I pick up my MRS degree while I was at Tech?? I guess I'm going to have to be my own money maker...

Forget the big ball, Atlantans watch the peach drop. But not this Atlantan. I don't like the idea of celebrating something that tastes, feels, and looks so yucky (I swear, it looks like we're getting mooned all the time by furry, leafed butts).

On Thursday, eBay will launch its first ever week-long "Get What You Really Wanted" campaign.

Think I could get anything for Twinkie the Kid?

A happy end to the year for Tiger fans (a long drive home for the Badgers):
Auburn 28 Wisconsin 14

What a way to end the year. It would've been fun to stay home and watch the game, but some of us have to work and catch only illicit glances of the GameCast from ESPN. Yay tigers.

Man trapped under mountain of books, papers

I thought that was going to be my fate yesterday while organizing the "library" at work.

Okay, I'm ready to showcase my Christmas highlights now. First and foremost, I tripled my DVD collection (which stood at 3 before). Among the new additions are the classics of romantic comedy- Jane Austen adaptations and Meg Ryan flicks. In addition I got lots of additional stuff- from the bizarre Twinkie container:


to the super cute ducky-socks:


To name a few other things, I also got a toaster oven (fantastic!), Winnie the Pooh and Auburn towels, Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything, and a bracelet from my friend who apparently thinks I need to be an uber-geek blogger (a picture of the bracelet is now the main image for the page). Can I wear the name of my blog proudly? or should I pretend it has some other esoteric meaning?

(BTW, I tried SO hard to get a non-fuzzy picture of "Alacrity"... but it was not to be. That was the most legible I could do. I just can't hold still enough).

PS- the PJs you see in the second picture are also new, but were not specifically a Christmas gift... Yes, they say "Peas on Earth" and have peas with santa caps on a gift-wrapped earth.

The Friday Five on Saturday night:

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year? I finished my bachelor's of science at Georgia Tech.

2. What was your biggest disappointment? Things have been pretty good, I can't think of anything worth mentioning.

3. What do you hope the new year brings? Lots of acceptances from graduate schools.

4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be? Yes, I take every opportunity to make and keep resolutions (lent, birthday, new years, whenever). My big one is I'm going to try to eat healthier (not to lose weight, but to eat well).

5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve? I refuse to celebrate this holiday, as I always have hopeful expectations for whatever party I'm going to, but I always end up half-asleep and unamused by midnight. I will "celebrate" by having a nice evening at home (maybe watching my new DVDs) and going to bed when I'm sleepy.

Two jokes my friends have told me this weekend:

What do you get when you combine a Jehovah's Witness with a Unitarian church member?

Someone who rings your doorbell, but doesn't know why.



How does a Mississippi farmer find a sheep in tall grass?

Very satisfying. (I know, ewwww)

(Jokes courtesy of my two alleged ex-girlfriends - Erin and Ali)

Wow, minus one for UGA in the grad school selection campaign: Fraternity brothers kill, eat raccoon.

"The men had spotted the raccoon behaving erratically outside the Phi Kappa Psi house at the University of Georgia on December 12. One hit it with construction pylon and shot it with a pellet gun in the fraternity's parking lot, Athens-Clarke County Animal Control officials said. Another skinned the raccoon, and a third cooked and ate some of its meat."

Runner up for the stupid criminal award?

Thief mistakenly hops into cop car

I don't know if it counts as stupidity as much as very bad luck.


Wait a minute, I just found a better nominee. This criminal was released from jail and just four days later returned in a stolen car, using his revoked-for-life license to pick up his belongings. He went right back into jail.

I read a lot of Reader's Digest when I'm home. Aside: Did you know I once got a funny published in Reader's Digest? It's not funny if you don't know about gardening, but I got $100 for it, so it's all good even if none of my friends get it. If you can find it on this girl's quote page you can see it. ANYWAY, here's a funny Humor in Uniform joke:

"Dead ahead, through the pitch black night, the captain sees a light on a collision course with his ship. He sends a signal: 'Change your course ten degrees east.'
'Change yours ten degrees west,' comes the reply.
The captain responds, 'I'm a United States Navy captain! Change your course, sir.'
'I'm a seaman second class,' the next message reads. 'Change your course, sir.'
The captain is furious. 'I'm a battleship! I'm not changing course!'
'I'm a lighthouse. Your call.'

CNN has an article from Business 2.0 listing the 10 technologies to watch in 2004. One of the coolest technologies is the Gecko tape:

"Lizards climb walls using the mechanical adhesive force of millions of tiny hairs on their feet. A synthetic version of those microscopic hairs allows gecko tape, developed at England's University of Manchester, to stick to almost any surface without glue. Applications include gloves that allow a person to climb a glass wall, the ability to move computer chips in a vacuum, and new bandages."

Oh, and if OLEDs really equal affordable flat-panel monitors... I'm so there. Technology is a crazy-amazing thing (when it isn't used for evil- muahahaha).

Because overpopulation is causing diseases to spread rapidly through the deer population here in Alabama, the state allowed archers to go crazy in the state parks to reduce the population (which for practical purposes makes sense, but ethically, I have issues with us deciding when other species populations are too big, but human population... oh-no, never too big). So why are Texas A&M researchers being applauded for cloning a deer? I could find a way to make kudzu spread faster... that wouldn't make me very popular here in the south.

A little bow with a big Napoleon complex.


(sorry, at home I can't ftp to my usual site, so I have to skirt geocities limitations and just link images... and put them in a crappy gif form).

I can't think of any conspiracy theories I really ascribe to. But this new theory that there's something fishy about the capture of Saddam would be just too delicious if it were true. I think they are putting such strong spins on stories from Iraq (e.g., Lynch) that they are bordering on total fiction. Does that count as a conspiracy theory?

Oh, and this is scary to my liberal-leaning sensibilities. Fictional accounts straight to the gullible public!!! oh my.

(Links courtesy of Metafilter)

(if I'm single in a few days it's cause 3XK was fatally sickened by this uber-liberal post).

I've been reading The Ethicist at the New York Times for a while, as one of my profs kept mentioning it, and it sounded interesting. For a while I thought he just told everyone that what they did was ethical. Finally, this week he told someone they were unethical for submitting bogus receipts so they could tip their maids and skirt a misogynistic company policy.

"Your action may well be less unethical than your department's policy, and it is no doubt less unethical than much done by the late Idi Amin, but the ability to name a bigger villain than yourself does not justify your own misdeeds. So perhaps you should argue the point and petition your company to amend this policy, but you should not file fake receipts or eat the flesh of your political rivals."


(BTW, you need to register with the Times to read The Ethicist... but it's free)

My mom told me about a shirt or card she saw today, so I created a rendition of it so we can all laugh (or feel sorry that I've become a frequent kitty-and-puppy-picture-poster).

Who's on Santa's naughty list?

Three things: Great news for nerds

1. A U.S. appeals court hands the RIAA a little setback in their quest to ruin everybody's illegal fun (just kidding, I think they have the right to be evil, but it's still evil).

2. A Chinese judge sides with the plaintiff in a virtual theft suit. Nerds everywhere will soon be filing suits for damages from EverQuest Wars (or what have you, I don't play these games!!)

3. Return of the King brings in $34Mil on its opening day. Nerds and bullies (who used to beat up nerds but now run the entertainment industry) everywhere rejoice. I'll go see it in a few days once the nerds have all been but before the geeks start reciting the dialogue aloud (it will take them a couple of viewings to memorize the whole thing, right??).

Random Limerick Junction - give it a try, you might turn out to be good at creating limericks.

there once was a boy from augusta
who thought he could rap like old Busta
he tried out some rhymes
perpetrated some crimes
but his rapping still lacked any luster


There once was a wonderful blog
whose author liked kitties and dogs
one guy had to diss
cause he was jealous of this
and she sunk his car into a bog

(what can I say? I'm good.)

In a couple of hours, I'm heading out to Smith Station to be a guest reader for my friend's kindergarten class. In honor of this fun, I've put together a list of my top 10 favorite children's books (rankings based how often I requested the book as a little one and biased by how much I still love the books).

1. Harold and the Purple Crayon

2. Good Night Moon

3. Tweedlebugs At Work

4. Pat the Bunny

5. The Giant Jam Sandwich

6. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

7. Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen (both Sendak books)

8. Three little horses (this was the book we always read and the grandparents)

9. Caps for Sale

10. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (pop-up book!)

I found a link for my Stupid Criminal nominee (see yesterday's post). So special...

I have a nomination for that Stupid Criminals award...

I really wish I could find a news link for this story. I saw it on Good Morning America as I was waking up today. A man and a woman went on a serious shop-lifting spree in a Walmart or similar store. Unfortunately, the surveillance camera's image was too blurry to identify either thief. As the security guys were watching the video, however, they noticed that as the two were helping themselves to some electronics, the woman tried out one of the digital cameras.... by taking a picture of the man she was with. Lo and behold, the security guys checked out the camera and there was a lovely high-resolution photo of the man. Nice work, lady....

(if I see an online version of the story, I'll hook you up... the picture of the guy was priceless.)

Need help getting into the holiday spirit?


Santa Pets 2003

More cheesey christmas pet pictures than you can shake a stick at. Gee, I'm feeling festive already. >: b (I'm being snarky, but really I adore this picture).

PowerPoint makes you dumb

This article offers an interesting argument that the effort to strip down information so that it fits into PowerPoint's limitations (I've definitely had the resolution problem) creates overly dumbed-down presentations with sometimes tragic results (the effect is implicated in the recent shuttle crash). Ultimately, it's the presenter's responsibility to verbally fill-in the gaps, but it's still an interesting phenomenon.

Here's a review of Tuft's booklet that is referenced in the NYTs article.

Here's a pretty good (though brief) description of what went down with PowerPoint and Columbia.

(link courtesy of Metafilter)

Natalie isn't the only woman speaking her mind in a big way:

Lauryn Hill Blasts Vatican Church

I saw that headline and I thought nothing of it. But then I said that she said her piece in the Vatican with all but the pope present. It doesn't sound like she was ushered off stage after her commentary (which she apparently said before her performance). I can't imagine how her music went over... Think they turned the other cheek and applauded her performance anyway?

The Friday Five

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays? Yes, especially since I got a super-warm jacket as a graduation present from the parents.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect? I like what my family does, we wake up early christmas morning, and go through the same routine of trying to get everyone up before we go into the den, then into the den to go through stockings, then into the living room for Santa presents, followed by under-the-tree presents.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions? There's a walk-through of the historic Victorian neighborhood back home that I used to go to every year. Maybe someday I will be home for that again...

4. Do you do anything to help the needy? I keep meaning to volunteer for Project Open Hands, but I wouldn't start volunteering at the holidays because I'm sure they could use a volunteer in March more than now, when everyone volunteers.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself? I'm hoping for some Jane Austen movies from Santa.

I'm graduating from Georgia Tech tomorrow morning.

This post violates the rules of What not to do when you blog, but I'm happy and I wanted to post a picture of G. Wayne and the towers (link courtesy of lotsofco and pictures courtesy of a google search).

Three things: Funny quotes from the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Vivi: Don't talk to me like that Teensy, I'll knock you into the middle of next week.
Teensy: And I'll kick your sorry ass on Thursday.

Caro: The only disease that can survive in our bloodstreams is alcoholism.

Caro: We'll leave you alone, but we'll be listening from the kitchen so talk loud


Can I just mention that Maggie Smith is in EVERYTHING. I mean, I knew she was in this movie, the Harry Potter movies, and Gosford Park. But she was in Clash of the Titans, the Secret Garden... Now if only she had a cameo in Bridget Jones's Diary or Clueless- she could be my favorite actress.

Will Durst's 2003 Totally Full of Crap Award goes to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Play Who the heck said that?? at Alternet. I got 5 out of 6 which is much better than my score last year.

My favorite quote was "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." (hint: he's totally full of crap). That's some interesting logic.

The sky was amazing around sunset tonight. The clouds looked like they had frozen, then cracked.

Full sized pictures (so you can look carefully and see that I'm not crazy):
Best Picture
Close-Up

It is really amusing to see the search terms that get people to my site. First it was finals away messages, now it's the Kelis song about Milkshakes. First of all, I was serious in my previous post about Kelis. "Caught Out There" is a great song, better than this milkshake nonsense.

However, for the sake of my google-ing audience, here's a link to the Urban Dictionary that is probably right about the meaning of the song. The truth is never as cool as the mystery. You can use the Urban Dictionary to find other definitions involving milkshakes, but the one I linked is my guess (well...except that I don't what "I could teach you, but I'd have to charge" has to do with that-- maybe she makes push-up bras???)

I don't want to traumatize anyone involuntarily, so I'm just linking a funny-evil picture which my friend labeled "They found Nemo!". Haha...



(yeah, Blogger was down and I had to queue up posts again... I'm addicted.)

Yes!

As I will soon just be a staff member and not a true Techie, I'm passing the torch to future Tech girls:
Here's a line-up of the hotties you can expect to meet at Tech. You'll find them scanning your ports, making weirdo comments to you in class, and emailing you to ask you out. As we say here (and as they say at Case Western, according to sources) "The odds are good, but the goods are odd."

This fine selection of Tech boys actually don't look that bad. Their market value plummets once you see them crouched over a computer monitor.

Okay, I'm studying and watching Simple Life. I swear, I'm studying. What's up with these girls? How are they so bored all the time? According to the E True Hollywood Story I watched the other day (this is the trashiest-sounding post....) Nicole just went to rehab in October for cocaine addiction. I guess they're used to a very very exciting life.

Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?
Edgar Bergen

(I tried to find more quotes relevant to the list below, but with not too much success. Oh, and I'm about 15 hours away from being done with undergrad, woop.)

I feel like such a sham. Four people have been led to my web page to find quotes for the reason that is apparent above (I don't want to say it, cause I might get even more stragglers.) But I just never posted anything of the sort. I posted comments that involved these words.... far apart, not even in the same post.

Oh screw it, here are some great quotes for you to use as your finals week away message (!!!!!!!)

If things aren't going so well:
"From now on, I'm not doing anything I don't want to do! The world owes me happiness, fulfillment, and success . . . I'm just here to cash in."
-- Calvin, from Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat. (Calvin & Hobbes)

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow."
-Mark Twain

If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all of the impersonators would be dead. - Johnny Carson

Rosencrantz: Shouldn't we be doing something - constructive?
Guildenstern: What did you have in mind?...A short, blunt human pyramid?

It's all gonna' turn to dust in a million years anyway, which to the universe is an ice sculpture on an August day. ~Christopher Baldwin

Random acts of nerdiness:

What did one math book say to the other math book?
~I've got problems.

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing, that is something. Wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.
--Albert Einstein

"You can cut a brick of sodium with a butter knife. Why you would want to do that, I can't imagine. But you can."
--Words of wisdom from my chem prof (Dr Block)

"There are only two kinds of food: good and bad. Also, all of life's big problems include the words 'indictment' or 'inoperable.' Everything else is small stuff."
--Alton Brown (of Good Eats on the Food Network)

"I think we all know that people don't have to be smart to have opinions."
--Some guy on Tech Talk

For the other Psyc majors out there:

Niles: "He's obviously dealing with repressed material, not to mention the obvious oedipal issues."
Martin: "Gibble gabble garble goop"
Niles "What?"
Martin: "Now you know how it feels."

or my compilation away message, which I truly used for all of fall 2002's finals season (yeah, the whole lot of them):

If I'm not here tomorrow, I've gone to Mexico.

"Oh, Mexico
It sounds so simple I just got to go
The sun's so hot I forgot to go home." - James Taylor

"I still love you that's the way it goes,
He's got you, I've got Mexico." - Eddie Raven

"If you're gonna go
I'm giving you the key
Only if you'll go
All the way to Mexico" - J,LC

"You better bend before I go on the next train to Mexico." - Incubus

"Oh baby, I was bound
For Mexico
Oh baby, I was bound
To let you go." - Cake

"I've got a sickness, can't leave Cancun." - Nelly

"Rodeo or Mexico
The only way
I know how to decide
Is just to get on and ride"- Garth Brooks

Max linked to an article on that low-calorie, "life-extending" diet. I have several issues with this diet, and as I couldn't vent entirely in his comment section, I'm elaborating here:

- We have enough of an overpopulation problem without everyone living twice as long.

- Other things can kill you. Being hit by a car after 50 years of starving yourself to live longer would suck

- You'd have to save a heck of a lot of retirement money

- The extra years come at the end, when you're way old. It's not like you get 70 extra years of being a 20-something. As the doctor says, it can "potentially add decades at the far end of the life span."

- All of your friends and family have to do it too, or you'll be like the Frozen Man in James Taylor's song--

"I thought it would be nice just to visit my grave
See what kind of tombstone I might have
I saw my wife and my daughter and it seemed so strange
Both of them dead and gone from extreme old age "

"You want a beer?"
"It's seven o'clock in the morning!"
".......Scotch?"
-Mr Mom

(Blogger was down, and as stress makes me a prolific blogger, I've been queuing up posts.)

This is the most akward headline I've seen in a long while:
Missing student suspect's sister wanted him watched

It took me two or three reads to piece that one together.

I like what the police sergeant called the alleged kidnapper [The sergeant grew up with the guy]:
"When they were children, "there was nothing unusual that made me think he was a weirdo," Moreno said."

Weirdo is an understatement (but of the funny variety that a 15 year old would use).

PSA: Have you heard that new song by Kelis... you know, the one about milkshakes? Well, I'm ahead of the curve on Kelis. She sings the best angry song ever written- Caught out there (AKA I hate you so much right now). It's much better than the milkshake song (so go ahead and listen to it, even if you haven't heard the new one).

A holiday story from Dave Barry:

A HOLIDAY MIRACLE

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a little boy named Bobby. Or maybe Billy. Whatever his name was, his family was very poor.

''What is the true meaning of the holiday season, father?'' asked the little boy.

''Season's Greetings,'' said the father.

''Season's Greetings?'' said the little boy. ''What does that mean?''

''I don't know,'' said the father. ''But it's inoffensive. Anyway, the point is, no presents, OK?''

''OK,'' said the little boy, for he was a good boy.

As the holidays grew closer, the little boy tried to think about the true meaning of Season's Greetings, instead of thinking about presents. But it was hard, and he was sad. And then, one night, when he was lying in bed, shivering from the cold because his family was too poor to own a house and his bed was outdoors, he saw a light appear in the sky. At first it was dim, but then it grew brighter and brighter, until it was the brightest light in the whole sky.

''It's a special star!'' thought the little boy. ''Maybe it's a magic star! Maybe if I make a wish, my wish will be granted!''

And so the little boy wished that his family could have presents for the holiday season.

But then he heard the sound of a motor, and he realized that the light was not a star: It was a police helicopter with a searchlight. And the little boy was very, very sad.

But then it turned out that this was not an ordinary police helicopter: This was a magic police helicopter, and it had heard the little boy's wish. And so, using a cable, it lowered a crate containing $800 million in cash.

And the little boy's family had the very best holiday season ever, until the next year, when the magic police helicopter gave the little boy the power to fly and talk to animals, including fish.

THE END

Fun news for AHS alums- Rebecca Bailey finally married Justin White. I swear, I think I was the last person to have a friend get married. I can't wait to see some wedding photos, I'd bet good money he wore a powder blue tux (or a hawaiian print shirt). Well, unless they did the military thing, but that wouldn't be as fun.

Update: I've seen pictures now. He wore his marine uniform, how mundane, but traditional looks better for the photo album. Rebecca had a fabulous dress, and looked fab in it. Hooray for them.

In other wedding news, I get to be one of Rachel's bridesmaids!! All my early-20's, everyone's-getting-married fun is finally taking off. I was one of my sister's bridesmaids, but since my mom forced her to let me be one, I don't count that as really being asked.

I want snow. :( The new title picture is from a year or two ago, when it snowed about 2.5-3 inches at home in AL, which is the most I've ever seen. If I end up in Wisconsin or Iowa next year, I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune. But for now, I wish the Northeast would send us a little snow.

Yes, that's a hula-girl snowperson. I was so proud of her.

3 X K: Santa is bringing me a new computer
me: santa isn't going to bring you anything
me: Satan, maybe
3 X K: at least a new processor and motherboard
3 X K: satan already gave me you

FYI - I reserve the right to freely quote my friends, using random names. If you don't want to be quoted, don't talk to me (or at least don't talk to me on IM). >: b

Three things: Great Songs that I heard in movies, then had to get:

1. Lizzie West - Chariots Rise (From Secretary)

2. Lauryn Hill - Selah (Divine Secrets of the Ya ya Sisterhood)

3. Geto Boys - Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta (Office Space)


Yeah, I just threw that last one in there... it is the best use of a song in a movie.... in my opinion....

Dear all,

Santa is comming to the GLC tomorrow (Friday) and you are all invited to come along and join the fun. The party starts at 6pm and there is plenty of free food including s'mores!! There is also the chance to get your picture with Santa and his helpers....

See you there

Marcus


I live in a building full of grad students... and it's finals week. Santa and helpers are coming? Really? Where's the Christmas Armadillo?? How bizarre.

I'm studying for a final.




This is my decked out pencil. The finger grippy thing is something I just found and should be my saving grace on the hand-cramping horror that is a cognitive essay test. Yes, it reads "Super Star". It's a very cool pencil.

If finals are upon you, as they are nearly upon me, do not click this link. It's more captivating than a lava lamp. .. plus it's interactive!

I'll admit it, I'm watching Simple Life. So far, the most endearing character is Paris's cute dog. The girls could be a little more agreeable... and less haughty and rude to the "commoners". The dog alone is almost enough to keep me watching.

And come on... the redneck's comment "My last name's Motel 6" was worth more than a fleeting chuckle. Hehe....

"From now on, I'm not doing anything I don't want to do! The world owes me happiness, fulfillment, and success . . . I'm just here to cash in."

-- Calvin, from Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat. (Calvin & Hobbes)

The true meaning of life must be hidden somewhere in someone's away message. Here's another approximation, this time from Scimitar:

"There are two rules to success in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know."

"I want to share something with you: The three little sentences that will get you through life.
Number 1: Cover for me.
Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss!
Number 3: It was like that when I got here."
-- Homer Simpson

Nothing like some good advice on life. (courtesy of Osiris's away message)

Suddenly, I feel better about my lame-o graduation hat. Eleven days.... I'm terrified, petrified, stupified....

"Georgia Tech will officially accept a bid to the Humanitarian Bowl today to face a still-to-be named Western Athletic Conference opponent." (article)

The Humanitarian Bowl?!?!?!? Was the Bankrupt Internet Company Bowl too good for Tech?

"I didn't meet a bunch of new people, I made Quinn want to throw herself down a well, and I came home with this bonus sock. All in all, a great time."
-- Daria

Friday Five:

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not?
Yes, because I enjoy getting new things.

2. What was the last thing you purchased? A gift for my dad- What Einstein Told His Barber - it has explanations of all manners of nerdy stuff (i.e., we all know there's an absolute zero, what's the hottest matter can get?)

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why? Depends on the product. Well, I guess I always prefer an actual store-- ASSUMING: I can go at a non-crowded time, and I've done my research. But I often buy online when it's convenient and cheaper.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it? Yes. Somewhere in my early teens my dad decided we would all get a dollar for every year old we were (i.e., I got $15 a week when I was 15). Yes that was a lot, but we were expected to pay for our entertainment and save up for big stuff we wanted... but mom would still buy us clothes and stuff so we were totally spoiled.


5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing? Ummmm, I have several pairs of shoes that looked cooler/non-foot-scarring in the store but that live a quiet life of shame in my closet now.

(a) So the yearly rivalries have played out... I can say "War Eagle" with pride and "To Hell with Georgia" with a hint of bitterness.

(b) Carter linked to a story about a woman knocked unconscious in a DVD sale stampede at Walmart, with the commentary "What's wrong with America?' This was amusing, but the truly disturbing part of the story was this:
"Paramedics called to the store found VanLester unconscious on top of a DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her, said Mark O'Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance."
If she was rushing towards the DVDs, but not there (since people had to rush beyond her to the goods) how did the player get under her?? I think the truly messed up person is her sister, who probably went on to grab a player and then stashed it under the woman for safe-keeping. Hmmm....

Three things: Daria quotes on self-esteem (in honor of the term paper I'm writing):

1. Daria: I like having low self esteem. It makes me special.

2. Daria: Don't worry, I don't have low self-esteem. It's a mistake.
Jake: I'll say.
Daria: I have low esteem for everyone else.

3. Helen: I'm going to spend the next of the day working on your self esteem.
Daria: Mom, I'm in the hands of professionals. Any meddling by you could be detrimental to my existence.

You know you want more: here are two good sources here and there.

Yeah, so I became very sick shortly after that last post... I didn't get to go to the grandparents. I stayed home and slept all day (Seriously, I woke up to eat and let the barking dogs out, but other than that I slept until 6pm). Luckily, most of the leftovers were sent home to me, so I had reheated wonderful food that night. I'll see the Grandparents at graduation in two weeks (yeah, a frighteningly short time from now), but it was such a let down to miss the festivities.

PS- I may have said lots of positive things about the yogurt a few weeks back, but make no mistake- my grandmother's turkey dressing is my favorite food. I have a whole tub of it to myself- heaven!!

I'm at home. The new DSL is very acceptable. Some friends and I just hit up Buffalo's, a lovely establishment in downtown which provided us with more AHS sitings than you could shake a stick at. Seriously. It was lots of fun calling out everyone we saw (but not speaking to any of them). It was also very fun to see my friends. Makes me wish I still had friends at Tech... It's bedtime. I'll be hitting the road early tomorrow (technically later today) like the rest of the US to see the rest of my ridiculously small family. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Mix your casseroles and load up on some stuffing. I'm thankful for Thanksgiving food (and my family, partially because they make the food).

Food Review: Campbell's Select - Chicken with Egg Noodles

How can something with 41% of my daily intake of sodium be so flavorless? I like the chunks of real-looking chicken, but I'll stick with my cupasoup.

Yeah Yeah I know all of my links are to CNN, BUT this is very important:

Jonathan Brandis of SeaQuest and Neverending Story II committed suicide earlier this month. So sad, I had such a huge crush on him in high school when SeaQuest came out. I remember trying to be nonchalant while renting Ladybugs and the Neverending Story II so my dad wouldn't realize I had a big-time crush.

The New York Times had a better obituary and I stand corrected- I had a crush on him in junior high. Didn't seem quite that long ago...

Natalie Maines (of the Dixie Chicks) is my kind of girl. She still has plenty to say about Bush and his war:

"I think people were misled and I think people are fighting a war that they didn't know they were going to be fighting,and I think they were misled by people who should have been asking questions and weren't."


Even if she had been sounding off on something I didn't agree with, I would still respect her for having the nerve to say unpopular things when no one else seemed willing to. Girl power!

Nerd fun:

"There are 10 types of people in the world: those who can count in binary and those who cannot."

I know not everyone is a Delta-phile, but FYI- CEO Leo Mullins is retiring next year. The whole "I won't take my salary while we're laying off 30,000 people but I will secretly take my several million dollar bonus" chicanery ticked me off, but I still have residual admiration for him.... cause I'm so company-loyal I guess.

I gave the new Sarah McLachlan album (Afterglow) the triple-play treatment and I like it... a lot. Maybe after another 50 or so plays I will like it as much as Surfacing or Fumbling, but for now it's just really enjoyable.

The "Official" Friday Five

1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year. Graduate, apply to grad school, finish my scarf and finish "When Prophecy Fails". Oh I need a fifth one... umm, I hope to start my semester-off projects before the new year.

2. List five people you've lost contact with that you'd like to hear from again. May Mitchell, my middle school best friend who gradually dropped out of the pen pal relationship we had. I've also let some of my high school friends slide... like Kelly and Deborah, I hear updates on the rest through the grapevine. Stephanie and Lane, too...

3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do. Play cello, play piano better, speak German, write Japanese, ballroom dancing.

4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit). Pay off my student loans, buy a house, give a bunch to my family for various things, establish my retirement fund, buy 3 X K a Ferrari?

5. List five things you do that help you relax. Watch HBO, TLC, Discovery Channel, read blogs, work on my blog.

Joe Siegel's movie review of Cat in the Hat:

A Dr Seuss movie that doesn't rhyme?
I think that that must be a crime.
I said so to the director and he gave me a look
and said 'movies are never as good as the book!'

(Mike Meyers looks creepy as the Cat, I will not be seeing this movie.)

"It's my real name. My mother's name is Rose Rock. It was the worst name as a kid to have. They called me Piece of the Rock, Plymouth Rock, Joe Rockid, and Flintstones. Now they call me MISTER Rock." - Chris Rock

BTW- Why aren't there more quote pages for the funniest man ever? I guess breaking him into bite-sized quotes misses some of the fun of his stand up.

Funny FedEx ad:
New guy has been asked to help with something, sees piles of fedex boxes.
New guy: I don't do shipping
Other employee: Oh, don't worry it's really easy.
New guy: (snobby) No, I have an MBA.
Other employee: Oh, well I'll have to show you then.

Three things: Nerdy stuff I looked into:
1. How computers play chess. I already knew "how" they worked, but I found that site while trying to end a debate about whether the computer would assume human error, which I thought would not be true...and it's not, the computer assumes perfect play.

2. How dolphins sleep without drowning. Another howstuffworks page. I heard about the one-hemisphere-at-a-time method in class, and I had to look into that. How efficient would that be?? I love going to sleep too much to trade it in for more study time.

3. I'm not going to waste time thinking up another thing I've searched (though I did seek and find descriptions of that Paris Hilton video. It sounds like a hoot.) just go to www.howstuffworks.com and find something. All of their articles are good.

Three things: Blogs and Nerdiness
1. Get Mozilla. Forget IE, it has led you astray. I loooove tabs-- you will too once you know what they are. Also, I'm not sure whether you can do this with IE, but I now have mozilla checking blogs for me. Instead of the variable interval reinforcement I was under before (which was causing me to check all blogs CONSTANTLY for updates) I now only respond to a little red star next to my links (it indicates when the page has been updated).

2. I very recently got a free trial of Web-Stat because I was curious to see if anyone besides 3 X K and Erin were reading this thing. Let me tell you, I feel like the coolest person ever. I can't even imagine how many hits lotsofco and web-goddess must get. I was checking their pages ten times a day before I discovered the Mozilla trick (see above). Little things make me happy...

3. I was thinking about whether my high school friends and I could manage a gossip blog... I found out a lot via Ware Jewelers and their bridal registry and only Laura has benefitted so far. I will ponder this, but as I know at least two of these friends will read this, get back to me on whether we want to create a public record of how catty and gossipy we are.

Ohhhh my. Do not click this link unless you are older than 18 and can handle inappropriate video without getting offended.

Hot doggy style video

Top Three: Toys I'm glad to see make a comeback
1. Care Bears
2. Shrinky Dinks
3. Strawberry Shortcake

On the one hand, seeing Care Bears in the store makes me giddy. On the other hand, they're back because toy makers are trying to get parents to buy toys that they themselves played with when they were young. This is disturbing. People my age who played with carebears and shrinky dinks are now procreating. Eek!

Public Service Announcement- I have confirmed that the new Shrinky Dinks do NOT require the little oven thing. You can still put them in a regular oven. Tricky marketing...

I like to watch TLC shows like For Better or For Worse. However, if you're going to be on the show, you can't be horrible and demanding... You know the show is low budget, don't come in thinking you can demand the best and traumatize your coordinator.

Amusing roommates part deux: from a discussion of bad pick up lines:

Do you want to dance? (sure) Okay, why don't you hit the dance floor so I can talk to your friend.

Man... Roommates are a source of constant amusement. I think one of them is role playing with her boyfriend in the living room. They're talking loudly and inanely and as if they were meeting in a coffee shop. They need to clear out so I can make lunch without interrupting fun time.

Update:
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
"No"
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Yes."
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
"No"
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
"No, please sit."
"What book are you reading?"
"The Sound and the Fury"
"What book are you reading?"
"The Sound and the Fury"
"Faulkner, do you like Faulkner?"

Turns out they're practicing.... and repeating stuff a bunch... and Mr Overacting is teaching her how to "act". I'm glad they don't know about this blog.

So you wanna find an apartment in Chicago?
If regular violence and gang crossfire don't bother you, we recommend The South Side of Chicago (which is divided up into smaller towns). These apartments are almost guaranteed to be cheap, if you don't mind trading safety for cost. If you are a relatively normal person, however, skip that area of town. Rents are not nearly as high as the medical bills. If you need a hint, how about this: this is where Bad Bad Leroy Brown lived.

My official stance on the Ten Commandments judge (Moore):
I don't particularly care if he gets put back as chief justice (it would be crappy but I wouldn't cry about it cause I'll never live there again). However, if he did something lame like get elected Governor... I will retroactively change my state residence so I will in no way be affiliated with Alabama.

Flamingo Suncatcher

This looks like something my mom might like for christmas... but does the second flamingo look like he has some bad intentions for the first flamingo? I need feedback.

Lame. A Jethro Tull band member's comments got the group booted from a classic rock station's play list (this I couldn't care less about). But I completely agree with him. And the extreme reaction the comment got (listeners requested the ban) seems to be solid proof that he's right. Okay, okay, here's the quote:

"I hate to see the American flag hanging out of every bloody station wagon, out of every SUV, every little Midwestern house in some residential area," Ian Anderson was quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday in the Asbury Park Press. "It's easy to confuse patriotism with nationalism. Flag waving ain't gonna do it."

Food review (for my own reference):
On a scale of one to ten (ten being key lime pie whips)
The Mountain Blueberry is a strong 7 or 8.

Note to self:
Saw people getting blown around in Chicago by coooold northern winds. Dock Univ of Illinois-Chicago 10 pts in the GradSchool race.

Terror is a Triple Meat Pizza

AHHHhhhh!!! I repent my food sins. I swear, I'm going to be a good girl at the grocery store tonight.

From an article on a live cheap, look rich lifestyle.

"Get married, but don’t have kids. According to Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick in England and something of an expert on the intersection of money and happiness, getting married adds a happiness factor that’s equivalent to having $100,000 added to your household income. This is not true of having children, Oswald says. His surveys have found that adding kids to your life (or not having them at all) didn’t seem to change people’s happiness one way or the other. Which is good. Kids are expensive, and since most rich people just send theirs away to boarding school anyway, you could argue that the best thing for your Live Cheap, Look Rich lifestyle is not to have the little monsters in the first place."

They make it sound a little callous, but I have to agree on the no-kids idea.

Rich guy Robert Durst acquited of murder charges.
" After the killing in late September 2001, Durst was a fugitive for six weeks until he was caught in Pennsylvania when he tried to shoplift a $5 sandwich even though he had $500 in his pocket."

I don't think it takes a degree in psychology to realize... this guy has more going on than murderous tendencies. He posed as a mute woman for some time? He lived in a low rent apartment? I would love to hear this guy in therapy (probably at the free mental health clinic).

""So all you fellas need to get out of bed in the morning, look in the mirror and say 'f*&@ you!... f*&@ all your hopes, dreams and everything you thought your life would be'... now let's go make this bitch happy!" -Chris Rock

Adrienne got to go to Chris Rock at The Fox. I wish I'd gone. :( Funniest guy on earth.

"Will Ferrell is in the #1 movie in the country. You might say 'but the matrix is the number one movie in America.' But that movie blooooooows. And we use our own rating system where we discount movies that bloooooooow." - Jon Stewart

I'm going to celebrate Discardia tonight. I'm getting rid of some clothes. Probably not the ones you think I should get rid of... These are even worse and you have never seen them or blocked the memory.

deCoeur : wow
deCoeur : special
deCoeur : short bus special

No matter what CNN tells you, the skies were not clear for my lunar eclipse. The sky was one thick blanket of cloudiness. Maybe next time....

I have zero interest in raw food, but I've found this journal from a woman working in a raw foods cultish institute mesmerizing.

This is fun...



Church sign generator.

In other news...
New nickel designs
Based on a tip off from 3XK, I was prepared to hate the new nickel designs. Then I saw the new ones and I realized I had no clue what the current one looks like. I have to say.... the keel boat looks pretty cool. I love the new quarters despite my initial disinclination.* So I think I'll give nickels a chance too...


*With the exception of the Alabama quarter which I obviously had the highest hopes for and which failed me miserably. It's UGLY. The worst part is the prettiest/best one is freakin' Mississippi, the worst of the states. Bah.

Note to self: See lunar eclipse Saturday:

"The eclipse reaches totality at 8:06 p.m. Saturday night, EST. That stage -- when the moon, Earth and sun are lined up precisely and the moon passes through the darkest part of Earth's shadow -- lasts just 24 minutes. "
(www.CNN.com)

Dr Catrambone: And in the uncompassionate example they showed [pauses to think]...
Back row slacker: Joni!

Dear Yoplait Key Lime Pie Whips Yogurt,
Ever since we ran into each other yesterday, I have not been able to keep my mind off of you. I can think of nothing but your sweet limeyness. You are the yumminess that my life has been missing, not to mention the calcium. Why I didn't think to buy all of your brothers and sisters yesterday when we met at Publix, I'll never know. I will regret my actions all the days until I go to the store again. I never knew I could find a yogurt that didn't make me want to toss my cookies! My longing for you matches my longing for caffeine, but don't tell her that. Farewell empty carton of yogurt dreaminess.... I'll see you again, Publix-willing. Adieu,
Joni


[in case you haven't noticed, the take home test has made me slightly bonkers and not just a little hungry for something limey and cold.]

Ever heard of Spencer Tunick? He's the guy who uses large numbers of naked people for "installations" and photographs it. There's a form to sign up to be a model on his site. I am very tempted to put my name down in case he comes to Hotlanta. It would certainly be a story to tell... but I'd hate for the faces to be identifiable and somehow it resurfaces in the hands of one of my future students... The first of my students are probably in Jr High (assuming I teach in grad school, otherwise they're 4th or 5th graders) should I worry about them already?

Three things: Great music

1. I reformatted this computer and got it running in late August (so that's the time frame on these stats). The second most played song I have is Sweet Surrender from Sarah McLachlan with 43 plays. On 10/24 I downloaded Lizzie West's Chariot Rise. I have used it as study music since and have played it 296 times. Dang.
2. I also used Sarah McLachlan's Fallen from this source for studying, so it may have nearly as many plays...
3. Sarah's new album comes out Tuesday. Yay.

"The heading to this section is a very simple question [What starts a meal?], but the answer is complex. The short answer, I suppose is that we still are not sure, but that will not stop me from continuing to write." - Carlson, Physiology of Behavior

Wayne's World: Top 10 Halloween costumes

10. cat
9. nurse
8. Nancy Kulp (Ms Hathoway from Beverly Hill Billies)
7. Pebbles Flintstone
6. Indian Girl
5. Baseball Player
4. Private Schoolgirl
3. French Maid
2. Playboy Bunny
1. Heather Locklear

Speak of the devil... Some RHA person just came by with a bag of halloween candy and since there was no chocolate I took some bubble yum..... and now my jaw hurts.

Top Five Halloween Candies:
1. Mini hershey bars
2. (Mini?) Oh Henrys (I just had my first one today)
3. Mini snickers
4. Blue Raspberry Dumdums
5. Bubble yum- until my jar starts to pop and hurt


I used to L-O-V-E candy corn, but now I find it repulsive... Candy is the one thing I have become more picky about over the years.

I tried to find squirrels dressed up for Halloween as I have a bizarre love of fluffy little squirrels. Anyway, no luck so here are two humorously pathetic animals in costume.




Here's a bonus pic. It's Miso!!!! She's in heat again! hehe, bad kitty, put your tail down.

"'We' can mean anything. 'We three', 'we the people', or my favorite- Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
- Fairly Oddparents

The "Happy Halloween Picture Parade" continues with.... UNBELIEVABLY CUTE COSTUMED ANIMALS!!!!!!!!







..................I really am going to end up as a crazy cat and pug lady, aren't I?

'Price is Right' announcer dies
But, but, but.... how are the Price is Right players going to know when to COME ON DOOOOWN????

The day of behaviorism: Dirty joke:
Two behavioural psychologists are working late in the rat lab, when suddenly overcome by all the talk of three-term contingencies and positive punishment, they end up having passionate sex on the floor. When they're done, the man sits up and asks "I know it was good for you, but how was it for me?"

(if you don't get it, you're obviously not thinking in terms of Watson and objective observations as the only data that matter) >: b

Funniest Ebay Posting EVER.
(I just copied it over, cause I figure the page won't last forever). BTW, the guy got $860 for the beanies... plenty of tools and beer for this poor fellow.
" Let me begin by explaining some very important details, this way I do not get 100's of silly emails asking me to photograph the hind end of some stuffed animals. I DO NOT KNOW crap about these things. This belonged to my ex-wife who had about a 1000 of these Beanie Babies and when she moved, this one box of these got left behind, and now I am selling the goofy little things. Whatever money I make from them will be spent at the local Home Depot on tools and other cool stuff. I do not know which of these babies is retired or new, or whatever. I will list them in no particular order. I will tell you what its name is on the tag, if it has a plastic box or something. All these critter have been stored indoors, and are from a non-smoking home. Again, please do not send me emails asking me to photograp this or that. I am starting the auction at $10.00 and at that price I figure you all can take a chance. I understand from a friends wife that people are afraid to get fakes. FAKES? Fake plush toys? I was amazed. I thought people forged money, not childrens toys. Well I can only say, that 99% of these goofy toys were bought with my money, from eiter the local Hallmark Store, or one of the dozen or so Southern Craft/ collectibles stores I had to go to on a weekly basis buying these ridiculos toys years ago. Happy Bidding! Please take these critters from me so I can buy tools.

Final Notice and Disclaimer: I know nothing about these stuffed Beanie Babies. I offer no proof of anything. It is a stuffed animal, get over it! I don't think my ex-wife was in the Black Market Beanie Trade..but then again, I didn't know she was having an affair either! Thus no guarantees! All have their little Heart Shaped tags on their ears.

Ants - Armidillo
Almond - Bear
Knuckles - Pig
Humphrey - Camel
Tiptoe - Rat (I must have picked this one) Pig - Zodiac Pic (huh?)
Chipper- Chipmunk or Squirrel (Not Sure)
Neon - Sea Horse or Sea Serpent
Goatee- Goat
Prickles - Hedge Hog
Steg - Dinosaur (Stegasaurus I guess)
Manny - Mannatee
Paul - Walrus (Hey I get that joke..koo-koo-ka-choo)
Rabbit- Rabbit (Zodiac Critter)
Sheets - Ghost
Rainbow - Lizard (cameleon?)
Batty- Bat
Peanut - Elephant (comes in a plastic see-thru box)
Britannia - Bear with British Flag
Germania - Bear with German Flag
Eucalyptus - Koala Bear
Web - Spider (I must have picked all the ugly ones!)
Beak - Kiwi Bird?
Scaly - Komodo Dragon or other lizard..not sure!
Mystic - Unicorn
Nuts - Squirrel
(Not Pictured) Mickey Mouse in Hockey Uniform

ALL OF THEM HAVE THEIR LITTLE HEARTS TAG ON THE EARS!

On Sep-19-03 at 12:47:48 PDT, seller added the following information:

A very kind Ebayer wrote me an email and said the following:

The valuable beanies here are Steg (dinosaur), Humphrey(camel), web (spider) and peanut (elephant). They are worth considerably more if they have the red heart hang tags and if the tags are in good shape - no creases or tears. If you wouldn't mind giving me more info on those. Also, if you added more info to the auction I'm sure you could get more $$ for your tools!

To answer her question: I looked and to the best of my looking at them all. None of the ones she mentioned have any torn tags or creased tags. In fact NONE of the little critters have messed up tags. People have been telling me these critters are worth alot of money. I know nothing about them, and told you everything you need to know up in the description. I make no claims on value, and to be honest. I am amazed anyone pays more then a dollar a piece for these things. What happened to collecting STAMPS? Pay what you want for them! IT ALL GOES TO HOMEDEPOT !!!!!! and BEER! "
(danke LYD)

Even adding four new blogs to check has not increased my ability to always find new posts. So, I'll be a better blogger than them.

Three things: William James, great psychologist or great quotability?

The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.

If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.

The path to cheerfulness is to sit cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.


There are lots more.

"Ultimately, we are trying to avoid the day when the consuming public asks, "Why would Hormel Foods name its product after junk e-mail?""

Have you ever wondered (a) why junk email is called spam or (b) what SPAM producers think of their trademark name being applied to junk email? Wonder no more... The internet and SPAM. (BTW the answer to the first puzzle is interesting and involves Monty Python, so do go read the page).

(link courtesy of http://www.jeff.sorrentino.name/.)

I love it.... The bureau of immigration and customs enforcement nabbed 250 illegal immigrants working for Walmart. What did they call the sweep? Operation Rollback. Hehehe

VINDICATED
The moment I first laid eyes on the Niagra Falls survivor, I thought "What has Ron Jeremy done to get on TV?" I realized that it was not him (only after thinking "Ron Jeremy threw himself off Niagra Falls??") and felt embarrassed that I could ID Ron Jeremy so quickly (No I've never seen any of his flicks, but I've seen him in various interviews like with The Onion AV Club). ANYWAY, I was vindicated this morning when the CNN morning show showed a clip of the guy talking about why he did it and when they cut back to the anchors, the old guy said "Doesn't that guy look like Ron Jeremy?" and Solidad said "I don't know, I guess you're a big fan... haha" [I'm paraphrasing her]. The point is that at least one non-skeazy looking old dude can back me up... Woop.

Harvest Moon
(hehe, I swear that's the first funny pun I've ever come up with.)

Cybersex... Revenge of the Nerds

Dude, these lyrics were hard to find. But so worth it. Thanks google and this person.

H-A-double L -O-W- double E -N spells Halloween
H-A-double L -O-W- double E -N spells Halloween!

Halloween means ghosts and goblins, Skeletons, monsters and howling cats,
Spooky masks and jack-o-lanterns, Witches and devils and big black cats.

H-A-double L -O-W- double E -N spells Halloween (2x)

Trick or treat gets you candy and apples, Scaring the people who open the door.
Something here that they've omitted, then go to the next house and get some more!

"Hey, people into S&M have their dungeons - maybe this guy has sexual fantasies of baking buttery crackers inside a giant oak tree. Who am I to judge?"
-LYD

The street lights were on when I left for my study date this morning and also when I walked home after my last class. What does that mean? freakin' long day!

Okay, I'm supposed to be studying, but I just spent an hour trying to find new blogs to read as I'm getting progressively more addicted to blog reading and it's sad when there are no new posts on any of them. I'm going to be checking these blogs for the next couple of weeks:
http://www.jodiverse.com/

http://styrofoamkitty.com/blogg/

http://www.ggwoo.com/

FridayFive.org

1. Name five things in your refrigerator. Off the top of my head - Lactaid lactose free milk, pepper jack cheese, bud light, artichoke hearts, eggs

2. Name five things in your freezer. Eggos waffles, pie shells, frozen veggies, vanilla icecream, fudge pops

3. Name five things under your kitchen sink. trash bags, extra dish soap, lonely unused dish washer detergent (none of the roommates use the machine, so I don't), bug spray?, pipes

4. Name five things around your computer. kleenex, cups, syrup (see waffles, under freezer), a DVD of Secretary that needs to go back to Blockbuster, psyc articles

5. Name five things in your medicine cabinet [i.e., in my bathroom area]. Listerene, face wash, big cannister of floss, Mentadent toothbrush, blue raspberry foaming hand soap

Watch out!!
Overheard from the bus driver's radio (where the dispatcher talks to everyone):
"He walked out in front of me. I did NOT hit him."

Sure.......

Pictures from Technology Square, a new development on Georgia Tech's campus

The Friday Five (on Saturday)
1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones? Yes, right now, lots of football and over the summer, lots of golf. I also watch Wimbledon almost every year.

2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes? First and Foremost, the Auburn Tigers. Second, Georgia Tech. I don't care for professional sports besides tennis and golf. I like Ernie Els and all of the really common, usual pro golfers. My fave tennis player Martina.... something, retired a couple of years ago at age 23 or something... dangit.

3. Are there any sports you hate? I won't watch baseball on TV. I also don't like boxing or race car stuff.

4. Have you ever been to a sports event? Of course. I was started on AU basketball and AU Football (on girl scout day) games from an early age. I also saw a lot of little girl soccer in my teen years thanks to my little sister.

5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play? I did crew my junior and senior years. I am not athletic at all, but I've become not-pathetic at ultimate and I now love playing golf (I am still pathetically bad though).

Three things: Quotes from Psychologists
"The fact that one cannot do all that one would hope is no reason not to do all that one can" - Kenneth Ring

"When you run onto something interesting, drop everything else and study it." - BF Skinner

"Nothing is so practical as a good theory" - Kurt Lewin

Rachel: Wouldn't that be weird?

Ross: The only thing that would be weird is if someone didn't like FAJITAS, cuz that's what were having.

If I bring my heart rate down by 5 beats/min, I'll save 2.6Million beats every year.

Watching They hated it!, the Trading Spaces special:
"It's not something I would have done. I don't decorate barns."
--Doug on the redecorating done by the unhappy homeowners

joni: 67you'45re go38ing to be amused. Look at what m67y ke67yboa45rd 38is do38ing s38ince #*I sp38illed lemonade 38in 38it
GATch: hahahahahaha

Okay.... I don't want to graduate any more:

"Your Federal Stafford Loan was a great thing. It helped you pay for school expenses and helped ensure that you were able to attend the school of your choice. But you knew the time would come when you would have to repay it. Soon you'll need to begin making monthly payments on your Federal Stafford Loan. [evil laugh]"

Okay, now I don't care what happens... I'm #1 for the week in my league.

I don't care what happens in the next few hours.... cause right now I'm #2 for the week in my College Pick'Ems league and #5 overall. PLUS, I got sick and missed the terrible beat down GT is experiencing right now. If you gotta get beat, you might as well not watch.

The Friday Five
1. Who is your favorite singer/musician? Why?
Jump, Little Children because they have such a variety of music that I can find something for any mood, plus they put on AMAZING shows.

2. What one singer/musician can you not stand? Why?
Pink. Can't stand her. Every song is annoying in the first place, but is also overplayed.

3. If your favorite singer wasn't in the music business, do you think you would still like him/her as a person?
The guys of Jump would probably be a whole lotta fun to be friends with. Jay might be a little too serious/moody. But who knows, he might really be a blast, too.

4. Have you been to any concerts? If yes, who put on the best show?
Yeah, quite a few. Jump puts on the best show. The only band to rival them (and might possibly have surpassed them, but I'm too biased to notice) is Better Than Ezra. Ben Folds Five was pretty fab too, and I did... oh screw it, here's a top 8:

1. Some Jump concert (pretty much any I've seen)
2. Better Than Ezra (The Roxy, 2002)
3. Weezer (Lakewood Ampitheater, 2002)
4. Ben Folds Five
5. Lilith Fair (particularly Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLachlan)
6. 311
7. Carbon Leaf (opened for jump a year or two ago)
8. Jay Clifford (of J,LC) solo show 2/03

5. What are your thoughts on downloading free music online vs. purchasing albums? Do you feel the RIAA is right in its pursuit to stop people from dowloading free music?
RIAA has the right to sue, but I'm very anti-music biz so I like the idea of screwing them over. If I had the option of buying songs online for a reasonable price (I say 50 cents is more reasonable than a buck) I think I would.

You know how competitive you get... And while I think it's cute, others don't agree and I'm lying." - Chandler to Monica

We have such great Current Event items for our studies...

Who said, "I'm the president of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli"?

1. Bill Clinton

2. George Bush (Sr.)

3. Ronald Reagan

4. Jimmy Carter

Was it #2????

Yep, that's me.
"The new [Knowledge and Skill Lab] site looks great , though it is unclear what Joni is doing in that last picture. It looks as though she is about to take off with a jet pack or something" - Dr. Ackerman

"Oh yeah, I think you look like you're a disoriented hiker in that lab picture. " - MLH

Stealth Disco
People involved in covert disco-ing. Luckily in my lab there's no need for stealth. We disco openly. Ask me about my "Hi, Dr Clough!" dance... no wait, don't.

I think the hardest part of writing a paper is getting around to starting it. That's what I'm doing now. The second hardest part is writing a discussion/conclusion that doesn't consist entirely of sentences I've already used. I wish I were already to that point.

Responding to report on the best and worst snacks for kids:
"There are no good foods and bad foods," said Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for the Grocery Manufacturers of America.

Interesting.... thank you corporate America for that timely and (I'm sure) unbiased insight.

"Childs warned that government restrictions would lead children to go to convenience stores for snacks. Bush administration officials have echoed those arguments. "

Interesting again... I make these arguments for legalization of drugs, Bush makes them for Twinkies.

Woman Assures You She's Not Mad
CASPER, WY—Your girlfriend of four months, University Xerox employee Rebecca Kohler, assured you Monday that she was "not mad" about being unable to reach you on the phone Saturday night, even though you said you would probably be home. "For the last time, I'm not angry at you, goddamnit!" a furious Kohler said. "Christ, are you trying to make me mad?" The perfectly fine Kohler then proceeded to violently three-hole-punch stacks of photocopies and explain to her coworker, Annabelle Agneau, that the only person she was mad at was herself, for having thought you might be different.

www.theonion.com

EliCash: you know how they say in a poker game there's always one sucker and if you can't figure out who it is, leave, because its you. well I know who the annoying kid is, so its not me

"Day after shopping day, women pay for the privilege of looking like they washed pants that they were supposed to dryclean."
From Capri Pants -- Liz Khalil

From Defective Yeti's coverage of the Democrat Debate:
Q: Frankly there's been some concern that because of the racial makeup of Vermont, about 0.5 percent black, that you will have a difficult time connecting and really understanding the concerns of minorities, in particular African Americans.

Dean: Well, if the percent of minorities that's in your state has anything to do with how you can connect with African American voters, then Trent Lott would be Martin Luther King.

Lane's mom: You may take her to the prom, but you may not marry her.

Lane's boy: That seems fair.

--Gilmore Girls

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- The Air Force launched a top-secret satellite Tuesday for the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the United States' fleet of spy spacecraft. (from cnn.com)

Not so top secret now....

I am so sore. The "total body tone" class sucked. Way too many reps with really heavy weights (the selection was not great when I got there). Also, those stability balls.... is the name a joke? I've never felt so perilously perched as with that dumb thing. I'm so looking forward to step class now.

The Friday Five

1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most? vacuuming with dish-washing a close second.
"The only thing that separates us from the animals is we aren't afraid of the vacuum cleaner."

2. Are there any that you like or don't mind doing? Scrubbing the toilet or tub (I love to see quick progress)

3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it's needed? As needed (really desperately needed)

4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules? ....no?

5. What was the last thing you cleaned? The sink

"This is something you need to know for the test I intend to screw you on."
-Dr Catrambone

99 days to graduation.

100 days to graduation

Random downloading pays off... I finally gave a random song a chance, and David Mead's World of a King turns out to be...awesome? groovy? I can't find a pleasing descriptor. Fabulous? Smurfy?

FYA (for your amusement):
The blog of a girl who hates me for no good reason. At least it gives me some fodder to not like her back.


"Bill is so wrong... you are not Satan." - First Wives Club

"[The hypothalmus] organizes behaviors related to survival of the species- the so-called four F's: fighting, feeding, fleeing, and mating." - Calrson in The Physiology of Behavior

Three things: Last night's freaky dreams:
1) Sad dream where I got really upset because I was suddenly a ghost and only a few people could see me.
2) Really angry dream where I had just gotten married and was thanking every one at my reception when someone told me the groom wasn't going to come. I found him and yelled at him (How could a marriage last SIX minutes?!? You bastard!), and then I realized that I couldn't get upset, because I had to act cool for the guests and then pay for the stupid wedding. When I woke up, I realized I would definitely have sued that jerk because his reason for leaving was that he was fooling around with another girl.
3) Scary Sci-fi dream where my group of scientists accidentally released mutated creatures that went into the ocean and were going to come back and eat everyone. Then while we were waiting and watching for the creatures, some Nazis came to arrest a lot of people, including me, and we had to hide.

Okay, not good. I'm feeling just a little emotional.... a Mutual of Omaha commercial just brought me to the verge of tears. So did the Discovery Channel Cat special... This reminds me of the morning I was brought to sobs over a Moby video with the cute little aliens that get ignored. What is up with me?!? This would be the perfect day to try to get me to send money to starving children.

There is no pleasure in having nothing to do;
the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it.

- Mary Little

Three Things: Celebrity Quotes on marriage:
1)"I think gay marriage should be between a man and a woman." - Arnold Schwarzenegger (8/26)
2) "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house." -- Lewis Grizzard
3)"Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same." -- Oscar Wilde

Top five blue collar or no-skill jobs (purely subjective and off the top of my head):
1) Lunch lady
2) Clerk in a small independent record or book store
3) Camp counselor
4) Cake decorator at Publix
5) Banana Republic sales clerk (discounts!)

Three things: What I did today:
1) Watched The Price is Right, laughing like a hyena the whole time
2) A whole lotta nothing
3) 72 floors on the Stairmaster

I really can't believe how little I got done today. This laziness will come back to bite me in the rear soon enough.

"Drunk is feeling sophisticated when you can't say it."

My computer has finally been revived. I hope it isn't quietly awaiting another catastrophe.

From a Newsweek interview:
Nolan Bushnell, the creator of the Atari, on his other venture, Chuck E. Cheese:

"I created a pizza parlor where families could have a good time together and kids could play games, all under the watchful eye of an eight-foot rat."

Three Things: Pirates:

A pirate store.

A pirate's keyboard.

An overtold, but funny-to-me pirate joke:
A pirate walks into the bar with a ship's wheel protruding from his pants.

The bartender looks at him and asks "Hey pal, what's with the wheel?"

"Arrrrr" replied the pirate, "it's driving me nuts!"

Listening to... freakin' LFO
Feeling... like I could be more productive

Man I love old songs... They killed all of the fun of LFO's song "Summer Girls" when it was popular but now that it's been a few years, it's fun to dig it out of my mp3 collection.

"I like Kevin Bacon, but I hate Foot Loose"
"When I met you I said 'My name is Rich. You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch.'"

Classic lyrics, right??

"The problem with the designated driver program, it's not a desirable job. But if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At the end of the night, drop them off at the wrong house."
--- Jeff Foxworthy

"Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God....I could be eating a slow learner."
--- Lynda Montgomery

Get your very own Playskool Tarot card reading!

Disclaimer: I have no faith in tarot card readings.

Anecdote: Back in the day, a coworker at Arby's did a Tarot card reading for me. She told me I would die alone (this came up in two or three readings she did for me). I told my manager about it, and she put the best spin on it... "Well, at least if you're in a bank robbery or otherwise held hostage, you can feel comfortable. Cause you're not going to die with all of those people around." Whew!

"I suggest you not underestimate the staggering draw of the Garden State." - Dogma

"Those flowers were supposed to say 'We're sorry you passed,' not 'you're dead; let's disco'!"
Charlotte from Sex and The City

"I took the speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It's about Russia."
Woody Allen

"I'm talking about you getting old and you're talking about putting glitter on" -3 X K

Real World thoughts

Leah is so bipolar in her feelings... she loves or hates everyone... and goes from one extreme to the other over nothing
Mallory put an apple core in a candy dish... For once I agree with Leah- Yuck.
Pascual looks like a Star Trek character. hmmm....
What?!? Pascual (Pas-KWAA as Leah says it) is only a sophomore in HS??? And Mallory going to hook up with him?!
Why is she so freakin' in love with her brother???
Poor Ace, so in looooove with that idiotic alcoholic Mallory.
AHhhhhhh, the ads were right! Mallory got some Simon loving!!!!!
I can't believe Simon would snog the least cool member of the house. And to think he was my favorite...
Did Pascual stay in town for less than 24 hours? I would never fly to Europe for less than a two week stay.
I have taken that cab ride to CDG!! cost us $60 if I remember....
It's good to see everyone using the French they've learned. Right....
Eww, fake hugging

While proudly showing off his new apartment to friends, a college student led the way into the den.

"What is the big brass gong and hammer for?" one of his friends asked.

"That is the talking clock", the man replied.

"How's it work?" the friend asked.

"Watch", the man said then proceeded to give the gong an ear shattering pound with the hammer.

Suddenly someone screamed from the other side of the wall "KNOCK IT OFF, YOU IDIOT! It's two AM in the morning!

A college physics professor was explaining a particularly complicated concept to his class when a pre-med student interrupted him.

"Why do we have to learn this stuff?" one young man blurted out.

"To save lives," the professor responded before continuing the lecture.

A few minutes later the student spoke up again. "So how does physics save lives?"

The professor stared at the student for a long time without saying a word. Finally the professor continued.

"Physics saves lives," he said, "because it keeps certain people out of medical school."

"That's not just a space ship. That's a transformer!"

--Today I watched Space Balls for the first time... yeah, I know... long time coming.

"Now you see evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."

Listening to... Excuse me, Mister by No Doubt
Feeling... gooooood

Two realizations today... One was this morning, when I realized that I wanted some golf clubs... today. So, I just got some!!! (Yes, there was forethought on this fairly big purchase, but the impulse to go for it came today).
The second realization is that if I were to make a list of things that make life worth living, cheese would be on my list. I really do love it. Maybe I'll make that list some day, but for now just know that cheese would be there.

Oh, and note to self: Cannot buy any clothes until September 18 (that was my justification for my golf splurge).

Top Ten Things about Hotlanta
1. skyline
2. music scene
3. Midtown night life
4. shopping
5. Virginia Highlands
6. Buckhead restaurants
7. get all major movie releases (plus the offerings of little indie theaters)
8. "Discovering" new neighborhoods
9. Georgia Tech
10. restaurant variety

Freaky... I just cracked open an egg with two yolks. Twins! More cholesterol for me... eek.

"When I was five my mother gave me an Oreo cookie. I promptly shoved the entire thing into my mouth and, while chewing, asked if I could have another.

My mother said "You should concentrate on enjoying the cookie you're eating instead of thinking about the next one."

That's pretty much the best advice I have ever received in my life."

-- Defective yeti

"Puff Daddy is planning his own line of Lincoln Navigators. Like everything he does, the car will be pieced together from older, better cars." - Lewis Black

Listening to... Goo Goo Dolls - Broadway
Feeling... a monster caffeine-withdrawal headache

Oooouch... I wasn't kidding about the headache. Since I'm nearing the end of my stay in Hotlanta (5 months to graduation, just turned in the petition) I've been working on doing all the things I've been meaning to do here. Among this summer's plans:
1. See Oakland park
2. See the state captiol (and being "tourist for a day")
3. Monday night drag show at Nickiemoto's
4. IPST paper museum (it's directly behind my apartment bldg, I'm just lazy)
5. ATL botanical

I'm knocking out number 3 tonight.

While I'm doing lists, I'll post this list of volunteer jobs I'd like to get into (as a reminder to self):
1. Food prep at Zoo Atlanta
2. Project Open Hands
3. Teacher's aide
4. Train Seeing-Eye dogs

Now if only I had some good short-term job prospects for spring...

Old Song Lyrics again-- I'm on a roll....

"Well, maybe I'll call or write you a letter. Now maybe we'll see on the 4th of July. But, I'm not too sure and I'm not too proud. I'm too sure and I'm not too proud to say (ah-oh) it was good,
living with you (wah-oh), it was good."
-Better Than Ezra (the only band to ever give J,LC a run for their money as my favorite performers)

Old song lyrics:
"God help you if you are an ugly girl.
Course, too pretty is also your doom,
Cause everyone harbors a secret hatred for the prettiest girl in the room."


"I'd never try to give my life meaning by demeaning you
And I would like to state for the record, I did everything that I could do."


-Alana Davis- 32 flavors

Interesting description of Jump, Little Children:
"He lists band ingredients a little bit of electric lead, cello and accordion and upright bass electric and acoustic mandolin and "a tasty little trap drummer. [hahaha] They're each quirky looking in their own way--the hunk, and the nerd, and the artsy guy and the rockabilly guy, without it looking contrived or anything."

Eno Music Festival

"and social skills are important, because in life I'd have to get people to do what I want" -3 X K

Me- I think she (the new grad kid) could be one of our minions.
Green- I think we're cool enough for minions.
Me- Yeah, we definitely have insufficient... minion-age.

As if I could be a bigger fan of Jay Clifford's, I saw him in an amazing solo concert last night. I heard this Rosebud song for the first time. It's nice...

DON'T PUT IT ON

Don't put it on
Last night you were a vision of perfection
Leave your dresses in the armoir
As the evening addresses it's last au revoir
I think we left your scarf on the lawn
And don't put it on

Don't put it on
I'm begging you dear, now that the dawn is near
Leave your jewelry on the nightstand
There's no ornamenting your porcelain hand
And though the night is now dawn
Don't put it on

I love to watch you dress
I'm jealous how your silk caresses you
You are so wonderful
Why put on anything at all?
Don't put it on

Don't put it on
Your naked eyes awake to the rising sun
Leave your perfume on the table
Leave your lipstick to stain my lapel
Your lace, your gloves, your ribbons
Don't put it on

I love to watch you dress
I'm jealous how your silk caresses you
You're so wonderful
Why put on anything at all
Don't put it on
Don't put it on
And I love to watch you dress
I know your room's a mess
But don't put it on

Another song I still love - Honey by Mariah Carey

Oh, I can't be elusive with you, honey
Cause it's blatant that I'm feeling you
And it's too hard for me to leave abruptly
Cause you're the only thing I wanna do

And it's just like honey
When your love comes over me
Oh baby I've got a dependancy
Always strung out
For another taste of your honey

Identify yourself using the songs of one artist/group. I choose Jump, Little Children (of course!)

1. Are you male or female?
Ordinary Girl
2. Describe yourself:
Undergroung Elite
3. How do some people feel about you?
Hold your Tongue
4. How do you feel about yourself?
First to Feel like this
5. Describe your girlfriend/boyfriend/interest:
Someone's in the kitchen
6. Where would you rather be?
Cathedrals or Holy City
7. Describe what you want to be:
Aimless
8. Describe how you live:
All around the world
9. Describe how you love:
Lover's Greed
10. Share a few words of wisdom:
It's Up to You

How can you resist a test that asks:
"T/F A pimp is a good thing to be." ?
Dante's Inferno Hell Test
(I'll be sorrowful but not tortured in level one: Limbo).

"She's a special one..." - from the guy behind me in my Bio final when Dr Yen stopped us half way through a very difficult exam to take a picture.

Queens of the Stone Age - Go with the flow

She said "I'll throw myself away,
They're just photos after all"
I can't make you hang around.
I can't wash you off my skin.
Outside the frame, is what we're leaving out
You won't remember anyway
I can go with the flow
But don't say it doesn't matter anymore
I can go with the flow
Do you believe it in your head?
It's so safe to play along
Little soldiers in a row
Falling in and out of love
With something sweet to throw away.
But I want something good to die for
To make it beautiful to live.
I want a new mistake, lose is more than hesitate.
Do you believe it in your head?
I can go with the flow
But don't say it doesn't matter anymore
I can go with the flow
Do you believe it in your head?

True, true:

"Don't be sorry, be better."
-- Kerry's Motto

Obviously, I prefer funny quotes, but sometimes I like a good inspirational message:

Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, falling in love in
a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your
imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of
bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend
your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what
amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love. Stay in love. And it will
decide everything. (Pedro Arrupe, S.J.)