An entry in photos

A friend was passing through the backyard.
I picked some black-eyed susans for a bouquet. Okay, I can't get these photos to align properly!

My sweet baby kitty.

Mmm, Sno Biz!

Took a little trip.

With the recent release of the Transformers movie, I’ve begun to feel old. Not that I haven’t experienced these feelings before, but it just sort of jumps up into your face how hey, Transformers were toys that were popular when you/I were/was a kid. I personally had disdain for boy toys such as Transformers; I was the consummate girly girl who enjoyed She-Ra, My Little Ponies, Cabbage Patch dolls, and Barbies. But those are too wussy to make for bankable summer blockbusters. I did unearth my Mini Pound Puppies and Pound Purries as well as ALF trading cards and Little Miss books. Ah, my lost childhood! They better not bring these puppies (hah) back like they did with a lot of 80s toys; I don’t want to feel vintage just yet. And I found out that Pound Puppies are presently being put out by Mattel (no longer Tonka) and look unappealing.

Apparently I missed out on some big 80s thing: Jem and the Holograms. I don’t know quite how that happened, but that’s what Netflix is for.

As for whether or not Teddy Ruxpin is creepy, that’s another blog entry.

Who's laughing now?
4 Arrested In 'Fire In The Hole' Hot Sauce Prank At Drive-Through Teenagers have always been stupid, but throwing drinks in the face of a fast food worker and posting the video on YouTube is too much. I'm glad these guys will be made an example.

Hey Parker, Chase and Cameron broke up; now's your chance! I think we agreed that you got House and Chase while I got Wilson?

Lumosity - iq_tests:index

Lumosity - iq_tests:index

As a rule, I don't like online "IQ" tests. They aren't reliable and sometimes they are downright silly. I hate to see intelligence-research-haters use them as ammunition. Anyway, these tests on Luminosity are definitely unreliable, but they're like some measures of intelligence, and they're fun. Don't buy too much into the "brain academy" stuff but enjoy the games.

A friend of mine wanted to get tickets to see The Tyra Banks Show and invited me to come along. I was skeptical but decided to give the show a fair chance before saying no thanks. I sat down to watch it Monday afternoon.

This show was about little girls who hate their bodies and rag on fat people. First, Tyra showed some taped segments where she sat down with a gaggle of girls for a gab session. They looked all fidgety and distracted. I looked at the clock. Only 1:05? Can I survive 55 more minutes? Then Tyra returns to the studio and talks to the girls’ moms. A few of the moms have piled on gigantor necklaces and one has gobs of grey eyeshadow and eyeliner with blonde highlights. The commercials give me a chance to catch Finding Nemo on the Disney Channel. Then Tyra shows the girls some pictures of women, and the girls gag over a woman with large thighs. Tyra puts up a picture of a frumpy madam with a little chub and I could tell a mile away that it was Tyra in disguise. Of course the kids say the woman is sad because she is fat. A psychotherapist springs out of the audience and gives insights. Why is William Shatner shilling for an attorney named Mike Slocumb?

Tyra tells one girl that when other kids call her a meatball, she should say, “That’s the best part of the spaghetti, baby!” Um, okay. In a profile, Tyra introduces us to a 9-year-old named Lyric who barely eats and to her curvaceous mom Shantay. Lyric calls me mom fat. A smack is in order. The therapist blames the mom. Another professional offers the family a trip to her fat farm in Arizona. Is Tyra even relevant? Do kids know much about her?

In the last segment, Tyra talks to Mike Tyson’s daughter Michael, and Michael’s mom. Tyra calls Mike Tyson the most famous fighter in the world. I don’t know about that. Poor Michael: her mom put a motion detector in the kitchen and she look just like Mike. Dr. Jenn essentially blames parents. She offers some common sense advice: throwing out your scales, parents fix their own self-esteem issues, and parents setting a healthy example. Whew, it’s over. Let’s just say I won’t be turning in anymore.

PHD Comics: Turf Wars, pt. 5

PHD Comics: Turf Wars, pt. 5

The Turf Wars continue on PhD, so I will share another tidbit about my wartime experiences. We were almost definitely going to lose an office on a set day (say April 10th), and the prof was not happy about it and still fighting for it. The lab coordinators were told that should any departmental action take place before April 10th, we should not stand in the door to block others from moving our stuff out (as if this would occur to us), but we were absolutely forbidden to assist in the moving. Assisting was consenting and we were not giving in.

My foodie friend A.L. recommended that I read Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, and for that I salute her. In addition to being a tell-all by a reviewer, I believe it’s also secretly a promo for NYC restaurants being as I was practically salivating all over the glorious food descriptions; Reichl is truly talented at critiquing meals and establishments. I wish I had some foie gras now! While donning a bunch of different disguises and dining at luxurious restaurants sounds appealing, we the readers find that it is quickly draining, especially at such a high-profile daily as The New York Times. As an added bonus are some recipes from Reichl’s own person stash, recipes that don’t look too daunting and sound reasonable. A common theme in the memoir is that there is a balance between total food snob and one who is more proletarian. It reminds me of the dead chef in Ratatouille (yes, I know I won’t shut up about that delightful little film), Gusteau, who champions the notion that “Anyone can cook” or in this case, anyone can enjoy food. You don’t even have to be a food warrior who tries to trip up young sommeliers to appreciate food. Eat what you like! I’m down with that.

Driving seriously annoys me. I'd like to consider myself a levelheaded individual who rolls with the punches, but when it's me behind the wheel of a car, uh-oh. Just the other day, I was out doing errands (bank, picking up lunch). Leaving the bank's parking lot, this car next to me, with a driver who entered his car after I was already in my car, zooms out in a millisecond while I was trying to reverse. OK, no big deal. Then when I was approaching an intersection with a RED light, this dumb car blazes right on through, even while perpendicular cars are proceeding. ??? Then there are assorted headaches such as college students who walk where they please, blinkers not being used, no parking spaces, drivers who can't park worth beans, broken gas pumps, pricey gasoline, cops on your case, and so on.

So glad I don't drive anymore. I have it so good where I live, and when I came back here, ugh. My blood pressure is thankful.

But at least I don't have to pay a quarter for ten minutes and actually have parking and don't get honked at or yelled at constantly.

Robot cars, please exist soon. Love, me.

I think there are too many Starbucks in the world. For instance, there is a corner in the East Village which has a Starbucks, and then there’s one located less than a full block away. Do we honestly need all that gourmet java anyway? I’ll cop to an occasionally frap, but I’m amazed how many folks go there daily for their daily caffeine jolt. And other example is that I went to a fairly new shopping center in the next town over and checked out the Kroger [grocery store chain] which happened to feature a Starbucks kiosk in the entry. Close by to this Kroger is a Target with a, you guessed it, Starbucks by the entrance. And you know what else? Still in this same shopping center is a freestanding Starbucks. Three Starbucks in the same shopping center is a bit overkill, no?

Ben and Jerry’s new Cinnamon Buns ice cream is rocking my world at the moment!

Tune listening to while typing this: "And I was a Boy from School" by Hot Chip

I'm liking this. Parker's writing about school, and I'm writing about entertainment. Hehe.

I snapped up a free copy of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones (or The Lovely Bores, as I think it should be retitled). It was no great shakes, and it baffles me why it was so popular. And it was surprising to learn that Peter Jackson bought the movie rights, and my boyfriend Ryan Gosling is starring as the father. Maybe they can turn this ship 'round, but I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, the novel is about Susie Salmon who is murdered by a creepy neighbor and how she's looking down on her family from Heaven. My problem is that you don't really care about the Salmon family and they're boring. Each character isn't particularly developed. You have the hellbent father, slutty mother, drink-swilling grandma, brainy sister, and garden gnome brother. Susie becomes super obsessed with this hot Indian boy she smooched once. I bet there are boatloads of studs to lock lips with in Heaven. Oh well, at least it's finished now so I can move onto a better read. I don't know why I insist on punishing myself like this.

Turf Wars on P.H.D.

I'm loving this series of the PHD cartoon because I have been part of turf wars on several occasions. A few years ago, my undergrad advisor told one of the grad students to keep changing out the newspaper on her rarely-used desk so that her officemate would think she was coming by regularly. Why did he think this was important? Because he had once stolen lab space by taking the head of the department to a colleague's room and pointing out a 3-year-old newspaper on the desk. I've learned from the best.

Currently listening to “The Internet is for Porn” from the Avenue Q original cast recording

While burning time in the airport bookstore, I came across one of the latest (I’m assuming, since I’m not in her cult) Oprah’s book club selections, Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex which I read about two years ago. I felt pride in the fact that I had made an Oprah pick before Oprah picked. Seriously folks, it’s an epic read, sprawling through families and time, but it’s pretty rewarding. Pick it up sometime if you haven’t already.

On the subject of books, I’m sad that the Harry Potter series has come to a conclusion. I knew it was ending, but I can’t believe that it’s finally over, after roughly ten years. If only I could go back it time and reread Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows over again, but as if I had never read it before. One summer in college, I was subletting an apartment, and one evening I was going to watch When Harry Met Sally with a friend. One of the roommates told me that she wished she could be watching the Billy Crystal-Meg Ryan vehicle for the first time again. Harry Potter is kinda like that.

Your friendly librarian says toodles! Stay cool kids!

Baby Einsteins: Not so smart after all
I'm so glad to see a popular press article confront the ridiculous claims of Baby Einstein creators. The article was logical, cited relevant research, and didn't parrot any "conventional wisdom" as the gospel-- AMAZING! Now, if only people would pay attention and dump those stupid videos.

Obviously, we're all a little busy with grad school and grade school, but I wanted to try to resurrect this thing by making it easier for me to post stuff of interest (see the shared stuff from Google Reader above). Maybe I can lure Inessa and Agent99 back to Alacrity.

I'm taking comps in less than two months, so I definitely need a source of procrastination. Let's have some fun again!

Have you tried the new bars from Caribou Coffee and General Mills? Vanilla Latte is yummers. Next best thing to actually going into a bricks and mortar CC (which we don't have here).

Ugg season has descended upon us, and ugh.

That's all I got right now!

Have you seen that Citi credit card commercial with the Eastern European(?) man in the airplane talking about earning points while sitting next to a guy who flips numbers? I don't watch much television, but it's always on, and I find it totally unfunny and am glad I don't have a Citi credit card. Am I just not getting it? At any rate, I bitched about those horrid Dr. Z commercials and don't see them now, so maybe this outlet is working.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sour grapes and mud

I was reading a classic Dave Barry article this morning that reminded me of the good times Agent 99, Inessa and I had in Virginia wine country. I definitely felt I was missing out on the nuances of plum and toast in those wines, but I was consistently able to pick up on the hints of credit cards and the aroma of buying too much wine while drunk.

I think it's strangely appropriate that my memories of that day has a background song: Kanye West's "We don't care". Good times!

We have a class clown in Cognitive Development this semester. He's included two very funny "psychological tests" with his reaction papers for the class.

Draw-a-pig personality test: Your personality revealed by a piggie.
Sleepy sheep reaction time test: How quickly can you stop the sheep?

I don't think real reaction-time tests have anything on the sheep test.

Checking out the view from the Empire State Building is something everyone in New York has to do, some unwritten law. Me and a small gang went at night but a word to the wise: if it's so cold and gusty on street level that you think NYC needs to steal the Windy City moniker from Chicago, it's gonna be a zillion times worse 86 floors above. At least the lines are practically zero at night. After a maze of ropes, people trying to sell you things, and two elevators, you get up there and do battle with tourists and couples making out (gross). So I was glad to say I've been to the Empire State Building, but I'd done Top of the Rock before at night, and they were pretty similar.

This frickin' idiot guy DROPPED MY PRECIOUSSSS DIGITAL CAMERA ONTO CONCRETE; I cringed, I nearly cried, I almost killed him. But the camera seems to be fine, to my amazement. Go Canon!