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.)

Why, oh why can't this guy be my Behavior Analysis professor???

From the final:
"I'd like for you to describe (IN GREAT DETAIL) an operant conditioning procedure that you would implement if you desired to train your dog to fetch beers from the fridge for you as you relax watching the old tube. Tell me about what you would need to do to your home environment to make this possible, what type of reinforcement you would use, give me details about the discriminative stimulus, the final response behavior, and how this would ideally play out after some hard work. I should be able to give your response to interested parties and they should be able to train their dog if they follow your procedure. Have fun with this one. You should be able to draw from our initial primer and your experience with Sniffy to answer this question very completely."

Oh my gosh, this is soooo fabulous. A peeps wedding.

And while we're basking in the fun of Easter:
Great Moments in Rock and Roll as reinacted by Peeps
Pyromaniacs and Peeps*

*Yes, I do endorse the torture and wasting of Peeps. They are icky and should never be offered to me as food.

Random lyrics for your enjoyment:

15 Stories - Jay Clifford (Jump, Little Children)
He was seen on the 15th floor
Straight up and straight down
He seemed to lean into the wind
And scream like an old bloodhound

Two more inches would do it
Midnight to midday
There was always a crowd
A traffic jam and someone to pray

Heaven above- hold him back
Hold out and hold on
He would say to himself
I'll be bigger than life when I'm gone

He's a legend unto himself
A legend unto himself

There's nothing between him and the pavement
And there's nothing between him and anyone else

Everyday he would try
Two feet up, two feet down
Fifteen stories high
Became old familiar ground

Nice view of the river today
Sunrise and sunset
A lady screamed on the street below
He wished she hadn't noticed just yet

Kinda peaceful up here all alone
Hang-outing around
Til everyone comes to see
Again they'll all be let down

He's a legend unto himself
A legend unto himself

There's nothing between him and the pavement
And there's nothing between him and anyone else

Leaned out far today
Too far, too close
He closed his eyes and he felt the wind
He could hear the silence of the crowd almost

15 stories is quite a tall tale
Straight up and straight down
The crowd disappeared and the traffic returned
The legend spread quickly through town

Hey, hey... my last dating dry spell was a big eight months. This one was only two months. Not bad, just wanted to brag.

Hehe... My friend is doing her internship thing so she can get her education degree next month. She had her 4th graders ask questions to get to know her, here are a couple of questions they asked....

Do you have a GED?
Why didn't you want to be a flight attendant?
How long have you been a math teacher?
How much do you like kids?

Check out the flag in the background of this picture. Surreal, but yeah, war eagle!

How are a Texas tornado and an Arkansas divorce the same?

Somebody's gonna lose a trailer.

(thanks Laura)

EliCash: have you seen these navy ads?
EliCash: they changed what they say
me: "life liberty and the pursuit of all who threaten it"
EliCash: its now "come kick some ass with us"

I'm watching Insomniac with Dave Attell. He's in Atlanta!! I'm not recognizing any of these places, but damn, everyone is drunk and redneck.

Oh, in case you cared - Gigi our fetal pig in Bio lab was laid to rest in the "Waste" bucket today. I'll kind of miss the idea of her... (but not her, since all of the pigs were extra stinky after three weeks in a lab drawer). It was melancholy. I'll also miss my cute Bio TA, since today was the last lab.

Two thought provoking questions:
Would you rather be labeled a skank or a slut? (Question courtesy of Stephanie)
Would you rather be infamous or forgotten? (my favorite question)

My answers:
1. I have to qualify my answer by giving what I understand the definitions to be:
Slut- one who sleeps around, and will sleep with any person s/he knows or has recently met
---implies some selectivity in choice
Skank- one who sleeps around indiscriminately, s/he is especially unattractive
SO, I'd rather be known as a slut.

2. Infamous. I've said this for years.

Oh, and just to give a shout out. The website for my bio book rocks. Check it out if you're a nerd or need some Bio help.

From the AIM profile of a friend of mine:

"Pursuing the natural nerd high"
--seen on the t-shirts of some Science Olympiad kids

"My other car is a love tractor"
--spotted on some car's license plate frame

"I think I know how to turn a man on. I certainly didn't pass my driver's test by learning how to parallel park."

Grace (of Will & Grace)

Who knew Chinchillas were so darn cute?!?

OOOOOooh my. Two great links:

No, really click this one: chipmunk smoking a pipe (like the pipe you smoke "tobacco-like" products out of, not an old man pipe).

One of the funniest things to see: Pets with their heads stuck in bags.

Well, I think it's cool.

A primer on Daylight Saving time.

Tech's priority registration benefits have obviously gotten out of hand. I will be a fifth year with 109 credits.... and I register on the fifth day of registration (of nine days). THIS IS B.S.!!! I know 4000 level psychology classes don't fill up, but darn it, I deserve some seniority privileges

Reminder to self- do not go near a Dance Dance Revolution game or any related game. I still cannot understand why I sucked so badly. I have the qualifications of being a good player - rhythm and decent perceptual speed. I guess my hand/foot coordination has never really been challenged.

Reminder to self - go see the Mighty Wind. Christopher Guest rocks.

Update: This movie totally rocked. Yes, totally.

Nice try, twelve step.


Simpsons

Just pass out the tater tots, prepster.

"you know the world's gone mad when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the USA of arrogance and the Germans don't want to go to war!"

(I know it has to be this way to be funny, but I have to say Eminem is hardly the best rapper.)

"Everyone thinks JayZ is rich because he drives a Mercedes. But I got an Altima and $50,000 in my pocket. Who's a rich man now?" - Chris Rock

Scrubs...
Elliot: "You know what's funny? When I said I loved you, it was an accident. I never really loved you."
Now ex-boyfriend: "(dryly) That is an absolute riot."

Pablo Neruda is never trite, though this is almost too sweet for my taste.

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

During the 12 hour drive to and from Miami for spring break, I heard several songs I just had to download. Here are those songs:
Celine Dion - Drove All Night
Del Amitri - Roll to Me
Go West - Faithful
Garth Brooks - Standing Outside the Fire
Dixie Chicks - Long Time Gone
Live - Lay Me Down
David Garza - Disco Ball World

I love suddenly remembering songs I used to love (I can't wait until 90's stations start up). Roll to Me and both of UB40's hits are good examples. I still just love them, even after all these years.

Listening to... King of Wishful Thinking - Go West
Feeling... accomplished.

Today's highs and lows:
+Excellent almond poppy seed muffin for brunch, thank goodness no drug tests for me.
+Knocked out my stats test
+Had the nerve to do the cutting and poking during my fetal pig dissection
+Named the pig Gigi
-Shrieked like a little girl when someone opened the drawer next to me and there was a really gross half-dissected pig in there (that's where we were supposed to store them, it was just the initial shock of seeing the pigs and it being so close to me the whole time)
-Won't eat anything I've touched. I feel contaminated from the dissection.

Did you know.... Nicholas Hammond, who played Spiderman in the old skool tv show, also played Frederick Von Trapp in The Sound of Music? Wow.... Thanks VH1's Where are they now?

Best recent Friends quote:
"One ridiculous problem at a time, please!" - Chandler

Now that I've seen Sweet Home Alabama five times, I have two corrections:
1. The Golden Cherry (where Andrew says he is staying) is in Opelika, not Greenville (and is one trashy little establishment)
2. We don't play "Sweet Home Alabama" at every event of our lives. It is a good song though.

Woah, Opelika made the front page of the New York Times. Auburn's crappy little sister city actually serves healthy/fresh food in their schools... I don't know what the deal is, but I have fond memories of cafeteria food in elementary school....

Gilmore Girls Reaction:
I'm very upset about the Gilmore Girls. I've waited a very long year through happy Dean episodes for Rory to finally be with Jess. Why can't I get a single happy Rory and jess episode??? Why can't Dean go away to Military school or something? (Of course, the last guy to try to break up Rory and Dean ended up there, but I don't see any reason for them not to repeat a plot twist.)

Mother-in-law: "Emily, I shall be gone for approximately 20 minutes. That should give you enough time to get all of my gifts out of the basement and place them around the room as if they were there year round."

Good Point:

"Blanket bans on technology are almost always a mistake," argues Tim Caulfield, research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. "You don't ban fertilizer because you can use it to make bombs. Don't ban cloning because it may be abused."
--time.com "Abducting the Cloning Debate" 1/13/03

Think you aren't racist? Try some of these unconscious racial bias tests. (Especially the Black/White Adults test) Very interesting... (from a social and psychological perspective)

Current Favorite Songs (in case you care)
Do You Love an Apple -- Jump, Little Children with Amanda Kapazous (sp?)
Beautiful Mess -- Diamond Rio
Wanksta -- 50 cents
All My Lovin' -- The Beatles
Landslide -- Dixie Chicks
Honestly -- Kwan (or whatever Billy Corgan's new band is named)

Listening to... 2000 Miles by the Pretenders
Feeling... so tired

Ugh, the first day of spring semester. My last spring semester as an undergrad... This is going to be interesting and a lot of work. Blah...

Listening to... the silence of a half-occupied dorm building
Feeling... bored

Following yesterday's trend of Lists, here's a somewhat cheesey one that makes a few good points.

Ten Suggestions For Getting Along Better With People
1. Guard your tongue. Say less than you think.
2. Make promises sparingly. Keep them faithfully.
3. Never let an opportunity pass to say a kind word.
4. Be interested in others, their pursuits, work, families.
5. Be cheerful. Don't dwell on minor aches and small disappointments (my addendum: don't keep track of or list the bad things that have happened, but do count the good things.)
6. Keep an open mind. Discuss but don't argue. Disagree without being disagreeable.
7. Discourage gossip. It's destructive.
8. Be careful of other's feelings.
9. Pay no attention to ill-natured remarks about you. Live so that nobody will believe them.
10. Don't be anxious about getting credit. Just do your best and be patient.

I just watched Virgin Suicides. I've been meaning to watch it for months; I don't know when I originally realized I needed to see it. It was _very_ good and I thoroughly enjoyed it (as much as one can enjoy such a topic as mass suicide).

Best of Top 100 reasons it's great to be a guy
1. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
2. Movie nudity is virtually always female.
3. You know stuff about tanks.
4. A five day vacation requires only one suitcase.
6. You don't have to monitor your friends sex lives.
7. Your bathroom lines are 80% shorter.
8. You can open all your own jars.
13. All your orgasms are real.
16. You don't have to lug a bag of useful stuff around everywhere you go.
18. You can go to the bathroom with out a support group.
21. When your work is criticized, you don't have to panic that everyone secretly hates you.
24. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
26. Nobody secretly wonders if you swallow.
28. You can be showered and ready in 10 minutes.
29. Sex means never worrying about your reputation.
30. Wedding plans take care of themselves.
31. If someone forgets to invite you to something, he or she can still be your friend.
32. Your underwear is $10 for a three pack.
34. None of your co-workers have the power to make you cry.
35. You don't have to shave below your neck.
36. You don't have to curl up next to a hairy ass every nite.
37. If you're 34 and single nobody notices.
38. You can write your name in the snow.
43. You can quietly enjoy a car ride from the passenger seat.
46. You get to think about sex 90% of your waking hours.
47. You can wear a white shirt to a water park.
48. Three pair of shoes are more than enough.
49. You can eat a banana in a hardware store.
50. You can say anything and not worry about what people think.
51. Foreplay is optional.
53. Nobody stops telling a good dirty joke when you walk into the room.
56. You never feel compelled to stop a pal from getting laid.
60. The world is your urinal.
62. You get to jump up and slap stuff.
64. One mood, all the time.
66. You never have to drive to another gas station because this one's just too scary.
68. You can sit with your knees apart no matter what you are wearing.
70. Gray hair and wrinkles add character.
72. Wedding Dress $2000; Tux rental $100.
73. You don't care if someone is talking about you behind your back.
75. You don't mooch off others' desserts.
78. People never glance at your chest when your talking to them.
83. You can buy condoms without the shopkeeper imagining you naked.
84. You needn't pretend you're "freshening up" to go to the bathroom.
86. Someday you'll be a dirty old man.
87. You can rationalize any behavior with the handy phrase "Fuck it!"
88. If an other guy shows up at the party in the same outfit, you might become lifelong buddies.
91. You never have to miss a sexual opportunity because your not in the mood.
94. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
95. Porn movies are designed with your mind in mind.
98. Your pals can be trusted never to trap you with: "So ... notice anything different?"
100. There is always a game on somewhere.

Not very original.... but I relate to the fear of being mistaken for a freshman (or worse... a prospective Techie)--See #3.

If the Bible were written by college kids
10. Loaves and fishes replaced by pizza and chips.

9. Ten Commandments are actually only five, double-spaced, and written in a large font.

8. Forbidden fruit would have been eaten because it wasn't dorm food.

7. Paul's Letters to the Romans become Paul's E-Mail to the Romans.

6. Reason Cain killed Abel: They were roommates.

5. The place where the end of the world occurs: Finals, not Armageddon.

4. Book of Armaments would be in there somewhere.

3. Reason why Moses and followers walked in desert for 40 years: They didn't want to ask directions and look like a Freshman.

2. Tower of Babel blamed for Foreign Language requirement.

1. Instead of God creating the world in six days and resting on the seventh, He would have put it off until the night before it was due and then pulled an all-nighter.

Interesting Facts (of questionable veracity)
40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled

On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.

Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest.

The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.

Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.

A duck's quack doesn't echo.

Yeah, yeah I didn't post while I was home.

"Since when does a strong need to burp or fart a lot make you have a disease?" AIDS is a disease. Tuberculosis is a disease. Feelin' nasty after one too many chimichangas is not a freaking disease."
-- www.lotsofco.org on Acid Reflux Disease

Watching... Al Gore on The Daily Show
Feeling... mad at those damn republicans

Although it pains me to say it, I really hope I remember to watch a rerun of the Anna Nicole Holiday Party. Maybe leaving the link here will jog my memory.

I really do love Al Gore. I wish I'd remembered to watch him on SNL last weekend. :(

I guess what we're saying is [republicans] are evil. - Jon Stewart

Listening to... MTV2
Feeling... drowsy

Yeah, yeah... there goes my goal of posting every day for a month. I am kinda sad today. My last companion is leaving this morning, and then I'll be alone on campus. I still don't feel compelled to go home, but tonight when I stay in all night, I'll probably long for a friend.
Ooh, I was about to wax on, but then I remembered I have one hope. Whew... that's all I needed, one possible companion. Okay, no more complaining.

Listening to... Just a Second by Jump, Little Children
Feeling... a little hyper from the coffee, which has translated into distraction not super-focus

The coffee was good. It was actually my first beverage-related thought before Diet Coke this morning. Yay, I'm that much closer to kicking my diet coke addicition.... by replacing it with an even more caffeinated coffee addiction. "Next you'll be using crack to get you off the cigarettes." (or something to that effect) In any event, I'm feeling very anti-studying now, but also very proud of my progress so far. If I can just get myself back over to the notebook and do the studying I've planned to do, I'll be a biology genius by 2:50.
Oh, a propos, I will be graduating in exactly one year (barring unforseen divine or evil intervention). Yay.

Friends quote of the week:
"You're a really nice person... apart from the ham stealing and adultery..." - Chandler

And an older one that comes to mind:
"Okay, how about for the rest of our lives, I'll be careful unless told otherwise. - Chandler to Monica

Listening too.... My oh My by David Gray
Feeling... good

So I may have f---ed up my grade in research methods. Hopefuly not, but possibly. On the up side, I'm feeling newly motivated to study for biology. That plus the big cup of coffee I just drank, I should be working hard late into the evening.

Listening to... Changing of the Guards by Rosebud
Feeling... Like I just woke up

Look! I posted on two consequtive days! I'm just 28 days from forming a positive habit. Of course, I am at home all freakin' day studying for finals, so I have a little more time and motivation for it... If I can post 2 or 3 times after I go home next week, I'll consider myself a success. If not, it's not like it really matters.
I'm excited about getting an email from my new french pen pal. Yay. I don't want to get too excited about chatting it up with a 17 year old friend-of-a-friend, but if he lets me butcher French to him, it would be so fun.

Some days just feel quote worthy....

If I were a lesbian, my girlfriend would be prettier than me. -me

That isn't flammable!! - not me, yelled in incongruent alarm

Sounds naughty. - Lisa (about Dirty Santa)

Lord of the Peeps

The Mirror Project

Listening to... Ben Harper
Feeling... blah

Current IM away message, because I want it recorded somewhere:

I pay $79.77 a day to be at Tech*. I sure am having eighty bucks worth of fun today...

*includes housing and all academic fees, counting weekend days. Does not include groceries, Old Navy trips
($44 of it is just because I live across one little state border-- be happy you HOPE-less GA kids)

hmm, also... saw my old post about watching Gilmore Girls. I would just like to express my delight, yet again, that Rory and Jess finally hooked up. That brought a lot of happiness to my night a couple of weeks ago. Although I finally have some intrigue in my social realm, I still put all of my romantic hopes and wishing into that show.

But first I have to mention that being a paranoid girl in a dorm in downtown Atlanta sucks. When every loud noise you hear brings up a thought of an attack, the stairwell right next to your room, constant air traffic, people banging around upstairs, loud trucks on the road just outside, EVERYTHING attracts your attention and paranoid thoughts. I may go insane, this will be the record of why.

Listening to... Cry me a river - Justin Timberlake (Yes, I'm ashamed)
Feeling... stressed, but not as much as I should be

Okay, really- I'm going to do this regularly. I swear. Instead of posting random things as my IM away message (or maybe as well as)... I'm going to put things here. It will be fun here goes...

I heard Billy Corgan's new band's new song. It was so good, I knew I loved him for a reason. They have a very minimalist site www.zwan.com Zwan will not top my favorite band names list, but as long as Corgan is back, I'll play nice and be satisfied. Okay, now I will attempt to get back to studying for my finals.

What
cartoon dog are you?

Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com.

Watching... Bridget Jones's Diary
Feeling... excellent

The orchestra concert went really well, I think. Very very good. Also, amaretto sour is very very good. I have to get started on some work tonight, but there's nothing wrong with a little non-work to start me off, right? Here's the Friday Five:

1. What size shoe do you wear?
Women's 9 ~ 9.5
2. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
At school, I have maybe ten pairs. At home, there's a mountain of shoes that may possibly still fit.

3. What type of shoe do you prefer (boots, sneakers, pumps, etc.)?
No shoes is my preference.

4. Describe your favorite pair of shoes. Why are they your favorite?
My Kmart knock-off Adidas. They are sooooo comfortable and never once rubbed holes in my feet. Unfortunately, I love them so much I won't wear them anymore (they're too old, and I would be sad if something happened to them).

5. What's the most you've spent on one pair of shoes?
Probably around $75 on some tennis shoes. I never spend much on non-tennis shoes and my penchant for Adidas and Sketchers is a wee bit expensive.

Watching... Gilmore Girls
Feeling... good

I love the Gilmore Girls. It's so funny. I would also like to say that I made an excellent dinner tonight. It was filling and included most food groups. Yes, it was my usual bachelor-burrito, but I threw in enough things that it was nice. And I feel a little gourmet and wanted to share.

Listening to... Here's Where the Story Ends by The Sundays
Feeling... like I need to get down to business

I have so much work to do! I have a quick addendum to my Friday Five... I also tidy up my room when I need to relax. It's not that I find cleaning relaxing per se, it's more that extreme clutter is stressful to me. It's a healthy way to procrastinate, I think. While I was home this weekend, I finally paid a visit to the Book Sale place that's been there for a while. I guess they have low over head, so the books are overstocks and very cheap. I got four books that are of questionable entertainment value. I tried to pick Victorian looking novels (which is my passion second to Austen). I got...
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Castle Rackrent and The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth
The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells

I've read Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome and liked it (unlike all of my classmates). I don't know that any of these are Victorian, or will even be interesting; but the whole lot of them cost $12, so I figure if even one is good, it's probably worth it to have the options. I guess I'll just knock out Silas Marner and maybe Jane Eyre, then dig in to the new stuff.

1. What are your favorite ways to relax and unwind?
I like to plan vacations for myself. I'll put together a road trip on mapquest, search for cute B&Bs, review tourist attractions (yay art museums!), the whole nine yards. Too bad I never get to actually go on my trips...

2. What do you do the moment you get home from work/school/errands?
Put down my backpack or bag in the first convenient spot, hang my keys from their hook, maybe grab a coke or snack, and sit down at my computer (not so much because I'm a nerd, but I mainly hang out in my room and that's the only chair). Hooray for university apartments.

3. What are your favorite aromatherapeutic smells?
I love Bath and Body works' discontinued Pink Lemonade. I like ecalyptus pretty well. The smell of Mr Bubbles also works pretty well on me.

4. Do you feel more relaxed with a group of friends or hanging out by yourself?
well, I'm most relaxed when I'm not trying to be social, but sometimes when I spend too many weekend nights alone, I get worried about my shyness taking over. I want the option of socialness when I want it. But still, 95% of the time, being alone is nicer.

5. What is something that you feel is relaxing but most people don't?
Eating by myself is pretty nice. I get to ponder during the day, eat some good food in whatever comfortable location I want, and I think I look pretty progressive when I'm willing to eat alone. Ditto for shopping, and the occasional movie.

Listening... to some rap song on MTV2
Feeling... a serious hankering for some caffeine

Tonight's TV premieres were damn good. Friends settled the engagement fiasco without unnecessary oh-just-freakin'-explain-yourself shenanigans. Scrubs was tellement funny. I laughed and reaffirmed my love of that show. I'm so glad it's on at a time I'll remember. So I guess I'm feeling really happy, but damn I want a diet coke.

Watching... an appallingly trashy Real World.
Feeling... like I might as well just put on some porn

Time alone is good... I decided today that this lull in my personal life is a good thing. I have the same affliction as my sister, just assuming that every guy is interested in me at least a little bit, and that ones who express interest are pathetic little puppy dogs. This is a bad attitude. It's just that I maintain at least a dozen crushes at any given time, so it's kind of weird to think that not every one does that (and that not everyone maintains a crush on me!!) Haha... My Polly Anna Complex is hard at work-- always find the bright side. But really, it's not the worst thing.

The premiere of Gilmore Girls was good. I wish Rory would go ahead and get with Jess, oh and Lorali needs to get with Luke too. Can't everyone just be blissfully happy for a while? Well, I can't be right now. It's time for some serious Biology reading.

Listening to... Hey Carrie Ann by the Hollies
Feeling... embarassed

I really have finally narrowed it down. The reason I am such a social idiot is..... I am a bad mix of irrepressable assertiveness and extreme shyness. This means I cannot halt my big mouth to save my life, but once I'm talking, I become so mortified I just can't listen to myself anymore. However, my brain stores everything I say, so that later (or right now) I can agonize over every word I said. I honestly can never remember what I wore the day before, can't recall mundane conversations or even what day it is. But darn it, I could quote to you verbatim everything I said at Hall Council tonight. Oh well, it's nice to just say it here and get it out.

That realization isn't all that recent, but I don't believe I've ever put it into writing here, so that's important. I want to scream it everywhere so people will just nod and say "Oh, that's her problem. She isn't really the dumb bitch she appears to be." or at least "She's a real bitch, but I feel sorry for how shy she really is." That would be okay.

Oh, on a related note, I was reviewed as being feisty last week. I love that, I am fiesty. It's much more descriptive than 'bitch', which is the usual term for assertive girls. Plus, this week no one took over the meeting from me. There was the usual amount of chaos, but all in all-- pretty good.

Despite the rant earlier, I really am in a good mood. I just have to get the embarassment out so I can realize my regular happy disposition.

Listening to... Summertime by the Sundays (well, it's in my head)
Feeling... rested

So, Lisa and I have royally crappy concert luck. About a month ago, the Carbon Leaf concert was cancelled because the Cotton Club flooded. Then a week ago, Coldplay was cancelled because dumbos over at Masquerade let electrical equipment get water logged (this in their permanent, rain-or-shine, outdoor venue.) So last night was the rescheduled Carbon Leaf concert at the Cotton Club. Guess what? It rained and they cancelled the show. The upside is they waited until the last possible moment, so they let us come just inside and listen to Carbon Leaf's sound check. So that was pretty cool. I thought it would've been smart for them to open the bar while we waited. They could've made a bit of money in that hour. We went to the Leopard Lounge to hang out a bit more. Pretty cool place. OH, and we had dinner at Front Page News. Very cool place. However, we went there because they had a nice outdoor courtyard dining area (and it was lovely). However, we had been seated all of two minutes when the rains came (it had been pretty all day). Anyway, enough of my mistfortunes. That's just some crappy luck.

The Friday Five- all the cool people seem to do it.
1. Would you say that you're good at keeping in touch with people? Eh, I will keep up with close friends as best I can, but casual friends tend to slip away from me. I wish I were better at that though, networking is a real asset in business as well as grad school, so I need to figure

2. Which communication method do you usually prefer/use: e-mail, telephone, snail mail, blog comments, or meeting in person? Let's rank on preference (without reference to frequency):
1) Snail Mail 2) Email (big gap) 3) Meeting in Person 4) Blog comments (HUGE gap) 5) telephone
I hate using the telephone. It's horrible. Blog comments goes low because you not only have the opportunity to put something dumb into print, you also put it on public display. Meeting in person requires small talk, which I am sooo not good at (which also hinders my networking).

3. Do you have an instant messenger program? How many? Why/why not? How often do you use it? I use Instant Messenger everyday, even though I avow that it is evil. When you're casually dating or have a crush on somebody, it's damn near impossible to keep things casual and not IM every damn day.

4. Do most of your close friends live nearby or far away? I have two friends in Atlanta, one of whom is my social savior. The other hardly ever graces me with her company, but both of us are to blame. There are some friends back home in Auburn and a fair number dispersed across the US.

5. Are you an "out of sight, out of mind" person, or do you believe that "distance makes the heart grow fonder"? Ummm... I'm going to have to side with research (I am a psyc major after all) and say "out of sight, out of mind." Given enough time, you'll forget. A little time with someone you really enjoy being around can make you fonder. But really long distance relationships? Nien! I only recently reconciled myself to the idea of an Auburn-Atlanta stretch (not that Auburn boys are jumping at the chance to try me out)

Well, I might as well post something of interest to myself later on. I've finished two very large books in the first month of school. One would think my classes weren't going to well, but they are for the most part. Anyway, Middle March by George Eliot was really good. It was 800-something pages, so it was like a nice long, very proper, and interesting soap opera. I also read Villette by Charlotte Bronte, which was very good. Besides being a fairly engrossing story, it also has a ton of french dialogue, which helped me brush up on some conversational french (thank goodness for the translations at the back though.)

I have four books waiting to be read on my shelf. Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Silas Marner and Love in the Time of Cholera. Maybe I should go ahead and knock that last one out. It doesn't fit in with my very proper victorian romances. Hmmm....

Oh, by the way. It took me almost exactly a year to put 10,000 miles on my car (from 9/7/01-9/14/02). Is that a lot or a little? Again, hmmm.....

Watching... Home Impovement
Feeling... like this episode isn't funny

So, I tried to post a week or two ago, but after all of my happy little typing, it errored on me and pissed me off. I really want to make this a regular thing, so I'll give it another go.

Still in Auburn
Listening to... myself typing
Feeling... bored, blank

Meh, I don't feel fabulous today. I had a nice time going to the library this morning. They didn't have any regular learn-french books, so I brushed up on a Babar book that had everything in French and English. Pretty useful, actually, and the pictures and story were better than anything they write for adults. :P

Now that I'm done with all of Jane Austen's full novels, maybe I should try to rank them in order of my preference.

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Mansfield Park
3. Emma
4. Sense and Sensibility
5. Persuasion
6. Northanger Abbey

I'm not certain about that ranking of Persuasion. It had -by far- the best declaration of love, but my memory is fogged by whether I liked the movie. I just watched S&S and really loved it, Persuasion has not had a big-budget treatment, so it wasn't as prettily done as the others. Since I mentioned it, I'll rank the movie versions as well (I have not seen any films of Northanger Abbey)

1. Mansfield Park
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. Emma
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. Persuasion

My ranking of Pride and Prejudice surprises even myself. Everyone adores it so much, but I don't remember being completely enthralled by it. I stand by my rankings.... for now.