Today our fair country turns 142. We are celebrating by sharing this video that was recorded in our hometown of London, Ontario. Enjoy! We know that YOU wanna be Canadian!
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Five Blondes
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Canadian, Please! Happy Canada Day!
1 Jul 2009 | 7:00 am -
Blog Carnival
30 Jun 2009 | 3:42 pmThis post is a part of 20SB’s Looking Back Blog Carnival, and Ben & Jerry’s is awarding free ice cream to lucky bloggers and readers! Click here for more information, if you are confused. This post is from November 18, 2003, when I was in grade 11, aged 15 turning 16 later in the month. The contest asks me to give readers an idea of what I was like when I started blogging, and my friends, this was me. Every single blog post I wrote contained approximately one hundred exclamation points, was 1/3 caps lock, and I was excited! about! EVERYTHING!@@#(! Well I was having some trouble… -
Micaela Tuesday: In love with a dress.
29 Jun 2009 | 8:20 pmI found this dress at Forever 21, my first purchase from the store since it hasn’t been in Toronto for very long. At 5′8″ and no longer nineteen, I found most of their dresses indecently short which is sad because they are just so gosh darn cute and cheap. However I found this one hiding alone in a corner and I loved how it is plain but subtly cute. The kind of dress you can throw on anytime, for any reason and it never lets you down. At $22.90, I really couldn’t go wrong. I knew before I tried it on that it would be my next great love. -
Just a few from the stag and doe.
29 Jun 2009 | 1:23 pmMichelle (brunette bridesmaid second from the left) and her boyfriend Jeff and got engaged yesterday, the day after the stag and doe! She is the second of my bridesmaids to get engaged in the last couple months. Now our little friendship trio with the other bridesmaid Michelle (on the right) will all be married within a year. How fun is that? Just a few because they are off facebook and not the best quality! Lots of our friends and family came out and it was fun to show Kent’s Toronto friends what a stag and doe is. Thanks to everyone who came out, and I’m sorry if I didn’t… -
Pizza and Pie
28 Jun 2009 | 6:19 pmI have a love-hate relationship with food. As in I used to love it, and now I hate it. Mostly because it makes me puke, and that is totally not fun. I did manage to make 2 things lately that I was able to make and eat without being sick. Which is a wonderful thing. The first was Pesto Pizza. I made it for a family reunion we went to last week. It’s my aunt’s favourite appetizer and quickly turned into the fiveblondes favourite as well. Here’s how mine looked. Good enough to eat right? It’s really easy to make and doesn’t take a lot of ingredients. Basil (fresh or…
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Jurgen Nation . Com
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Cracked
8 Jun 2009 | 12:49 pmI have never been an elegant dumper. I never quite know what to say, so in the past I’ve always said nothing. Not only is that inelegant, it’s immature and cowardly. I can see that for what it is, but how do you break up with someone when he or she is [...] -
Times of the Day the Dog Shrarking Next Door Ceases to Make my Ears Bleed: A List.
6 Jun 2009 | 6:44 pm1. 2. 3. 4. 5. [THERE ARE NO FUCKING TIMES OF THE DAY WHEN THE FUCKER ISN'T SHRARKING!] [I've never wished ill will on an animal, as we all know I like animals more than I do people, but I am thisclose to making an exception and wishing the finest, most fantastic ill I can muster. My ears, they are [...] -
100 Random Things [From Facebook]
17 May 2009 | 2:43 pm100 Random Things Share Today at 2:23pm | Edit Note | Delete …because I can’t concentrate on studying. (Thanks, Anna N., for the distraction!) 100 things..Share What was the last thing you put in your mouth … A blue corn chip. Lots of fiber, low salt. What the H is the point?! Have you ever kissed anyone named Matthew … Um, yes. where was your [...] -
Janitorial Engineering
16 May 2009 | 6:25 pmI’m doing some janitorial work on my life; cleaning up my affairs, if you will. I’m trying to make peace with incidents and people and to really work toward organizing things. Not putting things into neat little boxes – that always fails – but more or less trying to participate more instead of [...] -
Cabin Fever
10 May 2009 | 6:02 pmI’ve a killer final on May 26 and studying for it is going to take up most of my time, not that (a) I’m posting that much right now anyway and (b) anyone actually reads this site anymore. I’m not going away or anything, but please to forgive if I’ve nothing of substance written [...]
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Afloat in a Lonely Sound
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the full significance of a character
28 Jun 2009 | 4:29 amIt's the second of two acts: World War II era, South Pacific. "Peggy the pin-up" takes the USO stage in a sequined red dress. The sparkle of scarlet in contrast with her platinum wig and the soft spotlight and the quintessential period microphone set the scene. We are the "soldiers," the audience. This song is dedicated by the Marilyn Monroe look-alike to us, to them. She wraps her delicate fingers around the microphone's base and as the piano cues, her sultry lips part to shape the words that I can almost entirely sing along to. I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places...She slowly… -
25 Jun 2009 | 9:13 am
25 Jun 2009 | 9:13 amI don't have the patience or the focus to write. It certainly isn't that I don't have material. Turn on the news--I have LOTS of commentary. I have traveled to both ends of America this summer. And now that my personal life is slowly settling down, while the world is keeping it's usual, tumultuous pace, I just can't find the desire to express myself in words. The Middle East has temporarily made me a reader instead of a"writer." -
Day 6: Hwy 1 pit stop
9 Jun 2009 | 11:31 pmNoCal. Jealous? -
Day 1: California dreaming
5 Jun 2009 | 8:31 amYesterday Tennessee fell behind us and beneath us, beneath the clouds. This traveling experience is supposed to be a story, but sitting here in the early morning, overlooking Liberty Canyon, sipping tea, I wonder if I will ever be prepared to write anything worth reading. Shouldn't I be moved by the change of scenery alone? Maybe I should. I have trouble separating myself from the moment that might otherwise produce an objective story, an image you could close your eyes to and imagine. Instead of focussing on the gentle rain that has since blown over, I am more drawn to the interactions that… -
darling, I've been so satisfied [since I met you]
31 May 2009 | 9:01 pmHow did I get here--sitting alone in his home? There was a tall, dark and handsome man, a bar and a band and a summer too hot. Do the stars actually ever align, and why does this Otis Redding song move me to cry? There was a line--too good and not good enough, and a life forged over coffee. A double latte, and for me, I think, I was on Americano's at the time. There's only so much magic in beans, though, so it must have been more. Maybe Kerouac? Maybe phones held up to hear ocean waves? Honest eyes and falling words [while the guard was down, of course]? Here we are, pantomiming partners--a…
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dshan.me
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Twenty Something Brands
1 Jul 2009 | 12:38 pmNormally, this post would go up on the TwentyTwenty blog as an official “thank you” to the brands who got involved with our recent 20 Something Bloggers Ultimate Meetup in Chicago. It will be re-posted there, and that may be where you’re reading this. I know that everyone who was involved with the four days we spent in Chicago last weekend were grateful and flattered that so many groups had an interest in helping to make the weekend enjoyable and exciting. 20 Something Bloggers is not a network of professionals, it’s a community of friends. It’s a young… -
Looking Back
30 Jun 2009 | 4:10 amIn honor of the 20SB Blogger Carnival*, I went back to my old blog and wanted to share with all of you my very first post, because it’s a great one. It has newbie written all over it, even though that was my second blog and fourth year blogging. Some how my second blog still meant ‘newbie first post’. In fact, it’s just one line. Here it is! “this blog was started on a wednesday. which is today, and which is the fifteeth of august, which sounds and feels like a nice round date to start a blog.” posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at 3:26pm. The emphasis… -
Bloggerfest
29 Jun 2009 | 9:00 amBloggers are an incredibly fun group of people. When I have a second to clear my head and digest all the fascinating and fun people I met this weekend at the 20SB meetup, I may attempt to convey what the experience was like. For the moment I want all of them to know that I very much treasured all the blogger time and great conversation. I was a bit of a basket case from Thursday on, but in the end I know the connections will be the foundation of future fun. Blogger meetups! The best! -
Old Places, Old Friends
24 Jun 2009 | 4:09 am -
Forward Steps
23 Jun 2009 | 8:57 amThe relationships around me are of quite a broad variety. For someone ‘pushing thirty’ (as we like to joke, despite it being fact) I have quite a few friends who aren’t married. That may seem to oversimplify the world of relationships, but everyone should be able to identify with the notion that as you push through your twenties, at some point it seems that either your crowd is quickly marrying off, or the crowd of someone who’s just outside your crowd is quickly marrying off. If it’s not you, it’s your coworker or the highschool crowd you left behind for…
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The Incomprehensible Alaina
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Music on the Green
2 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amOur resident Historical State Park, Heritage Hill hosts "Music on the Green" during the warm months (notice I didn't call it summer?!?).Trenton (brother), Jodelle (sister-in-law) and Amanda (sister) went Monday despite the cold weather.Here are two pictures I took. Notice the change in weather.Wish I knew how to take better pictures (ahem Adam!) because I know my camera is capable of so much more than what I do. -
Keybag
1 Jul 2009 | 12:00 amOkay Amber. Here you go. Stop harassing me now, okay?Without further ado... I bring you... the KEYBAG! Faun'd and ooh'd over in January... I finally found where to purchase. I made the leap. A serious commitment and not the white jacket kind. I was pushed by Amber. But it's my story and I'll tell it the way I want. Until Amber tells me to change it.Off to Montana today. Guess what purse I'm bringing? For some odd reason, I'm thinking that the cowboy's won't appreciate it. -
Quote for the day
30 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amThings could always be worse; for instance, you could be ugly and work in the Post Office.~Adrienne E. GusoffEnough said. -
purty
28 Jun 2009 | 8:01 pmThis is one of my favorite pictures from recent days.As my mother says "Even a blind mouse finds the cheese sometimes". -
Did you know?
26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amInteresting piece. Well. It is for me. But I'm a data geek. You have been warned.Note: The music is kind of annoying. You can mute.
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Gals' Guide
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Announcing the July Giveaway!!
1 Jul 2009 | 8:21 pmThirsty? Check out this month's reader Giveaway! We are about to draw June's winner, so stay tuned for the lucky gal! -
Magazine Swaps
1 Jul 2009 | 11:47 amImage by flickr user blackbiscuits, licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Here’s a tip for those of you who still love the glossy cover of a magazine, the feeling of paper between your fingers, and the excitement of flipping through the pages of your favorite guilty pleasures: How about a magazine swap? Whether you purchase them at the newsstand or get a subscription, pass along the magazines you are finished with to a friend or neighbor, and in return, get a copy of a magazine that they have recently completed. If you get enough people involved you can… -
Video Post: Introducing The French Chronicles!
28 Jun 2009 | 6:56 pm -
How to Plan a Bachelorette Party
28 Jun 2009 | 2:59 pmI had the honor of planning my best friend's bachelorette party. The bash took place a few weeks ago and, as always, I have a slew of tips to help you plan your very own bride fest! Our party had a slight twist, starting the day with the dudes at a Cubs game. It was fun to see the rest of the wedding party and do some pre-wedding bonding. The baseball game started out with drizzle, but ended with gorgeous sun! Now, on to the tips! -
'80s Icons Forever Remembered
25 Jun 2009 | 8:46 pmMost girls grew up wanting to be Michael Jackson’s backup dancer, to have Farrah Fawcetts hair and to be invited to perform on Star Search by Ed McMahon! These wishes will forever remain wishes; we have lost three amazing and influential ‘80s icons this week. It's a superstition that deaths come in 3s; today it is sadly not a superstition. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon will truly be missed and have always been a part of our lives.
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This? Is Not the Life I Ordered!
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The Gravitational Pull
2 Jul 2009 | 2:31 pmI am not good at goodbyes. I don’t mean saying goodbye at the end of a conversation, or at the end of a lunch date. I’m talking about goodbye, I’m not going to see you for a long time types of goodbyes. I think this stems from my mother and paternal grandmother. Ever since we were young, every time we’d visit my grandma she would get all teary eyed at saying goodbye to us at the end of the trip, as if it were the last time she would be seeing us. My mother on the other hand, showed us she was sad we were leaving by provoking fights so that we’d be yelling at… -
A Little of This, A Little of That, and Something About Blue Underwear
29 Jun 2009 | 11:22 amWhat a weekend. I even had pictures of said weekend but like the idiot that I am, I left my camera at home and therefore cannot share them with you. So. Friday Jess, Wifey and I spent a day at the museum, going to the American Museum of Natural History. We pondered where they got the animals from (then learned that they use molds and put their skins over them. I don’t know which is more disturbing…stuffed real animals, or this…), realized tigers–even while snarling–are so adorable and make you want to pinch their fluffy little cheeks, decided we were going to… -
Just Another Tribute
26 Jun 2009 | 7:27 pmI don’t remember the first time I heard a Michael Jackson song, but I do remember my brothers first time seeing him. It was the super bowl that he performed Heal the World and everyone held up their seats with the artwork on the background. My fathers company had sponsored this apparently. Anyway, my brother saw MJ, with his long hair, and said in front of the whole Super Bowl party currently going on in my parents living room, “Michael is a funny name for a girl.” I don’t remember the first time I heard his music, but I know his music was part of my growing up, part… -
I Want to LIVE!
26 Jun 2009 | 6:59 amI’m over at the wonderful Lily’s today writing about my impending trip and how I got there. I highly suggest adding Lily to your reader, after reading my post of course Now I’m going to sulk about missing yet ANOTHER awesome blogger meetup (this one being the 20SB Meetup.) NEXT YEAR I will be attending all of them, cross my heart! Posted in Blogging -
The Simplification Process
25 Jun 2009 | 2:21 pmI’m having to really downsize on all my things now that I’m taking off for foreign countries and getting rid of my NYC ties. In some ways this is a good thing, means a fresh start and a simplification of my pretty cluttered life. It also means that I have to say goodbye to many things that have meaning to me. Clothes are one thing, those can be replaced and some are out of season, a lot just don’t fit me and I’m clinging to them hoping I’ll once again fit in them. I have a feeling I won’t be too sad to go shopping for a new wardrobe once I get a paycheck to…
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distractedspunk.wordpress.com
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Stuck.
1 Jul 2009 | 7:59 pm“Someone’s testing you this week,” she said. “Someone?” “God.” “Oh. Well I don’t know if God necessarily is testing me,” I said, “But whatever it is, I’d be okay if it decided to stop.” I sat with my legs held tight, my fingers fidgety, and tears threatening to surge. I had progressed to the point where I saw my therapist once every few weeks, but after the past few days unleashed themselves on me, I was folded in her chair yet again, less than a week after my last session. It was a combination of several things… -
How to deal.
25 Jun 2009 | 7:59 pmI may have neglected to mention that I quit my meds. As in, when I wake up in the morning, I no longer take a little blue pill that is supposed to monitor my potential for insanity, panic attacks, and breakdowns. I did it cold turkey. I chose not to meet with my psychiatrist to get yet another lower dosage. So I stopped. DK (formerly known as Thailand) was with me. He had just returned home from his two year stay in Thailand to celebrate my birthday with me, and to prepare for pharmacy school in the fall. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked. “Not a… -
Blog from the past.
24 Jun 2009 | 7:44 amMost people on the East Coast are asleep now, and it’s not something I’m used to yet. I’ve been here two months, and I’m not used to being one of the few people online at the end of the night. However, today has been a contemplative sort of day, where thoughts jumble in my mind and spike up at the most unexpected moments. It’s involved me having lengthy entertaining conversations of the philosophical sort on AIM, reading a book in its entirety, and more or less taking myself out of the real world. I haven’t exchanged words with a single person in California today, and I love it. I… -
A Moment of Jess Comedy.
23 Jun 2009 | 11:05 pm[Scene: Retail Store, late evening, after Jess has returned from the beach with a mega sunburn.] Jess knocks over a garbage can in the back of the store while trying to get a bunch of stuff for a customer. A offers to clean things up. Jess sells something. E tells Jess the floor is a mess and she should have not left it as is. Jess goes back to clean up and asks A what happened. A says, “I was going to clean it, but then it turned out there was more stuff than it looked like, so I figured I’d let someone else clean it.” Jess says, “You should have let me know that you… -
A cautionary tale about work incest.
20 Jun 2009 | 7:37 pmOnce upon a time, there was a girl who thought she was above all the insecurity and paranoia that comes with boys. Then she met one who looked oddly good in a t-shirt and his shoulder blades turned her on. Not that she ever knew she was attracted to shoulder blades before, but there’s always something to learn, one might suppose. There was a strange attraction between them; one that dared to step over the line but never completely succeeded. He reminded her of past boys that she had adored, and the conversation between them flowed honest and easy. Mixed messages were the theme of the…
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Chelsea Talks Smack
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If you do it again- I'll SPAZ OUT ON YOUR ASS.
29 Jun 2009 | 10:12 pmLike Wonder Woman, I'm always ready to kick ass."Well, I hope she has health insurance because she's going to need it once I FUCK HER FACE UP."I say things like this. I'm a scary person. I've also been known to say things like, "I'll set your house on fire" or unprompted, "I could kill a person." Among, "I chased someone once with a broomstick and had I caught them, it would have gone straight through their eye...." Just in case anyone around me was doubting my pure insanity and ability to be rage filled. In the same breathe... I also like puppies, I coo, I'll skip alone for no reason, I walk… -
AND THE WINNER IS.......
23 Jun 2009 | 12:52 pmOK, so it turns out, when I went to the store (for those of you who asked about the dresses, it was Urban Outiftters!) to try on my options.....THEY DIDN'T HAVE A SINGLE ONE?!!I was outraged. I threw things. Kicked and screamed. Caused a scene in public, threatened lives, you know the usual "diva" esque behavior.....eh, just kidding-though it was tempting. I just cried on the inside a little bit and then moved on after nursing my wound with Food court pizza. The show was a wild success and now we'll also be opening for Nathen Maxwell's solo show, the bassist of the band Flogging Molly in… -
These are the days when it's ok to drink BOX WINE
19 Jun 2009 | 12:20 am"Baby, this is the time of our life when we'll look back and be like, 'remember when we had wild crazy sex and no cares in the world....." My Love says as we're both walking barefoot outside in downtown Denver, carelessly asking the to universe to give us a crack needle to accidentally step on. "Yeah, when we didn't have to worry about little sticky children coming into our room in the middle of the night being like, 'Daddy why are you hurting Mommy?? When we don't have to worry about making too much noise, or screaming too wildly- now, it just kind of makes or neighbors jealous. Which… -
I need your HELP, since I can't think for myself.
17 Jun 2009 | 8:28 amAs most of you know, I'm in a band (music to come later). Yes....but it's not just, "let's get stoned in someones basement and bang on some shit while singing out of tune and staring at posters of Rock Gods duct taped to the ceiling." We're not fucking around, as in, "by 2012 we'll have gone on tour and have enough money to take a vacation to some obscure glacier, just because we can- cause why else would you want to visit a glacier?" That kind of thing. On Sunday we're opening at The Fox Theater for Au Revoir Simone, who's in the middle of a world tour. For a band, that is playing their… -
Trusting is like not knowing how to swim and letting someone DUNK YOU ANYWAY.
9 Jun 2009 | 3:08 pmWhen you love completely and when you TRUST completely, it can feel like running into oncoming traffic and hoping you don't get hit, and if you do that the damage leaves only little scar. Trusting can feel like walking the high beam and doing a cartwheel, then completely racking yourself because your foot slips....then, knowing how bad that hurts, putting one foot in front of the other and tumbling ahead anyway. When you meet somebody, it's the same thing. You learn to know them through their words. You take their words as gospel and believe.You tell stories and paint them vivid pictures of…
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Apparently
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8 hours later
27 Jun 2009 | 7:46 pmI was wrong when I spoke before. No matter how I love these gentle hills filled with places and people I know, that I am, there is only one home, and it is with you. Home is next to you, beside you, in our bed, no matter what that bed should smell like. When you are not here, when I must sleep alone, in this house I clean and decorate and know, it is only preparation, it’s just a building, and no matter how comfortable I make it, it is empty without you. -
of Baseball, Georgia, and Talking Heads
27 Jun 2009 | 10:07 am‘Home, is where I want to be, pick me up and turn me round’ Talking heads lyrics running through my head, while I’m in Atlanta, visiting Eli. I always thought Home was where ever he was, but home, is apparently, where I work and sweat and toil and shower in my own smells and my own ways. After three days in Hotlanta, I am now quite certain, where before I was only inclined, that I am NOT a city person. There are very few things one can do in the city that can not be done in a normal-sized population- except, of course, for waiting in long lines, avoiding killer traffic and… -
The price of free
15 Jun 2009 | 3:07 pmyou proudly tell me of the worth of your wit, but words are cheap, my old friend, and so are you. There comes a time in every young man’s life when he contemplates the future without that pretty little bit of now, and he thinks, I will do whatever it takes, I will be whoever she needs, I cannot face the lonely without her, no matter how she may nag me. And then, he proposes. You can tell yourself you’re above and over tradition, but we both know you’d buy her a ring so large she couldn’t lift her hand, if you could. Instead you cover her ring finger in words made of… -
turn left, then right, then left again
14 Jun 2009 | 6:41 pmI’m still too tired to write, I think. Hundreds of thank yous, painstakingly scribed in illegible handwriting and bedecked in the unspoken magic of canceled stamps are traveling, or sojourned somewhere near the mail tray. Yes, I’m still far too tired to write- that last sentence made no sense at all and took too long doing it. Today I started digging out the mud pit that is also a mountain that is also the ghost of a pine that is also the home of a gas line, which, thanks to the meso-cyclone, I now know exactly how scary it is to have rupture. I’m clean now, showered, hands… -
pages of corners
9 Jun 2009 | 1:52 pm“The flowers that Merriman had spoken of were private landmarks of his year. For as long as he could remember, he had slipped through the manor railings at the end of winter to stand in this one magical clearing and gaze at the gentle winter-banishing snowdrops, and later the golden daffodils of spring. He did not know who had planted the flowers; he had never seen anyone visiting them. He was not even sure anyone else knew they were there.” (Susan Cooper 1973: 53).
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Katie I Am
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(incoherent?) ramblings…
30 Jun 2009 | 2:57 pmI fear the Web has erased any sense of modesty or class in our society. Nothing is private anymore. Nothing is off limits. Nothing is censored. In addition, the Web puts men and women on the same playing field. While this is a positive thing, our feminism push seems to have reached its peak on the Web and, at the risk of offending people, overstepped in some instances. I fear the female gender has lost something… not innocence, per se… more like elegance. Women have longed for equality on every level… demanded it even. For good reason. But at what point did equality come to… -
And the days go by…
15 Jun 2009 | 8:37 amEvery year I find myself marveling at how time flies… how each year seems to go faster than the last. Does it continue to get faster as you age, or do you reach a point in your 60s or 70s or 80s when time again slows down to the speed of your childhood? At what point do you stop and “smell the roses,” as the saying goes? At what point is there time to do this? My boss was out of town all last week at a conference, and I was looking forward to a week at my own pace, by my own schedule. However, the other job required even more hours than my normal job, so my free week was… -
I wish them peace…
3 Jun 2009 | 10:12 amI read the initial reports with a mixture of sadness and disbelief… another plane crash. More lives lost. Another tragedy, this time in Brazil. It really doesn’t matter where it happens… a tragedy is a tragedy… but for some reason it always seems to hit a little harder when it’s a tragedy on home soil. When it happens far away, in another country, it’s easier to compartmentalize it and distance yourself from it. Or so I thought. When a horse in my care died last fall of septic shock, while it was heartbreaking that he died, what hurt me even more was… -
New arrival…
27 May 2009 | 7:32 amI always get kind of restless in the spring. I get bored with my routine, and I tend to look for the next new adventure… the next thing to immerse myself in. So, knowing that this happens to me in April or May every year, last year I planned for it (not really, but hey, I might as well have!)… and my new project arrived at 3 am on Sunday morning. She doesn’t have a name yet… so if you have any suggestions, feel free to share! Mama Rhapsody was showing some pretty good signs on Saturday afternoon, and I was pretty sure she was going to foal that night. So I ran home and… -
It was the summer of ‘90…
20 May 2009 | 7:35 amBy the time I was 9, I had been taking my (sister’s) pony, Sunny, to horse shows for 2 years. The county fair was the highlight of the summer of 1990, and I immersed myself in competition… showing my dog, my rabbit, my calf, and my horse (and probably a number of craft projects as well!). I don’t remember if I was always competitive, or if it’s something I learned, but I think it’s pretty certain that the summer of 1990 had a lot to do with why I have such a strong desire now to always be the best at everything I do. I won reserve champion with my jersey calf.
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rhiinpink.com
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The Meanest Thing Ever Said
30 Jun 2009 | 6:13 amPicture it: Dinner at nearby chain restaurant (I freaking hate chain restaurants, but we were unable to agree on an acceptable location). Him: You look cute today Me: Thanks! This is my new pencil skirt from J.Crew and I LOVE IT. Him: Aren’t you worried that you’re getting close to being too old to shop at J.Crew. Me: Blank Stare, and perhaps some tears. Remind me to tell him about Lauren Hutton. -
Hey Jealousy
28 Jun 2009 | 12:41 pmThere’s really no way to write this without sounding like a selfish bitch. So, I’ll just admit it now: I’m a selfish bitch. I mentioned yesterday that I had a Bachelorette Party to go to, and I went and had a lovely time. My girlfriends are fantastic and I’m so lucky to have them in my life. I’m also thrilled that my friend has found someone to share her life with. He’s a fantastic guy and they are wonderful together. But, throughout the course of the night, there was a tiny voice in my head that said, “This should be you. You should be the one… -
Friday Bullets, One Day Late
27 Jun 2009 | 9:45 amFirst things first, have you entered to win a $100 Visa Gift Card from SmartFood? Head over to my review blog to enter. The past couple of weeks have been really, really ridiculously busy. This weekend, I am EXTRA THRILLED as the boy is out of town and I have most of the weekend to myself. On the agenda (subject to change): Pedicure, Gossip Girl, JCrew.com, Pink Wine, Real Housewives of New Jersey, cheese and bread, etc. The only things I absolutely HAVE to do this weekend are: Eye Doctor (which maybe I should think about getting dressed for), Bachelorette Party, and get 2 workouts in. -
Anniversary Update
16 Jun 2009 | 9:56 amI’m sure you all know, because it’s marked on your calendars, that the boy and I recently celebrated our 1st anniversary. We had a lovely weekend in Oregon’s wine country where we tasted lots of wine, ate awesome food, and where I got a very bad tummy ache. We stopped at Torii Mor where we tasted a few pinots as well as an amazing port. We also stopped at my very favorite winery, Sokol Blosser, where we were told that my beloved Rose of Pinot Noir is running out. I bought two bottles, but really feel like I should go buy more. Running out would be a travesty. Do you know… -
Ranty
11 Jun 2009 | 7:12 amToday, I am going rafting FOR WORK. And, I woke up in a terrible mood. So, rather than share my bad mood with my colleagues, I’m sharing it with you lovely people. YOU’RE WELCOME. On summer mornings, I love opening my patio door to let fresh air in and to let Gelsey frolic wtih the birds. That was until some chain smoking asshole moved in upstairs who was already up and smoking a cigarrette at 5:41 this morning. I no longer want to play peek-a-boo with your kid at restaurants. It is fun for 25 seconds, but after that, it is up to you to tell your kid to let the disgruntled lady…
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GenPink
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Twitter Recap for 2009-06-28
28 Jun 2009 | 6:02 amI use twitter as a think tank a place to share fun links. Here are some of my shared links. Love this idea! RT @prosperitygal Houston “Tweetup For Our Troops” July 1 Wed 7pm http://bit.ly/WJzIS #tweet4troops # Fun idea! RT @kmatthews For my dad: wordle.net w/ dad words & kids’ names, colors via Kuler, plus mat/frame. http://yfrog.com/3wnz9j # how to apply for a job in 2009 - brandflakesforbreakfast http://bit.ly/AEu7D # Make a tote bag from a T-shirt – in the event I was going to be crafty http://bit.ly/Y14YG #feedly # Bc Jamie is awesome … RT @jamievaron: In… -
Twitter Recap for 2009-06-21
21 Jun 2009 | 6:02 amI use twitter as a think tank a place to share fun links. Here are some of my shared links. Most hilarious/odd/great wedding invitation EVER http://bit.ly/6a1ha #feedly # Adorable Free Printable bookplates http://bit.ly/U5ODt #feedly # The Money Diaries: 20-something emotional spender http://bit.ly/C9goj always intrigued by @ramit ’s 20something money series #genY #feedly # Sliced Bread Notebook - I heart notebooks! http://bit.ly/IVQnz #feedly # Fish Face - fun face paint/fishy illustrations. Pretty sure I may be 5 at heart http://bit.ly/Fok4h #feedly # The Top 10 Unintentionally Worst… -
If I’d Just Get Rich and Famous, I’d be so Happy
15 Jun 2009 | 8:58 pmPsychology professors at the University of Rochester research college students for 2 years after graduation to study the affects of achieving the goals they set out to accomplish. I’m not sure what it is about this study and this video that rubs me the wrong way, but while I’m figuring out how to put that annoyance into words I thought I’d pass it along. Read and learn more about the study: Further Research on Money and Happiness * Get Rich Slowly. So what are your thoughts? Am I the only one who has furrowed eyebrows watching this video? -
Sorry I’m Late
7 Jun 2009 | 8:47 pm(via swissmiss) -
Things Every 18-Year-Old Should Know
5 Jun 2009 | 7:09 pm“When you’re 18, you worry about what everybody is thinking of you; when you’re 40, you don’t give a darn what anybody thinks of you; when you’re 60, you realize nobody’s been thinking about you at all.” — Daniel Amen Granted 18 was 9 years ago (ahh how did that happen?!), but I still found this list of 91 Things Every 18-Year-Old Should Know quite insightful. Most, if not all, of the things on the list are pretty common sense but a) I love lists & b) sometimes it’s nice to have a reminder. My fav’s from the list: 35) “You…
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Half Deserted Streets
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Looking Back: January 2008
28 Jun 2009 | 7:48 amOver at 20SB, they're asking us to look back and re-post one of our first blog posts for a blog carnival. It's a fun idea, it'll let us see where we started and how we've grown. And so, I'm contributing.As a back story, I started HDS on January 1st of 2008. I left my immature Livejournal account and opted for the bigger, better Blogger. Like many stories, HDS started with a breakup. Since i'd rather not reflect on that (considering it turned out rather well in the end), I'm posting my 16th post from the 21st of January. I think acts as a nice prologue to this blog. Here it is:The RealI've… -
M.I.A.
28 Jun 2009 | 7:36 amI mentioned recently that a wave of inspiration has (thankfully) hit. Because of that, I'm spending more time writing and less time, sadly, blogging/reading/reviewing. But don't worry, dear readers, I won't disappear completely. Posts may not be as frequent in these upcoming weeks, but I'll still be around. And I have a small idea.I talk about the books I like so frequently on this blog, yet i've forgotten to ask what YOU like. What kind of books do you enjoy? What's your favorite genre? Let me know! Also, with that, if you've blogged a book review recently, send me the link! Next week I'd… -
Smooth Criminal
26 Jun 2009 | 11:00 amMy office mates have been playing Michael Jackson all day, which is incredibly fitting and I somewhat wish more days were like this. Not with the sorrow of the death of an icon (which is incredibly sad), but full of good music.It seems like nowadays there isn't a lot of great music. Or, at least legendary musicians. Generations will always remember "Bad" and "Beat It," but "Blame it on the alcohol?" Not so much. (No offense to those who love that song).So, aside from making this a day to pay tribute to Michael Jackson, we should also think of it as a day to remember good music. Frank Sinatra. -
Ispirare
24 Jun 2009 | 1:55 pmI have an unused journal from Venice, Italy. I bought it from a small shop on the Rialto bridge called Rivoaltus while wandering the streets, and bridges, alone. It's handmade from leather, dyed a deep blue and tied with string. It's one of my favorite purchases from Italy.I bought it with the intentions of writing inspirational prose in it, yet every time I went to pick it up, I didn't feel inspired. Nothing I felt like writing was good enough for my journal. Nothing felt visionary, exciting. And as someone who keeps plenty of journals, I typically just picked up another old composition… -
Book Review: Along for the Ride
21 Jun 2009 | 12:00 pmAlong for the RideBy Sarah DessenViking JuvenilePublication date: June 16, 2009ISBN: 978-0670011940I must admit, I did everything I could before writing this review. I checked my e-mail at least 10 times, I watched an old episode of Friends, I snacked on sunflower seeds. It's not that I didn't want to write the review because I didn't like the book, it's quite the opposite. I knew that once I wrote the review, I would be done, moving onto another book. The truth of the matter was, I didn't want to be done with Dessen's book. Along for the Ride is about 18 year old Auden, a remarkably smart…
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Young Upstarts
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Status Search - Searching Within A Social Network
2 Jul 2009 | 7:26 amLior Levin - Co-founder of Status Search. Lior Levin hails from the troubled country of Israel, which despite the continual territorial tensions with its neighbours was recently ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the 9th most innovative country in the world in 2008. That innovation has also spawned a vibrant Israeli startup culture, which Lior belongs to. Lior is one of the co-founders of Status Search, a social status search engine currently in beta that allows users to perform searches within Twitter and Facebook status updates. The founders are all 20-something entrepreneurs… -
AzukiSoft: Putting A Business Together, Piece By Piece
30 Jun 2009 | 7:54 amPiecehunters, an iPhone game developed by AzukiSoft. You can argue that, as a child, Gibson Tang was already entrepreneurial. After all, his first experience at making money was when he sold answers to math homework to his classmates in Primary school. “There’s a thrill of making money from my own hard work,” he laughs. Now 33 years-old, Gibson is today the founder of AzukiSoft, a two-person game development outfit that produced the casual Piecehunters iPhone game. Piecehunters is a gem-matching puzzle-type game targets casual gamers of ages from children to young, working… -
No Ordinary Phlook
26 Jun 2009 | 1:06 amPhlook co-founders Justine (Left) and Wee Kiat. I first came across online photo-hosting service Phlook.com at Unconference 2008. Founders Ng Wee Kiat and Justine Ho was pitching their idea to the audience but, at that time, I wasn’t sure if the World Wide Web needed another Flickr clone. Wee Kiat assures me that a lot has happened since then. “During the Unconference 2008, our products were still very basic. In the subsequent few months, we continued to develop and fine-tune our products. Currently, any photos uploaded to Phlook will automatically be integrated with features… -
Marketing Lessons From Obama’s Online Campaign
23 Jun 2009 | 1:12 amScott Goodstein, external online director for the Obama presidential campaign. Thanks to the team at ad:tech and Upstream Asia, I had the opportunity - along with a few other bloggers - to have a quick chat with Scott Goodstein who stopped by Singapore to give a keynote presentation at the recent ad:tech Singapore. Goodstein, the external online director for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, was responsible for planning and implementing the now president’s online outreach efforts, Obama for America. Since joining the campaign in February 2007 Goodstein successfully employed… -
Singapore Startups At CommunicAsia 2009
20 Jun 2009 | 7:22 amThe Infocomm Singapore booth at CommunicAsia 2009. CommunicAsia - one of Asia’s premier exhibitions on communications and information technology - isn’t exactly the place to find Singapore startups, being more of a stomping ground for SMEs and MNCs to network and solicit business. So it was a surprise when I ran into a few familiar faces there. Most of the other startups, were sequestered in Hall 3 under Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore’s Infocomm Singapore booth: Goh Yiping (centre) of Human Network Labs. The first I ran into - Goh Yiping of Human Network…
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Sweats in the City
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From The Police Blotter.
2 Jul 2009 | 11:48 amSo last week, I was at home in Iowa, soaking up a little summer sunshine and warmth, eating lots of my mom’s cookies and other Iowa goodness (sandwiches, cheese bread, ranch dressing). I’m from a little town of just under 10,000 people, and at some point within the past year, the local paper started publishing the police blotter/log of activities. My dad takes GREAT pleasure from this. The paper is only about six or eight pages thick, and generally focuses its coverage on local high school and college sporting events, obituaries (of which there are many, since my town boasts… -
Flighty.
2 Jul 2009 | 10:58 amNo ankle surgery. Yay. Broken foot, requiring boot. Boo. I feel like I’ve been broken in one way or another for so long that even I’m getting tired of hearing about it. In other news, I’ve been thinking lately that I maybe tend to be a little flighty. I get all gung-ho fired up about something and it’s all I want to think about, read about, etc. Over the past ten years, things I have gotten this way about include the following: 1. Orchids. My first year of grad school, I amassed a gigantic collection. I was passionate about reading about them, I was… -
Things.
1 Jul 2009 | 11:39 amOn the plus side… 1. American Apparel Sexuali-Tee and -Tank. They are so soft and swingy and I love the way they drape. I have these same ones and am wearing them in a somewhat similar way (although mine don’t look as long, since I’m tall)*: faded, boot cut jeans, flat Manolo gladiator sandals, and several layers of dead Grandma jewelry (my mom and I cleaned out her dressing table while I was in the Midwest). Jewelry also is making me happy. I like stuff that reminds you of people, that belonged to people you care about. 2. Back in the gym. I ate my own… -
Heading Home.
23 Jun 2009 | 6:21 am“I moved to New York… and took with me something priceless, the insights of a short-lived first marriage: 1) You can’t change someone else, & 2) there are times when you shouldn’t change yourself.” – Laura Jacobs, in the July issue of Vogue This really resonated with me. I’m currently parked on a bench at SFO, waiting for my delayed flight to Denver. As usual pre-vacation, I was up late packing and cleaning, and I’d be really annoyed about sitting here waiting after getting up at 4am, except for the fact that I had a 3ish hour layover in… -
Yet Another Peril of Facebook.
18 Jun 2009 | 4:39 pmThe Republican and I were trading emails up until about 2 weeks ago, when he dropped off the face of the planet again. I updated my Facebook status on Monday to say “…is pro-pluot.” And last night, the Republican updated his status to say “… misses pluots.” Dude, enough with the secret Facebook messages. If you’re not going to keep in touch, let it go.
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Schaefer's Blog
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The GREATEST List of GREAT Book Lists
28 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pmI tweeted a few days ago how much I love reading book lists. It doesn’t seem to matter who makes it or what is covers, I will always stop what I’m doing to read through one. I’m not sure what it is that causes the intrigue, but as I’ve discussed it with others it seems I’m not the only one who loves them. So, in an attempt to consolidate some of the best book lists I’ve found in one easy place, I present to you the following: THE GREATEST LIST OF GREAT BOOK LISTS!!! 1. The Modern Library 100 Best Novels 2. The Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction 3. -
It’s All About Tribes
21 Jun 2009 | 10:19 pmIt seems there is lots being written about tribes these days. Here are three interesting examples: Tribes in Iraq and Afghanistan Three years ago (though I just found it recently, shame) Stephen Pressfield wrote an article called, “It’s the Tribes, Stupid,” where he makes a convincing argument that what we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is not Islam, but rather “…tribalism articulated in terms of religion.” He argues that tribalism seeks security over freedom, hence strongmen, not democracies, have ruled their cultures for years. Pressfield… -
The Unpursuit of Happiness?
14 Jun 2009 | 10:20 pmIt is an oft-repeated, but accurate axiom that “things” are not the key to attaining happiness. For those who have traveled the third world, the smiles of men and women who live on less per year than we make in a few days deal a mighty blow to our notions of the good life and what is necessary to attain it. We tell ourselves that keeping up with the Jones’ is a fool’s game, but our credit card statements say otherwise. Like many truths of life it seems that those regarding happiness are often relegated to the later years, after we’ve spent ourselves into… -
On Writing – John Updike
10 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pmFor the past year I’ve become fascinated with great writers, many thanks to Ben Casnocha for tipping me off to Tobias Wolff, John Updike and some good literary blogs. The following comes from the L.A. Times blog, Jacket Copy. See full post here. It’s always interesting to hear someone talk about their passions, but even more so when it is a writer. That their job is one of communicating and story-telling makes their descriptions more potent and memorable. A pitcher might say that he likes pitching because he’s always been good at it and he likes the roar of the crowd,… -
Blueberries, Almonds and Red Wine
8 Jun 2009 | 11:00 pmWe’re told a lot what we should eat and drink these days. Most of the time it just annoys me. It’s probably because since birth I’ve been blessed with an incredibly high metabolism, allowing me to live outside the normal nutritional rules. Much to my mom’s befuddlement, as a boy I would eat her healthy meals then make myself an Oreo sundae or put chocolate chips on my Eggo waffles in the morning. My poor eating habits accelerated rapidly once I wasn’t under her watchful eye, but still without any detriment to how much I weighed or looked. Will, my…
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things i know | thingsiknow.net
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E3 2009 Articles
5 Jun 2009 | 10:45 pmHands-On: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks A new Phantom companion freshens up the dungeons in the DS's second Zelda game, even if we're still unsatisfied with the controls. Hands-On: Joker Challenges Maps in Batman: Arkham Asylum We got our hands on the PS3-exclusive Challenge Maps for the game featuring one of Arkham's crazier residents, the Joker. We Play New Super Mario Bros. on Wii We had so much fun with this game they had to pry the controller from our hands. Impressions: Bioshock 2 Multiplayer The series' long awaited multiplayer mode puts us smack in the middle of the civil war… -
GameDaily Bylines, May
4 Jun 2009 | 10:54 pmLord of the Rings MMO for 360 to Potentially Debut at $12.99/month An online survey reveals subscription fees, downloadable content and features for the upcoming (still unconfirmed) game. Jay-Z and Eminem to Collaborate on DJ Hero Songs from both artists will be featured in the game as well as a special edition bundle. Video Games Rating PSA Creeps Us Out Boston's mayor spearheads a new ratings education campaign. BioShock Movie: Not Dead Yet! 'Prison Break' star Wentworth Miller hints at involvement in the movie. How-To: Speed Up Loading Times on the Wii A step-by-step guide to backing up… -
GameDaily Bylines, April - May
8 May 2009 | 7:35 pmPreview: Rock Band Unplugged Can Harmonix's peripheral-less portable game live up to the popularity of its console brothers? Pokemon Gold/Silver Remakes Confirmed Expect to catch them all over again on the DS in North America soon. Gears of War Movie "Looking Incredibly Good" A new interview with the film's screenwriter confirms Marcus and Dom's big-screen debut is definitely still in the works. Guess Which '30 Rock' Character Plays the Sims? NBC's hit sitcom name-dropped EA's bestselling life simulation game during last night's episode. Who's the mystery gamer? Rumor: Pokemon Gold/Silver… -
Liz Lemon Plays Sims!
8 May 2009 | 7:27 am -
GameDaily Bylines, Jan - April
8 Apr 2009 | 6:00 pmHalo Encyclopedia to Hit Stores in Nov. 2009 The 352-page full color book will detail the Halo universe's characters, vehicles, locations and more. Rock Band Joins PSP Setlist on June 9, 2009 New trailer for Rock Band's handheld debut shows off the game's instrument-less controls. Quiz Time! Which Game is This Box Quote From? Video game boxes are supposed to convince us that THIS is the game we want to buy, but we couldn't help feeling that these descriptions over-represent the game inside the box. Rant: What's In a Game Name? BioShock and Call of Duty lead the hubbub over official titles. We…
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The Typing Makes Me Sound Busy
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Must Be This Tall To Ride
1 Jul 2009 | 10:40 amI was thirteen the last time I threw up. It was another eighth grade morning in my one elective, the euphemistically named Gifted Class, which was a polite way of categorizing the uncoordinated, unathletic students like me who would staple our eyelids together in wood shop or slice open our jugular in a failed attempt at jumping rope.Instead of sanding the IV pole I’d carved while recuperating from kickball injuries, I was tethered to a desk. The teacher, a fit woman with Mary Lou Retton’s calves and MacGyver’s haircut, was reading passages from Pudd’nhead Wilson when I started… -
Here and Now
29 Jun 2009 | 7:18 pmAt one point, Chris Stamey talked about the joy of marriage and how it’s provided inspiration for his recent songwriting. “This one is dedicated to my wife,” he said before playing “To Be Loved”. Far be it from me to begrudge anyone’s happiness, but I liked it way better when he was broken-hearted and bitter. Overly sentimental songs make me uncomfortable, especially when I know who it was written for. I’m cool if I just have to imagine some faceless thing that inspired the words or—in the case of everything that falls out of Nick Lowe’s mouth—I just assume he’s singing… -
Meet and Greet
26 Jun 2009 | 7:00 amOn Tuesday night, my friend L. and I joined approximately five hundred of our closest friends at Barnes & Noble for an in-store appearance by David Sedaris. He was delightful, self-effacing and brilliant--as expected--as he read some unpublished essays and diary entries and a lengthy New Yorker piece that he'd selected because it began at the very Costco just down the street from the bookstore.I've been a swooning fan of his since several summers ago when I picked up Me Talk Pretty One Day on a whim, probably from one of those 'Buy 2 Get 1 Free' tables at Borders that always send me home… -
Now I Wish I'd Super Sized It
24 Jun 2009 | 1:46 pmI just got an automated phone call, the kind where a disembodied voice mangles my last name almost as completely as something with a central nervous system, the kind I usually ignore because they always involve phrases like "overdue" or "legal action".Today's installment wasn't any better. I pressed the phone to my ear just in time to hear a monotone voice repeat "Hello" three times before soullessly informing me that my bank account was overdrawn. That final, fateful debit charge, the one that shoved my balance into the red? A $4.25 McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwich.I'm pretty sure that I… -
We Have Some Lovely Parting Gifts For You
20 Jun 2009 | 6:30 amI have a very elaborate system of doing laundry, with countless exits on the road between Clean and Dirty. Typically whichever band t-shirt I wear as I procrastinate and loiter around my apartment is the shirt I'll sweat through at the gym the next day. That meant that yesterday's dorktastic workout garment was the "It's O.K. To Like Nick Lowe" tee I rocked during Pop Music Trivia Night at a local bar on Thursday. Anyway, I was stumbling between the Y's two weight rooms when a guy with a chest bigger than mine1 stopped and said "Hey, I love Nick Lowe!" This was something I didn't expect to…
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...and hijinks ensued.
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Cheese covered girly bits
24 Jun 2009 | 2:03 pmOkay.I really do swear that, contrary to recent posting trends, I am seriously on a hiatus.However, sometimes I do something so ridiculous that it needs to be shared.So, today, I'm at lunch at the campus pub, celebrating a friend's successful thesis defense. I've ordered a veggie burger with cheese, and when it arrives, the server points at some napkin-wrapped cutlery across the table. I reach for it.Just as I am going to put my burger together, a guy across the table says, "So, you like cheese, hey?"I pause. "Yeah, why?"He laughs."No, seriously, " I reply. "I feel like I'm missing something… -
The past month
21 Jun 2009 | 11:30 pmThings I've learned over a month without blogging...Not writing down every spare thought really does make for a lot more free time.I'm most tempted to break my self-imposed no blogging rule when I've been drinking.I get a lot fewer emails.I worry about my first *real* post back, and that I will forget how to write. I also worry that if I don't write a little update every now and then, I may disappear into a deep dark internet wasteland, along with chat rooms, my old MySpace account and other things that used to be semi-cool.I miss random people at random times. Out of the blue, I will wonder… -
Time out
19 May 2009 | 11:43 amI've been waffling around this decision for a few months now, which is probably pretty telling.I think it is time to take a bit of a break.Too many things are making writing feel unfamiliar right now. It feels like my fingers and thoughts are slower, my words emptier, my mind more blank. I feel disconnected, less confident about my words. I have little time to write, which makes what used to be a joy feel like a burden. I feel like I'm only participating in the blogging community half-heartedly due to my overflowing schedule.It just doesn't fit right now.It's hard to post this, though. It… -
Quote of the day
17 May 2009 | 7:18 am"Let me define klutz for you. Klutz = Princess + anything with the potential to stain + an important meeting in the next three hours."The Duke -
Confidentiality
13 May 2009 | 9:12 amThere are many oddities associated with being an (almost) psychologist.The responsibilities are tremendous. Not only are you expected to have an eye on the people you treat and their lives outside your one hour a week, but you also have an assumed responsibility to the people around them. There is an assumed almost psychical power to what we do, as though we are to be able to predict with utter certainty what our clients might do. The consequences for mistakes in either way, overestimation or underestimation of risk, are devastating.Your job title also carries a lot of weight in your every…
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Because It's Better Out Than In
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Happy
25 Jun 2009 | 4:06 amSo it turned out I was getting sick. I’ve been stuck in bed for the past two days. As a consequence I am suffering an overexposure to ute-gate, underexposure to my family and friends, and overindulgence in sleep. I’ve somewhat quarantined myself from everyone and everything. I miss this guy. His head looks a lot better in real life. Blanked out because he doesn’t choose to blog, I do It’s been about 6 months now since we even met, and to be honest, I cannot imagine my life without him. In this short time we have been through a lot together. We’ve shared so… -
Whatever
23 Jun 2009 | 4:44 amI think I am getting sick. My glands are swollen, my throat is sore and my body aches. If I get sick I think I may put myself into quarantine at my bf’s house – away from my mum who’s immune system is at an all-time low. Also at an all-time low is morale in my household. The reality of death has hit my mother (some month after the actual news) and depression is starting to set in. My father’s incessant need to be by her side 24/7 is not healthy for him, her and the rest of us that ‘want our own time with her’. To the point where he won’t let her be… -
Night Times
20 Jun 2009 | 7:22 amThe nights are hard. The silence and the lack of welcome distractions create a time when the sadness is allowed to creep in and overwhelm. Since the news of the return of Mum’s cancer, my man and I agreed that I could not spend consecutive nights at his and that I needed (and wanted) to be home much more. We broke that rule this week. Convenience. Social life. Romance. All of those reasons. And whilst I love being around him in such close quarters, I also want to be in my own space, my own space where my Mum is. So tonight I returned home. And tonight, I cry alone. I walk into the… -
Still Here
15 Jun 2009 | 2:51 amAll is okay. Emotionally, physically and mentally spent. That is all. -
Love His Way
8 Jun 2009 | 1:00 pmI admit that my habit of falling asleep in bed with the TV on must annoy the crap out of my boyfriend when we stay at mine. It’s kind of like a ritual of mine. The other night it went like this: Me: “Do you want to put a DVD on?” Him: “What DVD?” (note: I ask if he wants a biscuit and he always ask what biscuits I have before he says yes or no). “Golden Girls?” – I legitimately enjoy the Golden Girls. Then he makes a face that only a mother could love. I know he wants Dff’rent Strokes. “Okay, how about Love My Way then?”…
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It's like I'm... mmmagic!
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Help Needed
1 Jul 2009 | 11:51 pmI need your help. So, as some of you may know, I have a pretty weak stomach. I’m grossed out rather easily and this tends to delight some people in my life. In a moment of insanity I agreed to play a game affectionately called GROSS OUT tonight, with a boy who loves nothing more than to ask ‘would you rather’ questions that involve human sweat, period blood and mucous plugs (LiLu, that last one was inspired by you). Take a minute and collect yourself. Because he’s a boy, he has already assured me he’s going to win and is acting quite smug about it. So,… -
Let Me Tell You How This Works
28 Jun 2009 | 9:30 pmMaybe you meet in a coffee shop- no, of course you don’t, who ever meets in a coffee shop? Maybe you meet in a crowded pub when his beer splashes your arm and as you wipe it dry you rack your brain thinking of all the clever things you always wanted to say if you were ever to meet a boy like this. Or maybe you meet through friends or online or maybe you meet at work- and through a handful of casual conversations discussing weekend plans and the weather you decide you like this boy. However it happens, you meet. You have all those conversations that you suspect no one else ever has. A… -
It doesn’t make sense but the good stuff usually doesn’t
23 Jun 2009 | 10:00 pmI recently had a rattlesnake of a woman kind and helpful lady tell me that ‘women wear lipstick, girls wear lip gloss‘ WHILE I WAS PUTTING ON LIP GLOSS. Needless to say, her views on FLAVORED lip gloss had her making the face people usually reserve for when they find an old dirty diaper in the backseat of their car. Thankfully, I’m so in love with this: I didn’t care what she said. I almost have an orgasm when I put it on my lips. Well, I’m sure a dude would love it if that happened but I’m just kidding. I’m not quite there. Maybe if someone braided… -
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda…
21 Jun 2009 | 11:12 pmI can’t… Wear maxi dresses (I look like I’m playing dress up). Watch Fox News without yelling. Make jello (it just.. never works). Flirt. Push the snooze button. I can.. Drive a tractor. Sign my name in sign language faster than I can say it out loud. Teach 19 second graders how to hand write. Fall asleep in any moving vehicle. Admit to loving public speaking. Check my email far too often for it to be considered healthy. Make 32 pirate costumes in five days. Always tell you which way north is. I won’t… Buy Cosmo magazine anymore. Kiss and tell. Forget about the… -
mmmagic
19 Jun 2009 | 12:51 pmI’ve mentioned before that I swing wildly between complete happiness and utter despair in a single swoop. It’s both a blessing- sad days can often be easily thrown away when I make the choice to be happy and a curse- happy moments mean nothing once sadness invades me. (And for the record ’sadness invading me’ can occur over something as small as watching a sad car commercial). I am an emotional roller coaster. (That last sentence? Yeeeah. That might be why I’m single. That and the fact that I refuse to date someone who doesn’t love Josh Lyman and indulge me…
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i hate so much...
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Happy Birthday, Smells
2 Jul 2009 | 5:56 amHappy Birthday to Alexa! The best thing to come out of Ohio EVER. And a Happy Independence Day to everyone else. Independence day is BY FAR my least favorite holiday because it includes 1) being outside 2) no presents 3) FIREWORKS. Fucking fireworks. If I can somehow manage to avoid them it should be a pretty good weekend. Everyone, try not to lose any fingers! And don’t set off your fireworks naked. Well, if you do please vlog that. -
Would You Rather Wednesday
1 Jul 2009 | 7:55 amWould you rather Be featured on a billboard in your hometown warning against STDs? or Be featured in a girls/guys gone wild commercial only shown late at night, but nationwide? -
eHold Me
30 Jun 2009 | 6:29 amUgh, life is hard–and by life I mean Monday through Friday. My weekend was amazing, but my feet are covered in blisters. From this fact alone you can narrow my activities down to a) acting out the scene from The Office where Michael challenges everyone to walk on hot coals, b) going all annie lennox (walking on, walking on, broken glassss!), c) spending the weekend in NYC. If you don’t feel like reading a recap go ahead and check out cavy’s all-picture, much more interesting post here. Dude, New York, you are really big and impressive (that’s what she said). Even… -
TMI Thursday: Just Can’t Get There
25 Jun 2009 | 6:19 amAs LiLu would say, Join us all in humiliating the crap out of yourself every Thursday by sharing some completely tasteless, wholly unclassy, “how many readers can I estrange THIS week??” TMI story about your life. Or hell,bout someone else’s! I’m not really into tooting my own horn (lie), but one thing I will say about myself is I am a pretty nice person. Don’t get me wrong, for the sake of comedic effect I can be kinds of evil, but generally I like to be sweet and kind. Today I’m going to tell you the story of the meanest thing that I’ve ever done. In 9th… -
Would You Rather Wednesday
24 Jun 2009 | 4:39 amWould you rather have no teeth? things to consider: no, you cannot get dentures/veneers or be subjected to 19th century dental techniques at every yearly visit? Things to consider: yes, you have to go every year. Check out LiLu’s WYRW question today here.
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Business & Money
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Ads Don’t Sell - People Do!
2 Jul 2009 | 8:40 amIt would be quite difficult to have all the advertising items ranked because you have to make several considerations based on its effectiveness, popularity, and the profitability it has given the company. You also have to consider the price of said items because it has to be economical and effective but efficient in the first [...] -
The Recommendation to Find Best Roofers
2 Jul 2009 | 8:39 amNo matter what types of home you have or you want to build you surely need a roof to protect the people from the snow or rainfalls and extreme climates. Besides roof can be help to make our home looks betters especially when they are well designed and placed precisely by good roofers. There are [...] -
Hit Them With Benefits
29 Jun 2009 | 7:50 pmAre you using magnetic signs for your business? Choosing the right size sign is important to make sure that you get noticed. Caring for magnetic signs is also important in order to extend the life of the sign. It makes no difference what media you use to advertise, the rules are the same. Benefits, benefits, benefits. Advertise benefits and [...] -
Marketing Analysis from WebiMax
29 Jun 2009 | 7:49 pmFor those who have some difficulty in running their online business can check the information served by Webimax.Com. This site has a new way to make your business run well and they start it from the basic way. Maybe, some of you never evaluate and analyze your online business. You just run it like [...] -
Super Secret Tip For Using PPC Search Engine Advertising Successfully
29 Jun 2009 | 4:43 amIf you are an owner of popular website (example; blog and social networking sites) you can make money by offering advertising spaces to business owners who are selling products and services that your visitors might find interesting. It’s not about traffic; it’s about generating leads. That’s right. It only took me eight words to give you the [...]
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No Ordinary Rollercoaster
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Chick Chat
1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pmOkay - we all know that no one can girl talk like the 'mos, right? Well, that's probably why I was invited to join in on the Chick Chat discussion hosted by Three Bay B Chicks. For this segment, I'm talking about life as a twenty something with five other great bloggers so make sure you click over to their sites to check out their videos:Confessions of a Twenty Something Year OldThe Everyday Adventures of Me in the CityLive It, Love ItThee Bay B ChicksThe Lifestyles of SeviBefore you watch, I should also mention that I was grotesquely unprepared to do this as I left it to the last minute. -
Lessons Learned
1 Jul 2009 | 8:52 am1) Do not assume that you'll get through customs based on good looks and charm alone.2) Even though going to stay with a married woman you met on the internet sounds perfectly legit to you, it does not resonate so well with embittered customs officers.3) "Oh don't worry - she's married!" is not the response these officers are looking for when they say: "So it sounds to me like you're flying across the continent to stay with a woman you've never met..."4) Once the customs officer starts demanding to know where you work and how much money is in your bank account, it is NOT the time for nervous… -
Testosteroney
30 Jun 2009 | 4:00 amIf you are in need in some good, ole fashioned manliness after yesterday's post that I still can't believe I actually thought was a good idea, here it is...This was my ride while I was out of town over the weekend.First off, let's get the obvious off the table. Could they have found me a bigger SUV without getting into Entourage-for-a-Rap-Star territory?No. No they could not. And if you're of the camp who says that size doesn't matter - fools... - let's get into the add ons that deserve special attention.1) The Satellite Radio - awesome feature that lets you listen to just about whatever… -
As close to a TMI Thursday post as I will get
29 Jun 2009 | 4:00 amToday is a first for NOR as I do that thing where I convince myself that a gchat conversation is so hilarious that it needs to be a blog post of its own. I'm doing this even though sometimes I skim when you guys do it. Hey - at least I'm honest.Feel free to skim although this post promises overshares galore, me in an embarrassing situation (surprise!!), plenty of opportunities for you to make fun of me in the comments section and awesome twitter #hashtags. Plus it'll help you understand what my week-long stay with Tia is going to look like: all kinds of awesome.Me: Okay. So...problem. (Only a… -
20SB Blog Carnival: My Corner of the Forest
25 Jun 2009 | 4:00 amThis post is a part of 20SB’s Looking Back Blog Carnival, and Ben & Jerry’s is awarding freeice cream to lucky bloggers and readers! Get your entry in before June 30 for your chance to win.Republish a blog post from your first two months of blogging to show where you've been compared to whereyou are today. As my first post after the big 6-0-0, I thought this piece from February 2007 was kind of fitting...As a close friend packed up her life with visions of a European adventure dancing in her head, I sat amidst the boxes of memories and wondered: now what? While she and I had only met…
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Du Wax Loolu
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Making credit cards work for you
2 Jul 2009 | 6:01 amOK, as promised (this seems to be turning into a whole series of financial posts), more on the whole credit card thing. This is something that I am a little hesitant to get into, because there are a lot of variables involved in picking a credit card, and it really depends on what your priorities are. The main criteria for credit cards are interest rate, annual fee, and rewards program.For us, since we do not leave balances on our credit cards, I hardly pay attention to the interest rates, though I did obviously review all of our cards and choose the one with the lowest interest rate to charge… -
How to save money on taxes
1 Jul 2009 | 6:02 amI was working on a totally different post for today, but it's going to have to wait, because after reading some of the comments on my post yesterday, there's something that I want to advocate and what better platform for advocacy than a blog, right?Anyway, here it is, plain and simple: Inform yourselves about your finances.This is advice that I'm only just starting to take on my own. As I said yesterday, my financial situation has changed quite a bit over the past year. I've gone from being a single, fairly low-earning renter in a very standard position working in an office to... well, the… -
In which I get very detailed about finances
30 Jun 2009 | 6:03 amSo, one thing that sucked about our beach trip was that Torsten had to do some work while we were there. He wasn't working full-time, but he's managing an important project that he couldn't just abandon for the week, so he did a few hours' worth of work each weekday that we were there.So, now we're thinking that if we can finagle the time off and the finances, we'd like to take some sort of trip together in the fall, a real getaway where we can both not think about work at all and really relax. That's what this last week was for me, but not for him, and less so for me due to his absence at… -
Back from Oz
29 Jun 2009 | 6:02 amI hadn't been to a beach house with a big group of people in at least... 10 years? I think? When I was something like 15 years old, my family gave up beach houses in the Outer Banks in favor of Ocean City, Maryland, which was deemed more interesting than OBX thanks to its boardwalk, and also cooler, weather-wise, due to its location further north. And although I can't remember where we stayed in Ocean City, I'm almost certain it wasn't a beach house.So, yeah. At least 10 years, possibly more. But this year my sister advocated hard for us to all get together (and by all I mean her, her… -
Surf and sand
19 Jun 2009 | 6:02 amToday after work, Torsten and I are flying back east to spend a week at the Jersey shore with my family. I am very excited about this. Our last real vacation was our honeymoon, back in November, and it was wonderful, but with everything that's been going on since then, I think we both really need another chance to just lie on the beach and relax.Of course, it will be different--we're staying in a beach house with a bunch of family members, including young children, so it won't exactly be the romantic resort vacation with free drinks on the beach and somebody sprinkling our room with rose…
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These Little Moments
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She put on lipstick for the labor, too.
2 Jul 2009 | 7:08 amYesterday I watched an episode of A Baby Story and the mother-to-be had these really big, really 90s, perfectly round-brushed style bangs. You could tell she wore the pants in the family. Especially when she told her husband that during labor, he was absolutely, positively, NOT ALLOWED to put a damp towel on her forehead. Why? Because she wanted the baby to “see my bangs” when he was born. Got that? She wanted the BABY to see her BANGS when he was born. I guess she wasn’t counting on labor being, you know, labor, because by the time the baby came out the stupid bangs were… -
In rememberance
30 Jun 2009 | 6:22 amThroughout college, Michael worked as a volunteer fireman. The people he met there became more than friends, more than groomsmen. These guys became his brothers. At the center of this brotherhood there was P — the patriarch of the department, a member for something like 50 years. He was a grumpy old man, a curmudgeon — but that didn’t stop Michael from showing him respect and sitting at the table with him often to drink some coffee and shoot the breeze. Yesterday, P lost his life from a freak accident at that very fire station. What followed was something I will never… -
Lobster
29 Jun 2009 | 4:54 amI am a big, fat, freaking idiot. I’m fair skinned. I freckle. If I want anything resembling a tan, it takes SPF 30 and many days in the sun. I’m diligent with my sunscreen use because I’m paranoid of skin cancer and check myself regularly to make sure none of my freckles look irregular. And I always remind Michael to wear sunscreen even on cloudy days because, from experience, I know those can be some of the worst burns. So when I went to the air show with friends yesterday, you think I would have followed by own advice. But no, it was dark and cloudy and it didn’t… -
Daddy Duty
25 Jun 2009 | 6:02 amIf how he cares for Kodiak is any indication, Michael will be an amazing father one day. (Don’t get too excited. I said one day. Not preggers yet, but the few of you who emailed me to ask if I was are super cute. The maternity clothes comment from the other day is nothing but super wishful thinking.) The first night home with Kodiak after surgery is always tough. He’s drugged, he’s in pain, he can’t really walk and he’s huge, so it’s not like we can just pick him up and carry him around. As a matter of fact, if you could see the maneuvering it took for the… -
Snippits
24 Jun 2009 | 9:15 am- This post is late because we spent the morning driving to and from Hartford, CT (about 2 hours each way) to bring Kodiak back to the surgeon who has worked on his leg before. He hasn’t been using the leg to its fullest ability over the last few weeks and then after a romp on the beach this past weekend, he stopped using the leg all together and started hopping on the remaining three! The surgeon just called to inform us that he has a lateral meniscus tear (in the knee) — an injury that is the only thing that could be left wrong in the leg and very rare. Of COURSE Kodiak tore it.
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Oh! How Lovely! { jamieann dot net }
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family on the internetz
2 Jul 2009 | 7:40 amYou know what bothers me? Family. Not just my immediate family…. the whoooooole family. Why all of a sudden do they have to be all hip with the times and discover the internet? It was bad when Myspace was at the peak of it’s annoyance and they decided to OMG! FRIEND ME! and leave me blinkey, glitter gifs of an angel with devil horns that say, “MUCH LUV 4 MY CUZ!” on my comments page. I mean Myspace wasn’t so bad since I logged in every three months so I could basically ignore most of it and still let them feel “connected”. But now they are moving on… -
summer days
30 Jun 2009 | 6:57 amThis is how I’ve been spending my summer days. A pile of library books and running around with Edie outside. She digs in her pool and tries to eat the water. Then she proceeds to roll in the only small patch of dirt in our yard because she loves me THAT much. She’s lucky she is cute. -
everything here’s about to break
28 Jun 2009 | 9:50 pmThis past week has been a rough one for me. I feel like I hit that wall and just need to get it out. Because if I don’t I might just burst. I’m frustrated. I can’t do anything because I’m broke. I can’t afford gas to get the hell out of the south side to go see my friends. And I’m not really el accessible so it’s hard to get around unless I drive or take the Metra which is super annoying. I can’t go out and grab dinner or drinks. Some friends were in town this weekend and I just couldn’t go hang out. It was a bummer. The job situation is… -
let’s.
28 Jun 2009 | 10:15 am -
we can rock forever
25 Jun 2009 | 8:00 pmTruly a legend who changed the face of music. He will be missed. Rest In Peace
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Beyond Megapixels
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Photographer Diaries: A Special Thank You Note!
1 Jul 2009 | 12:23 pmThe moment of truth is finally here. What I’ve been working for for the past ’seems like forever’ long.. that which has given me sleepless nights.. that which had given me good dreams and nightmares (the last of which I had a couple of hours back!).. that which will be my most prized possession (along with my dear Dell of course :D).. The Canon EOS 40D is finally here!!! This is nothing but a thank you note to everyone who had anything to do with this purchase.. First and foremost, a BIG THANK YOU to my friends Pulkit, Lovneet, Karan and Gunjeet, who actually worked with me… -
Creativity with LED’s..!
29 Jun 2009 | 12:17 pmWith lightpainting having gained mass popularity, everyone’s trying their hands on it.. after all, all you need is a camera that allows you to change exposure time! And with everyone trying stuff like this, there’s bound to be a flood of pictures.. and as a result, you get to see some brilliant displays of creativity, a few of which we’ve gathered for all of our readers to ENJOY! Photo by gnackgnackgnack Photo by rogerss1 Photo by tdub303 (done using a hanger loop) Photo by gnackgnackgnack Photo by cowgummy And as always, we end with some humour Photo by ohhector If you… -
Shooting Fireworks!
24 Jun 2009 | 3:34 pmShooting Fireworks!Fireworks! As a kid, they were one of the most amazing things ever. They still are, only that I’m against fireworks on Diwali because everyone does them and that really isn’t very good for either the environment, or the people. Commercial displays however, are still OK from an environmental point of view, and FABulous from a photographer’s point of view. And with 4th July just around the corner, there will be many of us wanting to capture the spectacular fireworks displays everywhere. So, here are some excellent tips on photographing fireworks… Below… -
Survey: Please give feedback!
23 Jun 2009 | 11:59 amHi Everyone Below are a number of questions that I would appreciate you answering. Feedback is the only thing I can use to measure how well the site is doing. If you would like to give more feedback please add a comment to the post. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this… -
Buying your first SLR..
22 Jun 2009 | 1:50 pmMost of you may know that I myself am buying my very own dSLR for the first time, and hence have been doing a whole lot of research on the topic. My research ended with this article I came across a day or two ago. In the article Vandit Kalia says “In this article, I’ve tried to find a fine balance between being objective and yet offering enough opinions to actually reach a conclusion that is a little more helpful that “they are all good”. Valid though that assertion is, I think in hindsight that this is quite frustrating to someone looking for advice.” ……
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Discussion Forum - 20 Something Bloggers
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Bloggy Book Swap
Sounds like a great idea! -
Bloggy Book Swap
There is a book club of sort here, "on my bookshelf, maybe starting a book swap there would be a good idea. I mentioned in that forum recently, but I tend to get lost and never get back to groups as often as I shouls. Possible an area just for book swapping, though that might be more over the scope of where these people want to go. -
Does positive correlation exist between human IQ and height?
In reality I'm 5'8", but if a little exaggeration helps my IQ so be it. -
New blogger template design needed
Hi everyone I'm desperately looking for someone who can design a new blogger template for me. I have a layout in mind but I'm getting confused with how to make it happen.. The code is just dazzling me and I dont want to mess up my widgets. I'd like a wordpress inspired blogger theme... If you can help me... please email me at dreamsrockreality@gmail.com or on my 20something blogger profile page. Many thanks and can't wait to get a positive response! Als -
Who should be featured blogger for August?
agreed. now THATS a girl that looks like she would know for sure. us? we're just speculating.
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omgomgomfg by a.v. flox
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#FollowFriday: A Great Idea Gone Fail?
29 Jun 2009 | 10:45 amWhen I first started using Twitter over two years ago, there wasn’t really a way to do things. Twitter had been around some time, but many users were still figuring out what we wanted to use it for. Times have changed since: we’ve figured out Twitter has more value as a conversation tool than a stream of status updates, we know the value of hashtags in keeping up with developing events, we have developed a way to credit those whose information we relay in our own tweets, and so on. But we’re all still learning. Every once in a while conversation will erupt around a certain… -
Happiness–There’s An App for that
27 Jun 2009 | 2:55 amThere seems to be an app for everything, but an app for happiness? Really? I’ve been following the work of Signal Patterns Labs since I took a personality test of theirs a year or so ago. Signal Patterns develops psychology-based web applications like the personality test I took. Recently, they’ve been expanding their efforts and moving into the mobile territory with self-help, positive psychology apps that are supposed to “help people improve their well-being and relationships with others.” Live Happy is one of these apps. Developed by the iPhone by the Signal… -
Twitter is a Spam Farm
17 Jun 2009 | 10:17 pm“Twitter’s value is in links…. What happened when Twitter started, it was supposed to change the face of communications–what happened with all of that?” asks Loren Feldman, founder of 1938Media in his most recent diatribe about the tech industry. “It’s a link farm, it’s a spam farm. There’s no conversations. It doesn’t f*cking matter, you idiots, changing your location to Iran? Jesus, you’re f*cking stupid. Unbelievable! … It’s all a bunch of f*cking lies! No one cares about your Twitter. Just put up your link and… -
From Flames to Fame: Views vs. Credibility
1 Jun 2009 | 11:21 pmMy Twitter stream and inbox caught on fire this afternoon following a post by Dave McClure, a software developer and marketing nerd in Silicon Valley, regarding the importance of visual cues in calls to action (CTAs). McClure, who begins the post with a disclaimer that he has no professional training in user interface (UI) design, but goes on to say he has 25 years of experience, illustrated his point about visual cues by employing the rear of a woman shown bent over. In his post, The Faces! The FACES! It’s ALL About the F**king FACES!, McClure writes: If there’s one thing… -
Spymaster: A Low-Maintenance Game for a 140-Character World
31 May 2009 | 7:38 pmIt’s five in the morning and I’m exhausted but I can’t get offline. The reason? A Twitter-based game called Spymaster, much like the Mafia Wars app on Facebook. Mafia Wars never spoke to me, but Spymaster, with its espionage-based tasks and activities, had an immediate draw. Using OAuth, the game is directly linked to your Twitter account, so there is no need to create another profile to play. You simply click through from an invite on Twitter and begin. You can pick from a selection of intelligence agencies including the British M16, the American CIA and the Russian FSB.
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Blog by Jon Bishop
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Social Media Monitoring and Measurement Tools
2 Jul 2009 | 9:10 amIt’s extremely important to monitor and measure your influence in social media however some of the premium tools out there might be a little beyond your financial reach. Good thing there are plenty of free tools you can mix and match to meet your own personal goals. First off, check the availability of your brand name, user name or vanity URL on 120 popular Social Media sites with http://knowem.com. This is just an easy way to see if anyone has squatted on your brand name. Now some of these tools are better at monitoring while others are better at measurement. I leave it up to you. -
Are “Social Mentions” And “Twitter Trackbacks” Just Taking Up Space?
29 Jun 2009 | 2:03 pmYou may have seen some of the following solutions installed on some of your favorite blogs: Ubervu BackType TweetBacks Disqus ChatCatcher IntenseDebate The idea is to bring all comments about your posts into the posts themselves in an effort to centralize the conversation. This seems like a great idea until you put it into practice. The main problem with most, if not all, of these solutions is that Twitter tends to overpower the rest. What we need is an effective means of filtering Twitter for quality comments, otherwise they should not be pulled into the post at all. Are people seriously… -
Do We Even Need FeedBurner Anymore?
25 Jun 2009 | 9:32 amI’ve been thinking a lot about FeedBurner’s new changes where it includes FriendFeed subscribers in its total subscriber count. Unless FeedBurner removes this new feature, subscriber stats may be flawed forever. I don’t want to bore you with all the reasons why this is a bad idea, so instead I’m just going to say I agree with David Spinks, Rob Diana, and Dave Fleet. This is just the icing on the cake as ProBlogger had already pointed out a few issues with FeedBurner prior to this new change. He brings up some valid points that ultimately led to me writing this post. So… -
27 Excellent Free Social Media Icons Sets
18 Jun 2009 | 3:00 amIn a previous post I talked about how to increase the viral potential of your content with more actionable bookmarking and sharing buttons. Now here is a list of cool custom bookmarking and sharing buttons you can use on your blog that are sure to attract more bookmarks and shares. Social Icons hand drawned Polaroid icon set Page Peel – A Free Social Media Iconset IconTexto Web 2.0 User Icons Cloud LoonDesign Vector Icons Set Handycons Handycons 2 Social Media Icons Pack in 3 Sizes Aquaticus Social Icons WebDev Social Bookmark Extended Set of Social Icons Starry Site V1 from Evohosting… -
Increase Viral Potential With Actionable Bookmarking and Sharing Buttons
17 Jun 2009 | 3:00 amOne of the first things most people do with their new blogs is install some sort of plugin to help facilitate the sharing of their posts. Thoughts of Twitter obsessively retweeting your content begin to float through your mind and let’s not forget the ridiculous amount of traffic you’re gonna be getting from Digg. The truth is you will probably get little to no activity on your posts regardless of what plugins you are using, especially if you are the new blog on the block. So How Do I Go Viral? Well, you don’t just “go viral” as there are a bunch of factors that…
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crazy miracle called * life *
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Nanny Diaries… The Insanity Never Ends
1 Jul 2009 | 5:28 pmSo as if this weekend's baby drama wasn't enough, I spent Monday night with my newest baby, Baby L. She may be 4 months old but she has some case of colic or something. The child cries more than any infant I've seen in my life, and that's a pretty huge amount of babies to beat! So I spent 6 hours of my evening listening to inconsolable wailing with the exception of 3 tiny catnaps. Oh and Dad left his keys locked in his car and blocked Mom in so I was the nice new nanny and agreed to drive her to her job in Cleveland - one hour each way. Needless to say, we never… -
Nanny Diaries… Too many Kiddos + Sick Baby Itty Bitty
27 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pmWhat a week. What a night. The Itty Bitties are out of control!! Right now my schedule looks a little something like this ... Wednesday & Friday all day ~ Little M (3.5 years) ~ articulate, bossy, and imaginative Saturday nights, weeknights "as needed" ~ Baby L (4 months) ~ fussy fussy fussy A few nights a month ~ Baby Blue (10 months) ~ loves to sleep, very happy little guy Various days/nights ~ Baby Itty Bitty (8 months) & Big Itty Bitty (6 years) ~ my little princess girls, one smiley and content, the other dramatic and smart Had Little M yesterday, I interviewed… -
My Sister’s Keeper: my must-see movie
25 Jun 2009 | 8:48 pmAhh, karma. Sometimes you love it, sometimes you hate it. Tuesday, I loved it. Remember when I told you about Jodi Picoult's literary masterpiece, My Sister's Keeper? I told you how phenomenal it was and how it impacted me deeply because the story hit too close to home? The story resonated with me day and night, and I was counting down the days until its matching movie would be released - Friday, June 26th. I told you how scared I was about the movie doing the book injustice, how it had to be impossible to maintain the emotion Jodi Picoult so passionately… -
Daddy’s little girl…
21 Jun 2009 | 8:18 pmSince I could talk, I was always "Daddy's Girl," or some variant of it. Both of my parents are amazing and gave us beautiful lives, and both Nikki and I were very close to each of them, but for some reason or another... Nikki was always clinging to Mom and her blankie while I was proud to be independent ... well, aside from the hand that was always in Dad's. Always. I'd go as far out as I could, but not any further than Daddy's hand would reach. And rightfully so. I was convinced I was going to marry him, why, I even told Mom about my plan and informed her of her need… -
To you…
20 Jun 2009 | 3:28 pmI love each and every one of you, my readers. In particular, a few have really taken the time to make my day lately and a few of you were sneaky enough to leave no way of reaching you. So please, wherever you are, I hope you find this post and realize how you've touched my heart. I don't take any of my readers - visible or invisible - for granted. Thank you for sharing your hopes, dreams, stories, jokes, links, and experiences. You are precious. To "Mon B", my "lurker" :) ... Hey Amanda, this is a totally random comment, but I came across your blog in the same…
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Weekly Way
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The Book is Here!
17 Jun 2009 | 3:53 pmWell...almost. Ten Ways to Change the World in Your Twenties will be released in November, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon. I'm also in the process of reaching out to universities and high schools, so if you are interested in bringing me to your school to speak, send an email! -
Battling the Bagmonster
3 Jun 2009 | 10:09 pmSeattle is one referendum vote away from becoming one of the first cities in the United States to take a huge step toward reducing disposable bag consumption. The City Council has already voted to institute a 20 cent fee for disposable plastic or paper bags, and now the ordinance must be upheld by a public referendum in order to be enacted.According to the Seattle Green Bag Campaign, which is working hard to support Referendum 1, the "optional" green fee pertains to people who don't shop with a reusable bag and is expected to reduce disposable bag use by an estimated 80-90%. Most of the 20… -
Rallying to Repower America
21 May 2009 | 12:57 pmThe Environmental Protection Agency held a hearing today in Seattle to discuss whether or not greenhouse gases should be treated as dangerous pollutants. Many people turned out to support efforts to reclassify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and as you can see from the photos, it was a costume-optional event.Some Crabby protesters being Shellfish about their futureAccording to my twentysomething friend Anne, who attended the rally,"As individuals we can make all kinds of decisions - like changing our light bulbs and bringing tote bags when we go shopping - but we simply can't stop global… -
Growing Your Own
17 May 2009 | 1:31 pmI've written extensively on this blog about the joys of local eating, but mostly my experiences thus far have centered on food from the farmers' markets or from restaurants that use local sources.This spring, despite the fact that the outdoor space around my apartment consists of two very small "decks", and please note that I use that term loosely - two people can fit uncomfortably on them at once - I decided to try my hand at growing some of my own food.Another "feature" of our apartment is that it gets very little sun. No worries, though. A trip to a few plant sales and some conversations… -
Hooray for Hulu
8 May 2009 | 8:40 pmI've been without cable television for a while now - mostly it's due to budgetary constraints, but partly it's a choice. The fact is that I don't really miss most of what I used to watch. However, there are certain shows that I am proudly addicted to such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. With the exception of these two shows, my subscription to Netflix fills in any potential pop culture holes that my lack of cable might be causing.Recently, I also realized that Hulu, which is free for at least the foreseeable future, also has such shows as PBS's Scientific American and Morgan…
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ThrillingHeroics.com
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Video Introduction to the Work-Anywhere Lifestyle
1 Jul 2009 | 7:09 amMy introductory column has gone live this week at Viralogy Experts. Jun Loayza, a tenacious young entreprneuer in Los Angeles, California, interviewed me about my location independent lifestyle and living as an expat in Thailand in early May, and he’s since asked me to become part of a panel of Generation Y experts in different subject areas for their new Viralogy Experts blog. I’ll be introducing people to the concept if they’re not already familiar with it, talking about my experience so far running my business remotely for 8 months, and living and traveling throughout… -
You Wanted to Know About Twitter…
28 Jun 2009 | 3:30 pmOkay, so it’s kind of silly how many blog posts and articles revolve around Twitter these days. It’s kind of silly how much of what I say and share online myself involves Twitter! It’s a technology that talks mostly about itself. It’s just one more online social network. Only a means of communication. But the fact is, Twitter is a revolutionary means of communication—an evolution, you might say—and while it’s still at an early adopter stage, it’s already changing the way we communicate (I just wrote about a book for people with a Twitter-length… -
Business Lessons for the Twitter-Length Attention Span: Insights in Just 140 Characters
24 Jun 2009 | 12:10 pmRajesh Setty’s new book #Th!nkTweet: Bite-sized Lessons for a Fast-Paced World was recently released, and Raj was kind enough to send over a copy for me to flip through. Rajesh has been a colleague and friend since I met him in 2006, and his thoughtful writing has always been a big influence on me when it comes to running a conscious business and establishing meaningful professional relationships. I treat his words of wisdom with reverence, no matter how succinct! He’s been squeezing as much insightful value into each Tweet as he can (@UpbeatNow), and he’s compiled many of… -
Join Influential Gen-Y Thought Leaders on their Remarkable Business & Lifestyle Journeys
22 Jun 2009 | 4:42 amWhat is social media? Some people think of geeks like me who spend all day on Twitter or Digg, some think of marketing or PR “gurus”, but really it’s just a conversation—empowered by new web technologies that connect people globally. It is reshaping how companies relate to and interact with their markets with people. It is giving more power to the consumer, nurturing communities of people with shared interests in innumerable topics. Social media is changing the rules of the game so that individuals can join, build and lead communities; rebel freelancers or… -
Location Independent Blog Carnival #1
21 Jun 2009 | 5:44 amWelcome to the debut edition of the first ever Location Independent Blog Carnival! The blog carnival works like this: writers from across the blogosphere can submit articles here for a chance to be featured. Each month, a different blog in the location independent community will host the latest carnival—the editor will review all the submissions and publish the cream of the crop in a monthly roundup post. It should be an effective way for members of the the community to get to know each other and get some well-deserved exposure. We had quite a few submissions this month, so below are the…
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The Spotted Ottoman
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I’m taking off
26 Jun 2009 | 9:42 pmThe week is just beginning for me. When I travel, I think of the starting day as the start of the week, even if it happens to be Saturday. Tomorrow I am taking of for a few days to Philadelphia, and these are some promises I have made to myself for this week: The Google Reader can explode exponentially, and that is okay. I will continue to celebrate the catharsis Eric and I experienced today. Seriously, I feel so much freer now, and I may post more about it later, once it’s not such a hot topic around here. Twitter isn’t working on my iPhone, and I am going to try to be okay with… -
If you had a life motto…
21 Jun 2009 | 5:16 pmWhat would it it be? Mine? Live a life worthy of a memoir. A while ago I decided that one of my greatest fears was living an ordinary life. I feel a calling to do something remarkable, to improve the lives of as many people as possible. It sounds cliche–doesn’t every twenty something say things of this sort? There’s that whole world as our oyster bit, but I think it would be tragic for us to let go of this. I don’t see why we can’t all change the world and make incredibly positive impacts. Now, more than ever, there seems to be room for ingenuity. I continue to… -
Show what?
15 Jun 2009 | 6:21 pmBefore going to Vegas, I was given the opportunity to attend a Cirque du Soleil performance while there. I couldn’t wait–I can’t even remember how I long I have wanted to do this, especially after hearing how much other people had loved different Cirque shows. I didn’t really care which performance we went to, so I agreed to see Zumanity with several other bloggers. I was prepared for visual chaos and mental stimulation, and the show did not fail to meet those expectations. We walked over to the New York, New York casino after a buffet at Caesar’s Palace. The… -
Just do it–it’s…Vegas!
9 Jun 2009 | 8:33 pmThere are only a few places in this world where the location itself justifies behavior which differs from the norm. Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval. Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. Pamplona during the races. And, most relevantly, Las Vegas when two dozen bloggers congregate. Last weekend I met two dozen *strangers* in Las Vegas. I slept in a room with girls I had never even spoken to on the phone. I shared meals with women who hail from all over North America. I trusted them, listened to them, believed them, and now I love them. So many of the recaps have highlighted the effects of bathing… -
Viva Las Vegas
4 Jun 2009 | 11:22 pmBy the time you read this, I’ll probably be in Las Vegas, meeting all sorts of fabulous people. I am in the midst of the last minute packing hurdles now–like, do I need four dresses? NO! I’ll only be there 48 hours–that would be 2 too many dresses. My flight takes off at 6:30 tomorrow, so I will most definitely be snoozing on the plane. No worries here…I only take one carry on when I travel, because I have had luggage misplaced too many times. I’m so excited to meet everyone, but the thrill is somewhat tempered by the impending Monday LSAT. While some are…
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the tattooed mama | tattoos. motherhood. design.
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Ashley’s Pallet Day Bed
2 Jul 2009 | 3:04 pmIf you aren’t subscribed to Design Sponge online, you are missing out! I love the before & after features that I read from my iphone daily. There are so many great ideas, especially when you have a knack for designing. This feature, about a lady turning two pallets into an adorable day bed is one of my favorites. What a creative idea. Check out the post and the before & after photos here: Design Sponge Online. -
Anniversary Trip
29 Jun 2009 | 11:21 pmMy little family took a trip to the the East Coast of Florida recently. We stayed at a nice hotel overlooking the ocean and it was perfect. We were by Cape Canaveral and even visited the Ron Jon surf shop that is known as being one of the largest surf shops in the world. There was one moment that I distinctly remember from the trip. We were up in our room looking at the water because it was raining and right in front of me was a cruise ship. I had never been on a cruise before so I thought it was rather neat. Apparently, the cruise ships launch from Cape Canaveral. Hubs and I were trying to… -
Guess who is back?
29 Jun 2009 | 10:42 pmMe! I took a few months off from blogging and it felt great. I am not gonna lie, I did miss you & giving daily updates on my life and reading comments. I have spent the past few months being a busy bee. Seriously. Did you miss me? Let’s see.. what did you miss? Little one is more active than ever. She has a new fascination for iCarly and bugs. I’m telling you… this child keeps me laughing non stop. Her new favorite thing to say is “eww bugs, yuck” even if there are no bugs in sight. Gross! Any free time I have is spent working personally on design projects. -
a little beach reggae mix for you :)
9 Apr 2009 | 7:36 amCreated another mixtape for my readers. This one is a reggae mix and I’m lovin’ it. Enjoy! http://mixable.net/ehqldwygpa/ To see other mixtapes I’ve created, click here. -
Ultimate Fail
26 Mar 2009 | 7:15 pmIn this household, we have attempted to make Peanut Brittle 6 times. 3 times we tried it in the microwave using this recipe and and the other 3 using this recipe on the stove. Every single time, the issue has been that it is just not hardening. It is just gooey like no other. I followed the recipe carefully. I even bought a candy thermometer and made sure it heated up to 300F. Still, fail fail fail. I would pre-measure ingredients, I even tried dropping some of the mixture in ice water and watched it harden. I don’t get it. Could it be because I live in FL? (humid)
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Thoughts from Meggie Poo
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You Must Be a Digital Nerd If...
29 Jun 2009 | 12:29 pm... on June 12 you waited up to get your personalized Facbeook URL. Then you did it again on June 27.Yes, of course, I did it both times. The first time I was aching to get the /meghansager URL before my Iowa name twin had the chance. The second time, I was trying to secure the URL for my current employer and the organization I volunteer for since this was only available to Fan Pages with 1,000+ Fans on the 21st. Facebook clearly stated that on June 28 at 12:01 a.m. Facebook Pages with 25+ Fans would be able to create a personalized URL. I was befuddled when I could not.When I checked back… -
My Mother's Grace
7 Jun 2009 | 6:29 pmI thought for a while about what I would like to say in this post- how personal I would like to make it and how much emotion I would share. This weekend, I was in a wedding in my hometown so I went home and stayed with my parents. The wedding was beautiful and the hope and love the bride and groom share is inspiring. While I was home however, my parents told me something that brought me to my knees. My mother, a breast cancer survivor of two years and thyroid cancer survivor of just a few months, is now battling cancer in her bones.I am heartbroken. This isn't fair. She doesn't deserve this. -
Please come to Knoxville for the Springtime...
22 May 2009 | 6:24 amI'm leaving for Knoxville, TN in 12 hours. I thought this week would go by quickly but I think my sheer excitement and unbridled giddiness of visiting Knox to visit my sis, bro-in-law, giant nephew (Great Dane) and temperamental niece (cat) made it drag. Does anyone else notice that when a holiday is coming up, the week feels longer?RSS to Meggie Poo. -
Jen Lancaster- Pretty in Plaid Book Signing
15 May 2009 | 10:04 amI attended a book reading and signing for one of my favorite authors, Jen Lancaster, last week (May 8). My sister Katie first lent me her book last summer and it was fantastic. I highly recommend. Start with "Bitter is the New Black"!Me and Jen:Jen reading at the Barnes & Noble in D.C.RSS to Meggie Poo. -
My Father and I
4 May 2009 | 6:31 pmMy father and I play online Scrabble together. First we played on Scrabulous.com until it go shut down by the Scrabble bosses. Now we play on Lexulous.com. He and I have been super close my whole life. My mother and I have been, too, I'm her Baby Duck. But my Daddy and I have a special connection. I've always been his "Meggie Poo", hence the name of my blog. My sisters are also close with my Dad. I think he's just a good Daddy to us and always has been. He used to make us milkshakes every night before we went to bed... he is that kind of Dad :)I love playing Scrabble with him online because…
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DNC Worldwide
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DNC Worldwide Exclusive – Rare Photos of the Endangered Mexican Lion
2 Jul 2009 | 8:10 amBreaking News – Our Venezuelan Assasin Ricardo Talavera (@ricardotalavera) has managed to traverse the wilds of Houston, TX, braving death and dismemberment, to locate the elusive Mexican Lion. As a lifelong fan of organizations like the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and National Geographic, I have yet to see a living example of this species. Ricardo, [...] -
Becoming a Dad – Part Seven
1 Jul 2009 | 10:52 amI was told by a great many people that my last post on Becoming a Dad was very sweet. That was the overall reaction. But to be fair, I’d like to give a full summation of both extremes in terms of reactions before I share another anecdote with you guys. Most of the women, especially the [...] -
Random Ninja Pics 2008
29 Jun 2009 | 5:00 pmFor the memories… Here are some never-before-seen pictures from the DNC during 2008. Enjoy. Posted in Photography -
Becoming a Dad – Part Six
26 Jun 2009 | 9:45 pmCurrently Week 18. So it’s Friday night a little past 10pm in Houston and I’m already home. Earlier this evening after I had cooked her dinner, mother-to-be was actually urging me to go out with the guys. Although she certainly demands a good deal of attention, I’m also told that I need time with the boys [...] -
Diary of the War – Family History During World War II
22 Jun 2009 | 2:46 pmAs a child, I was always fascinated about the nature and history of the world and everything in it. As early as I figured out how to read, I took a huge interest in science, history, and all things non-fiction. Seriously, I had more encyclopedias and World War II archives around than childrens books as a kid. Anyways, [...]
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random mel
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dear mr bank manager…
2 Jul 2009 | 8:20 amdear mr bank manager, you might experience a sudden spike in my spend today. there is a reason for this. please let me explain. take a seat… Click here to view the embedded video. thanks for your understanding. kindest regards, me xox (and my cute new dress!) -
america the great…
25 Jun 2009 | 7:41 pmit’s never been a secret that i love the states, this trip just went to confirm that. the past couple of weeks have been totally awesome. that said, it’s had it’s highs and lows and i thought it only fair to share with you. you’re very welcome. enjoy. Click here to view the embedded video. any invitations to visit again will be gratefully welcomed. hint hint. much love and hugs, me xox -
back to how it all began…
22 Jun 2009 | 8:36 ami was recently lucky enough to be invited to be interviewed by ryan havoc for his site havoc inspired. ryan has started a new series of interviews with web folks about how they got into the industry and where there careers began. you can check out the interview below:- Click here to view the embedded video. i’d encourage you to visit ryan’s site. other interviews so far include paul boag and drew mclellan, both truly amazing guys. ryan’s done a great job and i hear there are plenty more cool interviews to come, no doubt a lot more interesting than mine me xox -
What happens in Vegas…
17 Jun 2009 | 10:23 pmwith my first trip to vegas planned for under 24 hours, i’ve started to prepare. the question is…. does vegas realise what it’s in for? Click here to view the embedded video. i’m sorry… i know that this week’s video isn’t funny or informative… but heck, it’s vegas baby! keep smiling. big hugs, me xox -
technological genius… all you’ll ever need!
11 Jun 2009 | 8:26 amyou thought the iphone 3g s was the sexiest technology out there… just wait until you see this. Click here to view the embedded video. i’m not quite sure there’s anything to add after that, but keep an eye on your hoover… happy thursday awesome peeps! me xox
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Michelle Woo
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Bling shopping
2 Jul 2009 | 12:19 amLately, when we’re just sitting around, I’ll ask Matt if we can look at the Tiffany.com engagement ring section, please, please, please, just for three minutes, we’re just going to look. I mainly do this to see how he reacts so that I can get a feel for “where we are.” (What? Actually talk to the man I’ve been dating for 5.5 years? Now you’re just crazy.) You see, for the longest time, Matt would fureeeak out about this sort of thing, like seriously, he would enact sudden death every time I mentioned the word “wedding” and I just learned… -
Me six years ago
23 Jun 2009 | 10:54 pmThere’s this fun little exercise on the 20 Something Bloggers Network and I thought I’d join in. The theme is “Looking Back” and you’re supposed to choose a post from your first two months in blog-land. For me, that was SIX YEARS AGO, whoa. I love revisiting my old blog (Xanga! Woot-woot!) because I was less inhibited then — and pretty darn funny! Here’s an unedited post written on December 22, 2003. So I got a seasonal job at Express to earn some extra cash for Palm Springs … and because my parents think I’m a lazy ass. I prefer to… -
I choose me
23 Jun 2009 | 3:35 amWhenever I learn that certain people are reading my blog — relatives, colleagues, potential opportunity bearers — my words become stifled. I get all jittery. I want to appear this way, but not that way, should I go back and edit? So I’ll semi-consciously write filler posts and hope that they’ll get bored and move on to read about Jon and Kate or something. Nope, nothing here. Mosey along. Then once they’re gone, I’ll start up my little party once again. (Yeah, I know, worst party ever — here, take a virtual shot of Patron.) But I realize that having a… -
GIVEAWAY! Suede bracelet by LaurenLuvS
19 Jun 2009 | 1:52 amUPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations Michelle Draveski!! Suede “believe” bracelet by LaurenLuvS Yes, I’m hosting a giveaway! Why? Because I like you. And you like free stuff. Get it? One of you lucky readers will receive this gorgeous suede bracelet from LaurenLuvS, a new jewelry collection by my sister’s BFF Lauren. I’ve known Lauren since she was thiiiiiiiiiiiis tall and even though she’s younger than me, she kind of watched me grow up. She recently started making jewelry and I’m in love with just about every single creation — she’s… -
Happy Birthday, Matt!
18 Jun 2009 | 12:48 amLet’s party, dude. Isn’t he the cutest? Today, he turns 29. Holy moly. Let’s live up that final year of your twenties, baby. I was thinking of buying Settlers of Catan.
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A digital girl, the blog. By Julia Roy
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Digital Citizens of the World
26 Jun 2009 | 3:58 pmYou may have already seen the data heavy and awe inspiring Shift Happen (aka Did You Know 2.0) video released in 2007 by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod dipicting the global progression of information technology. Well, I came across a video today (below) that remixes the information presented in that video in such a way that triggered much deeper thought for me about the implications of the speed, spread and advancement of technology. The rapid advancement of technology 's is dramatically impacting the educational system, the development of the human race and the way we… -
My #140conf Panel about "Twitter Celebrity"
23 Jun 2009 | 12:38 pmCheck out me @adventuregirl, @ijustine and @chrisbrogan on our "Twitter Celebrity" panel at the 140 Characters Conference where we discuss what it is like having so many followers, the implications of having a large following, some of the larger challenges we encounter and advice on how to grow a following on Twitter. -
My AdweekMedia Connect Chat Archive
27 May 2009 | 3:45 pmI just finished up hosting an hour live chat on AdweekMedia Connect, a social network for account managers, brand managers, planners and creatives. I answered questions about that current state and future of social media, social platforms and about my job at Undercurrent. You can read the questions and my responses in the archived chat thread below. <p><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=063ee29ecf" >Julia Roy Live Chat</a></p> -
Let's Fix #followfriday Please
22 May 2009 | 12:57 pmI remember when Follow Friday (aka #followfriday) first started making its way around Twitter in January by @micah (Thanks to the Twitterers today for helping me remember it was Micah Baldwin). I thought it was a great idea at the time, as it is often hard to understand where you need to go to find new valuable people to follow on Twitter. If I really enjoy following X Twitterer and X Twitterer suggests I follow Y&Z Twitterer, I just might listen and click through and check 'em out. It is no question that Follow Friday's popularity has exploded and just continues to grow,… -
Paramount Star Trek Outreach FAIL
20 May 2009 | 11:55 amI have been mulling over whether or not I should blog about a disappointing experience I had with Paramount a few weeks back. But I think there is a lesson to be learned here about the right and wrong way to conduct social outreach, so I am going to lay out what happened.Here's the story. Below is an email I received the evening of May 4th from interns at Paramount Field Marketing and Promotions department: So I of course get REALLY REALLY FREAKIN' EXCITED and email everyone at the Undercurrent office, close friends and start Tweeting like crazy. Then I get a follow up email the next…
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Cusp of Normal
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Deadly safety precaution
2 Jul 2009 | 5:46 amTo build upon yesterday's stick-on earring nostalgia, today I will tell you one of my favorite stories from my childhood.At the height of the slap bracelet craze, my parents took mine away from me after reading reports about their possible dangers. Kids were cutting themselves when the metal insert slipped out of the cloth exterior. I was not pleased. My hot-pink slap bracelet bespeckled with smiley faces was at that point my favorite accessory. It was then that I learned an important lesson: parents are lame.One evening my parents dropped me and my sister off at my grandparents' house so… -
Another reason the 80s were hotttt
30 Jun 2009 | 10:06 pmWhile Ben and I were discussing this BBC article that chronicles a thirteen year-old-boy's experience of trading his ipod for an old school walkman--we both grew nostalgic for our own walkmans... er... walkmen? I recalled putting sticker earrings on my black Sony walkman to make it "sparkly." And then it hit me. Sticker Earrings! What the heck!? How awesome were those?! I had my ears pierced in kindergarten... but I still retained my deep appreciation for those funky, colorful, geometric sticker earrings. Let's hear it for sticker earrings! WOOOOOOT!(This is probably the best post I have ever… -
Still can't believe it happened...
30 Jun 2009 | 5:51 amIf you are anything like my mom, when I tell you that Luke escaped from the house yesterday while Andrew and I were at work, you won't want to hear the whole story. You probably just want to know--did you find him? Yes. I cannot believe this happened. He must have had to go to the bathroom pretty badly--as I couldn't get him to go that morning before I left for work. So, being the gentleman that he is, he took himself outside--thanks to the tricky lock at the back door that was deceptively in the lock position--but actually quite easily pushed open.Andrew and I came up the stairs from the… -
My nap partner
28 Jun 2009 | 6:37 pmLuke is just starting to feel comfortable with us to show his playful side. But that doesn't mean he doesn't still enjoy a nice snooze...He's my nice boy. -
Rest in peace, Michael
26 Jun 2009 | 6:59 amI'm listening to a lot of Michael Jackson music today--as is the rest of the world. I can't really explain what he and his music meant to me... but he has been a part of my life since I was a child. I will definitely miss him.What I think I treasure most about the King of Pop's works of creative genius is that they always seem to leave me with the same euphoric feeling no matter what is going on in my life. Whether I'm intensely happy or sad, playing some MJ makes me feel light as a feather.My favorite MJ song/video is The Way You Make Me Feel. Tell me yours.What are you going to miss the…
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Umm... Now what?
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An Unofficial Little Dating Poll
26 Jun 2009 | 6:43 amAs you may have been able to tell from my first couple posts on UNW, I am very (perhaps excessively) interested in dating, relationships, and the general dynamics between the sexes. Having studied social science in college and grad school, I find few things more intriguing than the theories that govern human behavior. Plus, everyone can relate to social science on some level—it’s accessible, and you don’t have to be a scientist to understand it. So, let’s do a casual little study. If everyone offers some input, we can all hopefully gain a little insight into what makes the other sex… -
Life, Skills
23 Jun 2009 | 10:56 pmIn junior high school, everyone was required to take Home Economics class, which the oh-so-modernized school system referred to as Life Skills. In eighth grade, everyone took cooking class. I only vaguely remember learning how to make pancakes, but I remember Mike Duke, who sat behind me. He used to wear rock band T-shirts and corduroy pants. I thought Mike was hot in that thirteen-year-old-way, though his family moved the following year and a mutual friend told me that he’d “decided to be bisexual.” I’ll never know if that was a polite “don’t waste your time on this one, Mar”… -
Hurting the one you love
22 Jun 2009 | 9:57 pmSometimes, I feel a little naive. I do really believe that part of this whole being in love thing is truly 100% believing that the other person will never do anything to intentionally hurt you. That safety is such an intrinsic part of it. Yet, it can be so frightening to hear how just plain cruel people can be to the one person that you imagine should be exempt from such coldheartedness– the one they love. This weekend, over dinner, we finally heard the story of how a couple we met last summer had split, out of the blue. At time we had come to know them, they were seemingly idyllic,… -
I dont have a good title for this
21 Jun 2009 | 4:07 pmMy favorite part of getting to know someone is the beginning. You know, when you are actually fun. When you have SO many hilarious stories to tell. When you’re not really sure if you are crossing a line by saying something- but you say it anyway because you have nothing to lose. When you honestly don’t know what that person is going to say next. When you are trying to impress her, fail horribly and laugh about it when she texts you to make fun. When you’re driving in the car and learn she also knows the words to Bobby Browns “Every Little Step”. After a while… -
A Taste of Summer
19 Jun 2009 | 7:21 amFor me, this past Sunday was the perfect way to ring in the summer months. Although May and June have been unseasonably cool and rainy here on the east coast, Sunday was a good reminder that the best months of summer are still yet to come. It was sunny and 75 with no noticeable humidity, and a couple friends and I chose to spend the afternoon on a grassy pier that extends out into the Hudson River with a killer view of middle and lower Manhattan. Within minutes we had made friends with some people hanging out on an adjacent blanket, and before long we had combined groups. We shared some…
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A Chase After Wind
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And the Rocket's Red Glare
2 Jul 2009 | 10:31 amHappy 4th of July weekend, my fellow 'mericans! I'm headed for the country for a few days to breathe deeply, feel grass between my toes, wade in clean waters, laugh and eat with family and friends. God bless America - and the whole world. Salt Box Country Birdhouse - birdhouseaccent USA Map Necklace - Basil the Cat Republican Elephant Onesie - Sweet Little Jack The Symbol of Change - blinkphoto American Flag Quilt - Navoou Quilt Co. -
To All my Dear Canuck Brethren
1 Jul 2009 | 10:15 amOh but I keed, I keed! Happy Canada Day! -
Truth, Goodness and Beauty
26 Jun 2009 | 9:43 amPeople often equate truth, goodness and beauty; it used to be a cornerstone of my faith. But now I see that it is mistaken to think they are always perfect equivalents. We can so easily be led astray. Many times I have wondered to myself: "it's so beautiful, how can it be wrong?" I am sure that the golden calf made by Aaron was also quite beautiful. "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." - 1 John 5:21 -
Michael Jackson
25 Jun 2009 | 7:56 pmI don't have much to say about the passing of Michael Jackson - I am totally ambivalent about him. I absolutely love his music, and he was without a doubt one of the greatest pop musicians ever. But then there was all the weirdness and possible abusiveness in the rest of his life, and so it feels strange. Not that I begrudge anyone being sad at his passing. It's just - well, all I can say is that he is in God's hands now, for better or worse. For my part, I feel like we lost Michael Jackson a long time ago, and that was the sad thing. So, in honor of whatever was good in Michael, here's one… -
A Softie Place to Fall
24 Jun 2009 | 2:58 pmLittle Euri - Knitting Dream Saint Francis - Saintly Silver The Inspiration Apple - La Pomme Cactus Pincushion Crochet Pattern - Joy Ang Romeo the Owl - Plants & Animal
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BY TERESA WU
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I. Miss. Cyprus.
1 Jul 2009 | 10:39 pmSo here’s the thing. I really miss Cyprus. How do I put this? Going from America to the Mediterranean is like eating McDonald’s vanilla soft serve all your life — then one day you are introduced to Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked, and you’re like, holyshitwhyhaveInevertouchedthisgoodnessbefore?!?!??! But soon you become very, very jaded, and you start forgetting that it’s not every day you get to have chocolate AND vanilla AND fudge brownie AND cookie dough at once in one glorious pint-sized package. Soon traipsing around foreign countries becomes second nature, and… -
Episode #6 of Teresa’s Ghettofabulous NYC Life
28 Jun 2009 | 10:08 pmMy first week of work was exhausting (you try transitioning from being a useless vegetable on a Mediterranean island for four months to working 45 hours a week). I realized I never mentioned where I’m working — I’m at Lemondrop.com, AOL’s women’s lifestyle site and VaynerMedia, a brand consulting agency. Both teams I work with are awesome, and I’m not just saying that because this is my Very Public Blog That Anyone Can Read. Speaking of which, I had a rude awakening this morning upon having my MOTHER email me about my apparent bar-frequenting habit, and what… -
Friends and Food, the Miracles of Life
22 Jun 2009 | 9:56 pmNights out with your girlfriends at the frattiest bar known to man… Training the little ones in the art of debauchery… Spinach artichoke dip (thanks to Jen!) at Teany, my favorite Lower East Side cafe… Lazy Sunday afternoon chai tea lattes… What’s not to love? -
Those Asian Chicks Who Like the Internet
21 Jun 2009 | 10:44 pmMy internet sista from anotha mista has arrived in Manhattan. Meet Annie: blogger, UCSD Communication major, and internet fiend. We are basically the same person except I have a bigger appetite and she has bigger hair. Typical conversation topics include: the interwebz. I will admit that individually, Annie and I are both bad. The number of Firefox tabs I have open at any given time puts even the most unproductive intern to shame. But together, we feed off the other’s internet addiction to an unhealthy degree: We will sit in the same room without conversing for extended periods of time,… -
Animal House
19 Jun 2009 | 12:29 amAfter a lovely night of fried dumplings, riesling, and red velvet cake with my girlfriend of eight years and counting, I came home to the “Animal House,” AKA the name of our newly established internet connection and an accurate description of the state in which we live. No, I’m not over this subject yet. My special moment with the Time Warner guy resulted in zero installation fee on our modem… unless there normally never is one, but I choose to believe I’ve put my feminine powers to good use for the sake of the public (in that they no longer need to see my…
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Fresh as a Daisy
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The red, white and blues
30 Jun 2009 | 6:24 amParis is hard. I feel like it's wearing me down. The days when it all seems like a wonderful dream, to be living in France, working in French, sleeping and eating and dreaming in French, are few and far between. There is the sense of achievement, there are the new experiences, the new friendships, there are the pains au chocolat. But there is also a sense of banishment, of being stuck in France and financially unable to go back to London and see friends, the sense of always being other, and foreign in this city. I went to London at the weekend for one night, for work, but it coincided with… -
English Women Do Get Fat.
24 Jun 2009 | 2:55 amSo after long months of studying my prey, and noting their every dietary habit, heartily eating my way round Paris in the name of research, I have finally cracked the French Women Don't Get Fat conundrum. And as always, the simplest explanation wins out and the answer was right under my nose all the time. Unfortunately, my friends, the secret to their svelteness is not something that can be bottled and sold, and there's certainly no hope for the likes of me.I have distilled it down to its elemental truth which is thus: French women don't LET themselves get fat.This is the sad truth we need to… -
Blurg. And Honfleur!
15 May 2009 | 8:08 amGod I've been silent for so long, an all because of my own incompetence which led to our internet (and phone and television) being cut off. I just haven't had my mind on anything productive or positive these last weeks, feeling dull and sullen and bored and boring.But! I did go to Honfleur with my family which was lovely, and my blue hands were a thing of the past and it was my face's turn to go scarlet red in the unforeseen sunshine and after a few days of peeling, I have now got what is known as "a bit of colour".Red from the sun, my cheeks are also burning with SHAME, which seems to be my… -
Branded
27 Apr 2009 | 3:10 amSo, I dyed my hands blue this weekend. Just as the heavens opened and Paris was plunged back into single figure temperatures, I began my spring cleaning. Whistling while I worked, despite the downpour outside, I felt every bit as busy and happy as Mole in the Wind in the Willows. The Colonel was out galavanting around like Toad, living it up in his new addidas tracksuit and Venetian slippers.I set to work on my annual change-over of all my winter clothes, stuffing anything that's too fleecy or thick into the enormous plastic bag that houses my summer clothes for 8 months of the year. This is… -
Disconnected
21 Apr 2009 | 12:40 amThe week in the mountains with the Colonel was idyllic in the truest sense of the word. We got up early because we couldn't wait to click our skis on and catch the first lift of the day to the top of the mountain. The Colonel had to swing my legs out of bed and drag me up by my hands, but still! Up before 8, on a holiday! I don't think I've done that since I was 6 and got up at 6 everyday to watch cartoons and eat Cocopops.The cold, fresh air and the views of the snow-topped mountains was everything I hoped it would be: a tonic for body and spirit. The Colonel and I have never skied…
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The Misadventures of Julie
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An Overlooked Networking Opportunity for TwentySomethings: Former Classmates
24 Jun 2009 | 3:12 pmToday, I created my own miniature High School reunion. I searched Facebook for those who had graduated Lexington High School the same year as me. And I sent everyone with whom I was not already connected a Facebook friend request accompanied by a short note. (As an early adopter, I connected to other LHS alumni when I first joined Facebook, but had since been reactive rather than proactive at connecting to my former classmates.) I reached out to everyone I could remember from my middle school and high school years, regardless of whether our interactions had been frequent and friendly or… -
Seven Must-Have iPhone Apps
20 Jun 2009 | 2:46 pmThis post is a third in a series which outlines the iPhone applications that I find most useful. Check out “My Favorite iPhone Apps” (October 14, 2008) and “5 iPhone Apps That Rocked My World” (February 3, 2009) to see my previous recommendations. CardStar My wallet is filled with membership cards, which is super annoying. It means that I either have to make sure to bring it out or risk not having a specific card (and getting the membership benefits). With Cardstar, you simply enter in the number on your membership card and it creats a scanable barcode, effectively… -
Live Blogging: BlogPotomac
12 Jun 2009 | 5:59 amWhat is BlogPotomac? BlogPotomac is this year’s premiere social media marketing event for greater Washington DC. Attendees can expect a one-day event with nationally renowned speakers and advanced discussion of best social media marketing practices. What is live blogging? Live blogging is basically taking notes, photos, or recordings at lectures, conferences, and presentations of what was said and posting it to your blog. Julie at BlogPotomac Read my notes from BlogPotomac here: Aaron Brazell & Amber Naslund – Personal Branding, a Dialogue need to have substance behind the… -
Day 255: Keith Ferrazzi asks “Who’s Got Your Back?”
5 Jun 2009 | 7:19 amOn Monday evening, I went to hear Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone, speak about his new book Who’s Got Your Back. A lot of the things he spoke about really resonated with me. His message was that we, as a culture, have become isolated from each other yet it’s relationships that drive both professional and personal success. (A sobering statistic: 50% of individuals believe that someone has their back. Of that 70% are married. That means that only 35% of unmarried individuals believe that they have someone looking out for them.) During the talk, Keith had us do several… -
Where Do Twenty Something Professionals Live in DC?
2 Jun 2009 | 6:22 amLast week, it was a question about social media and dating (namely, “When is it appropriate to Facebook someone you are dating?“) that led someone to this blog. This week, the question is about being a twentysomething in DC. Since the collective of the group is always much wiser than my thoughts alone, I pose this person’s question to you in the form of the poll below. Feel free to elaborate on your answer (perhaps explaining why you’ve chosen the answers you have) and to suggest areas I did not include. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit…
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Entry Level Living
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Creating Change Wherever You Are: A Review of The Idealist.org Handbook to Building a Better World
2 Jul 2009 | 3:01 pmEver since his election, President Obama has emphasized the importance of service. Many of us can serve and want to serve, but the place where we get stuck is how. How can we serve especially when we have tight schedules, pressing obligations, and don’t know what we could possibly offer? Image from idealist.org Enter the Idealist.org Handbook to Building a Better World. A career guide and activist book rolled into one it provides a comprehensive overview of how you can make the world a better place no matter where you are. The book discusses challenges and issues you may face trying to… -
Soft Launch of OnlyUp, Two Events, Plus a Contest!
28 Jun 2009 | 7:47 pmMy head is spinning because of the amount of work I have to do this summer (so much for laying around!) I wanted to give you all a heads up on some wonderful events happening for young people interested in social change and social media that I am involved in. OnlyUp “Soft Launch” Tuesday July 14th at the 80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs Summit Starting an organization is. no. joke. After 6 months of planning, debating, and crying we are ready to launch a fully functioning website, a social media campaign, and start raising money to fully launch our programs. Just so you… -
Taking a Break
21 Jun 2009 | 5:46 pmHey fam! I’m taking a little break from blogging. I need to clear my head, work on my summer schedule, and some side projects. I’ll be back next week! You can still follow me on twitter @ajlovesya or shoot me an email ajlovesya [at] gmail [dot] com if you have any questions. Allison Posted in Uncategorized -
Call for Papers: 20 Under 40 and the Future of the Arts and Arts Education
19 Jun 2009 | 3:06 amAre you an emerging leader in the arts and art education world? Then consider submitting a chapter to this exciting new book “20 Under 40: Reinventing the Arts and Arts Education in the 21st Century.” The book will feature 20 essays by emerging leaders in the arts about the future of arts and arts education. This is a great way to focus on your own beliefs and ideas while getting some publicity under your belt. Please visit 20UNDER40 for more info or join them on Facebook. Good luck! _________________________________________________________________________________… -
Social Media Resources for the Young Social Change Job Seeker in New York
17 Jun 2009 | 7:57 pmI’ve gotten quite a few emails, IMs, and DMs about how to find and secure a job in social change in NYC. Ultimately, you have to put yourself out there and social media is the best way to do so. This list is by no means complete but I think a good way to get started in your job search. Facebook: If your college has an alumni group on facebook, join it. You can network with people and hear about opportunities. Become a fan of Will Work for Social Change by Common Good Careers. They post career advice and jobs. Check out these 20 facebook apps for job seekers by cheezhead Twitter:…
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Matthew Dryden
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Concerning My Heart…
22 Jun 2009 | 10:02 pmLast week I did two printings of my first chapbook, “Concerning My Heart…” – and I have sent the preview version to a few of you, but hardly any of you have heard the work performed. Concerning My Heart… is a compilation of stories (and poetry) about my relationship troubles and heartaches (and heart sighs), specifically regarding my life since last October – since my ex-wife had left me. It was a struggle to look over my old material and try to piece together a collection that represented all of the emotions and passion that I felt – but I believe I… -
The Killing of Tree
5 Jun 2009 | 11:24 pm“Who do you think you are?” She raised her head up and peered out from under her wild black hair. She had not spoken for days, and had not slept either. Though she had been bound to the chair, she did not struggle. She bided her time, waiting for the perfect moment to fight back. “Oh Tree, you know who I am and who I think I am.” “How dare you even write my name now – it’s nothing short of throwing a holocaust across the page.” “Oh, don’t you get it? The actor behind you is long gone. You’ve been hollowed out and made a puppet. -
Holy!
2 Jun 2009 | 8:00 pmHOLY! I saw the best minds of generation destroyed by laziness, by starving, hysterical uneventful attitudes which have nothing to do with having work-life plans. With motivation that just doesn’t give a damn if it’s walking or rolling forwards – gliding from half-finished projects to interesting concepts to nothingness, nothingness, nothingness. There is no thought I have that isn’t inspired by something because we’re all subjects of our surroundings and even though this sounds absurd in my mind – it would appear, at least in my poetry, that silliness ends… -
Dreams
1 Jun 2009 | 2:08 amI dream during the day – fifteen minute thoughts that are so believable that I am afraid that they just may be. The people that surround me during the day start breaking down into simplistic personalities – each embodying some incredible emotion. I fear that I’m losing my creativity. I fear that my writing style is changing into something doesn’t have the same power that it used to, and that I can’t write about things like pen and paper because I don’t write with pen and paper. So here I sit, crafting out thoughts that shine out from a computer screen and… -
Special Moments
27 May 2009 | 4:40 amSpecial moments keep me going. There is something magical about one small delicate movement causing so much harm. Drawing a blade across a Hepburn neck is one of these magical little things. It’s not that the blood seems to boil up from within or the adrenaline that is soon to follow… It’s the small gasp that I love the most. At the touch of a lover’s fingertips, they always gasp before falling silent not because they’re trying to hold back out of embarrassment but because they are no longer able to breathe. It’s the last breath that they hold on to as they…
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Tropophilia
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Links for 2009-06-24 [del.icio.us]
25 Jun 2009 | 12:00 amDavidson grad Tom Marshburn heads to space (DavidsonNews.net) Go (Space) Cats. -
TED Talks: Jonathan Harris
24 Jun 2009 | 6:25 amThis is part of an ongoing series in which we highlight particularly fascinating talks from some of the world’s most innovative thinkers. These videos are featured courtesy of a Creative Commons license; for more on the TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), click here. I’ve been at times transfixed, horrified, depressed, inspired, and astounded by the information streaming out of Iran. Following the active cloud of conversation regarding the Iranian election via Twitter, I’ve been reminded once again of how powerfully the web changes the ways in which we… -
New Urban Visions and Shortcomings
10 Jun 2009 | 12:51 pmI’ve spent the past few weeks studying for my upcoming LEED Accredited Professional exam. As a result, I’ve been ruminating on sustainable development generally and LEED in particular. This is a very effective video argument for New Urbanism (HT: The Daily Dish): http://youtube.com/watch?v=VGJt_YXIoJI I find this vision compelling: walkable communities, condensed necessities like grocery stores, schools, workplaces, and churches, large public parks and recreation spaces, and conserved natural areas. But it’s silly to have a conversation about New Urbanism or neighborhood… -
Tuesday Links: May 19th, 2009
19 May 2009 | 10:35 amHey folks–after a few down weeks, I’m getting back to regular blogging. These items brought to you by the free stream of the new Wilco album, available on the band’s site (highly recommended…though the stream seems to have gotten choppy since i first listened). Kudos to the Mint team for developing a strong personal finance blog to serve their users (and attract new users). This post on “Investing 101: Common Stock Quote Metrics Defined” is perfect: straightforward and useful. I’m intrigued by KeyRingThing, a service that allows you to combine… -
TED Talks: Dave Eggers
18 May 2009 | 10:01 amThis is part of an ongoing series in which we highlight particularly fascinating talks from some of the world’s most innovative thinkers. These videos are featured courtesy of a Creative Commons license; for more on the TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), click here. I’m a huge fan of Dave Eggers’ books. While some folks thought A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was a bit indulgent, I loved (nearly) every word. I enjoyed You Shall Know Our Velocity! even more, and found What Is the What to be heartbreaking and sincere. What I find most …
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Geoff at Mount Allison
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July 1st in the United States...hummm...what to do?...Blame Canada!
1 Jul 2009 | 5:40 amLiving in the U.S. current most people here haven't heard much about Canada since...well this:on this the 142nd anniversary of the Union of Canada (roughly modern day Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick I'll give you one better:Times have changed, our kids are geting worse.They won't obey their parents: they just wanna fart and curse!Should we blame the government, or blame society?Or should we blame the images on TV?NO! Blame Canada! Blame Canada!With all their beady little eyesAnd flappin heads so full of liesBlame Canada! Blame Canada!We need to form as full assault, it's… -
Update--Ten Weeks From Mount Allison
27 Jun 2009 | 12:47 pmSo I've been busy lately and haven't posted very recently. I've been working on preparing for Berklee's Five-Week Performance program. Most recently I've been designing flyers and a Keynote presentation to show on our portable big screen TV. I also joined the apparently prestigious Tennis and Racquet Club because I needed to go somewhere close by that was inexpensive (haha...well inexpensive in terms of Boston's Back Bay). It's pretty swanky and has a long history...but I am most concerned with the gym...which is good enough for me. I've been trying to get in shape since I got back home...and… -
Why does Canada still have a Queen?
21 Jun 2009 | 8:55 pmPlease...can someone tell me why Britain (and Canada) still have a queen? Only 5% of Canadians know the Queen is still Canada's Head of State...maybe that's because she's irrelevant? Are Canadians really that much stuck in the past and looking to differentiate themselves from Americans to break off ties with this relic? -
Waking Up Canadian: What Makes a Canadian?
13 Jun 2009 | 3:02 pmI recently stumbled upon this video from the Canadian government about new citizenship laws...and it again brought up the question what makes a Canadian? An American without a gun and health insurance? Not British...but more British than Americans. A skilled worker with money and a few years' wait? I haven't heard a good, honest answer to this question yet. Do you think it is about peacekeeping or human rights? See wmtc to dispel those rumours. -
Social Media+ Social Networking in plain english
8 Jun 2009 | 7:48 pmI've really sound these short videos by commoncraft kind of entertaining...maybe I'm a nerd...but either way here you go:
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Temerity Jane
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The Return of the 5 Things Video
2 Jul 2009 | 11:53 amOk, Internet, I think I’ve reattached the top of my skull to my head. (there’s a video here, click through your feed reader if you can’t see it.) For those of you who are not [yet] Nerdfighters, do still feel free to chime in. My blog is not going to be turning into a wedding planning blog, so if you’d like to follow along with the plans, take these steps. 1. Learn how to be a Nerdfighter. 2. Join The Ning. 3. Find our page on The Ning. 4. Subscribe to our videos on YouTube. Thank you to everyone who has sent such nice messages. -
A very nerdy engagement.
30 Jun 2009 | 7:47 pmOk, Internet. So I was having my normal day, up way too early, working, etc, and Phil kept sending me nice text messages. I mean, not that he’s not normally nice, but just a lot of messages. He asked what my workload was like for the day, and I told him that it was heavy but that I’d try to free up some time this evening for us to spend some time together (I haven’t been feeling well the last day or two and have been a bit cranky). He said that would be great and said we should go to dinner. Ok, fiiiine. I was a bit suspicious. So back I went to doing writerly things, not so… -
Told you I’d tell you quick.
30 Jun 2009 | 3:29 pmInternet, Phil just had John Green call me and propose live on BlogTV. Details to come later. Lots of calls to make. PS - Nerdfighters and other new commenters! Thank you for coming! Due to spam problems, the first time someone comments on this site, it is held for moderation. If your comment doesn’t show up, don’t worry - I’ll approve them as soon as I can, and I appreciate all the congratulations. Best wishes! -
Cutting back on animals
29 Jun 2009 | 10:55 pmSo, last week, Phil and I decided that we were going to eat completely vegetarian for a week. There weren’t any normal vegetarian reasons behind it - we both like eating meat. However, as the person who does most of the cooking and list making for grocery shopping, I decided that I want to reduce our reliance on boxed/canned/frozen meals. Since we were going to be buying a lot more fresh food, I decided we’d also do vegetarian for a week because I want to cut back on the frequency and amount of meat we eat overall. The vegetarian week wasn’t a preparation for overall… -
Things that would come in handy
27 Jun 2009 | 6:50 pmSome day, I want a giant canister on the counter in my kitchen. I’d put some sugar, a hammer, a couple of golf tees, maybe some superglue, definitely some duct tape, a bit of dog food, 16 ponytail holders, yeast, a cat toy, all those vacuum cleaner attachments that never seem to stay with the vacuum, a Paula Abdul cassette tape, rubber bands, some dead batteries, coffee grounds, all those extra buttons and thread that come with shirts and jackets, and some sunscreen. And I would label it “SCRATCH.” And then I would MAKE things from it.
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Clever Girl Goes Blog
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Coming out.
1 Jul 2009 | 12:36 amAs some of you know, Ben is coming to visit me.(Like, today. And holy crap my house is cleaner than it's EVER been.)(Even Hubs said so. I think he was just patting his own back though, since he was mainly the one who cleaned it.)To commemorate Ben's visit to our beautiful and bountiful country, I thought long and hard about an appropriate tribute.A heartfelt song? An interpretive dance? Skywriting? Strippers?I felt as though none of those were enough.(Except maybe the strippers. Chippendales, call me.)Instead, I decided to do something I should have done a LONG time ago, and that's to come… -
Countdown to Greatness.
24 Jun 2009 | 10:45 amI have a ridiculously busy week ahead of me.(Seriously. RIDICULOUS.)Not only is Hubs' baby brother getting married this weekend, but I'm also moving salons, attending my Grandma's 80th birthday party AND seeing JenBun off on a fun filled New York vacation.There is A LOT to do. A LOT. The wedding preparations have reached an all-time frenzy, I have to organize my ENTIRE CAREER INTO BOXES, Grandma's birthday is a big event, and JenBun...well...if you've seen our closets you might be able to understand a glimmer of what it means to pack for NYC.(Hubs kind of wants to hide in the garage till… -
Sides.
22 Jun 2009 | 9:54 pmI've been having a rather traumatic life right now, and while I know that doesn't excuse the absence from the blog, I occasionally have those moments where I feel like I just can't keep up The Tia Show like usual.Traumatic who what when where, you ask? Well, since I've had a couple cocktails and a RIDICULOUS amount of cheese, I'll be happy to tell you.(Seriously, when I say "ridiculous amount of cheese", you just have no idea. But the scale will taunt me tomorrow, trust.)I've recently made a decision to change my work location, and since my current salon is owned by my father, it's made… -
Step away from the vampire.
15 Jun 2009 | 11:32 pmDear RPattz,In light of some disturbing pictures recently surfacing on the web, I'd like to take this time to tell you that I AM VERY SORRY THAT SOME GIRLS ARE BATSHIT CRAZY.Of course, since you tend to be shy and charming, you continue to bear this without (many) complaints, but every man has his limits.And frankly, I'm a bit afraid that you're close to the breaking point. Amiright? Amiright?I'm not really sure what these "fans" are thinking. That on a mere glance you will fall madly in love with them and not even remember that the whole entire reason you met in the first place was the fact… -
Dance Dance Dance...
11 Jun 2009 | 1:10 amIt's the night we've all been waiting for:(And by "we all", I mean, maybe a few of you.)SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE with BFF main gay Andrew! That's right, folks, TV watching with Andrew is practically a year-round situation now.The first performance night of any SYTYCD season is crucially important, because it is the night where Andrew and I pick our boyfriends for the duration.(And when I say "our", I mean Andrew's. The scale is tipped dramatically in his favor as it is a DANCING show.)(Just sayin'.)Tonight we had the pleasure of being joined by BFF JFooz, taking a break from her mommy…
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Wonderland or Not
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The Spider And The Fly
2 Jul 2009 | 11:58 amI was happy to see Biden announce rural broadband funding in Pennsylvania. It is inexcusable that some in this country do not have access to the great equalizer of high speed internet, if for no other reasons than all should be able to read the garbage put out by media who sell connections to their journalists for $25,000 to $250,000. Access to tainted journalism for all I say. I don’t care about WAPO generally, but it’s disappointing nonetheless, and this certainly isn’t going to help WAPO’s dwindling credibility ratings. More disheartening is the fact that a lobbyist… -
Waiting For A Rainbow
30 Jun 2009 | 7:57 pmIt rained heavily earlier this evening. The Sun’s brilliance, relentless during the ten minute deluge, would have prompted a search for my level 5 sunglasses had they been in my bag. Rushing home from a myriad of tasks I scanned the sky only briefly for the anticipated rainbow. Of the variety of things humankind makes wishes upon, shooting starts, acorns, dice and so forth, rainbows are the only thing taken seriously in my clan. Call us the Clan of the Color Spectrum if you will. This by way of an explanation of the precocious wish I felt the need to make on a rainbow that had yet to… -
Another Saturday Night
27 Jun 2009 | 12:04 pmI’m participating, in a non participatory fashion, in Infinite Summer. I started yesterday. My housemate, who often scrolls my sites online, much like my old college roommates used to scroll blogs for me, is blogless and lives vicariously through me, provoked me to do it. It’s not like work, school, no real vacation, at least until the end of summer, a garden finally growing, and thanks to the rain finally stopping in need of daily watering, not to mention a long list of other activities aren’t keeping me busy enough. Because I wanted to share the wealth I sent the book to…
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She Takes On The World
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Get Financially Fit For Summer
2 Jul 2009 | 10:44 amThis summer, while focusing on your physical fitness, why not spend some time on your fiscal fitness as well? Like fitness, when it comes to finances, setting goals is a key to your success. A recent Women & Co. study found that 93% of affluent women set financial objectives. To help you define your financial future, download the Women & Co. Take Action worksheet, Set and Achieve Your Financial Goals. Then follow the five simple steps below from Lisa Caputo, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Women & Co., and Linda Descano, CFA®, President and COO of Women & Co.: 1. Assess Your… -
In Her Heels: Meghan Parsons of jack&marjorie
26 Jun 2009 | 11:11 amAfter coming across an old box of family photographs taken in the 1940’s, jack&marjorie, was founded by Meghan Parsons in Tokyo, Japan in 2004. Jack and Marjorie were her grandparents. In 2005, jack&marjorie relocated to Toronto, Meghan’s hometown. Tell us about jack&marjorie. We are a Toronto based company. We use recycled military surplus materials and other organic materials to create unique, yet functional bags and accessories. jack&marjorie was started when my husband (then boyfriend) Manuel and I were living in Tokyo. I had gone to Ryerson University in… -
Customer Service in the Home Improvement Industry
22 Jun 2009 | 2:12 pmDepending on how long you’ve been a reader for, you know that sometimes I rant or rave about my experiences with customer service. This is because I ran a customer service auditing business for a few years and got to evaluate hundreds of customer service representatives which turned me into a very observant consumer. Yesterday I was at RONA which is a home improvement store in Canada. (BF and I have been renovating our condo so we’ve made about 20 trips to RONA and Home Depot over the past week). I was purchasing curtains, paint, and painting supplies. I paid for the items and as… -
Going Solo Versus Partnering Up
20 Jun 2009 | 1:12 pmGoing into business with a partner is a big commitment. In my opinion, it’s so easy to be a solopreneur with social media and access to talented freelancers. You should have a clear reason why you need a business partner. As a solopreneur you can use a website like Elance.com to hire freelancers to fill in where you may be lacking strength and provide help when needed. Being a solopreneur is easy for tax purposes, you have full control over the business, and your schedule can be quite flexible which is great if you still need to keep a 9-5 to pay the bills while you work 5-9 on growing… -
Women on a Mission: Saving Money Equals Making More Money
16 Jun 2009 | 7:53 amSo often you hear you have to spend money to make money, and I believe that is true… but… the key is to spend wisely. Put thought into where that money is going and if and how much it’s really going to benefit. Get the best bang for your buck! How often do we decide we need something and just go out and get it? What is that kind of response really costing us? Well, the answer is probably more than you think. Whether you’re making a purchase for the home or business, it’s important to know what things are costing you. Do the items that you use regularly go on sale often? Do you wait…
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Politicoholic by Nisha Chittal
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Personal Democracy Forum 2009
24 Jun 2009 | 7:49 pmA short promotional note… As you’ve probably noticed, this blog has often been a place to talk about politics, a thing I like; media, another thing I like; and the internet (which you may have noticed I really like…). Next week, all three of those things are colliding at Personal Democracy Forum 2009, one of the largest conferences exploring the intersection of politics and new media. They have some fantastic speakers, including Clay Shirky, Author Jeff Jarvis, Author Craig Newmark, Craigslist Randy Zuckerberg, Facebook Nate Silver, 538.com, Vivek Kundra, White House CIO… -
New Lemondrop post on the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act
20 Jun 2009 | 12:47 pmThis week I published my first post with AOL’s Lemondrop, where I discussed the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act — a crucial piece of legislation dealing with women’s health issues that has been stalled in Congress for over a decade. Check it out here and I hope you’ll consider signing the accompanying petition as well! Posted in activism, Women's Rights Tagged: aol, breast cancer patient protection act, breast cancer patient protection act petition, congress, lemondrop -
Is America shifting on Israel, or is the media shifting on Israel?
16 Jun 2009 | 7:09 pmOne of the things I love almost as much as the news is the narrative being told about the events. It’s difficult for any given person to separate the facts and the actual events taking place from the media narrative being told about it. The Iran story that I’ve been watching lately is a perfect example. No one is really 100% sure what the facts are or what even constitutes fact. MSNBC will spin it one way. Fox and/or Mitt Romney will blame Obama. Bloggers will each try to put their own spin on it. And gradually, the narrative being constructed by the media may or may not reflect… -
The New, New Journalism: Andrew Sullivan on Iran
15 Jun 2009 | 12:42 pmThere’s a lot of noise circulating right now about how the mainstream media networks like CNN and Fox have failed in providing adequate coverage and on-the-ground reporting on the events taking place in Iran. But there hasn’t been much talk about who HAS been providing stellar coverage of the situation. Over the last couple of days I’ve been glued to Andrew Sullivan’s blog over at The Atlantic. Andrew’s blog is already high-quality content on a daily basis, but over the weekend he began blogging up a storm in real time as the events unfolded in Iran. Unlike big… -
A revolution in Iran, where Twitter plays a part
14 Jun 2009 | 3:43 pmI don’t have anything new to say about the situation in Iran this weekend. Really, no one in the US knows anything more than anyone else does. There’s no official confirmation yet on whether the election was rigged, but anyone with half a brain can see that there is clearly foul play going on. I think what is interesting and unique in this case is that a rigged election could have happened in a developing country 30 years ago and the people would have had to put up with it. But this time, they can’t and they won’t be silenced. The lengths to which the Iranian regime…
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Black Marks on Wood Pulp
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Keeping down with the Joneses
1 Jul 2009 | 6:48 amBefore we purchased our house, we snuck a peak at the average utility bills for the family that owned it before us. They were astronomical. And we knew we could do better. The reasoning was twofold. First, we knew we couldn’t afford an electric bill that ran nearly three times that from our old house. Second was a matter of pride – that we are able to watch what we use. That, despite our inklings otherwise, we’re armchair conversationalists. We were lucky enough to see the problem immediately – electric baseboard heating in a very cold basement, connected with its own thermostat, was… -
On the loss of innocence
27 Jun 2009 | 1:05 pmCraig is a co-worker of mine, his daughter Addyson born just three days before Isaac. The proximity of time and vocation connected the two births, and had connected the two pregnancies, beginning in November when we first found out. I went to Addyson’s funeral today. She was nine days old. The proximity of the two births made her passing so jarring. So close. It’s clouded my thoughts since it happened, my mind imagining what I’d do if it was ours, my heart bruised from questioning why it had to happen to someone so cool. So genuinely caring. To someone who, despite my knowing only on a… -
On adapting children’s books: replication vs. recreation
24 Jun 2009 | 11:19 amFound a great article on The Bygone Bureau by Tim Lehman regarding the remaking of two of my favorite children’s books: Where the Wild Things Are (trailer) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (trailer). From the article: Turning a 40-page book, half-filled with pictures, into a feature-length movie is daunting, and judging by recent attempts, fraught with failure. (The Cat in the Hat, The Polar Express, and Curious George immediately come to mind, though I have admittedly not seen a one of them.) Matt Kirby identified the main pitfall of the process when he wrote, “Picture books are an… -
This is not breaking news
22 Jun 2009 | 8:04 pmSeriously? Let’s be honest. You undermine your position as a Breaking News source the second you post “JON AND KATE FILE FOR SEPARATION.” And let’s continue to be honest. You undermine your need for privacy by going public in every aspect of your life. Contracts aside, the solution is simple: if you are having trouble with your marriage and you’re going to use the undying devotion of paparazzi stalkers as a main excuse, you should probably consider not allowing a constant crew of camera operators to document every move. Of course, let’s put this all out… -
Isaac Joseph
18 Jun 2009 | 6:44 amI never meant to write a daddy blog. It’s funny. Just when you think you know everything that’s going to happen, life smacks you behind the ears and reminds you otherwise. I thought I knew this whole childbirth thing. After going through it with Sierra two years ago, I proclaimed myself an expert. Yet here I am, still surprised, completely in awe. Unable to do anything but think about being a daddy. Absolutely convinced that, no matter how hard I try otherwise, I can’t write about anything but being a daddy. A new daddy. To a little boy. Welcome to the world, Isaac Joseph. Thank you for…
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American Girl in Australia
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Dear flu, we’ve had a fun run
2 Jul 2009 | 5:28 pmDear flu, As much as I’ve enjoyed getting to know your many complexities, I think it’s time we had a talk. This whole on again off again thing is killing me. You come, you go, you passively aggressively come back to spite me, you leave again and then BAM - you’re baaaccckkk!!!! it’s great right? haha! You’re funny. But the joke is getting old. Look, we’ve had a fun run. We watched a million movies, we napped with my dogs all day long, we fell asleep outside under the beautiful canopy of my dad’s trees, we listened to some music, we… -
Don’t write essays when you’re drugged up - just a little bit of advice
30 Jun 2009 | 11:45 pmWhen Miss Piggy came to visit last week I should have known that greedy hunk of bacon would overstay her welcome and leave me with the flu. Hmph! RUDE! They say you can’t get the swine flu from eating pigs - and so NEXT TIME maybe I’ll roast good old Piggy next to Kermit, toss in a couple eggs and have myself a regular old green eggs and ham breakfast. mmmm. I bet it’d give me LOTS of energy instead of leaving me BED RIDDEN FOR FIVE SOLID DAYS!!! Yeah so remember all of those parties and plans I had this past weekend? No? Oh wait that’s right - I never… -
Want to know what it’s like to have Swine Flu??
27 Jun 2009 | 4:51 pmIt comes from nowhere. Your throat hurts a bit - but you write it off as something else. It’s SUMMER!! Like you’re going to get sick in summer. 8 hours later you are coughing. It starts as a bit of a dry cough and then before you know it your throat is ON FIRE and your cough is productive. It feels like you are coughing up razor blades. A night of rest does nothing to mend your ailments. You have 4 winter blankets covering you - IN SUMMER - but you are still cold. SHIVERING. You’re running a 103+ degree fever. The next morning you wake up coughing more than… -
First 4 days home in Pictures
26 Jun 2009 | 2:31 amDay one Mmmm… I love my American Theater Popcorn! It’s disgustingly terrific and the buckets are SO HUMONGOUS!!! But when you share with friends it’s JUST THE RIGHT amount. Matty Matt (my bestest friend) and I went and saw “Year One.” Not a big fan of the movie - but being able to see him on my first day back was priceless. Day Two Another great day with my BFF. We went to a barbecue and then out to eat (because I couldn’t eat the burgers.) and THEN we went and saw Transformers 2 at Midnight - fun fun night!!! Love these boys. We are such… -
I’m missing these things about Sydney
24 Jun 2009 | 3:16 amThe time has come. It’s been long in coming and you may all breathe more easily now that the time has finally arrived. I heart Australia and I want to tell you why. like “omgosh!” right? A year ago I could give you line upon line, post upon post and page upon page about how inconvenient Australia was *cringe at self.* I was - well - kind of - umm - yeah - so about that - well - OK FINE - I was a complainer. *gasp!* It’s just that EVERYTHING about Australia from the spiders and cockroaches which are the size of ANTARCTICA to the grocery stores and clothing lines…
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Young and Frugal
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The Party Always Ends
16 Jun 2009 | 6:31 pmIn the midst of what seems like endless economic chaos, I work for a company that is doing exceptionally well right now. So well that many people are getting caught up in it. Private equity firms are constantly knocking on the door, and it seems like I frequently hear talk of an IPO. As the Treasury Manager of the company, and the writer of this blog, I try my hardest not to get caught up in it, though I admit it’s hard. As a personal finance writer, I preach to be conservative with your money: save, invest prudently, and keep an emergency fund; and as a financial professional in… -
Entrepreneurship: Just Do It!
21 May 2009 | 1:44 pmI have a passion for entrepreneurship. There is something grand about the spirit of bucking the curve, going against the norm and taking your employment into your own hands. To go along with my passion, I have a scatterbrain. I get a great idea and I jump in head first, only to realize I’m diving in to the shallow end; then before I have time to lick my wounds, I’ve got another great idea, something innovative that will change the way the world does business. All of my ideas end up spiraling into these grand visions before they are off the ground, and thus they fizzle out. -
Why Is Money Taboo?
17 May 2009 | 1:57 pmToday my wife told me that she gets embarrassed when she is around and I try to haggle. I guess I can understand, I used to be like that too, and only over time have I grown bolder. With this in mind, I have to ask why is it that in America, money seems to be taboo? In other cultures around the world, you are considered stupid or odd if you don’t talk money. In most parts of the world if you buy something without haggling the salesman will probably make fun of you for being a sucker as soon as you walk away. In America haggling is only considered acceptable in 3 scenarios. The first… -
Failing Is Quitting Before You Give Yourself The Chance to Succeed
4 May 2009 | 6:00 pmIt is a common belief that failure is the opposite of success, you either succeed or you fail, and there isn’t much of an in between. But is this really true? Thomas Edison is credited with creating the filament in light bulbs that made them feasible for average americans to buy (no he did not invent the lightbulb). In order to find the correct filament he tried over 2,000 times before getting it right. If he stopped trying after the first few times, or even the first 1,999 times it would have been deemed a failure, but he didn’t, and thus it is considered successful. I wish… -
An Open Farewell Letter To My Co-Workers
20 Apr 2009 | 8:47 pmI’ve never been much for the “standard” way of doing things, because I know if I put my own style behind it it’ll be more memorable. So this post is a blend of a standard blog post and a parting or “keep in touch” letter to my colleagues, in which I out myself as a blogger. Today is the last day of my first job out of college. As I have written before (elsewhere on the site), I graduated 2 years ago as a cocky know-it-all, but I honestly don’t know if I learned as much in my four years of college as I have in my 18 months of work at a Fortune 500…
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Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates
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Appealing to the (Non)Reader: How Does Your Blog Measure Up?
2 Jul 2009 | 8:26 amAs a print journalism major in college, I was required to have a minor outside the School of Communications. When it came time to choose a course of study, I realized that journalism was on its way to becoming digital and having some computer skills would probably be good when it came time to find a job. So, I choose Computer Information Systems (which later changed to an equally unexciting name: Information Systems Management). I’m pretty good with a computer, I’ve always been a bit of a geek deep down, but I have never had any interest in becoming a computer programmer. -
Tearing Down the Roadblocks We’ve Built on the Path to Success
30 Jun 2009 | 10:03 amCarpe Diem! Enjoy every day, make every moment count. There are countless cliches and phrases that urge us to bite the bullet and do what we want to do. Most of us are lucky enough to have the encouragement and support of friends and family. Our education and experience have armed us with a powerful arsenal of tools. So, achieving success should be a piece of cake, right? Wrong. Of course, there are numerous outside forces that impede our efforts (the economy for example), but I think that often the biggest obstacle we face is ourselves. The face that stares back at you in the mirror, the… -
Encouragement in the Form of Old, Reliable Words of Wisdom
26 Jun 2009 | 8:38 amWow, what a week. The past six days have been filled with so much death and sadness. I got an update from my dad on the story I wrote about earlier this week. The boy’s mother did end up passing away, and it turns out that the other driver was arrested for DWI. Then, three tragic loses in Hollywood: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. And, one of my best friends from college lost her father this week as well. I hope they all rest in peace, and that their families, friends, and fans can find some comfort in the happy memories they shared with those who are no longer with… -
The Power of Perspective: It Could Always Be Worse
23 Jun 2009 | 12:55 pmWe’ve all had days when we wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Nothing goes right, and we’re stuck in a funk. It’s like we have a dark cloud following us around with the constant threat of rain. These are the days when life just sucks. There are certainly times when we’re truly going through hell, dealing with the tough stuff and totally within our right to feel sadness and despair (to a point of course). But, what about the rest of the time? I’ll be the first to admit that there have been times I’ve wallowed in self pity for no reason at all. A few… -
It Only Takes One Word: Father’s Day Appreciation
21 Jun 2009 | 9:00 amYou may call him dad, daddy, father, pops, old man, or padre. Maybe you’ve been close your whole life, or things have been strained, or you just recently found that you have more in common than you thought. It’s Father’s Day, and that means that it’s the perfect time to show the father figures in your life some appreciation. You don’t have to do much, in fact, it only takes one word: thanks. Write it, say it, send it, show it. Happy Father’s Day! Me and my Dad
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Call Me Corndog
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The Gift of Emotion
11 Jun 2009 | 10:20 amYesterday was my Monthly Breakdown Day. I should have known it was coming when I started crying during a scene in my book about a lobster being killed for dinner. I literally could not take it. The image of the poor lobster on the cutting board waving it’s anntenae around gently really got to me. [...] -
A Country Weekend to Memorialize
8 Jun 2009 | 12:53 pmWe decided to spend Memorial Day weekend of 2009 getting hammered at a beautiful getaway in Calistoga, Wine Country. The most ironic part of the weekend is that it is meant to be spent in memoriam of people we should remember, and yet Sal pretty much blacked out most of Saturday night. This was right after I [...] -
A Conversation With Boyfriend
28 May 2009 | 10:35 amMe: “I’m going to punch you in the head with my head.” Him: “Otherwise known as a headbutt.” Me: “Yep, that’s what I mean. I ate half a quart container of watermelon.” Him: “So you ate a pint.” Me: “Stop it.” -
The Gargoyle in the Corner
12 May 2009 | 1:06 pmI have a chronic fungal infection on my skin. It’s called Tinea Versicolor. I would attach a picture, but all the pictures that doctors put online to be visual aids of diseases and stuff are the worst and most disgusting cases they can find. Or they are full on photos of balls or something. Basically [...] -
A Weekend Of Randomosities
11 May 2009 | 2:37 pmOn Saturday we went to look at an apartment. I actually really liked it even though it used to be a dentist office. Seriously, it even has the slidy things that the receptionist would move in order to call your name, and the half door that always seems to be in doctor’s offices although to [...]
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Gradspot.com
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Have You Thought About Your Student Debt Today?
2 Jul 2009 | 6:11 amI don't mean to bring the mood down, but for the Class of 2009 it's about that time of year when the excitement of graduation is finally beginning to wear off and maybe, just maybe, a few less-than-exciting realities are beginning to set in. Or maybe not. At any rate, we hope you're taking the opportunity to have fun. This is just a friendly PSA to remind you to assess your student debt sooner rather than later. One of the few nice things about your loans is that it probably has a built-in grace period (usually six months). Make sure you utilize this time wisely to make the best decision… -
The Chamonix Sandwich
30 Jun 2009 | 1:08 pmNestled at the base of Mont-Blanc in the French Alps, Chamonix is a place of rugged terrain, jaw-dropping views, and crisp mountain air. Year-round it's swarmed by adventurers of all kinds, from white water rafting enthusiasts to hardcore mountaineers wielding icepicks and extremely strong sunblock. To keep all these ruddy-cheeked outdoorspeople well-fed, the charming town is a notable purveyor of hearty alpine treats like fondue and raclette. There's really nothing to beat filling yourself up with molten cheese before scaling a mountain or shredding the slopes. In addition to massive meals,… -
Four Businesses You Can Start Today
30 Jun 2009 | 8:25 amIf you're a recent grad without a steady job, you may have heard people say, "Why don't you go tutor SATs?" or "I heard you can make tons of loot walking golden retrievers!" It all sounds so fun and easy, but rarely does anyone actually tell you how to do these things. Whether you're a struggling artist or an aspiring CEO, a bad economy means that we've all got to be creative when it comes to making money. Here are four small businesses you can easily start today with little to no start-up costs. Maybe it'll hold you over while you decide to wait for the right job or apply to business school. -
How to Negotiate Salary Requirements
29 Jun 2009 | 10:12 amQ: How do I respond when a job application asks me for my salary requirements? – Charles F., San Francisco, CA A: The first time you see “salary requirements” requested on a job application, you may feel like you’re Shaq in his prime negotiating his free agency. But as a recent graduate, you are a D-league player at best, so it’s really a no-win situation. On the one hand, the company may be using the salary requirement as a screening process—if you are too high, you might not be considered. On the other hand, they might be trying to save money by finding people who will work for… -
File Under "Reasons to Skip Work": It's On with Alexa Chung
25 Jun 2009 | 5:47 amDaytime TV, some may say, is the opium of the masses—or, at very least, of the infirm, unemployed, and unhappily married with kids. Unfortunately, almost all daytime TV in this country is complete crap. The soaps are godawful compared to Hispanic ones and programs like Neighbours; most network talk shows are painfully awkward; and you can only watch Devil Wears Prada so many times before it becomes a bit depressing. On the other side of the pond in sunny England, however, daytime programming is a whole different bag. Irreverent, dry, inventive (notice how most US game shows come from the…
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Justin Plus One
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The Single Ladies Must Stop
2 Jul 2009 | 3:12 pmLadies and gentlemen, we have crossed a threshold and it's time for us to put a stop to it. No, I'm not talking about technology, which Plus One Austin scared me away from in his very Isaac Asimov-ian post.But no, I'm talking about Single Ladies. For some reason, Disney has decided to sacrifice Joe Jonas to the frothing gay community, throwing him in a tight set of spandex and having him perform Beyonce's way overplayed single.I'm sorry, the only person who can continue doing Single Ladies is Shane Mercado. And only at Splash when he is in tiny undies. He created the Single Ladies YouTube… -
In the Year 2000....
2 Jul 2009 | 7:06 amIt's so good to hear from Justin in the upper regions of our slowly decaying atmosphere. I know many of you thought that I would be happy to get a break from him, seeing that he's practically my second longest relationship after being on J+1 so frequently. However, I find the fact that he is always online, always around, and always watching to be extremely comforting.Isn't technology wonderful, though? It's really made the world a smaller place. People go off to China for months at a time, but with email and Facebook, it's like they're never gone. You don't even have to be at your computer to… -
Plane Amazing!
2 Jul 2009 | 6:53 amGreetings Plus One readers!I am currently typing to you from a couple thousand miles in the sky, courtesy of the fabulous folks at Virgin America, and their in-flight Internet service, known as Gogo.And let me say this: any airline that does not promptly adopt Gogo in-flight Internet should be shut down and have their planes sold for scrap metal or action movie props. For years I have begged the Gods for a way to stay connected while flying, and finally, at last, it is here.But just on Virgin America and SELECT other airlines from what I understand. Not even jetBlue, cheapo king of the skies… -
You Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'?
1 Jul 2009 | 7:05 pmI am a mere few hours from taking off to Los Angeles for a week-plus. I'm sitting on my futon in unbearable heat because I refuse to turn on my A/C and watch my utility bill triple. I am also watching Michael Jackson's Live in Bucharest concert on DVD - a keepsake that thankfully came as a part of MJ's Ultimate Collection, which I bought 3 years ago.And let me tell you this: today's musicians need to take note of a true King of Pop. In this concert, Michael is dancing his fucking face off. Crotch pulling, spinning, kicking, jumping, moonwalking... and he is ACTUALLY singing.You hear that,… -
If I Can Make It There...
1 Jul 2009 | 12:24 pmWhat a unique city we live in, Justin. I appreciated your perspective of being a Long Island New Yorker living in New York City. I've been here for a little over two years now, and I have seen the same cycle from friends and friends of friends. It's like my first summer here when all the cute boys came in just for the season. Then, it was like saying goodbye on the last day of summer camp. *sigh*I could have just as easily been one of these people. I was a Mississippi boy who just decided one day to move to New York City. I started saving money that I eventually spent after a challenge to…
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rikin on the web
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@360i’s Social Media Marketing Quiz
1 Jul 2009 | 6:42 amI only got 1 question wrong – though I’d love to debate the person who created it in the first place. More important than the quiz itself is realizing how difficult it is to objectively test someone’s knowledge of social media marketing. If you’re bored and want to test your knowledge I guess it’s a decent way of doing so. Does anyone else know of any other quizzes/tests/programs etc that try to evaluate your knowledge of social media marketing. 360i’s Social Marketing Playbook Quiz » Fun Trivia Maker -
Something I Forgot About Authenticity
30 Jun 2009 | 8:17 amI recently stumbled upon a great blog about one of my favorite topics, the future of newspapers journalism, called Invisible Inkling by Ryan Sholin. Ryan has been in the industry for a while working with newspapers and other publications but what I really like is that he’s trying to figure out how to make this thing work. By “thing”, I mean how to make sure that there is a sustainable business model to support quality journalism irregardless of the medium that delivers it. In his latest post, Ryan gives his view on the key to authenticity. He provides five great points,… -
Staying Silent on the Web
23 Jun 2009 | 6:02 pmPhoto via Flickr I learned a long time ago about the power of silence if and when used properly. In music, it is often silence that gives depth and meaning to a song. Pink Floyd, for example, were great at using silence and minimal vocals to deliver powerful emotions. I was always amazed by how ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’, a song that lasted 13 minutes and 40 seconds, lacked a single vocal until the 8:48 mark. I’m still blown away every time the first words are sung. In relationships, silence is your most powerful weapon to prove a point. One of my favorite lines of a song is in… -
The Flawed Online Video Model: Same as Newspapers (Part 2)
18 Jun 2009 | 6:38 pmIn The Flawed Online Video Model (Part 1) I discussed how the freely available but ad-supported video streaming model, currently embraced by TV and movie studios with the likes of Hulu.com, could see them down the same path as newspapers. That path essentially is to shortsightedly see online distribution simply as an additional revenue stream without taking into account that the original medium would drastically decline in value and reach over the long run. The internet that you and I know is young and although change is inevitable, it seems to many that erecting pay-walls and limiting access… -
Nostalgia is Not a Business Model
16 Jun 2009 | 6:24 pmYesterday I had that moment, the one where we realize that we are old and can relay first-hand information of how life was in the past. This realization occurred to me while I was discussing what dial-up modems were to my 11 year old niece. As I imitated the sounds of the dial tone she began to giggle in complete mockery of me — I resorted to describing it as a donkey arguing with a car alarm. My story didn’t matter to her; in fact, it probably wouldn’t even help her in the future either. “How we got here?” is an important question, but it will never be more…
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Intersected
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Children, the Lord’s Supper, and membership, among other things
15 Jun 2009 | 12:56 pmAnother helpful post from Mike Gilbert-Smith We are having a useful ongoing conversation with our elders on the last of those: how to fence the table at communion. There was an earlier discussion on this blog with useful comments. One resource I’ve found helpful in recommending to our elders to read came out of a Sovereign Grace church plant and is very useful. It, in turn, provides the following further reading list Dennis Gunderson, Your Child’s Profession of Faith. Amityville, N.Y., Calvary Press, 1994. “Childhood Conversion” by Jim Elliff Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology. -
Challenges for 21st-Century Preaching
12 Jun 2009 | 8:52 amAs presented by D. A. Carson via Colin Adams via Andy Naselli Introduction I have visited many parts of the world in which the challenges to the 21st-century pulpit look rather different. So part of the purpose of the rest of this essay is modest: to stimulate thinking that will help others flesh out this list and modify it for different cultural locations. Six challenges that DAC fleshes out Multiculturalism Rising Biblical Illiteracy Shifting Epistemology Integration Pace of Change Modeling and Mentoring Concluding Reflections Preachers cannot responsibly ignore these things, for they stand… -
Sermon Introduction series at 9Marks Blog
12 Jun 2009 | 8:45 amInformative series at the 9Marks blog where the different contributors are sharing about how and why they do sermon introductions. Kicked off by Deepak Raju Mike Gilbart-Smith’s response I have only one real desire for an introduction: that it will impress upon the congregation why we desperately need to hear the message of the particular passage of Scripture we are looking at together. Of course, we ought to believe that just because it is in the bible. So, I’ll assume the more mature believer will listen anyway. So, I’ll particularly think about one central question that… -
Baby Dedication
8 Jun 2009 | 5:16 pmFrom Jared Kennedy at SojournKids.com At Sojourn, our dedication service is a time we set aside to celebrate the children that God has given us. Member families from our church community come to go public with their desire to bring up new children by God’s grace and according to his instructions. Our service is simply called a Dedication. Some churches think about it as a baby dedication, but it is better called a Parent Dedication. This is not a water baptism, but it is a heavy thing–serious business for the parents involved. The dedication is a covenant–a holy commitment made… -
D.A. Carson’s Bibliography
8 Jun 2009 | 5:14 pmAmazingly thorough collection maintained by Andy Naselli, Carson’s full-time research assistant.
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The Rest Is Still Unwritten
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Words I Hate With A Passion
1 Jul 2009 | 6:43 amI’m passionate about writing, but there are some words that I hate with a passion! Just seeing them on paper or hearing them drop from someone’s mouth ignites a hatred deep within me. I attempt to smoother my irritation by clinching my fist and ultimately snapping the #2 pencil between my fingers. It sounds ridiculous and I can’t explain it, but there are a few select words I utterly despise. They crawl under my skin and gnaw on my last nerve, like an infectious parasite feverishly sucking the life supply of blood from every square inch of my body. I want to rid my eyes from ever seeing… -
Michael Jackson, Our Generation’s Elvis
26 Jun 2009 | 10:16 amGrowing up, I can still recall seeing the Michael Jackson poster on my oldest sister’s bedroom door. It was larger than life, just like him. A full length poster that not only met, but matched, her dusty pink carpet floor. He was clad in a brown leather jacket with that 80s-style soft lighting surrounding him in a heavenly glow. Soulful brown eyes and a set of pearly white teeth to set it off. He parted his lips to form his trademark smile, both shy and sweet. To my sister, he was dreamy. To me, he was a cool dude! I can still recall her Levi's jean jacket covered in "Beat It" and… -
The Bitch Slap Heard Around The Blogosphere
23 Jun 2009 | 8:24 pmYou don’t have to be a blogger or a celebrity to know who Perez Hilton is. The man is a fame whore and looks for the limelight every chance he can get, whether the lighting is complimentary or not. To Perez Hilton, any publicity is good publicity. Covering scandals involving celebrities is how he makes his living. And when there isn’t a celebrity scandal to report, he tries his damndest to stir one up by spreading rumors (whether factual or not) and just generally talking shit on people. God only knows why his virtual gossip rag drives in millions a day! Maybe it’s just me, but I… -
How Being A Geek Will Get You The Girl!
19 Jun 2009 | 2:24 pmGirls love geeks! No, really. Stop laughing. It's true! These days, geek is chic! And I'm not referring to a bunch of dog faced girls either. I'm talking about hot girls. Girls that once evolved from dating the high school quarterback to the quarterback of the New England Patriots. But oh how the tides have turned! Today she's no longer dating the prom king. She's dating the geek boy! And she finds herself quickly falling in love.Now before I tell you why girls love geeks, let's first define exactly what a geek is. Or rather, clear up a common misconception that a geek is the same as a nerd,… -
FAQ
17 Jun 2009 | 4:22 pmReaders often ask me the same questions. So I thought it would be a good idea to compose a short FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section here on my blog. Below you will find the answers to the Top 10 questions I am asked the most in relation to blogging and of a personal nature as well. If there is anything I've left out that you would like to know, feel free to ask!1. You have such a writing talent! Do you really not consider yourself a writer?When someone tells me they enjoy my writing or that I've inspired them to write, it's by far the best compliment I could ever receive. However, I…
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Quarterlife Cafe blog - honoluluadvertiser.com
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HI filmmaker in '48 Hour' contest in Beijing
26 Jun 2009 | 1:01 pmThink Chinese art is limited to calligraphy and Mao posters? Think again. This evening, I attended a film festival in the 798 District, a super-trendy art and cultural space in Beijing. A gallery there was showing films from The 48 Hour Film Project, an international city-by-city contest in which filmmakers have exactly 48 hours to write, shoot and edit a short film. The best films go to Cannes. I met up with Beijing resident and fellow Iolani grad Nelson Quan, who produced one of the films that was being shown, called "Monkey Love." Quan studied at the University of Hawaii's Academy for… -
24 Hours Without Google
25 Jun 2009 | 9:33 amOn Wednesday evening and for much of Thursday, I couldn't access Google, Gmail or other Google Apps from my laptop. A quick Yahoo! news search told me that I wasn't alone -- internet users throughout China were suddenly unable to get to Google. The disruption came amidst stepped-up Chinese criticism of Google for allowing users access to "vulgar content." The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused Google of spreading obscene images, although it is not clear whether the Google outage and the scuffle over online content were related. I was able to use Google's search engine when I… -
Summer Palace
23 Jun 2009 | 9:11 amOn Friday, a friend and I decided to check out the Summer Palace in the northwest outskirts of Beijing. Unfortunately, we picked a bad day to go -- the skies were very overcast and there was a strong wind blowing. But apparently, that didn't stop 11,000 people from visiting the palace that day. (General admission is 30 RMB - about USD $5.) The Summer Palace, an elaborate collection of pavilions, temples, walkways and gardens, was built around Kunming Lake. The site was previously a royal garden before Emperor Qianlong enlarged and expanded it in the 18th century. Only a panoramic photo can… -
Blue Sky Day (FINALLY.)
22 Jun 2009 | 4:17 amWhat a difference a week makes. This photo was taken on Tuesday from the window of my apartment in Beijing. A thunderstorm engulfed the city that morning, but even after the rain, the city's notorious air pollution can be seen clearly. Here's the same shot, taken this morning: (Wow. So that building is actually YELLOW. Didn't realize that until this weekend...) Air pollution was one of the biggest issues of the Beijing Olympics and, as you can see, it remains a big problem. In 1998, Beijing launched the "Defending Blue Sky" campaign and began publishing weekly -- later daily -- air quality… -
China Frustrations and Revelations
18 Jun 2009 | 6:55 pmMy internet connection went down again for all of last night, because of the rain. At least that's what I was told by the front desk. Apparently, in Beijing, rain wreaks all kinds of havoc on internet connections. When I came to Beijing in 2005, I expected all kinds of things as an American. For one, like many Americans traveling abroad, I expected more people to speak English. But with the Olympics a mere three years ahead, it was evident then that even a campaign to teach Beijing cabbies English basics hadn't made Beijing a friendly place for non-Chinese speakers. There were other…
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[Super Duper Fantastic]
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Fishing/Crabbing – DONE!
30 Jun 2009 | 1:49 pmAn update to the 101 in 1001 : 003 – Go on a crabbing/fishing trip. This was on both my list and RV’s list of things to do. So rather than just grab some bait and a line and bring it down to the local pier, I decided to make it part of his birthday surprise. After exploring Fort Bragg and Glass Beach the first day, most of the second day was spent on a boat out in the ocean. Armed with Ugly Stiks [haha!], we tried out fishing for the bottom feeders [mostly cods of all kinds] for the first time. It wasn’t so easy, and I [along with most people] was surprised by how well we did! I… -
Daily Photo Project – Week One [semi-successful]
29 Jun 2009 | 2:31 pmAn update on the 101 in 1001: 030 – Do a Daily Self Photo project for a year. Partial success since I’ve remembered for the most part. I missed a day here and there but have been conscious of the fact. So far, I’ve taken photos using Photobooth, and I’m keeping track of them on Flickr. Each photo has a blurb, explaining what’s going on. On days where I am not in front of the computer, I’ll have to take the photos with the phone… I’m a bit hesitant on doing that since it’s much harder to take a self photo with the phone. Looks like… -
Furry Friend
24 Jun 2009 | 11:39 pmThe weekend after RV’s birthday celebrations, I took him up to Fort Bragg to show him what all the fuss was about. We were originally supposed to attend a music festival from 9pm to 3am and then make the drive up, but there was a mishap with the free tickets, and we ended up not doing that and getting up to Fort Bragg at 1am, instead of at 5am. So rather than a nap, we ended up having to sleep in the car Friday night. Boy was it uncomfortable, and we were so glad to finally check in to the bed and breakfast when Saturday afternoon rolled around! To kill time between the uncomfortable… -
From S-Factor to Star Wars
22 Jun 2009 | 11:26 pmAfter reading Laura’s adventures with S-Factor, I have decided to update my 101 in 1001 list. I am changing: 009 – S-Factor or equivalent class. to 009 – Watch all the Star Wars movies. They both start with the letter “S,” so that makes for a suitable replacement, yes? Okay, one is supposedly more like exercise, but I suppose I can leave the exercising to my other tasks, such as finishing my Bar Method classes or at least getting started on my daily sit-ups. In terms of progress, I have finished Episode IV through VI! Avoidance of I through III has been… -
Baking Bread – Attempt #1
20 Jun 2009 | 11:05 amWho knew baking bread would take hours and hours and hours?! Well, I’m sure OTHER people know. I just didn’t realize it until yesterday when I tried it for the first time. It wasn’t a baking class or anything. Just a random experience brought on after various Twitter conversations! I arrived bright and early [7am!] at Danny’s place and stayed until about 6pm. Some of the preparation was done the night before, so luckily, we were able to prepare doughs, shape ‘em, and bake ‘em! So what did we tackle? A whole lot! There was: focaccia, honey whole wheat, cumin…
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The Everyday Adventures of Me in the City
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My first vlog: Life as a twenty something
1 Jul 2009 | 7:30 pmThat's right, today we're talking about chicks, specifically, this chick....me.Francesca and the ladies at Three Bay B Chicks invited me to participate in the Chick Chat vlog series on the topic of "Life as a Twenty Something." This is something I definitely know a lot about! In fact, Ben, Cheryl, Severina and Lilu and are also taking part in this episode.So below is my first-ever vlog. And cut me some slack in the comments please because it is my first one and I went through 14 takes to finally get to this video. Oh and yes, that is the sound of my kitchen timer softly in the background… -
The awkward part of the date
30 Jun 2009 | 6:55 pmSo now that I've told you about my weekend dates, I need to share the most awkward part about the date with JohnBoy, which was the end.For me, the end of dates is the most uncomfortable. Not the uncomfortable pauses in conversation during dinner or after I realize this guy isn't going to work out, it's the end, after the conversation is over, dinner is paid and it's time to say goodnight.There is always that moment when it comes time to say goodbye of...now what? Do I hug, do I kiss, what is appropriate? I don't give up or do anything I don't want to, but I never know if I should lead or… -
A tale of two dates
29 Jun 2009 | 6:31 pmYesterday I mentioned that I went on two dates with guys from Match, and because I'm not a tease, I will deliver on my promise to tell you about it.But before we get there, two dates in two days with two guys? I know, let's say it, "holla playa! Heyyyyyyyy. Big pimpin. Oh yeahhhhhh."Okay, moving on, I went out with JohnBoy for the first time and Dayton for a second time. Check out my mention of my first date with Dayton here. And if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that Dayton has been sending some odd signals lately by saying, "yes I want to get together with you, but I need to keep my… -
Weekend recap: Taste of Chicago, sunburn and bloggers
28 Jun 2009 | 8:59 pmHello hello and happy Sunday! Actually, today is more of my Saturday because I'm off tomorrow, but still, I can't believe it's the end of June! Seriously.And I am totally 100 percent exhausted. It's been one of those great weekends when you're totally busy and don't mind because you're with great company but then BOOM it hits you all at once and you have no energy to physically do one more thing.But before I give in to that exhaustion, let's take a quick trip around my weekend.Okay first, there was the 20sb meet up and it was a lot of fun. We had a great mixer Friday at Rebel Bar in… -
Summer movie fever!
25 Jun 2009 | 6:20 pmFirst off, today was a sad day. Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson both passed away, the latter came as a total shock. Michael Jackson was definitely more relevant to me than Farrah but both are sad losses. Time to dig out my Thriller cassette tape. Oh yes, I said cassette.Now back to our regularly scheduled post.......I am a total movie fanatic. I love going to see movies, smuggling in candy and taking advantage of its free heat or AC during the winter or summer.And now that we're almost half-way through the summer movie season, here are the movies I cannot wait to go see:Public EnemiesLove…
