Links, oh links. I have too many. I'm a bookmarking fool. I can't stop and I don't know why. No, that's not true--I'm a hoarder. I've had this obsessive compulsive tendency since I was young. I've collected and hoarded many things over the years, from Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers (at one point I had every flavor in creation at that time--mint chocolate chip was my favorite, in case you're curious) to Things That I Could One Day Use For the Found Art Sculpture I Will Make When I Suddenly Become Artistic Enough To Sculpt Something. No joke. I've managed to get this behavior under control in my "real life". Books are now the only physical thing that I hoard, and even with those, I'm able to let a few go every now and then. So I figure it's okay to allow myself the indulgence of bookmarking Every. Damn. Thing. Online. And now I get to share a few of them. My favorite part.
As long as I've already mentioned books, let's begin there. Not with any books themselves, but with Big Cozy Books, children's playroom and library furniture that looks like giant books. I'm sorry, children's? No. I would buy that for my own home NOW, had I the room. But I'll admit, as a child, if I had gotten to play on furniture like that, I would have been in heaven. Since I'm technically an "adult" (pshaw), I guess I'll have to settle for these gorgeous book coasters instead. You know, if I wasn't too cheap to spend money on coasters that were made of anything other than cork. But I can dream...
However, for every awesome product out there, there are things that are incredibly pathetic, ridiculous, or painful. Like organic pancake batter in a spray can, or medicine cups with sugar on the rims, or MomSpit, a gentle no-rinse cleanser. Okay, I admit, MomSpit kinda makes me laugh. The other two make me sigh. I think those KidKupz people took Mary Poppins a little too seriously.
There are a few products that I'd really like to own, though, that I'm sure other people would find stupid. For instance, I don't necessarily think it's cute, but since I can't steep a cup of tea correctly to save my life, I'd seriously consider buying this automatic tea timer... if I cared enough about my tea being right, that is. And because I have the world's smallest ears and can't use earbuds (they're too big for my ears--no joke, they won't fit), I'd buy these earbud covers. And... because when my brother and I were younger, we spent a great deal of time trying to "surf" underwater on a kickboard, I might want this underwater skateboard--or maybe the fun was that the kickboards wouldn't stay under and that would take the fun out. (I really don't expect anyone but my brother to find that last link amusing, but I had to include it.)
I have no idea why I bookmarked this next one. I will never, ever take the time to do it. I'm only grateful that by sharing it here, I can delete the bookmark because I'll have the link preserved for eternity on deliciously. How to make clear (as opposed to cloudy) ice. It's interesting. It's easy enough. But dammit, I rarely care enough to fill the ice tray in general, let alone go through all those steps. But hey, just in case you were wondering, now you know how.
So I recently mentioned that I've been obsessing about all things Broadway. This includes a miniscule (read: giant) love/hate crush on Kristin Chenoweth. That is, I have a crush on her, but I hate myself for it because in many ways, she seems... awful. But wonderful! Anyway, I remarked to my brother Koby (that would be Jake for those of you who I haven't updated) that this is the first time I've ever had a crush on a celeb who's shorter than me (she's 4'11"). His response was that there probably aren't a lot of celebs out there who are shorter than me (I'm 5'2 1/2", thank you). But I told him, aha, there are quite a few! Ani DiFranco, for one. Both Baby and Ginger Spice(s?). Punky Brewster. Janeane Garofalo (making me wrong about this being the first celeb crush who's shorter, because I was in love with her from age 14-17). Sara Gilbert. How did I know this? Thanks to the celebrity sizematcher, where you put in your height and get a list of the celebs who are the same height as you, shorter than you, and taller than you. So. In other words, a list of celebs' heights. Too bad Cheno (we're tight, I can call her that) isn't on there.
I used to spend hoooooours playing sudoku online, but quite frankly, I got bored. So now I've turned to games that require less intelligence and result in more wanting to throw my laptop across the room. This game that I have taken to calling the stupid cat game is addictive. And ridiculous. I've played it about a billion times. But hey--I won it once, so now I can stop. Thank goodness. Or wait, maybe I'll go play it once more...
Dammit! Didn't win. Okay, moving on. T-shirts. I stalk BustedTees and Gimmickwear and the like as much as anyone else, despite the fact that I have an irrational fear of wearing a graphic tee, offending someone, and being beaten up and thus do not own any. But I've found a few others that I'm in love with, from other websites, and would wear in a heartbeat if it were not for said fear keeping me up at night. The most perfect Excel-lovers shirt ever, especially considering I went through a two year phase of flatly adding "yo" at the end of every sentence I said, thinking myself funny. I'm sorry, by the way, for anyone who had to listen to me do that. And how about this shirt that I think probably accurately describes my feelings about my five years living in Ohio (sorry Mel C., if you read this). My favorite high school teacher spent the last 6 months of high school asking me, "Ohio??? REALLY???" Tory, you were right. I'm sorry. And, I'm very very late to the party here, but in my defense I've been away from this website for a long time, and I bookmarked this when it was still new. I could rant for a solid hour about the whole gay Dumbledore thing (wuss who wants extra publicity but wouldn't step up to the plate to use her fame to promote gay rights what?) but in any case, I did find these shirts sort of funny. The text on the page is even funnier. So. Yeah.
I don't usually find ASCII pictures very interesting. Eh. You drew a picture with slashes. Go you. That's so 1995. Whatever. But if I can do it without doing any work at all? Now lazy, that's always cool. So I present to you the ASCII-o-matic. Upload a picture and it'll draw it for you. And while we're being a tad geeky, I really do want these earrings. They remind of the good old days before I gave in to Movable Type and used to hand code all my pages. Back when I had pride.
Okay, I normally aim for ten bullet points when I do this, but as I've been extremely long winded today, I think eight will suffice. I'm sorry for my ramblings, but I quite enjoyed myself. So there you have it. Welcome to 2008. Click some pointless links. Enjoy.
First off, anyone who asked for interview questions, they're there. Just go look on the entry where you commented, and I commented back. Moving on.
Remember when I used to post random links all the time? You know, like a real blog, since that's what a blog actually is? I haven't done a great job of saving things lately, while this website was barely alive, but I'm going to give it another shot.
We'll start with gadgets that truly terrify me. I came across this wake-up angel and I'm horrified. If you are in danger of falling asleep while you drive to the extent that you need a little gadget around your ear, get out of the car. GET OUT. This is the epitome of frightening. And yet... Where was this when I was falling asleep in a few of my college classes...? Also sucky, this snow bunker. What's the point of a snow fort that you buy already completed? Back in my day when we walked twelve miles uphill to school, we had to make our own snow forts, and that's how it should be.
However, just because I mock gadgets doesn't mean there aren't a ton out there just as mockable that I actually want. Like this computer keyboard vacuum. Dude, I'm so sick of spray air. I need it. NEED. Really, I do. Also? These cool little disc skins that protect your CDs and DVDs but don't need to be removed to play them. Need. Oh, and a hoodie for my iPod. I mean, I have like a billion hoodies. It's only right. And if I ever work another desk job, I WILL be getting these computer rear view mirrors. In jobs I've had where my back has been to the door, I would say I spent about 50% of the time I should have been working glancing over my shoulder. And another 30% of the time I should have been working doing things I shouldn't have been at work and therefore glancing over my shoulder even more. Useful. And while I'm at it, I wouldn't mind having this little thing that converts cans to bottles. Why not? Cool. Not stupid and pointless at all, no, not at all. And I wouldn't mind these bookshelves that are Tetris gamepieces (ie, buy them for me).
I'm so not a youtube person at all, but I've gotten really suckered into a few cool videos there... For instance, this facebook parody version of an eharmony commercial cracks me the hell up. Also, someone took the time to round up 100 quotes from different movies with all the numbers, 1-100 in them and edited it into one video. I'm in awe. Mostly because that's the kind of obsessive compulsive task usually only undertaken by someone like me. He also posted the list of movies the quotes are from. Amazing. And as long as we're talking obsessive, there's a guy named Noah who has posted a picture of himself every day for like seven years. He made it into a video (the first oh, six years or so), but you can also see the pictures themselves up to current date here. There's one more video I loved (actually, I hated it until the end, but once I got to the end I liked it), but if you watch it AT the youtube page, it kind of ruins it because the title... well, ruins it. So... I've never tried to embed a video before, but let's give it a shot... Eep.
There are websites I can spend hours at. I mean literally, hours. I don't know why, but accents, dialects, whatever, they fascinate me. And that's why I went through almost the entirespeech accent archive. Basically, you click on the map, pick where in the world you want to hear the accent from, and get to hear a person from that city/area read a short script, which is also phonetically transcribed next to it. I personally think this is the coolest thing ever.
I'm so not a cook. Lately even the idea of heating up frozen stuff makes me roll my eyes. But if I was, you can bet I'd be the type to always be complaining that I don't know what to make with the crackers, shredded cheese, eggs, and leftover pizza that I had lying around. So just in case I ever decide to be that person who cooks, I'm saving these links to recipematcher.com and snacksby.com, both of which allow you to put in a list of ingredients and get recipe recommendations. I can't vouch for how well they work, due to the aforementioned not cooking issue, but cool concept, no?
I don't know why certain this amuse me. They just do. Like this archive of ineresting shopping bags. The first one bothers me, but other than that, I'm quite entertained. The same is true of this page of origins of bands' names. It's honestly not something I've ever pondered. But it entertained me anyway. And this website where you type in a word and it retrieves flickr images of those letters and spells out your word in pictures.
Okay, I've already posted more links than I usually do, so just one more thing. You know on AIM, that little smiley with the dollar sign for a mouth? It makes me nuts. I've always wondered just WHAT that was supposed to be. So one day I set out to find out (yes, that is the kind of thing I've been doing with my time lately) and here's what I came upon. urbandictionary.com was really no help. But what I did find was this entertaining entry suggesting a possible use for that smiley. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps this is not the strongest note to close on so...
My So-Called Life came out on DVD when I was in college, and I pre-ordered the set. I've never pre-ordered anything in my life. And when they came, I hugged them. I'm totally serious. I watched the full season in marathon three times in the course of a month--once on my own in my dorm room with various residents stopping in to watch, once with my family on winter break, and once with my friend SaraB who, at the time of the show being aired, I used to sit on the phone with in silence just so we didn't have to waste twenty seconds dialing each other at the commercials to talk about it. And it's great to have it on DVD, really. But it's just the show, nothing exciting. It was released early in the shows on DVD era and doesn't have a lot of features. But now... it's going to be rereleased by a new company, with hints that it may include better extras this time around. As soon as those details are out... You can bet I'll be pre-ordering once again. Anyone wanna buy my first copy off me?
So there we are. Links. Just a little bit of the crap I've been hoarding for the last few months. Hopefully this'll become regular again because for some reason, I enjoy linking to random things. Perhaps because of what I just said--I'm a hoarder. And like all those kids movies and books say, it's nice to share.
The web has been a very amusing place lately. And that's without me reading any news sites at all. So here is a very fluffy, almost totally world-events-free links post. In fact, it's all so trite that I hardly know where to begin...
I've never gotten into the Sims. It looks 1) too addictive, and 2) too dangerous for someone who is as much of a perfectionist about things like that as I am. But even I cannot a Sims rendition of the opening of RENT. People have a lot of time on their hands, but at least they use it to entertain me.
As long as we're talking about video games, here are instructions on how to make your original Nintendo controller into a remote for your television. Would I ever do it, even if our Nintendo ever broke and we had no use for our controllers? No, probably not. But it's still really freaking cool.
Being weighed sucks. There is nothing fun about it. Until now. Instead of numbers flashing at you, you can weigh yourself and find out "which celebrity you weigh". And can I just say that I love that two of the options are "Oliver Twist" and "Oliver Twist (After More)"? That's awesome.
And then there's the more disturbing side of the shopping world. This is the Babykeeper, so that you can hang your child in a bathroom stall while you go to the bathroom. I have a lot of issues with this. First of all, maybe by the time I have a kid I'll change my mind about this, but I'm not sure I'd like my 18 month old dangling above me and watching me pee. Second, and more importantly, I've been told over and over never to hang my purse or bag over the top of a bathroom stall door because of purse snatchers. I know that anyone trying to grab a baby that way is going to have trouble, but really. It just doesn't seem wise.
As long as we're talking about disturbing, how about some pickle juice sports drink? I'm serious. That's not a joke. Go pick some up at 7-11 and tell me how it is.
I'm obsessed with Wikipedia. I use it to search for almost everything. All the info compacted into a neat package. I don't have to read 30 different articles about something; I can just get the general picture instead. And everything is sorted so nicely by every possible way you can think of to look things up. And there are articles about and lists of the most obscure things. Including an entire article about toilet-related injuries. Seriously. Amazing.
When I saw a link to this page demonstrating how rice responds to different resonances, I scoffed. Hardly an interesting link, I was sure. But no, it's actually really entertaining, especially if, like me, you've always been vaguely interested in science but never really cared enough to do the work. Oh, yeah, and they link to a Wikipedia article, so I'm contractually obligated to think they're cool.
You know, it's so embarrassing to have a dinner party and have that ugly white toiler paper sticking out like a sore thumb in my otherwise impeccably designed bathroom. That's why I'm grateful that now there's Renova toilet paper in fashion colors like red, lime green, tangerine, and black. Thanks for saving my social life, Renova! (And for anyone who knows my aunt, please know that I'm working very hard to resist making a comment about her using black toilet paper right now.)
I have a fascination with funny t-shirts, probably because I refuse to ever wear clothes with writing on them (other than names of places I've been). I actually caved and bought a Ramones-style t-shirt with a BSC reference that several people have shown me, even though I've never even heard the Ramones. If you ever catch me wearing that shirt in public, I owe you money, because it's not going to happen. However, the obsession continues. Now I want this awesome Zack Morris t-shirt, even though the guy doesn't look like Zack at all. But if I can't have that one, then can I please have this button down shirt with the Easton (from Facts of Life) seal on it? PLEASE?
I have a ton more links, but I'm trying to wind down at this point. However, I am willing to bump something more interesting to the general public to share this website with scans of almost every BSC book cover as well as captures from the TV show and movie. Wow. Be still my heart!!
Last one. Something worthwhile. This week I saw several references to this article in the San Francisco Chronicle about gender identity in young children and school responses. On the days when I want to cry because the world looks bleak and I wonder if we're moving forward, even a centimeter at a time, things like this encourage me. I can't even imagine a gender neutral school existing when I was in kindergarten. I'm proud. Oh, and I'd like to move to San Francisco and enroll my kids there, too. But for now I'll stick with being proud.
The crazy links have been practically throwing themselves at me this week. I'm not even going to bother with a little intro that amuses only myself, especially since I have a lot to say about each individual link.
I'm really fascinated by sand sculpture and ice scultpure. I can trace this back to the summer of 1989, when my summer babysitter took me and my brothers to the Aquatennial sand sculpture contest and then got us turtle sundaes at some restaurant that I've never been able to exactly recall. I've only been to the contest a few times since then (including in 2002, when there was precisely one cool sculpture). But I did indulge in looking at these pictures of the amazing 2006 Canadian Open Sand Sculpture Championship. Wow. My favorites are this one and this one. Too cool.
To say that I'm a Target fan is putting it mildly. I grew up in the land of Target. When I first talked to someone who had never been to a Target, I almost died of shock. Now several of my friends are employed by Target. And I don't think I've ever gone into Target without spending less than 45 minutes and $50. Which is why this blog, Slave to Target is my new best friend. I mean, how else would I have gotten to see a little parade of people wearing Target shirts riding Target-embellished Segways?
I hate spending money on laptop cases. I don't have a work laptop that I need to carry around with me; I'm fine with putting it in whatever bag I have around and carrying it carefully. Laptop cases are so ugly. Until now. And I'd love them even if the blue one didn't look eerily like Cookie Monster with teeth.
You know that optical illusion where you're supposed to see a goblet or two people's faces? Now you can have a goblet carved to match your own face. I don't know why. It's actually a little creepy. But I'm enamored. Especially with the idea of using a little baby's face. Creeped out, but enamored.
Another thing that I'm not sure why I love: a shot glass measuring cup. Why would I need this? Don't I always know which size measuring spoon I need before I start? Is it any easier to reuse this shot glass over and over when cooking than to reuse the spoons? It makes no sense. But I want to hug it.
This past weekend we went out with our friends Stuart and Mary (hello Mary! comment once in awhile, wouldja?), and afterward, we ended up playing online, especially at YouTube. And they were kind enough to tell us that Lazy Sunday, the SNL sketch better known as the Chronicles of Narnia Rap, has become a web phenomenon. They tracked down and showed us the first response, from the west coast, Lazy Monday, aka the Color Me Mine Rap. And then the "midwest" (think IN and OH, not MN and WI) response to that, Lazy Muncie. I'm going to stop there, because those were the only ones I found funny, but if you want to see more of the responses, check out the links at the bottom of the Wikipedia article on Lazy Sunday or do a search on YouTube. Seriously amusing.
Stuart also made me watch a YouTube video called Where the Hell is Matt? When Stuart told me about it--a guy doing a stupid dance all over the world--I was skeptical that it could be entertaining. However, I have to admit that as I watched, all I could keep saying was, "Wow, that's so cool!" After that, I went to his website and read up on the details of his trip. Very very cool.
This one is a quickie. A bike that's a treadmill. Or maybe it's a treadmill that's a bike. Who knows. All I do know is that I don't get it at all.
And finally, one with a completely unrelated backstory. Back in high school, when people seemed befuddled by my very existence, I used to explain who I was by telling them that in my house, the music on the stereo was a combination of Neil Diamond, Black Sabbath, PDQ Bach, and Kitaro. That seems to sum up how I ended up this way pretty well. Other things that explain me include: learning cool math tricks was considered a reward for me; I used to write essays for fun; I built pretty elaborate (for a kid) two story dollhouses out of legos and made furniture for them and then just stared at them instead of playing with them; and I took a summer school course on tesselations because they fascinated me. And now someone has combined two of my great childhood loves to produce a Lego recreation of an Escher work that I spent a significant portion of my childhood staring at.
I am an IDIOT. Our computer, Janine Kishi (which I named back last August, before I even got onto this big BSC kick), has been having problems for awhile. In March, she started shutting down randomly. The problem was, at the time, I was flying back and forth so much that there wasn't one chunk of time long enough to bring her in to be repaired. The shutting down issue stopped, but after that, she kept getting very hot and making loud whirring noises she hadn't made before.
Anyway, our warranty on Janine runs out in two weeks, so this morning we finally brought her in to get taken care of. I backed up everything on her in March when the problems started happening, and then backed up everything new in June before we moved. The other day, I burned myself another disc with everything new since June.
And then I proceded to bookmark six more great things for future links posts last night. Oops. Luckily, I managed to remember where to find two of them, but the rest are lost for the week, and possibly forever.
Anyway, so here I am jumping back and forth between our two emergency laptops, and I'm going to post the links that I do have. They'll have to do for now.
I absolutely have to lead off with these instructions on how to make your own digital picture frame. Basically, you frame the LCD from an old laptop and hook the power button and wireless card up on the back. Then you use Slickr, the flickr screensaver, to display your pictures. Looks simple enough that even I could do it. It does, however, seem like it would be quite heavy, as well as a little big. So if that deters you, or if you're lazy, you can just get this wireless/flickr using frame from thinkgeek, or this one, which uses the memory card from a digital camera rather than linking to flickr. I don't know which way we'll be going, but you can bet that we'll be doing one of these things.
I've now discovered the most pointless geek-toy ever. Do you remember those cheap 50 cent toys from childhood where a little figure was standing on a box, and if you pressed down on the box, the figure collapsed? Well, now you can attach one to your computer and rig it up to your favorite friend on a messaging program so that every time your friend is available, the little guy stands up, and when he or she is away, the little guy collapses. Stupid and pointless, yet highly entertaining.
I think it's been made pretty damn clear that I love organizing my books. My love of LibraryThing knows no bounds. But now I can turn my book collection into an actual library. Seriously. With a little date due stamp for the cards and everything. And I can do the same for my DVDs or my CDs, too. This would have been my dream birthday gift when I was 8 years old...
It's taken me so long to get around to this entry that by now, everyone has seen this, but I just don't care. Watch what these guys did with 8 treadmills! It's really amusing and makes me feel like I'm back in 1997, which is a very welcome feeling. I feel a little dirty because I'm pretty sure this is the same band that's featured in that new JCPenney commercial or whatever, but it's too enjoyable not to include it.
Last night I had an away message up that said (roughly--I don't remember because my away messages are yet another thing I forgot to back up), "I hate Jell-o. If God wanted peaches suspended in midair, he'd have filled them with helium." My friend Mel asked me where that was from, and when I told her Sophia said it on Golden Girls, her response was to tell me that Golden Girls is an oft-watched show for lesbians. She gave me that link, but I also did a search on the terms "lesbians", "reruns", and "golden girls" and found a lot of quick summaries that explain it more simply. Really, who woulda thunk? Do us lesbians really love Dorothy that much?
Lots of spelling, some nerding out, and a few random others
I've been disinterested in posting links lately. In fact, my last links post was close to 2 months ago. But today I found one product that, all on its own, is exciting enough to convince me to post.
Today I came upon a USB flash complete M-W Dictionary and Thesaurus. That is pure geek hotness, and I want it now. NOW. I don't why. Any time I have access to a computer, I'll also have access to dictionary.com, but I don't care. I need it. My life isn't complete without it.
Yesterday, Amanda linked to this news story about a 3-year-old who had a Newshour themed birthday party. It's a cute read, but the best part is that if you watch the little video, you can hear the interviewer ask the parents, "Are you concerned that your little boy is going to grow up to be an unbelievale dork?" Awesome.
My dad collects clocks. Even though at this point, he has a pretty full collection and isn't really looking for any more, everyone in my family keeps their eye for cool clocks at all times. Clocks are kind of his ceramic unicorns--the thing that you kind of liked, and then before you know it, your entire family is buying you one for every single gift-giving opportunity that exists. So I try not to buy him too many clocks anymore. But I'm tempted to give him this t-shirt with an actual digital clock on it. Or maybe I want one of my own...
I love babies. I love iPods. Now I can have both in one. I don't know why I find dressing humans up like technology so funny, but it's nothing new -- in fifth grade I was a fridge for Halloween, which inspired my brothers to go as a remote control and TV the following year. I guess maybe it's in my genes.
In case my bizarre interest in life-size versions of old-school Nintendo games isn't already apparent, now I'm going to point you to this giant Tetris game. Why don't I ever do anything this cool?
Uparentlee thu wurld wud bee a farer and beter plas if speling wuz simplifid. Ok, I can't even force myself to type like that. There's an organization rallying for a move back to simplified spelling. I do agree that English spelling is difficult. It makes it clear who has an education and who doesn't. It puts some students at a disadvantage. I totally get that. But tough crap. I can't understand a single word that I typed at the beginning of this bullet point. Claudia Kishi may be all for that kind of nonsense, but not me.
That's it this time. Everything else I've saved up is less than entertaining.
It takes time to get back in the swing of things, after all.
hyperlink: n : a link from a hypertext file to another location or file; typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or icon at a particular location on the screen
Today's true and amazing links begins with a contribution from Lauren. Her excitement over being the one to provide this link can only be rivaled by my excitement over its existence. What is it? Have your baby's picture drawn in the arms of Jesus. Wow. I am completely at a loss as to what to say about this. I've never been one to find virgin Mary shaped nightlights or Jesus candles amusing (ok, I did have a virgin Mary nightlight at one point, but it was only because I had three intense Christian roommates and I needed something to make me feel like I could joke about it), but this one not only amuses, but thrills. And the best part about it is that the URL is iwantthatstuff dot com! Wow. Seriously.
This is pretty old news by now, but I'm going to mention it anyway. I've talked before about my serious distaste for my graduate institution and my joy at their discomfort over dealing with Real Issues. They've gotten more news coverage in the Twin Cities this past year about how oppressively conservative they are than I was aware of them getting for the entirety of my life before this year. And now they were written up in the Strib because the senior who spoke at commencement offended people big time. Yea for St. Thomas. I'm so proud to have my masters degree from them.
Last week some of Lauren's coworkers were telling her that they didn't really get what hipster meant. Lauren and another coworker did their best to explain it to them, but they said they needed a visual aid. So I went to work. I found plenty of resources, but my favorite was Hipster Bingo. The only thing missing is calf-length black leggings under a skirt and slip-on checkered keds/vans/whatever. Awesome.
Shavuot, a Jewish holiday celebrating the day the Jews received the Torah, began tonight at sundown. I thought I would share a link to a commentary on Shavuot from Jewish Mosaic, a Jewish organization for sexual and gender diversity. I really like divrei Torah, but I don't often read them, which is kind of ridiculous if you think about the fact that I may be delivering them one day. This one is a little dry, but interesting, and it was written by the rabbi of the first Recon synagogue I ever heard about, the shul that introduce me to the entire movement. So I'm sharing.
I've mentioned before that I'm quite the fan of women's soccer. In fact, last year when Lauren was job searching and I had no real contribution to picking a location, I based my opinion partly on whether or not that city would have a WUSA team if the WUSA got started back up (as it claimed it was trying to). That didn't really pan out. However, I was recently informed that as of this year, Minnesota has a women's soccer team in the USL women's league! I even know someone on the team who went to my high school (although if she were to remember me, I'd die of shock). Yea for women's soccer!!
I'm not really a whimsical person. In fact, I'm a pretty ridiculously serious person when it comes to anything that 1) will last a long time or 2) will cost a lot of money. So if and when I ever redecorate a house I own, I will surely go with plain, simple wood floors. That doesn't prevent me, however, from wishing I was the kind of person who would install a puzzle floor. I'm so not that interesting, but I wish I was. Someone do this to their house and then invite me over, ok?
I'm constantly asking people for book recommendations. I'm the world's pickiest reader. And now I've discovered Literature Map, where you enter in an authors name and receive a mindmap looking picture of similar authors. It does seem to only have about half of my favorite authors in the database, but that's a start. I have no idea if it's going to yield good recommendations or not, but I'm certainly willing to give it a try. I looked up books by authors close to my favorite authors and wasn't all that impressed, but I did end up buying one book that I found that way, and it looks like a totally my style book. We'll see!
Apparently, a cd can help with morning sickness. I'm skeptical, and I'm also pretty sure that I'd rather find a CD that keeps giving birth from hurting, but I guess I'll take what I can find. I think for now I'll wait to hear whether or not this works and instead just buy the kids CD put out by one of the guys from Eddie From Ohio and the kids CD put out by the Nields. And I'll ignore the fact that we're not even going to start trying to get pregnant for another couple of years.
By the way, I'm sorry that my last few links entries have been so heavy on the weird products and light on news. My favorite news source, allgaynews.com, seems to have shut down. And I've also been too lazy to pay attention to which headlines are being discussed at the message board I frequent. I'm a lazy news-reader. If you have a favorite headlines/news site (and I don't mean a traditional newspaper), feel free to share it with me. I hate feeling so out of the loop.
Link time. I'll keep it short and sweet this time around.
This has been plastered all over just about every site I read, but I have to share anyway, on the off chance that someone who reads deliciously.org hasn't seen it yet. This summer, Hasbro is releasing Eau de Play Doh (produced by Demeter). And I'm serious when I say I'll be buying some. I truly LOVE the scent of Play Doh. Also, while I'm at it, perhaps I'll check out some other scents from Demeter--some of my favorites are Paperback Book, Dirt, and Landromat. I have no interest, however, in checking out their Funeral Parlor scent.
I'm not only a huge Gilmore Girls fan, I was also a true little nerd as a kid, so when Rory came across her Hug a World when cleaning out the garage, all I could think was how much I wished I had had a huggable globe as kid. Maybe I couldn't, but my kid sure will. A company in Australia is selling the Hug a Planet, which does not look nearly as plush and lovable as Rory's, but seems like a good second choice.
Some random weird guy has issued a challenge to create an earth sandwich. It involves putting a piece of bread on the ground and then finding someone at the exact opposite side of the world to do the same, using the find the opposite tool. Unfortunately, for anyone in the continental US, the exact opposite is the Indian Ocean, but it's still a fun toy. Plus, you can listen to his message about this, which is pretty lame but includes a fun little "if the earth were a sandwich" song.
For some reason, it really annoys me when people link to stupid videos on YouTube. Everyone seems to have a favorite stupid video. Not me. I hate those stupid videos.....Until now. Now I have a favorite, too, and I have to share it. 10 Things I Hate About Commandments, a trailer for the teenybopper version of the original 10 Commandments movie. Heh.
Apparently, Minneapolis drivers are the nicest drivers on the road. While I normally welcome any positive press for my beloved city, this time, I have one thing to say: HA! They're certainly nicer than Connecticut drivers, and about a BILLION times nicer than Philadelphia drivers, but the nicest? Hardly. Just try merging in Minneapolis and then tell me they're the nicest. That's one area that rural northeast Ohio has Minneapolis beat.
I think I've made it clear by now that I'm a little obsessed with names. The SSA recently released the name statistics for 2005, so some of my favorite websites have been going a little wild. The Baby Name Wizard Blog, for instance, listed the fastest growing names of 2005 (Talan, really?? That many Laguna Beach watching folk are having babies?). As fascinating as that is to me, though, one thing this week amused me even more. The New York Times ran an article (login required, sorry) about how the name Neveah has become more popular than the names Sara, Amanda, or Vanessa. Neveah. As in "heaven" spelled backwards. The best part of this article? It's title is And if It's a Boy, Will It Be Lleh? Ha! That rocks.
I was going to write this great entry about the Eddie From Ohio concert we went to last night, and about how the average age in the room was around 40, and about the World's Tallest 60-Year-Old Man who sat in front of me, and about how Robbie is a sexy beast, but... That's all I have to say, and that doesn't make for a great entry.
So instead, links. Mainly products this time, and apparently with quite a snarky attitude. Oops.
The best thing I've come across online in a long time is Bed Books, books printed sideways so that they're easy to read while lying on your side. As someone who's been reading in bed for 20 years, I can say this may be the most wonderful invention of all time. Unfortunately, the chances that anything I want to read will ever be printed by them are pretty slim. And also, what if I want to switch to sitting up or lying on my back? I think I'll hold out for some book where the words magically turn whichever way I need them. Still, this is even better than One Page Books, which I came across years ago.
I'm not much of a peanut butter and jelly fan, but I do occasionally crave them. And when I do, I make Lauren prepare them for me. This is because it's torture to me to either use 2 knives or to clean the knife well enough to dip it in both containers. The solution appears to be the peanut butter and jelly spreader. It's fairly pointless, but cute. I approve.
This shirt could amuse me for hours. That's partly because I can stare at it, trying to match up the reflection and how it works, but it's also partly because I'm fascinated by the psychology of wearing a shirt that suggests you can only love yourself when looking in a mirror. Or that you hate yourself. Or that you both love and hate yourself and want everyone to know it. Or... yeah.
I'll take a break from product links for a second here... Apparently, lesbian brains are more like straight male brains than straight female brains when it comes to pheromone reactions. My first reaction to reading that article was "duh?" but I guess it could eventually be a big deal. The thing is, even my grandparents believe that sexual orientation is determined biologically rather than by socialization, so I'm not sure who there is out there who COULD be convinced that isn't already. Oh well.
Apparently, it's difficult to keep your coffee hot at work. I wouldn't know, not being a coffee drinker or... well, or someone who works. But someone has invented this USB powered mug warmer. You plug it into your computer and it keeps your mug warm for 30 minutes longer than it would be without it. Maybe I'm naive, as a non-working, non-coffee drinking moron, but wouldn't it be easier to just buy one of those insulated travel mugs? I would worry that every time I picked up my cup, I would jerk the cord and spill everywhere. But like I said, I'm a moron, so who knows.
A pet supply company is selling CDs of baby sounds to get your pets used to the noises babies make before yours arrives. I don't know enough about dogs to know whether or not that would be at ALL helpful, but I do know that I'm considering getting one to get Lauren used to the noises, since she doesn't have the "that baby screaming across the room doesn't bother me at all" gene that I seem to have.
AfterEllen.com posted an article about next fall's looming lesbian talk show host showdown. Personally, I think she nailed the situation pretty well. I like Ellen, I think she's occasionally funny, and she's not sharing the spotlight with 3 or 4 other jerks. But when it comes down to it, I'll be watching The View because I know Rosie is going to at least mention the EXISTENCE of lesbians once in awhile. And like the author of this article, I'm just thrilled that two lesbians (and a bisexual woman, Megan Mullally) are going to be on daytime TV next year. A halfway decent start.
Minnesota hosts a yearly Geek Prom for adults. Nuff said.
Operating under the premise that babies' ankles get cold when people pick them up and their pants bunch up, BabyLegs sells baby leg warmers. However, if you look at all the pictures on their website, I'm convinced that the real reason for this creation is to make us want to chow down on cute, fat baby legs (look at that munchkin in the green striped ones!!).
And finally... Anyone who saw my room in college saw my wall of nature-ish magazine pictures. Anyone who knows my tastes knows that I'm drawn to anything with trees, stones, and/or moving water. So anyone who saw my room or knows my tastes shouldn't be surprised that I might be willing to sell my own left leg in order to acquire some LivingStones, plush comfy bean-bag-ish things that look like giant stones. I would furnish my entire future house with these things. Unfortunately, the entire site is in French, so I have no idea how much they cost, but I assume it's somewhere between "too expensive for a one-income family who lives in a dorm" and "yeah right, no reasonable human being would pay this much for some pillows."
That's going to have to do it for now. Sadly light on interesting content, but full of stupid things that I was totally tempted to buy before I came down off my "I need that!" high.
If I posted a real entry, it would be very melodramatic
Oh my goodness. I've been in Minnesota for less than 4 days, and I'm already completely worn out. This trip has been completely emotionally exhausting. Between trying to figure out my relationship with my youngest brother, who is growing up faster than I really want him to; his girlfriend moving in with my family due to family issues of her own; having PMS; not getting the job I interviewed for two weeks ago, which has caused me to question our entire plan to move back to Minnesota; and the impending pressure of a family gathering, I'm completely worn out.
Therefore, I present you once again with many links.
Every year at Pesach, ridiculous animated cartoons pop up on the web. Last year's Seda Club (from ShaBot 6000) is still my favorite, but what with the aforementioned impending pressure, I'm also really digging the 60 second seder (which is actually 70 seconds). I actually really love the whole seder, but it is really nice to think that you could do the entire thing in just over a minute and have the family out the door soon after. Of course, then you'd miss out on matzo ball soup and brisket and charoset and yummmmmmm...
Apparently, couples in Connecticut are not taking advantage of the institution of civil unions. The presumed reason for this is because now that the gay community has tasted the right to marry, we refuse to settle. This is no great shock to me -- I sure as hell wouldn't bother with civil unions if the state next door allowed me to marry...
I so want to buy these stop sign statement stickers. I've never seen anyone deface a stop sign with a sticker about driving or eating animals, but these crack me up. My favorites are [Stop] Hammer Time! and [Stop] With All the Patchouli. And as long as I'm linking this website, I may as well share that if I ever follow through on my childhood plans to become a lawyer, I would definitely have to own this shirt.
When I was little, I had a thing for Barbies and for paper dolls. I never acted out any stories with them, but I LOVED to change their clothes. I also used to draw my own paper dolls and make clothes for them. I once owned a book of paper dolls that my 2nd cousin informed me were clearly hookers. Since I no longer have the patience to cut out all those clothes, I now rely on online paper dolls, and I've found the motherload. At Stardoll, you can dress up tons of actresses and singers in the craziest crap I've ever seen. I actually went through and did every single doll a couple weeks ago. They've since redesigned the site and it's a little slower, but definitely worth a look.
The folks over at Television Without Pity recapped the Facts of Life Reunion movie. Now, I have to admit that I haven't read the recap the whole way through yet (I'm waiting to read it while watching the movie the next time it's on), but I'm linking it anyway. My opinion of the reunion movie? Without Jo, there's no point. I love Nancy McKeon so much it hurts.
There are some pretty stupid interactive things on the web. On Good Morning America recently, I saw a guy who lets his website viewers choose what he's going to wear each day (dude even lets you pick his cufflinks). That may be kind of lame, but at least he isn't wasting his own time by wearing what they choose for him. A supergenius named Aric, however, has decided to let us choose what TV shows he watches every night. What a great way to spend his time...
I don't see a lot of movies. I especially don't see a lot of quality movies, and I see even fewer classics. That's why out of this list of the top 100 overlooked films of the '90s, I've seen exactly 6. I've actually seen 21 of the top 101 screenplays, although most of them weren't movies I paid very good attention to. I suppose it won't come as a great surprise, then, that I only saw 6 of the 574 movies that came out in 2005.
I actually have about 20 more links saved for this post, but I realize now that none of them are interesting. Neither is this post. The emotional toll that this week has taken on me has definitely done its damage.
Link-o-Rama. Worship me and my crazy web-scouring skills.
Today I'm coming to you from Not My Laptop. This is because last night, our computer died a sad, painful, prolonged death. Actually, it technically isn't dead, just severely under the weather. All day yesterday, it was wheezing and emiting a high pitched screech, so we turned it off last night (we don't turn that sucker off ever, and I refuse to apologize for eating up all that electricity). This morning it stayed on for a half hour before turning off and refusing to turn back on for several hours. After a great deal of experimenting, I realized it was likely an issue with the fan, which Lauren confirmed after talking to someone who had the same problem with his computer of the same model.
Anyway, long story short, I spent today trying to back up our stuff onto DVDs in between "cooling off periods", nearly freaked out when the computer literally blew a puff of dust out the side fan that looked like a miniature explosion, and talked to Toshiba tech support on the phone. Now I'm using Lauren's evil work computer until we can get ours fixed in a few weeks.
That's all that's new in my life, so I'll entertain with links. It's been awhile, so I have a lot this time.
I wrote recently about my love for the BSC, and since then, I've been introduced to some wonderful related sites. The first is BSC Headquarters, given to me by Kathy and apparently known to the entire rest of the world. Tiff is blogging her way through the series and living my dream at a public library that carries EVERY SINGLE BSC book. I also stumbled upon the BSC Companion, which may as well be the official guide to the series and a LiveJournal community for trading BSC books. I'm getting a little obsessed.
I don't do yoga (ha!), but I so want this endless yoga mat bag. You can buy as many segments as you want and just keep zipping them on. They do mention that you can also use it for things like posters and tripods and other things that I don't carry around, so maybe I'll be able to find a use for it someday...
The president of the Oglala Sioux tribe in South Dakota offered space on their land for a Planned Parenthood location in response to the ban on abortion. I'm so impressed by that, and I can't even express how that offer affects me. Planned Parenthood of MN and the Dakotas has responded by saying they appreciate the offer but instead intend to stay open in South Dakota and fight the fight. I'm also impressed by that. And as long as we're talking about this bullshit, this cartoon is floating around my entire social circle, and I love it. I assume those are the real numbers, and I love it. I don't speak out about a lot of political issues, but this one matters, and I'll keep linking to interesting and relevent articles until I'm ok with the outcome.
When I was home in Minnesota, I saw this hilarious one-woman show called So Kiss Me Already Herschel Gertz. I think it's best appreciated by those who went to Jewish summer camp, but anyone should really find it pretty funny. She's about to go on tour with the show (although I don't know exactly where), so watch for it in your area. Definitely worth seeing.
One of the websites I visit daily is called Strange New Products. I don't usually find a lot there worth clicking on, but recently there have been quite a few funny ones. First there was Purplos, which are purple cocktail weenies. PURPLE. Honey flavored. I have nothing more to say about that. Then last week there was The Pit Stop, a portable urinal designed for truckers. It's not the only product like this I've seen on the web, but it's certainly the most market-specific one I've seen... And then finally, today, there was the iBuzz, which attaches to your iPod to give you some very personal, very adult fun to the beat of your favorite music. I'm sure every lesbian in the country is buying one and putting multiple versions of Melissa Ferrick's Drive right onto their iPods this very moment.
When I was in college, Hot or Not (which I refuse to link to) was huge. Maybe it still is. I don't know. But now there's the much funnier I Was So 80's, where you can go to vote on how 80's a picture is. I love it.
Lately I've read several articles about homosexuality, religion, and various ways that these things are related recently. The big theme lately seems to be editorials about how legalizing gay marriage will lead to the legalization of polygamy. I really don't want to go into my feelings about polygamy and its legalization, but I do want to share this Slate article in response to all these alarmist articles. It's not necessarily the exact same stuff I would say in response, but I appreciate that it was written.
More crazy products! If you're single but want to feel like you have a significant other, now you can order products to allow your dog to fill that role in your life -- to an extent, please. My favorite is the wine glass. I seriously want to buy my parents' dog that wine glass.
Finally, to conclude my crazy product links, an ice cream lock. You can lock up your pint with a combination so that no one else can eat it. Unfortunately, I believe it's possible that Lauren is going to purchase this to keep me out of her ice cream, because if it's ice cream, I'll eat it. I'm totally serious. I can name my favorite flavors, but I can't name a flavor in existence that I WON'T eat.
Ok, I'm done. Time for some ice cream. With magic shell. Yum.
Tomorrow morning Lauren leaves for ACPA and I head home for a week. I'm less than thrilled that we're going to be apart for a week, but I suppose at least I'll get to see my parents' new house and meet some new people and see Becky her new baby and be home in Minnesota... land of a billion inches of snow in the middle of fricking MARCH.
I haven't been clicking on stupid links as much lately, but luckily, my favorite message board keeps me in the amusing links. I do also have a few other favorite sources, and I did remember to visit some of my favorite news sources a couple times. So here we go.
Someone shared that an American company that sells their products in France has started tagging their items with this funny stuff. Eventually, someone revealed that the company was Tom Bihn, maker of laptop cases and bags. I'm very very tempted to order one. We need a laptop case anyway, and I wouldn't mind supporting them.
Some libraries in Missouri have pulled (sort of) a children's book about gay penguins. More than my annoyance with the complaints about this book is my amusement that a kids' book was written about gay penguins, and even more so, the fact that this article about it concludes by saying, "Early last year, after 'And Tango Makes Three' was written the penguin couple broke up. For a brief period Roy lived with a female penguin."
I doubt most of you have been following this story, but earlier this year, the University of St. Thomas, where Lauren and I did our graduate work, started making headlines because two straight faculty members who are in a long-term relationship, but are not married, were not allowed to room together on a school trip. They took it to the press, and it's become the a major issue of contention throughout the school. For an Obie, that may not seem like a big deal, but we're talking about a school where most students, staff, and faculty would have to look up the meaning of the word "protest." I was thrilled to read last week that this has led to a button campaign and faculty senate votes, with a large contingent supporting a change in this policy. What I'm less thrilled about, however, is the way that this has come about. It really saddens me that a lesbian couple on the faculty faced the exact same issue less than year prior, but that they were not in a position of enough security to raise the same ruckus that this straight couple has. Gay employees at St. Thomas have so much to lose by making a fuss -- not to mention that they probably wouldn't have been able to get much support from other students, staff, and faculty -- that this issue has had to wait until a straight couple could get behind it. Either way, I'm glad to see ANYONE raising a serious discussion about this there. But of course, if you knew me a year ago, you know that I have no great hidden love for St. Thomas...
As long as we're discussing Catholic/LGBT relations, I'm a little blown away by the Catholic church in Massachussetts choosing to completely remove itself from all involvement with adoption to avoid dealing with the state's human rights laws. Based on personal relationships in my life, I've always associated Catholicism with a very positive view on adoption, and that's something I've always been impressed with. I'm shocked that they'd choose to stop supporting adoption completely over chancing a child being placed with a gay couple. Wow.
On a much lighter note, I must own this Slanket! It's a blanket with sleeves! No more freezing arms when sitting with a blanket while typing or reading! Too bad it's so damn ugly...
I've been saying for a few years that the weather in Minnesota is changing significantly. Winters are not like I remember, and I can't imagine that there will ever again in my lifetinme be a winter like the one that gave us the Halloween Blizzard of '91. Other people, especially those from outside MN, like to argue with me, but now I have the backing of climatologists, who say that Minnesota's winter identity is truly changing.
Want to know if you're an optimist, if you're traditional, and if you have a good sex life? Find out by drawing a pig. For the record, I'm optimistic, traditional, remember dates, am emotional and naive, secure, stubborn, and... I'll leave you in the dark about my sex life.
Normally I can't stand iPod accessories, but this one caught my eye. I'm a little embarrassed that I even have an iPod, so this is ideal. It's a case that looks like a book. Too bad it would still be pretty obvious to have earphones sticking out of a book.
I could go on and on, but I think I'll end with this one. The Shock Absorber sports bra website wants you to choose your cup size and your level of activity so that you can see what your breasts do on their own, in a normal bra, and in their bra during physical activity. The bouncing boobs are literally hypnotic. I dare you to look away. I will have to admit that I'm pretty convinced that I need a shock absorber, though.
from Matzo-ball-shaped soap to looking like boys...
This has been a pretty slow week, interesting-link-wise. Either that or I've been frozen under the pressure of providing interesting reading for my millions of readers.
I read an article last week about a state senator here in Ohio who is proposing legislation to keep Republicans from adopting. I think it's hilarious, and while I would normally be the first person to speak out against using the legislative system to make satirical political statements, I have to admit that this is no more ridiculous than the legislation it mocks. I approve.
Send someone a Monk-e-mail. I sent Lauren one of the monkey wearing a rugby shirt and speaking with a British accent. It went over well, except for the fact that she opened it at work. Oops.
Upload your picture and find out which celebrities you look like. No matter which picture I uploaded of myself, my top match was ALWAYS Chester Bennington (who I'd never heard of before this) at 74%. I even got different pictures of the same guy depending on which picture of myself I chose. I've always worried that I actually look like a boy, and I guess now I have confirmation. Oh well. Lauren got Ricki Lake, but since she gets that all the time from people, it was no great shock.
A year and a half after our wedding, I finally came upon some Jewish same-sex wedding ceremony resources. We had adapt our own seven wedding blessings and deal with a rabbi who didn't put much energy into creating a meaningful ceremony... And NOW we find these resources!
Cockeyed.com is putting together a real height/weight chart. People are sending in their pictures, along with their height and weight, and they're putting together a table of what each height/weight combo looks like. I don't know why this fascinates me, but it does. Maybe it's because all the crappy novels I read describe the characters' height and weight, and I can never picture what that looks like.
I've found my dream couch. I've wanted an extra deep couch for a long time. Too bad this one is a sectional, because I think the three pieces would move apart every time someone sat down. And then there's the little issue of this couch costing over $3000. But whatever.
Finally, something no one but me and Carly will care about. On an episode of Popuar, April Tuna tells Emory to meet in her in the janitor's closet because she plans to get some of what sounded a lot like "fruitash". That made up word cracked both of us up, and Carly managed to actually say it five or six times in the day and a half following watching that episode. This week I learned that it is not, in fact, a made up word. It was actually the word frottage, meaning, "The act of rubbing against the body of another person, as in a crowd, to attain sexual gratification." Dirty, dirty April Tuna. I love it.
Now you all have proof that I spend too much time looking at complete trash online each week. And this is just the stuff that I didn't bookmark!
Things I Do to Amuse Myself After Emily Hughes is Done Skating
I'm adding a new category to this site. I am a trivia hound, and I always have been. When Lauren and I started living together and she had to start listening to me talk nonstop all day, every day, she discovered that I'm full of trivia about ballet, construction materials, not-entirely-obscure sports, and a billion other things. When you add to this that I spend a lot of time clicking goofy links on the web from the many, many sites I read daily, you have an insane collection of links.
Now, I don't intend to share with you all of my 2268 unique bookmarks (organized into 16 folders with 104 subfolders) -- no joke -- but I thought it might be fun to start sharing some of the new things I stumble upon. In fact, I plan on sharing mainly things that I don't bookmark.
Is this entry starting to sound a lot like a previous entry about my collecting weird things that other people don't collect?
Anyway, this isn't going to become a true blog, in the original sense of the word, because I just don't feel like posting links on a daily basis. But when I do find worthwhile stuff, I think I'd like to share it here. You know, for no reason at all. So here are some recent items that I've found noteworthy (minus the places I originally found them, because I haven't kept track):
blingo, a google search where you can win free stuff just for searching (use that link if you sign up so that I'm listed as your friend and get more free stuff!)
And although this is an old article, I enjoy it enough that I'm going to share it now. In Your Facebook.com, which could really be generalized to talk about an entire generation's use of the web.
That's it for now. I'd hate to overwhelm y'all on my first entry in this new venture.
