best sunday ever.

went deep water soloing today. if i had a boat and a ton of money, its what i would do all day, every day. its the greatest sport EVER. period. everyone should come visit west virginia and do it. seriously.

Want Your Own Virtual Pet?

The World According to Blog

The Internet is in what can only be described as a "Blog Bubble." Blogs are everywhere and everyone seems have one. (Or two!)

A lot of people here have their own blogs. I'm curious how everyone decides what to write about. Some people don't like to use their real names and avoid talking about their real life. Others mask themselves in pseudonyms and talk about their relationships. Some pick a topic (like politics or music or sports) and write endlessly about it. Others find themselves in a kind of blogging community and aim their posts in that direction. Sometimes the blogoshphere seems a little like the lunchroom in high school.

More generally, how has blogging affected your life? How has it enriched it? Is it just another tool for distraction at work like computer Solitare or is it a deeper facet of a new kind of global reality?

nobody puts baby in the corner

we all know that our formative years are greatly influenced by all sorts of factors (books, music, movies, friends/family). what i find interesting are the "facts" we absorb during this years that we carry on to adulthood.

case in point: a friend of a friend wanted to get an abortion a few years ago, but couldn't afford it. the mutual friend told me about this financial concern and i wondered why $300 would be so hard to acquire thru saving and borrowing. my friend wondered where in the world i came up with that figure b/c it's so far from the actual cost. (to this day, i have no idea how much they cost). i wasn't sure where that figure came from until i saw dirty dancing on tv a few weeks ago. you all know the scene i'm about to describe -- the dance instructor gets "knocked up" so baby asks her dad for $300 while lying about the need for the money.

of course i realized as a child that dirty dancing was supposed to take place decades ago (late 50s/early 60s), but somehow, my young mind viewed that number as an accurate figure in the 80s and it retained it to this day.

Achievements, Continued.

As of five o'clock yesterday afternoon, it has been one full week (seven complete days) since I smoked a cigarette.

And I feel... okay. I miss it, sometimes. I try not to think about it, otherwise I'll miss it. I'm starting to feel the lack of it, chemically, I think. Which is weird. My body is craving it, yet my mind says NO.

I've quit before (once) and I was smoking the occasional cigarette a few days apart from each other. This is the longest for.. almost five years without. (Wow.)

Holding my breathe, crossing my toes, etc.

Im all grown up.

i start my first salary-ed job in the begining of september. i will be moving to new york and living a mere 40 from nyc by train.

(scared)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Anyone see it? Let's discuss.

I did! I LOVED IT!

I will write about it in the comments section so I won't ruin it for anyone.

Villain! Thy Name Is Morning.

For a few weeks now, I have to get up in the dark portion of the morning to make it on time for work. I've actually had to wake up earlier, when I worked in a coffeshop in downtown Manhattan and lived in the Bronx. But if I was waking up early, I was opening the shop and my shift would be over by like noon or 1 and I'd be home by the early afternoon. This is different.

Today, this glorious Monday, around three-thirty I really started to burn out. My brain was fried and I started feeling claustrophobic in that low-ceilinged office. Somehow, I made it through to five and then through an hour of rained-on traffic to come home. Put on a little music, sip some coffee. Relax for once.

I ask again, how the fuck do people do this their entire lives? This whole working and getting up and doing it again and again every single day.

I'll say it again, Reality is totally overrated.

How Rude! - Part 2

Movie-going etiquette is pretty simple. During the movie, shut up.
But what about during the previews? I guess a little chit chat is OK.
What about during the pre-preview commercials?

Last night I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which I loved and will likely post about soon). During "The Twenty", which is what Regal cinemas calls the time before a movie when they play commercials, I was having an ordinary conversation and catching up with the two people I was with. We weren't trying to be particularly quiet because the previews still haven't started and there were just Cingular and Nike ads playing on screen.

During this conversation, the two men in front of us kept on turning around and giving us the eyes of death. After about the third time I said - Do you have a problem? And the guy continued to give his awful stare. I then said something about how this is a COMMERCIAL playing on the screen and nobody cares about it. He said "that's subjective" (what a loser thing to say) and then I said that we are allowed to talk and once the previews come on we will shut up. He then turned around and we continued to talk and occasionally said something like GEEZ it's THE TWENTY, how could anyone possibly care about these stupid commercials that you can see on television!

What do you think? For one - pre-preview commercials should be banned - they are dumb - just play the cheesy music and give us some trivia or simple ads for local restaurants or something.
Second - talking during those commercials - am I wrong? I mean honestly, this guy was a jerk, right?

The weekend

Why does the internet world go silent on the weekend? Are we all that cool that we actually have something to do on our days off? Because I know for sure that I am a geek and check the internet way too much.

Have a great weekend all --- see you when you are back to being internet dorks.

The Daily Show

Many of you may watch the very funny Daily Show on Comedy Central -- but do you ever wonder about those people that correspondents like Ed Helms interview?

Well in Broward County Florida a woman was fired from her job for taking part in an interview on the Daily Show last week. She works for the Broward Art Guild which had a showcase of controversial art ("explicit art depicted an Arab sheik having his way with President Bush over an oil barrel" and "another local artist featured in the exhibition for his depiction of Pope Benedict surrounded by Nazi images").

I guess the Daily Show found about about this exhibit (and of course found it hilarious) and wanted an interview. The executive director agreed to do an interview and fumbled on some questions (as all guests do on this show) and she was fired! The board who fired her said she wasn't communicating properly with the board and so she was fired. Maybe she didn't ask permission -- who knows?

So those people they interview are for real!

interesting approach to reduce the aids epidemic

a lawmaker in uganda has pleged to pay the tuition for any girls (no boys) from his district who remains a virgin when she leaves school. the girls will have to submit to a gynecological exam administered by health workers.

a nationwide education campaign helped curtail rates in uganda from 30% to 6%, but the Kayunga district is still suffering greatly. it's this lawmaker's attempt to reduce the AIDS infection rate in his district. he wants to promote both girls' education as well as healthy and responsible choices.

i'm all for anything that will help reduce the epidemic. i think for a developing country where many youths cannot pursue higher education because of financial constraints, this could be a great plan. what do you think? i can't imagine what would happen if a US resident offered a similar deal.

zw, here's the link you wanted http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/07/20/uganda.virgins.reut/

Today's fun news...

Yay for Gays!
Canada just legalized gay marriage - they now join the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain in helping bring law in line with reality.

In other news....
A funny Reuters article today was actually called "Get ready to email this one to your friends..."
Article had nothing to do with email -- it said that a group of teachers in England want to change the word "fail" on report cards to "deferred success" -- i guess to make the kids feel better about themselves.

Anyone else got a good news story of the day?

Fun to get you through your today...

If your day is as blah as mine - you might need some entertainment.

Check out this website that creates POSTCARDS for any image you can search on the internet.

Just type in a search term and a bunch of weird photos will show up that look like postcards. Something to try to waste a little time....

If anyone comes up with a particularly interesting search term, let us know!

What does your day consist of?

Does it feel like many days blend into each other because the same things happen all the time?

Well I just realized that almost every day I am contacted by some attorney being extremely rude and telling me something jerky -- and then I have to try and defend myself and then deal with his bullshit. It isn't my fault that attorneys don't know how to comply with certain rules -- if they don't comply I call them out on it -- and then they get all pissy when they are caught.

What is even more frustrating is that they try to belittle me and instead of asking for me when they call my office they say something like "let me speak to what's her name" --- um hello I have a name. In fact, I have a Bar number just like you! Or if they do know my name they try to play on the fact that I am a young girl that probably doesn't know anything.

So I guess my day consists of being disrespected a lot.

here's hoping no one's looking

every year, i promise myself that i'll get fit so that when i'm old, i can say to myself, "oh to be __ years old again." it never happens b/c i'm a lazy fool. however, i'm finally mature enough to be concerned about diabetes and heart problems, so i'm making life changes.

to become healthy, however, i have to overcome a huge hangup: i can't work out with people around. if there are people exercising, i can feel my confidence deflate and i end up going home with my tail in between my legs. why do i need confidence to go to the gym? b/c every gym i've ever joined has been an exclusive thin/beautiful-people-only club. i can't work out b/c i feel like every person is thinking that i'm bringing the pretty quotient down. so i always end up psyching myself out of going to the gym, unless i know it's some weird hour when i know few people will be there.

what can't you do with people around?

War of the Worlds

WARNING WARNING WARNING

IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MOVIE WAR OF THE WORLDS DO NOT READ THIS POST - i am about to give it all away.

Who saw it? What did you think?

I think you either love or hate this movie. No in between. (I hated it. All of it.)

I will post my opinion in the comments section - so if you want to be spared the details of the movie - then don't click on the comments section.

Achievements

This year has been one for growth, change and achievements. I have fully entered into a new professional world and will soon be moving into a new apartment. Elad just got a great new job (CONGRATS!!) which I am super proud of right now. We are both growing into this new part of our lives --- eeeeek ---- adulthood!

What does all this mean in light of my post about the Quarter Life Crisis? Are the mid-20 somethings out there just afraid of something that isn't really a problem? Are the standards just too high? Maybe it is just a fear of that whole "sell out" factor?

Achievement seems to be possible but we tell ourselves we are going to fail. And when we really try, some how things manage to work out.

So does this mean that hard work pay off?

Wal Mart

Today in the news I heard two interesting stories about Wal-Mart

First - Walmart is now going GREEN! They are going to build new stores (??change existing stores??) to become more eco-friendly. That includes solar power use and some other stuff that I can't remember because I heard it on the radio a few hours ago.

Second - Walmart has a dating program! It has already been working in Germany (yes, there is Walmart in Germany). The deal is that on Friday nights, singles come to Walmart and get a basket with a red bow on it (this way searching singles know who each other are). They are free to walk up to each other and chat, but if they are shy there are spots in the store that are designated to spark love -- including a stand that sells chocolates and wines! Ooo La La

I think shopping and crusing for boys would be fun - but maybe not in Walmart. I bet this same program would be excellent in music stores.

Update

Dad has a ticket booked for this Tuesday afternoon! Going to Italy! Lucky guy.

Blank Canvas

Moving into a new place can be exciting. You can fill this new space with all the things you always wanted. Elad and I (ok maybe just me) are going to be shop-a-holics for the next few weeks finding all the little things that we will probably find useless in a few months.

Is there anything in your home that you think is the best invention ever? Something you think every home should have but usually doesn't? Something that you couldn't image your life without?

I have a rubber gripper to open stubborn jars that has always been helpful and will join us on this move.
And of course, the coffee machine.
To purchase: plastic bag holder.

Moving on Up!

Great News! Elad and I are moving! (In a month)

Ok well not like we are moving all that far. Just to South Beach (Miami). Right now we live in Hollywood Beach (which is like an hour North with a lot of Canadians and older folk). Soon we will be living in supposedly one of the coolest spots - but us two nerds are going to stick out like sore thumbs. Oh well, as long as there are young people and 24hour stores that we can walk to then we will be happy :) Oh, and don't worry, Bubba will be joining us, the building is pet friendly.

What is important to you when looking for a place to live?
Big Apartment? Walking Distance Stores? Parking? View? Running Water?

If you could move anywhere, where would you go? Why?

Would you change anything about your current neighborhood?

Link's Got A Sword, Yo!

Who else loves a good rant?

I do! I do!

in the words of stephanie tanner, "how RUDE!"

sometimes the rudeness of people leaves me completely speechless. (yes, i know, hard to imagine).

i was la dee dah'ing my way down the street the other day. i was on my way to work. it was a beautiful day: the sun was bright, the birds were chirping, the air quality was great, the dog crap under my foot was...hold up. dog crap?? yes that's right, i was so entranced by the beauty of the morning that i completely missed the HUGE pile of dog crap some inconsiderate jerk left in the middle of the sidewalk. this pile was so huge, for a minute, i was thought i was in washington square park and was looking at a tremendous mess of horse crap. i ended up stepping RIGHT on it and i went sliding down the sidewalk. i tried to scrap as much as i could off my shoe, but some crap was stuck in the groove between the heel and the sole of the shoe. i ended up having to endure the overpowering smell of the crap (WHAT do the owners feed this dog??) until i was able to wipe it off with a wet towel at work.

now one huge reason for me NOT to want to have children is knowing i'll have to wipe some baby's ass and pretend that the stench of the poop doesn't make me gag. but i figure that i'll love my child and so maybe i'll get used to it. however, this reluctance to deal with poop firsthand is what has kept me from owning a pet. if you're going to own a pet, take care of it and all its excrement. it's that simple.

what rudeness ruined your day or week?

Some People Gotta Chill

Parents group complains about ABC's Live 8 show

Apparently one song had a curse which was bleeped out of the next time zone's broadcast.

Really? Come on Parents - chill out! I know not everyone loved the whole Live 8 thing - but why do these complaining Parents have to attack good intentions? One stupid curse word!

But he's your father!

So my dad is a traveling guy. He likes to travel the world. He doesn't have a residence. And he isn't heard from for months at a time. Caribbean. Spain. Italy. England. India. That is until he wants to come to your neighborhood.

Upon his visits, he books a flight and says he is going to stay for a week. Suddenly the return flight is cancelled and his bags are unpacked in your guest room.

At first the situation is pleasant, because he is my father and I don't see/hear from him that often. But suddenly after a month I don't see an end to his stay. He needs to be driven everywhere and all food prepared for him. He wants to be treated like a guest but looks more like a roommate.

What is one to do?

Unfortunately, my sister, who lives in the town over from me, is in this dilemma right now. She keeps on begging me for help and I don't know what to do. I invited him to stay at my house, but I don't have a guest room like my sister has so he doesn't want to stay with me.

And of course, that ever annoying fact that he did provide for us for many years of our lives -should that make us want to put a roof over his head for awhile? Should that allow him to make his vacations endless on my dollar?

Poor Elad

Elad is in the dark. Our internet went out two days ago (out of nowhere) and now he is just sitting at home hoping for it to turn back on.

You never know how much you are addicted to something until it is taken away from you.

holy grail

does anyone think that there is a "holy grail" as far as artistic expression goes? in terms of music, books, movies, art, etc....

was thinking about this today and was curious if anyone else had considered this.

What Would You Do If You Could Do Anything ? 3

What's your Dreamjob?

There's so many possible careers and passions to follow in this world. In a way, we're lucky. Still, many of us (myself included) are forced to pursue banal careers while waiting for our passions to explode and provide for us.

Forget all that! Forget the dollar. Forget responsibilites. Forget reason and logic. If you could do anything, what would you do with your life?

how do you feel about walking?

lets face it.
we take walking for granted. everyday we abuse our ability to walk. and then when we cant walk, we get distraught. or at least i did. i took a 25 foot fall climbing this weekend and bruised my right thigh so deep, you cant even see the bruise....yet. going up stairs is a chore. going down stairs is a chore. soon i will be able to walk again, but i will no longer take it for granted. each step will be much more thoughful than the previous.

Learning Something New

Every few days I learn something new - what did you learn today (or recently)?

I learned that Iraq would not allow Coca-Cola to be sold in their country because of the company's ties to Israel (not sure what that exactly entailed) but Pepsi is the Cola of choice in parts of the middle east. However, Pepsi was sanctioned for some reason so a cheaper knock-off version of Pepsi (same forumla, bottled in another country) has been sold until recently, when the sanction was lifted - now they have 2 forms of Pepsi.

While in the Car...

What do you listen to while you drive?

I recently lost interest in music radio and have over played many of my cds - so NPR is my new thing. I don't watch the news because of all the crap they talk about - but something is kind of soothing about the wlrn correspondents and that little chimey music they play between segments.

Everyday Frustrations - Part 2

Why is so much of our day wasted just waiting for something? There are all those catch phrases like "seize the day" but how are we supposed to get anything done when we are told to take a number?

In the past week I have had to wait for 2 hour delayed airplanes, lines at building permit offices, cashiers, a locksmith, traffic -- and the entire time I just nervously tapped my foot with my hands on my hips - just hoping that someone would finally say they were ready for me.

Dear Dictionary,

I have a new word for you. I want you to include it in your awesome body of work. It's like another word, but better.

leepy

- Tired.
- To be in a state of sluggishness.
- Similiar to sleepy, but stronger. Too leepy to use S's (which take effort to form and enunciate.)

Usage:

"I'm leepy."

"I'm so leepyhead." (A colloquialism.)

Take note.

on a more up note, two things:

i, robot, with will smith, was actually good. suprisingly.

and two, go check out this guys music. sooooooo good! http://magic.paintthesky.org/

A Moment of Silence

I want to take a serious moment to address what happened today. Let's forget our personal turmoil for a moment and just send our thoughts where they are needed.

London has one of the most advanced metro systems in the world. They have surveillance cameras and years ago they even got rid of street garbage cans to protect the city from hidden bombs. But despite their attempt to safeguard their citizens an attack has taken place. My heart truly goes out to every person in that city right now.

Considering the precautions that were taken - does this mean that terrorism is inevitable?

Everyday Frustrations

Do you wake up to something everyday that just drives you insane?

For the last three months, I wake up to a never-ending construction site inside my house.

What Does Your World Look Like?

Perspective is everything.

People think, talk, act, and socialize depending on the reality surrounding them. From the stark right angles of the big city to the endless, flat, plains of suburbia, to the lush green of rural areas, reality is dictated by geography. It burrows into our brain and influences everything about us (whether we're aware of it or not.)

So, what does your reality look like?

Happy 4th of July!

Hello blog readers -- just wanted to make a quick post and wish you a fun 4th!

Hope you are all getting a good view of explosives and a few beers in your belly!

when does someone have too much power?

sandra day o'connor has just announced her retirement from the supreme court. our commander in chief will now most likely get to name two justices, one of them to be the chief justice. not so good if you are agains the christain right. o'connor was an important swing vote in abortion and other important issues. with bush now deciding who gets to replace her, and probablly soon rehinquist too, it could get kinda ugly.

the story is here:
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/us/supreme_court

Site Note

Shawn and I are going to be exceedingly, unusually, busy this holiday weekend so we won't be able to post much here. But, we'll be back with brilliant new topics after July 4th.

And I just wanted to say a big THANKS to everyone who's visited this blog and made our first week a major success. Especially the contributors: Julie, Tim, and Melody. And the commenters: ZW (acronym clarification: Zen Weasel) and Vincent and
Noella and Susheel.

If you're reading and not commenting, you're not playing along! So, get with it.

Hopefully, we'll continue to be enteraining (and informative! and revolutionary!) for a long time. See you in a couple days.