After this scintilating week of content

I'm heading out of town again! For me, the 4th of July means Stone Harbor. Have a great long weekend people.

Oh, and go see Superman Returns -- I saw it on Wednesday night, and it was pretty awesome.

Remembering 90210

The always entertaining Best Week Ever blog has a roundup of 90210 characters/actors. It was a lot of fun to read, and kicked me back in time to the simpler days of loving Dylan McKay with all my heart, and believing in blonde power above all else (as I always always chose Kelly over Brenda). But the piece irked me, as it kept getting one thing majorly wrong. One thing that is very important, at least in my eyes. Kelly & Brandon did not end up together! He left the show before it even ended! Kelly and Dylan were together in the final scene! What's wrong with you people?? Also, the Kelly/Dylan relationship went on for years and years, in the background of every other relationship both of them ever had, whereas Kelly/Brandon was a comparative blip. I mean hullo, anybody else remember the previous life flashbacks of Kelly and Dylan in the Wild Wild West? Soul mates! So, uh, stop it guys. Kelly & Dylan 4 Eva!

One thing they thankfully got right, however, was that Donna and David totally did it during college. Towards the end of the series, the show -- and people at large -- seemed to forget that and were all going on about Donna's virginity. But nay! They totally did it, in the beach appartment. Donna had short hair and wore really lame white lingere. Never forget people! Donna Martin was not a virgin when she got married. Read: Donna is a slut.

Oh, and, by far my favorite part of the post, regarding David Silver: "[he] inexplicably turn[ed] pie-and-coffee hangout The Peach Pit into an after-hours nightclub (which was somehow never affected by competition from LA’s more “posh”, less “diner-like” bar scene)."

(Even though I have questions about the accuracy there, as I remember Valerie having a strong involvement in the Peach Pit After Dark. Really, this parenthetical statement is just an excuse to link to this.) Jeremy Jordan! Alright!

While I was Gone...

Toothpaste for Dinner covered two of my favorite topics -- Emo and Making Out. So, who wants to make some emo faces and make out?

I'm back!

And tan, and relaxed, and embarassingly blonde. The Radeckerts are happily married and enjoying their honeymoon in Aruba, and the vacationers are back to the real world. It was a great vacation on Sanibel Island. Note I said "vacation," not trip -- it was the first real one of those I've had in I don't know how long! Six whole days of relaxing on the beach, you can't beat that! You can check out my pics here for a taste of our tropical adventure. I saw lots and lots of cool animals, including dolphins, sea falcons, lizards, pelicans, and a gopher tortoise named Darwin.

Oh, and, DC you're welcome -- I appear to have brought the sunshine back with me.

I'm in Florida, and You're Not

I mean, unless you are. But my point is, I'm on vacation in celebration of Rosie's nuptuals until next Wednesday, so have lovely weekends and look forward to the bloggy musings of a much tanner blogs t r e t c h next week.

Alright, Fess Up

Who came over to my house while I was at work today and cleaned my bathroom?

Cause that's the only reason I can figure for coming home to find that my toilet water is blue.

Creepiest Thing Possible

OK. The rational part of my brain isn't so much "believing" that this is real, but regardless, it's creepy as all hell. Super, duper, mega, ultra creepy. For those of you who haven't clicked away yet, I'm referring to Genepets. What's a Genepet?

The Genpets™ are Pre-Packaged, Bioengineered pets implemented today!

That’s right, Genpets are not toys or robots. They are living, breathing genetic animals.

Now, go to their site and look at the picture.

*Shudder*

The site (which seems to have been built with more effort than a hoax warrants) goes on to invoke the terms "human-animal hybrid," "Zygote Micro Injection," and "chimera." And doesn't this just make you want to rush out and get one for your kid?

Out of the packages,
Genpets™ have limited mobility. Like dolls, puppies or human babies, they must be looked after and cared for. Upon waking from its dormant state the Genpet™ will immediatly bond or imprint to your child.

They explain that Genepets aren't yet approved for resale, so, duh! That's why you can't get one yet. Not because they're not real! Because they are! Real, creepy, plastic-packaged, living, breathing results of DNA "modification." (Just like dolls, puppies and human babies!) *Double Shudder* If XMen 3 taught us not to remove third arms, shouldn't Jurassic Park have taught us not to f**k with DNA for recreational purposes? Go explore the "information" about Genepets and let me know what you think. I'll be showering and reconsidering my involvement in organized religion in the mean time.

Though I should mention, that if these had come out around the same time as I first saw ET, I'd have wanted one more than Heidi Klum wants Seal's piece.

Pitchfork Gives Us 100 Awesome Videos

"Have mondo-sized budget, will go overboard with the computer graphics to pay tribute to Eazy-E, I guess."

Say peace out to your afternoon's productivity.

Open Letter to MySpace Users #2

Dear Slutty MySpace Chicks,

I know you've got a job to do, and that job is to get people to pay to go to your Slutty Chick Porn Site. But just as it says in that little box on the left there, I'm straight. See? It also says that I'm here for friends, not slutty 20 year old internet porn. So, keep on doin what you gotta do to pay the bills, but I don't have any interest in being your "friend," or "paid subscriber." So, just to be clear, I will not be accepting any of your friend requests. That's nice that you think I seem "sweet" and a "great girl," but, thanks but no thanks.

Love,
Amanda

(Open Letter #1, for reference)

I want a Leopon, and I want one now.

Thanks to this compendium of the Top 10 Hybrid Animals, I now have a new animal to add to the list of Zoo Animals I'd Own If I Could. Current standings:

1. Baby cheetah
2. Baby chimp
   
3. Ring-tailed lemur
4. Leopon
   
5. Golden lion tamarin
6. Orangutan
   

Catherine, I'll leave the pandas for you.

Nautical Adventures... On a Boat!

Places I want to be right now: A boat. Preferably, Double Eagle.
Places I don't: Other places

I had a great weekend. It started off with some silly 80s nonsense at the State Theater as the the ladies of TMP and I took in The Legwarmers, with hundreds of sweaty, theme-attired fellow party goers. It was Friday night that I informed Sarah that she would in fact not be painting her guest bedroom on Saturday, but rather would be joining me for some boating. Boating!

She heeded my instructions to set her alarm and be at my house by 10. One pick up, a few pit stops, and a bag of baby goldfish later, we were on our way to Captain Jeff's boat in Occoquan. Don't worry -- I wore sunscreen (banana scented), and so did Sarah (ultra sheer). We took a ride up to Georgetown, docked for lunch and some world cup, and spent the rest of the day alternating between the dock and the water. Not too shabby. We docked for the evening and played music really really loud (much to the delight of the people dining at Sequoia) and took a really beautiful late night monument tour.

Pause for intermission while Stinker sniffs my eyelids.

OK, they were apparently up to snuff, I can continue.

One of the most memorable moments occured when we were returning to the boat after lunch.

(Passing some girls)
Me: Fun fact -- I have that shirt
Patrick: Funner fact -- I hooked up with that girl

Whether it was regarding the number of monkeys on the boat, what the next hour's dance party would be, the worst bartender of all time, overly dressed passers by, the pinkest playing cards in all the land, fun with slideshows and iTunes, commemorating all of the adventures at sea Sarah, Kasey and I have shared, naming that tune, an overabundance of club soda or a shortage of limes, we had lots of good times with lots of good people.

Oh, and Chang, I hope you find your wedding ring man.

You can see the pics Alyssa took up on my flickr page. The video of Jeff dancing on the bow -- that dies with me.

Is it just me

Or is dubbing something you've just created "viral" overstepping things a bit? Something has to first spread virally before being classified as viral. Right? Or has this term become like "pop" music, where it doesn't actually mean popular, but a genre? If I recorded myself dancing around my bedroom and never put it online, would that be a viral video, just by virtue of being? Much like helmet laws, this is deeply philosophical. I hope you enjoyed this popular famous viral blog post.

According to Maryland's Esteemed Governor Ehrlich

The issue of helmet laws for motorcycles is a "deeply philosophical one." He said it twice on the radio this morning. I'm sure that if Socrates, Descartes, Voltaire or Kant were alive today, they'd all sit around pondering the finite meanings of Helmet Liberty.

A little Shakespeare for that ass

Last night Jenna and I went to see Love's Labor Lost at The Shakespeare Theater Company. I was a bit warry at first when I realized that this was one of those let's put the play in a crazy different setting and hope it works! type deals. I generally find that approach to be all affect with little relavence, and that they often add nothing to the story. When I realized that the particular brand of re-imagining here included setting the play in 1960s India, where the courtiers in search of englightenment were a rock band, the fool a burn out, the French royalty a Vespa-riding gang of gogo femmebots... I was even more worried. But the production took itself with a grain of salt and was just silly enough to be awesome and hilarious (though, and times, the costumes were a little too wacky -- an animal print pimp coat was repurposed as a Spanish military one). Oh, did I mention that they kind of turned it into a musical? Yeah. It could have potentially been a ridiculous piece of crap, but it was genius. Loved it! If someone happens to offer you a free ticket to this show, as happened to me, take it! Or, ya know, pay for one. It was great.

And, one of those gogo femmebots was played by eldest Cosby daughter Sabrina La Beauf (aka, Sondra). The rest of the cast was littered with familiar faces, mainly memorable guest stars on favorite tv shows like Grey's Anatomy, American Dreams and 24. I saw the words Law and Order about a trillion times throughout their bios, but I've never watched a single episode, so I can't attest to any fame in that arena.

In summation, I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard a few times. Go see it!

Got Baby Skills?

Seeking: Individual with expendable time in the Northern VA area on June 29th. Individual must posess baby skills, for the care of babies, and the sitting of babies. Babies! Actually, just baby, singular. Name: Rebecca. Cuteness: Off the charts. If you know someone who meets these criteria, please contact the management.

I've Just Seen the Worst Movie Trailer of My Life

Thank you, Becky, for sharing the wonder that is Stump the Band with me. If you want to see the most hilariously awful movie trailer of all time, follow that link. In case you're curious, here's the movie's description:

Four hot chicks in a punk rock band, while on tour, get lost in the wilds of Wisconsin. There's a guy out there with a very serious foot fetish. He likes to collect them like baseball cards. It's a rock and roll horror adventure with a little bit of comedy mixed in.

Enjoy.

It's Good to Know that Passions is Still Absurd

Thank you, Best Week Ever Blog, for reminding me of the glorious hilarity that is Passions. How in the world has this schtick been on the air for years now, and yet Veronica Mars has to fight for renewal. *Sigh.

Oh, and, this could be really cool.

And, I love my mom. She just called me to remind me that her fridge is full of good food, in case I want to raid it for lunch.

Drugs Are Great, Until They Sell Out

Or at least, that's what I've learned from VH1's series, The Drug Years. The series, running all this week, is actually pretty good. It replaces the omnipresent Ironic VH1 Cast of Comedians with a panel of people who actually did drugs growing up, and have a lot to say about it. Monday night's episode taught me that Peter Coyote loves drugs, especially acid. And that acid is totally awesome and only good things come from it. Last night's episode, however -- about the commercialization of the psychadelic movement and counter culture -- taught me that once things go main stream, people die and things stop being cool. And Woodstock and the Summer of Love? Totally for amateurs and wannabes. I've seen some great footage and heard some good commentary, but the overarching message of this series, at least so far, is that sell outs and posers totally kill everyone's buzz. And LBJ was a douche. So like, I totally did acid way before you did, so don't go acting like you're a real acid user, man. Cause I know about acid, when it was pure. I can't wait to hear what they have to say about coke, or Death Cab.

John Updike

John Updike was on the Today show this morning, discussing his new book, Terrorist. It sounds like a good read. It was a charming interview, which I suppose is bound to happen when interviewing a man often touted as the best living American author. Then I realized -- wait a second, I don't think I've ever read any Updike. I think when this interview started, I thought he was John Irving. Weird. Maybe I've read an Updike short story here or there, but I'm really not sure. So, my question to you, fellow bookish types, what Updike should I read?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

When I tried to go to Cute Overload just now, this is what I saw:



Say it aint so Cute Overload! Say it aint so!

If you don't feel like clicking on that image to enlarge it, it says they've exceeded their bandwidth and have been shut down. NOOOOOOOOOO!

To Anyone Who May Have Seen a Suspicious Scene at Lunch Today

Despite appearances, I was not getting proposed to. The ring removal from pocket, box opening, look of happiness, and overly dramatic tear-wipe-off-with-napkin were not an invitation to matrimony. Not for me at least.My friend was showing me the ring intended for his lovely girlfriend. No names will be named, as for elements of surprise and all that, but, congratulations, mystery friend!

I'm running low on original thought, so here are some links that are funnier than I am today

If they'd left Dawn off of this list, I would have broken up with the internet.

I'm just kidding internet, we're together forever. But don't get any ideas about sharing a best friend necklace with Kriston and me. He's not down for the three way shit, just a one on one.

I have no recollection of the cause, but I bookmarked this in my blog notes folder. Given my complete distaste for and disinterest in all things Paris, I feel like I just got Punk'd.

It's still sitting on my DVR, but the reviews from my mom and Mrs. DCeiver lead me to believe that Meerkat Manor is this summer's hotness.

Startlingly accurage and creepy. Minutes upon minutes of effort have been thrown into attempts at coming up with homegrown versions of these, but I'm shooting blanks.

JetBlue was, is, and forever will be, First Class.

Seriously? The controversy that's blazing its way across morning news shows is the teenage version of the dog whistle? BTW, I can totally hear it and am therefore reafirming my youthful classification. I'm young! Ya hear me? Young!

The DCeiver chronicles one of funniest series of conversation topics I've participated in in quite some time. Photographic evidence chronicles exactly how enthralling it really was.

Why do people continually believe celebrities who go on Howard Stern and attest to the size of their manhood? I'm not calling Fez and Screech liars or anything, but in the list of Most Commonly Lied About Topics, that's gotta be in the top 5, somewhere between "Your Wife's Weight," "Number of People You've Slept With" and "Whether or Not You Actually Agree with Your Boss on Any Given Topic." Sure, Screech's girlfriend was there to "verify," but I'm not really in the practice of trusting anyone who nationally broadcasts a discussion of their endowment.

Please join me in welcoming the wonderful Lauren Holcomb to the blogosphere. Now, Lauren, tell me the truth -- how big is your penis?

Strange confluence of recent friend discussion topics and media coverage: "Much has been made of Mitch's nervous habit of touching his nose, was that a natural personal idiosyncrasy or something you and Richard Linklater came up with?"

Relief

I exhaled a big, relief-laden breath Sunday night as I exited the Black Cat and saw that the "Black Cat Black Cat!" guy was back on his usual perch. I hadn't seen him since the colder months set in and had began (begun?) to worry. But he's back, and all is well on 14th Street.

Oh, and the show was great too. The Spinto Band is awesome. Awesome I tell you!!

Matt Lauer Does Not Like Tom Cruise

Anybody else catch Matt Lauer's zing on Tom Cruise this morning? They were plugging a segment on how short men should dress, and Matt made a comment about Tom Cruise being 4'10". A moment later, Campbell Brown said that Cruise was actually 5'7", to which Lauer replied with something along the lines of (I'm paraphrasing, this happened right after I woke up), "Is he really only 5'7"? If I'd have known that before that interview I'd have really torn him apart." SAUCY! You don't usually get stuff that spicy on the today show. Al then made a comment about how he's never coming back to Today now, and Matt brushed it off with "Eh, he probably wasn't already." I still haven't had my coffee, so this may not be as funny as I think it is, but it's been sending me into fits of giggles all morning. Let's hear it for Team Lauer!

Look who's all up on Technorati

I decided to check technorati this afternoon, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a Mottram, all up in that piece. You know you're taking the blogging world by storm when you're name and face are up on the Technorati home page. Peruse Jamie's favorites, and take a minute to appreciate all of the quality bloggers Vienna, VA has turned out.

Animal World Face Offs Continue

We learned yesterday that dog beats crab and bear beats monkey. Today we find out that cat beats 7 puppies & mama dog. (thanks for the link, Alyssa)

Oh Shiloh

mads t r e t c h: wow, the jolie-pitt baby really is as beautiful as it should be
ike spivey: ha, it's got the big lips
mads t r e t c h: yup
ike spivey: where're the creepy countdown websites?
mads t r e t c h: eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwweeeeeeeee!
mads t r e t c h: drew!
ike spivey: it'll happen
ike spivey: maybe not today
ike spivey: maybe not tomorrow
ike spivey: but probably today
mads t r e t c h: sick
mads t r e t c h: it'll have its own dateline predator special
mads t r e t c h: "So, you thought you were meeting Shiloh Jolie-Pitt..."
ike spivey: ahh, there it is

Office

No, not The Office. Not my office. But a band called Office. They're the free download of the week on iTunes -- or rather, their song "Wound Up" is. I'm really enjoying it. How can you not enjoy a song with the lyrics, "let's go to the beach tonight, with a bottle of wine." Don't mind if I do! Moral of the story: get on over to iTunes and take advantage of this free ditty before it's replaced.

Thoughts Before My Commute

My coffee tastes weird today. I didn't do anything differently... maybe my taste buds are still recovering from last night, when Sarah pinked my drink. Gross.

I'd really like whatever guy I end up with to be a coffee drinker. He can take his coffee however he wants, but if he sweetens it, I'd question his masculinity if he uses anything but real, old fashioned sugar.

I just saw the new Keane video. It made me dizzy.

I'm going to see Cold War Kids and Tapes n Tapes tonight in the Charm City. I'm excited. Click on their pages and listen to find out why.

I'm in a World Cup pool organized by Santi. While I enjoy the World Cup (particularly the memories I have of watching it from pubs while studying in London), I certainly don't foresee my $10 investment gluing me to any tv's or changing any schedules. Anyhow, go England, Croatia, Poland, and Sweden!

My world traveling former roomie "Big White" Mike Coleman is returning from his travels this weekend! Yay! There's been a serious derth of people to watch Charmed with me since he left. Welcome back, dude.

A link here, a link there

• A few things have been discerned of late in the animal world -- dog trumps crab, bear trumps monkey. What could this mean for Gorilla vs. Bear?
  
• The folks at Cute Overload melted my heart even more than normal with this one. *Sniff
• Bizarro Matt Allen! (With real life Joey)
• Richard Kelly + SMG apparently doesn't = as bad as everyone would lead us to believe. Thank goodness!
  
• Those Brits just LOVE! Oasis
• New Decemberists album!
  
• Helpful information, especially since I've been plagued lately by the realization that I have next to no actual pictures or albums from my 20s, just digital.
  
• *cough*Bullshit!*cough*
• laaaalalalalalalaaaaalala
  

Actual Exchange from Tongiht's Jeopardy!

Alex: In a recurring sketch, Conan O'Brien predicts the future "In the year" this

Dan: What is 3000?

Marsha: What is 2006?

Up Yours, Stohlman

To preface, my interactions with Stohlman (the dealership where I bought my beloved 2004 Passat, my first new car) have been great. Their staff is very helpful and responsive, and because my car's new, I haven't needed much maintenance. I've gone the Jiffy Lube route for all but my first oil changes (after realizing it was cheaper and more convenient), so the service department and I haven't spent a lot of time together. I've heard horrific things about them from my fellow VW-owning friends, but hadn't had the pleasure.

Until today.

Friday afternoon, while driving home from work, I started to hear this dragging noise. Somewhere between a flat tire and the sound of Laura Cowden's muffler when Becky borrowed her car third year of college. Once I finally realized the sound was indeed coming from my car, and not every other car I passed, I slowly rolled into my parking lot to find that the strange plastic cover underneath the car had come loose. Great! (Especially considering that my car was scheduled to drive to New Jersey the next morning. And, thank you Liz, for letting us take yours.) I had been wanting to get my brakes inspected for a few weeks anyway, and my CD player hasn't worked in months (god bless the iPod), so I thought ok, it's time for a trip to Stohlman.

Couldn't get an appointment yesterday (which lead to taking a cab in to work, and a very complicated journey home that involved a ride to the mall from Sarah, and dinner and a movie with Jill). Appointment time: bring it in between 7am and 9am Tuesday. Deal. After a slow and precarious drive in this morning, I knew the pricetag wasn't going to be small. The 20,000 mile checkup they talked me in to cost $345. Whatever maintenance that results in + plastic undercarriage nonsense + audio equipment = not gettin out for under a grand. Did I mention that I don't exactly have a grand just laying around right now?

I anxiously awaited the call from Pascal, my service representative on the Green Team all afternoon. The dammage:

• Sunroof system drainage* (???): $90
• Replacing crazy plastic under car thingy: $290
• New rear pads & roters: $485

Yeah, I don't have $1,210 laying around either.

*As I learned/learned to fear in the great Hot Water Heater Explosion of 2005, anything that involves water aint nothin to f**k with, so I'll take this bait.

First question: What happened to the crazy plastic under car thingy?
Answer: Whoever changed your oil last didn't screw it back in properly.
Note to self: Get the to Jiffy Lube and ask for $290. Bring dad.

Second question: Is crazy plastic under car thingy necessary? And, what does it do?
Answer: I'd reccomend it. It basically protects your engine and everything. I mean, you could wait till your next service to replace it if you really watned to.
Interpretation: Totally not necessary. If Jiffy Lube gives me $290, I'll think about replacing it.

Third question: $485 for pads & roters?!?!?!?!
Answer: Yes
Action Item: Call dad.
Dad's advice: Call Merchant and C&C garage in Vienna. Get quotes from them. Tell them you're my daughter.
Results: It costs half of what Stohlman's asking in the real world.

At this point I called back Stohlman and cancelled the service to my brakes. Pascal hung up before telling me when my newly irrigated sunroof would be ready. So I called back. And have sneaking suspicion that Pascal totally hates my guts. Whatever.

Call Pascal back again.

Fourth Question: What's wrong with my CD player?
Answer: Yeah, we're probably gonna have to just replace that. We don't have any in stock.

Peace out Pascal. No clues were given as to the when/why/how of said CD player replacement, so again I say, God bless the iPod.

Now I sit here waiting, an hour past when my boss told me I could knock off early, waiting for Pascal to green light my sunroof. Ahhh, the joys of ownership.

Thank You, DCist

I now know that me and the president -- totally as famous as each other.

Also, which one of my friends (well, it's almost certainly Cat, Laura, Jayne or Lisa, based on the picture I was featured in -- and I've got $1 billion riding on Jayne) belongs to Late Night Shots?

My Summer's Shaping Up Quite Nicely

With one beach shore trip under my belt (and under my skin), the remaining sunshiney weeks promise a few more shakes at summer fun. My intrepid best friends Liz and Jenna and I will be heading to Baltimore on Thursday night to see Tapes n Tapes and Cold War Kids, a show I'm looking forward to, very much. Then on Sunday, T$ and I are checking out the Spinto Band, who I've already thanked here for making my name cooler. In a couple short weeks, L, J and I will be heading down to Sanibel Island for Rosie's wedding/Florida vacationasaurus. I'm told I'll be kayaking (insert chorus of "I want pictures!" here). A long fourth of July weekend in Stone Harbor and a surf girls weekend on Fenwick Island promise more splish splashy fun. And there's that $100 worth of American Airlines ticket money I have to use before August 1... any thoughts/invitations to extend? I was going to try and go west coast, but sadly, even with that $100 credit, I'd still be shelling out at least $500, which, I'm not really in a place to do at the moment. Throw in a couple parties (whether they be blogger heavy, commemorating major life changes, or in honor of a pig on a spit) and my 25th birthday and -- this summer -- it's gonna be good.

Dear Random MySpace Dudes

Writing me messages with subject lines like "Hey Shorty" do not intice me. Neither does telling me you "wanna kick it sometime," or that you like my page and want to get to know me. Pictures of you with your shirt off don't make me want to get to know you. (Same can be said for pictures of you posing with your motorcycle/muscle car/tattoo artist.) Neither does a comment in the favorite books section of your page about how reading is lame. Or if all of your friends displayed on your page are 19 year old girls in bikinis with boob jobs and bleached hair. In fact, unless you are the genetic meld of Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McCaunaughey, and your message to me is a transcript of the dream I had last night, I'm not going to be at all interested in anything you have to say. I appreciate the gumption it takes for a guy to approach an unknown girl, but one sentence about how I seem cool, or like a "down ass white girl" isn't gonna do the trick.

Thanks for listening, and better luck next time,
Amanda

Update: No lie, got this within a few minutes of posting this post: " oh my you are hot, do you have boyfriend? "

Ouch

"Amanda, you're getting a little red."
"It's ok, I don't feel like I'm burning."

How many years will it take for me to realize exactly how white and burn-prone I am? I was at the shore this weekend for a lovely anniversary party (happy anniversary Joel and Katka!), and a few short hours in the early afternoon sun did me in. I was getting that ttsssss painful sucking noise from strangers I passed at the Maryland House on the way home. My mom skipped the sunscreen lecture and moved right on to sympathy when she saw me, so you know I must have looked scary. After a vinnegar bath (let's hear it for old wive's tales), approximately one gallon of lotion and a good night's sleep, I'm a slightly duller shade of red, and I can't hear the radioactive pulsation of my skin anymore. (That last part was probably mostly my imagination, but my pastey bretheren can probably sympathize.) There's still quite a bit of heat eminating from my face... neck... earlobes... arms... chest... stomach... and thighs, but blisters seem unlikely. The most painful thing left is the endless chorus of "Whoa! You got some sun!" from coworkers.

While this post mostly serves the purpose of letting me bitch, I'd also like to remind anyone traveling with me to a sunny destination this summer (*cough* Jenna, Liz) to tell me I'm an idiot and hand me the Banana Boat when I say, "Well, it's ok, I already got one burn this summer so I should have a good base, I'm ok." I have such a selective memory when I'm near salt water, I'll need some reminding.

I realize this is sacreligious and all, but...

Does anyone else think that Thom Yorke bears a striking resemblance to Clay Aiken in this picture?

One Thing Leads to Another

I think that I'm doing something today that I've never done before. I'm not wearing any makeup. To work. None! The combination of oversleeping and heavy humidity inspired me to do nothing but throw the mane in a knot and make it a glasses-wearing kind of day. So yeah, I'm forging uncharted waters here. So far no one in the office has run from me, shrieking and covering their eyes, so I'll take that as a positive sign.

Instead of grooming this morning at all, I did what I often find myself doing before work -- making a playlist for the day. It always takes a fair amount of time that I don't technically have in the morning, but it makes me happy and gives me something to look forward to and set up my day around. Today's playlist is titled, "It's Humid and I'm Late for Work." The first song is "Together," from The Raconteurs album Broken Boy Soldiers. If you don't have this album yet, get the to a record store! It's not breaking new ground -- it wears its influences loud and proud, namely every noteable band from the 70s -- but it's just really, really good. Much in the same way that Brendan Benson (member of The Raconteurs)'s Alternative to Love was really, really good. It kinda sounds like all the music you've loved in your life, reworked and loveable all over again.

I like throwing people at work off by replying to coworkers that walk by my door and say, "good morning" with something along the lines of "hollar." 33 year olds with babies under a year old are generally taken aback or sent into fits of giggles by things like that.

I discovered recently that The Office actually is funny, and I do enjoy it. I'm referring to the tv show, though my office is also pretty funny, and I enjoy it too. Particularly my new job. I love my new job. Have I mentioned that yet? Cause I really, really do.

Oh, Word?

I don't know how many amongst my friends are as nerdy as I am, but one of the little spots of happiness in my days is the Dictionary.com Word of the Day email. Recently it's taught me two words that I didn't know and that are both high on the awesome scale, and will be folded into regular useage.

pleonasm \PLEE-uh-naz-uhm\, noun:

1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, "I saw it with my own eyes."
2. An instance or example of pleonasm.
3. A superfluous word or expression.


neoteric \nee-uh-TER-ik\, adjective:
Recent in origin; modern; new.

Neoteric is particularly awesome, and I plan to use it in many future blog-centric conversations.

Happy Friday, from your resident Word Nerd.