The Oceanic 6

SPOILER ALERT -- discussing what happened on tonight's Lost follows.


So, the Oceanic 6 and Hurley's comment about wondering if he's gonna "tell" and not saying anything about Ana Lucia to the cop clearly means that only six of them actually left the island, and never mentioned (for some reason) that anyone else survived, right?

Also: I watched the special they ran last night this evening, and that commercial that strung together all of Sawyer's nicknaming? Hilarious.

"Transparency: embrace it!"

So not only did Spencer write a truly remarkable piece today for the brand-spankin-new Washington Independent about the CIA's use of torture, he's also being all sorts of awesome and openly discussing criticism to his own work. Check out Sources Holler Back and have a good day.

A Good Dose of Rock

Last night A Bell and I drove up to Baltimore to see The Walkmen. And Dan. And Boyce's moustache. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I kind of, sort of, am a little bit into The Walkmen. Just a touch.

Anyhow, first of all, let me just say that Ottobar is a fantastic venue. Despite the overwhelming smokiness (it's sort of astonishing. they even banned smoking in the stage area and limit it to back rooms, but it is still just dank and gross. I never smell even remotely that bad after leaving a bar in VA. Maybe Galaxy Hut just has better ventilation?), it is pretty much ideal. A spacious bar area where you can sit and mingle, watch what's going on on stage, or if you don't have a good eye-line, watch it on the tv that's feeding the show to the bar. You can watch from the floor, or the balcony, which puts you about a foot away from the band that's playing and lets you sit down to enjoy it all up close and personal. Oh: and tickets were $12, and drinks were cheaper than all hell. I really, really like Ottobar.

Also: There was far less neon than I was expecting for a concert in Dan Deacon-ville. I guess The Walkmen draw a pretty monochromatic crowd.

I also really, really liked all three bands that played last night. It was a really well-chosen bill -- the three bands complimented each other perfectly. The Subjects were first up, and though I didn't watch their entire set, I heard it all and was quite impressed. They sound like White Rabbits (get to them in a minute) meets Jukebox The Ghost (btw: go see them tomorrow night at the Black Cat if you can. I can't. But totally would if I could, because they're great.).

Next up was White Rabbits, an NYC six piece that can't get a review without being compared to The Walkmen. And for good reason. The jangly instrumentation, focus on percussion and Leithauserian inflection leave them little room to expand on The Walkmen model. Hell, they even dress like them. But they take that rough, dark, classic rock approach and add a lightness and energy all their own. Half of the band (half!) is dedicated to percussion -- two full drum kits*, and a bassist who sometimes takes to the stand alone snare. They all have reaaaaaaaally nice instruments -- gorgeous Gibson guitars and a really sweet Nord keyboard (used in accompaniment with a piano). And they're just the prettiest things you ever did see. And could probably all fit in my pocket. Tiny skinny preppy boys that really know how to pack a punch. They've also managed to find two vocalists who sound almost identical to one another, which gives their songs a sort of choral effect. Highly recommend their album, Fort Nightly, and recommend their live show even more than that. I liked, very much. I even bought a tshirt. Which, stunk of smoke so I have to wash it before I wear it.

Then my pals took the stage and ripped through a really short set (can't blame them, last night of the tour) comprised of mostly new material. A few of these songs they've been kicking around since 2006, so I'm familiar with them, but some of them were new to me and I really liked what I heard. No horn section this time around, so it was more classic Walkmen type stuff. I really enjoyed it. I think I've mentioned this before, but "I Lost You" is the freakin hotness and I cannot wait for that album so I can listen to a studio version on repeat for days. They only played a few older songs, and didn't play "The Rat," and surprisingly, I heard no one in the crowd yell for it either. One cry for "Thinking of a Dream I Had," but aside from that it was a very receptive audience. Go Baltimore!

Unrelated: My dad was totally at this show.

*So hot right now

"We've got higher life expectancies these days but we're in a fast-paced, globally-warmed, been-there-done-that, terrorism-threat-level-permanently-orangeish world where there are few legal ways to soothe the soul; and sometimes chocolate and pictures of kittens just aren't enough. Many of us emerge from our square-ish homes, travel in boxy vehicles to spend the day in a cube of a workspace. Why not hit the bar for some actual social human interaction? The ancient Greeks had Dionysus; we have happy hour." Here here, Jezebel.


Also: In addition to my previously mentioned sojourn to London, I am also going to Costa Rica in April. "With over 160 rooms situated in 23 buildings, the Occidental Grand Papagayo blends harmoniously along the bluff showcasing stunning ocean views and extraordinary sunsets. The all-inclusive rates allow guests to enjoy meals in three restaurants, unlimited snacks and drinks, including an open bar in four bar areas, a weekly cocktail party, endless daily activities and sports, Fun Club and live evening entertainment - all included in the nightly room rate." This spring is going to be awesome. If you're wondering how I can afford to take so much time off at the beginning of the year, well, this is my fifth year with my company. Which means, I get an extra week of vacation. I am spending that week in Costa Rica.

Surprisingly Delicious

A few months ago I mistakenly threw a Milford Valley Farms chicken breast with tomatillo in my grocery basket while stocking up on frozen burritos. It's been sitting in my freezer ever since. Tonight, I finally decided to bake it up and, hey! It was actually really good! Not a culinary masterpiece, but, way better than standard frozen fare, by leaps and bounds. And I think that's mainly because of the absence of one thing: red peppers. For some reason, people who make frozen foods feel compelled to include red peppers in everything they make, and as a result, most frozen foods taste exactly the same. I like raw red peppers as a veggie snack, but keep them out of my prepared foods. But back to the original thought: this Milford Valley Farms chicken breast was a welcome surprise on an evening when I thought that I'd be eating cheese and orange slices for dinner.

I completely forgot to mention this weekend's most exciting development

I am going to London! I bought tickets to go visit Liz in April. I am SO EXCITED! I spent 2 weeks there visiting Meagan in high shool, and studied abroad there during college. I love that city. Any suggestions for things to see that may not have been there before?

Perhaps next time I travel to Europe, I should cross some others off my list. Next time. For now: London!

Three Day Weekends Kinda Rule

It is 5:06 p.m. on Monday and I am still in my pajamas. I haven't been a lazy sack though -- been thoroughly cleaning the house all day, as well as tearing through Dr. Who DVDs and cooking. The rest of the weekend was spent eating delicious food (Catherine was 100% right about Hook -- that was one of the best meals I've had in this city... maybe ever), drinking a lot of beer, celebrating the birth of Kay, and by some convoluted mess of drunken reasoning and defending Jezebel, Kriston is now pregnant with my child. The battles over which NFL team's apparel to dress this child in will be pretty brutal, I think. But at least it'll be tall and be able to grow a really awesome beard. Also: I ate popcorn and watched The Sound of Music with Sommer at 4am (which means, I watched about 15 minutes of the movie then passed out), and also maybe might have gone to see 27 Dresses. I like Katherine Heigl, so sew me. I think I'll balance out that negative credit to my cultural tastes and go see There Will Be Blood or Cloverfield tonight.

OK, now, back to Dr. Who.

It's Beardface'!

Sometimes, I find myself wondering what it would be like to experience things that I never will -- external genitalia, flight, not knowing who Britney Spears is. Lately I've been wondering, what would it be like to have a beard? I asked a handful of my hairy friends who happened to be on gchat as these thoughts occurred to me, and here are a selection of their responses.

"Man. Food sure does get caught in my beard."

"It does keep your face warm—really, that's no joke. Sometimes you can feel hairs get tangled and pull your face in weird directions. It is quite itchy for a few days as its' starting to develop. As long as mine is, it sometimes snags on stuff. You never spill anything on your shirt—ever. That part is awesome. Because it all catches in the beard.It has to be long, or the eating has to be quite sloppy indeed, for this to be true. Yep, built-in face bib."

"it's like taking my pet gerbil with me where-ever i go"

"it feels like the end of a thousand of those plastic pieces that attach price tags to clothing"

"pros: i look older, people think you're tougher
cons: i still have to shave everywhere else, i have to act tougher"

"it is annoying, gross, i don't like it, it itches, starts to hurt after a while, yet everyone seems to want me to have one. just the thought of hair coming out of my face makes me cringe. that's disgusting!"

"Well, when you first get one, it's really itchy. But that goes away. After that, it's pretty fun. I end up stroking it quite a bit. It's fun to look different than normal, also. Downsides-kissing. I would never have one in the summer -- too warm, sweaty, etc. And when I've occasionally shaved it off in the winter, I notice that my face is considerably colder. I mainly like it because it's neat to be able to alter one's face so much, temporarily. Also, because I look like a lumberjack. And, you only have to shave your neck and trim the beard, no entire face shaving. So that's nice, saves time. Clearly I've given this a lot of thought."

"It's warm. I've had one every winter since, um, 94? I think. Plus, w/o it, I look 23. or 17. And think of all the great bearded brothers. Santa, Jesus, Che, Malcolm, Milard Fillmore."

"Its mostly unnoticeable, except for your neck and any time you turn your head it sometime catches on your clothes like velcro. It makes me look older, probably most others too. You know how if your bangs or hair fall into your face you can kind of blow them off by puffing air upwards out of your mouth? You can't do that with a bear or mustache. You take it for granted. Even a weeks growth means having to use your hands to get anything of your face. Not having to shave is a huge draw. But its really like a girl having a really short haircut. Its so easy and cuts 5-10 minutes of your morning. Its also great for conversation, and keeping crumbs for later. One thing most of the bearded gents you know dont have to worry about it dealing with sweat though. But a beard is like a sponge for face sweat. You go to the gym or running and the first 20 minutes you dont notice anything. But suddenly, you touch your face and its like a faucet turning on. Its unpleasant to kiss for at least 3 weeks. But then its get soft. I've only kissed one dude with facial hair and it was too soon."

And now I know. Can you guess who said what?

Hullo!

I've seen this J.J. Abrams talk linked all over the place, but nobody has mentioned the connection between his "mystery box" and Meghan's box on Felicity. This seems so obvious to me. Dude was around, spreading magic in one way or another, long before Lost. That is all.

Actually, no. Also noteworthy: J.J. Abrams gives a hell of a talk.

Splish Splash

As the snow falls in big, fat, accumulating flakes outside my window, I'm naturally thinking about swim wear. I recently bought this bikini and am a little bit in love with it. I also really wish that this weren't so fraking expensive. Who has that much money to spend on that little fabric?

Lulls Lukewarm Lullabies in your Left Ear

I chose Outkast for today's ride home and couldn't help but think, man, all of this really holds up. Spottieottiedopaliscioius, B.O.B., Elevators, Hey Ya, Ain't No Thang, Rosa Parks, Southernplaylisticadilacmuzik, Ms. Jackson, Git Up, Git Out -- these are all still really great songs.


In other bland thoughts I had during my commute, the following things will almost always make me like a song (or at least, listen to it more closely and be more forgiving of its faults): trumpets, snare drums, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, hand claps.

Link Drop

SO, what is the #1 sound you would never ever want to hear?


Also: spot on, sister. Spot on.


Radiohead dates floating around the tubes: untrue.


Awesome. Awesomer.


If you watch Gossip Girl, I hope you were reading NY Mag's coverage of it all season. If not, here's a swift and hilarious recap. But f'reals, go back and read them all. They are gold.

Learning things about myself all the time

As I ate my breakfast this morning, I noticed something sort of weird. I had 2 pieces of toast, and was eating them separately, but apparently have a very methodical approach to eating toast. It's not something I've ever thought about or been conscious of, until twice I looked down at my plate to find identical silhouettes on my plate. I wonder how many things I do each day with set patterns I'm unaware of. OK I just realized how boring this blog post is. But uh... I already wrote it so I'm sticking with it.

So far the best thing about today: I'm not in Delaware. I was supposed to go there today for a work meeting, and it got canceled at the last minute. Also, my coworker told me I look like a superhero today. Probably because I'm wearing color blocks of red, yellow and black. I think he was making fun of me, but I'm going to take it as a compliment. Also: TenPenh tonight with JP, Stace Dawg and A Bell! Restaurant Week! Can't wait. Tomorrow night: sorority sisters and indebleu. Saturday: mom and Hook. Woo!

It's Not a Monster -- It's a Monster Truck

Fun weekend. Very fun. Here's a slice (pun intended): Trae is a beer-fueled troubadour. I hope you enjoy these songs about a truck, a spaceship and pizza.

I love it when this stuff happens

Yesterday, I read a glowing review of this restaurant on DCist. Today, some coworkers come and grab me for a sushi lunch and that's where we end up. It truly was remarkably good. I mean, really fantastic.

Then, as we're leaving, everyone at the table starts doing the "awkward turtle," which I just learned about on Wed from Young Lord Ficke.

Ring Around the Wino

The Problem: I like red wine. I like red wine a lot. But everytime I drink it, no matter how much or how little, I always end up with that very unattractive and very telling dark ring on the inside of my lips well through the next day. I've tried makeup remover. I've tried putting chapstick or lip balm on beforehand and during as a buffer, but to no avail. I've tried using lip scrubby stuff and it kinda works, but not wonderfully.

The Solution: Is there one? That is my question. In a world where Sephoras reside in every shopping mall from coast to coast, someone's got to have invented a lip stain remover, right? There are removers for eye makeup, why not for red wine on your smacker? Also: this is the least helpful advice ever.



Somewhat related: Long ago we dreamed up a DCist post where we'd experiment with the best ways to get club stamps off your hand. It never came to fruition, but here's my personal approach (which I clearly didn't use this week, as I stare at the remnants of my Velvet Lounge handstamp from Wednesday night): if you have the foresight, go ahead and put some lotion on beforehand -- lay down a barrier. Then, wash your hands as soon as you get in the club so it doesn't sink in. But the real key is the aforementioned makeup remover when you get home. It'll get almost all of it off, and by the time you're done scrubbing it in the shower the next morning, you're golden and don't look like a club kid to your coworkers.

teh internet is bountiful

it's been a funny week on the tubes. click, laugh, repeat.

• drunk history, ft. michael cera
• yr screen is dirty? i can has time to clean it?
• va goes all scarlet letter (or, yellow plate) on drunk drivers
• insane baby names
• beard, thy name be inspiration
• "and, under neat that"
• finally: i'm funny too.
• OH! and, McRibs. Pls read. kthxbai.
  

I just got a call confirming my appointment for a spa package tomorrow. I never made said appointment. Did somebody gift me a day of luxury and forget to tell me about it?

Juicing

For the past year or so, I've been trying my best to work the magic of pomegranate juice into my diet from time to time (more antioxidants than any other juice, green tea or red wine, and reduces cholesterol and blood pressure. wheeeeeee!). Apparently, it's not the only magic juice on the market. Catherine's been raving about the mystical anti-inflammatory powers of pineapple juice of late, and now, Jezebel tells us that cranberry juice not only really does help out with UTI's, it also can keep you from getting the flu! (But only if you're a woman.)

Vitamin Water is so 2007. 2008 is the year of the juice. Excuse me while I go make a pinepomeberry smoothie to get me through the afternoon, and, the apocalypse.

Science!

This week's Human Nature brings us the following news:

• A drug has been developed that combats the effects of sleep deprivation.
• The tallest country in the world has hit a plateau. Will humans stop growing?
• Some commercial airliners will be equipped with lasers to prevent terrorist shoot downs.
• Violent movies reduce crime because violent people watch them and, when they're watching movies, aren't committing violent crimes.
  
• Scientists have developed a vaccine for cocaine. It blocks the high and sends the immune system in to attack the drug. Vaccines for other drugs in the works.
  

These and more in further detail here.

I really like

Whatever it is that Spinner uses to embed music into their posts. It's simple to use, never needs annoying load time, and they use it really well (they almost always include whatever song(s) a post is talking about in the post). A lot of sites get it wrong or only half right, but I like what Spinner's working with. For example, this post about Kimya Dawson & Juno's music. Their photo slideshows are also equally fast-to-load and easy to navigate. Just thought I'd share.

Radiohead Playing D.C.!

Details (or, lack thereof) at DCist.

I know it's blasphemy, but I've never been that into Radiohead. But I know that almost everyone else in the known universe is, so enjoy this tidbit of news. The North American cities they'll play this year (alphabetically):

Atlanta
Boston
Charlotte
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Houston
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Miami
Montreal
New York
Philadelphia
San Diego
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Seattle
St Louis
Tampa
Toronto
Vancouver
Washington DC

Imcomplete Thoughts I'd Like to Share

Why am I completely incapable of spelling the word "pursue" correctly on the first try?

We should all be doing something outside tonight, right? Now accepting suggestions.

Also: Thursday night. Dreamo's. Be there.

I tried watching Dexter. It is definitely quality tv, but, too creepy for me. Maybe it was the watching it alone at night aspect, but it gave me the uneasies. Back to wearing out my Arrested Development DVDs.

Hello & Goodbye

Welcome back Stewart & Colbert! I haven't watched last night's TCR yet, but I did watch TDS. I disagree with the criticism I've read that he focused to much on the strike. I thought it was relevant and respectful. And, funny! Maybe I'm blinded by my Jon Stewart love, but I thought he did a great job. Slightly rougher than normal, sure. But without writers, it has to be, right?

And, farewell to Coach Gibbs. I think he probably could have gotten one more good season in, but it's probably time for him to go. Tony tells me he's read somewhere (that I can't locate) that Gibbs will stay on in an advisory role. That would be tremendous. Our biggest challenge in replacing Gibbs will be maintaining the level of authority, respect and camaraderie he fostered. I think Williams could be good, but there are some personality issues there potentially. Any coach coming in to work with Snyder has a hard road ahead of him. It's a difficult franchise to successfully join for sure. Gibbs' major success in his second tenure, I think, is rebuilding the Redskins as a team. And, I don't think there's anyone else who could have possibly pulled off what he did at the end of this season. Nobody. I'm looking forward to the changes ahead, but Joe, I'll miss ya.

Because I'm not so cool as I used to be

And rarely follow up on actually listening to bands that I hear about, I just now, today, this afternoon, listened to Vampire Weekend (see: every music blog in the world, many months ago). Hey guess what? I really like it! But more than that, I like this new video of theirs. I like it a lot. Particularly the swimming fishy glove/bubbles part. [via emo+beer=busted career]

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Why I Hate Humorless Jokes

Generally speaking, Why I Hate DC does a pretty good job of not sinking into whiny cheap shot throwing (despite what their name might lead you to assume), and actually features some good analysis of problems with the city. But today's lazy, tasteless and altogether too-soon Sean Taylor joke is revolting. Not to mention, an inaccurate analysis of that game. For the most part, it was our offense that fell apart. If you're going to make a disgusting, ill-timed, classless comment, at least strive for accuracy.

It's Textademic

I understand trying to communicate with your demographic, but I think you've gone a bit too far, It's Academic. Mac McGary sounded uncomfortable reading this one.

"This might be a text message from what Scottish scientist who discovered pennicilin?"

discovAd penicillin n mold. washn pl8s.

Internet, Meet Carol

This morning, Kriston left me this message, unexplained: "You know, I did not believe Mitchell was a real person."

Internet friends, Mitchell is very real. See evidence here. But it got me to thinking, I should totally invent a wacky make believe friend and attribute strange stories to her on le blogstretch. Naturally, I discussed this idea with the most obvious cohort: Mitchell. So, here you have it. The first (and, probably last) installment in the Adventures of Carol, by Mitchell & Amanda:

Mitchell: Carol sounds great!
ok....sample blog entry:
"the other day Carol and I were hanging out in her loft apartment when I noticed something in the corner....

me: you're gonna say something about rambo, aren't you?

Mitchell: she had a life size Johnny 5 model that she had apparently built from old scrap metal she found at the junkyard
where she works
that carol!"
I think this could work

me: we should give carol a theme song

Mitchell: carol doesn't go anywhere without her walkman and her favorite tape
which is......
hmmm
the Batman Forever Soundtrack
she keeps playing and then rewinding that Seal song
every once in a while she flips the tape and listens to the U2 song, but mostly Seal
that Carol!
she's wacky

me: She's such a hoot!

Mitchell: remember when she worked at hooters
for like a week
and she got fired for ......
hmmmmm

me: deep frying her walkman headphones

Mitchell: That's it!
I can't believe I forgot that
it was happy hour on a thursday, and it was wing night, and the manager asked her to take her headphones off, there was a struggle, and her headphones got fried
that was the end of her tenure there

me: that manager always had it out for carol though

Mitchell: since day one

me: Remember that time she decided to hitch hike across northern virginia?

Mitchell: poor carol, until her junkyard job she's never been able to hold a job for more than a few weeks
she was on way too much acid that day

me: Yeah. She had WAY too much fun in old town fairfax.

Mitchell: she was partying for like a week straight with her friends from her viking reenactment troop

me: And then she sat on the caboose in Vienna for 3 hours, thinking she had caught her next ride. That's where Buster found her.

Mitchell: and he took her to dunkin donuts to sober up
god she loves dunkin donuts coffee

me: Carol's got good taste when it comes to java.
Pizza toppings though, no way!
She's like a teenage mutant ninja turtle. She puts the craziest shit on her pizza!

Mitchell: I think one day she had a pinapple, mushroom, black olive white pizza
it was totally gnarly

This will probably make the most sense without commentary

me: I'm wearing my old school 80s Gibbs sweater right now
joshua: i htink that same sweateris in my parents attic somewhere
me: I recently rescued the hat and scarf from the same era from my mom's house
i've been wearing the scarf a lot this week. subsequently, i look like i'm in Gryffindor.
joshua: hmm
always pegged you a hufflepuff
me: i take offense!
at least give me ravenclaw dude
joshua: Slytherin
me: DEFRIENDED
joshua: hmm
we should sorting hat all our friends

joshua's new status message - amanda = hufflepuff 11:13 AM
amanda's new status message - I would not be Hufflepuff, Josh!

Ryan: yeah, i should do that
i'm excited
going to be a great night
hufflepuff
me: SHUSH
i would at LEAST be a ravenclaw
Ryan: slitherin
me: dude, stop consorting with Josh!
Ryan: he's chatting with me RIGHT NOW

kriston's new status message - pygz = gryffindor

me: dude, whatever! i am not a hufflepuff. that's nonsense.
Kriston: I want to be Ravenclaw.
me: Yeah, they have the most fun.
Less burdened with saving the world.
Kriston: They're the ones who smoke in the bathroom but still make good grades.
me: definitely
Listen to the velvet underground
Kriston: Exaaactly.
Dye their hair black.
I mean—Ravenclaw. It's basically in the name.
Sexy.
Too bad you got Hufflepuff.
me: I AM NOT HUFFLEPUFF
josh gross is not the sorting hat
Kriston: He's got some sorting-hat-esque qualities.
me: such as?
Kriston: Well
I've seen him wear a hat.
And once he confirms that I'm in Ravenclaw, he'll be 2 for 2.
me: wearing a hat doesn't make you like a hat
that's nonsense capps
Kriston: But there's a certain undeniable sense to it.
me: i totally disagree! that's like saying you, kriston capps, could serve as a faded tshirt.
Kriston: That's absurd!
me: no less absurd than your argument!
did you guys have a meeting this morning to taunt me?
Kriston: I don't see how you can even compare hats and t-shirts.
Hats go on one's head, Amanda.
me: I hate you Kriston.
Kriston: <3

ryan's new status message - would a muggle have a wand like this?
joshua's new status message - are gryffindors absurdly handsome? Cause that's what we are. amanda's new status message - josh & ryan & kriston = muggles

Drew: http://www.quizilla.com/users/ReaderRavenclaw/quizzes/Hogwarts%20Sorting%20Hat:%20Based%20on%20Myers-Briggs%20Personality%20Typing me: thank you.
Drew: yup, let me know how it goes

Hogwarts Sorting Hat: Based on Myers-Briggs Personality Typing

You are a RAVENCLAW!As a Ravenclaw and as an NFP, you value imagination, ideas and intelligence. You are probably somewhat of an individualist and avoid conforming just for its own sake. You are insightful and perceptive, and since you are empathetic and value harmony, you usually try to avoid conflict. Of course, you may enjoy participating in heated debates, but only as long as they remain on an intellectual level and not a personal level. In general, you are open-minded and curious, and set high standards for yourself. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

This Morning

I had on the Today show, as I sometimes do (when I'm not watching Saved By The Bell or music videos), and before cutting to a commercial the teaser was, "Women Who've Lost Half Their Weight." Clearly, either they read the wrong teaser or cued up the wrong picture before departing, because the accompanying image was: a kid sitting on top of a dead shark with a bloody mouth.

Also, while driving to work, I saw a truck transporting a big, pink coffin on the beltway. I will spend the rest of the day imagining the life of the person who requested a pink coffin.

My, what big teeth you have!

Back in that dark, dark weekend in November when Jayne died, Sam came over on Sunday night to sit with me. I wasn't exactly brimming with discussion topics, so to distract me, he picked up the dictionary and started looking up funny and interesting words to read aloud. At some point, we landed on pterodactyl. We started talking about how awesome dinosaurs are (naturally), and I made some comment about wishing I could either go back to elementary school and re-take the dinosaur unit, or at least, get an awesome dinosaur book and brush up on my knowledge. It was a really nice break from all the awful.

Last night, Sam gave me my Christmas present:

Sam is a really good friend.

Today's Great Moments in Misogyny

1. TMZ, trying their best to undo all the good Jezebel's been doing. So that you don't do TMZ the service of click throughs and help their ad revenue, the post on their site has an intro along the lines of, "hey, we've all been there! you're with a girl and she gets so wasted! What do you do with her?", accompanied by videos of drunk women leaving clubs. The feministing post has everything else you need to know.

2. Not necessarily misogyny, but. Dude. I see what you're trying to say, but really your argument sounds a lot like, "fat chicks should just go ahead and hate themselves instead of trying not to." So, screw you. Yes, health is important. People with unhealthy habits should try and shed them. And this show does seem a bit ridiculous. But I think your finger pointing is a bit amiss.

3. And finally, from someone I call a friend (but perhaps should reconsider?), this gem:

11. You're having dinner with four people -- two athletes, one hot chick and a dead president. Name 'em. And, of course, why?

This is a tough question. What is the hot chick’s reason for being there? Is she my significant other, or just a friend? Because if I’m going to get to sleep with her after we eat, then I’m gonna go with someone smokin’ hot who likely has a shitty personality and an annoying voice. If it’s just a friend, then I’ll go with a cool and funny chick, assuming that exists.

Now, I know he's joking. But the feminist inside me wants to argue the same thing I do every time my dad makes a racist joke then says, "oh come on! I'm not a racist, you know that!": you wouldn't make the joke in the first place if you weren't, just a little. I asked Chris about it and he continued to joke. (me: I know it might be hard for you to believe, but I'm not big on misogynistic humor./Chris: sports bloggers are/ me: right. that's probably because you're misogynists./ Chris: no we arent. women are just stupid./ me: I realize you're kidding, so I'm not going to argue this./ Chris: im glad you understand that women are not to argue with men. sorry. joking). I know him to be a very good person, so I don't want to throw him under a bus, but come on people. Let's give it a rest. Today is apparently not a banner day for positive attitudes about women in the media. And given that it's a new year and all, maybe let's try and ditch the old attitudes, mmmk?

I believe in a thing called karaoke

So, NYE was great. Great! Tom, Emily and Charles threw a heck of a party where the bubbly was poppin and the company was delightful. Towards the end of the evening, after the crowd had thinned, Tommy struck up the karaoke game, as he tends to do. I acted fast and got a few of the performances on video. Please ignore the drunken cinematography (why did I keep turning the camera over and over?) and my giggling, and enjoy these wonderful interpretations of some classic songs from the pop music canon.