Now that's cold...

Just read that Lane Kiffin was fired from the Raiders. Everyone was saying it was inevitable, not a surprise, etc. What I do find surprising is this little tidbit I read on ESPN:

"ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that according to sources, Kiffin was fired via the telephone and without pay....Linehan [the Rams coach who got fired] was allowed to speak briefly with his players on Monday. Kiffin will not be afforded the same opportunity, a source said."

It seems to me if the Raiders are looking to hire a new, good, strong applicant for the position, they should set a good example by treating the former coach with a little more respect than that. The more I see the way the Raiders franchise is run, the more I don't like that team. They're impatient, unsympathetic and most of all mean. The way it's looking now, I'm guessing they only way they'll get anyone good is by throwing a LOT of money into it.

Life and Politics

Okay, so I actually wrote this a while ago, but completely forgot to post it. So I'm sorry if you no longer care but I'm gonna post it anyways.....



I couldn't stop laughing when I heard that Palin's 17-year-old daughter was knocked-up out of wedlock and the response of several people was that it wasn't Palin's fault. After all, no one can control a 17-year-old.


Excuse me?

I'm not sure how that could possibly be considered a good response. I'm not a fan of the word "control" myself, particularly when discussing another human being, but I'm hearing the gist of the message and couldn't disagree more.


Sure, you can't "control" your daughter, but you'd at least hope that in the 17 years prior to the pregnancy both parents would have had some influence over what their daughter's standards and ethics are going to be. Even if by 17 parents don't think they have any influence over their child's decisions, they really should.

I'm not saying that pregnant at 17 is the worst thing in the world, or is in some way "unethical." But I'm pretty sure that the people who are saying that it's not Palin's fault think so.

Anyways, I think one of the most interesting things about this whole scenario is the way politicians handle other politicians' children. It's generally accepted to be a topic that they don't mess with. In a profession where everything tends to be criticized and put under the microscope I find this a nice standard for them to have. At least politics has some boundaries, right? But when I hear people say that this teenage pregnancy news shouldn't even be discussed since it's about Palin's personal life, I start to get upset. After all, it was the Republicans who brought it up in the first place. And it has a very real impact on Palin's message and image.

Palin believes that sex ed in high schools should be limited teaching them only about abstinence. I'm assuming that this was her message in the home as well. And we know what a success that ended up being. Shouldn't this be very real proof that this tactic does not work? And as a woman who has tried to deliver that message and failed, she should say, "Listen, it's a nice idea in theory, I know, but in reality it just isn't effective. So let's move on to something that might actually work." But it appears that she's going to stick to her guns, even though the guns have no bullets. And I can only believe that this sort of behavior would continue, if she became VP.

Feelin' fine....

George RR Martin will be in Denver starting tomorrow, at Denvention 3, a sci-fi/fantasy convention. I want to go for the following reasons:

1. Owning an autographed copy of one of his books would be awesome,
2. This is probably the only time ever that GRRM will be within an hour's reach of me
3. It'd be fun to see the kinds of crazies that go to these sorts of things, and
4. It might be fun.

The following reasons are why I don't want to go:

1. I'd be going to something called "Denvention" which disturbs me to the core,
2. Denver is far away (relatively speaking) and I don't like going there,
3. If I go to see the crazies at the convention, and I'm at the convention, that makes me a crazy by association,
4. I doubt anyone else would want to go with me, and
5. It might be no fun at all.


On an unrelated note, here's the premiere schedule for a bunch of shows I'm excited about. I'm listing them here because I just spent the last 20 minutes at work slacking off and needed something to distract me:

- Entourage starts September 7th
- Survivor: Gabon airs September 17th
- The Office season 5 premieres on September 25th

- Dexter season 3 starts on September 30th, so our cat will actually get to see his namesake soon

Guster

I'm sitting at my desk and rocking out to all the Guster that I put on my iPod. I haven't really listened to them since college and I realize now how cool they are. They'd probably be on my top 10 favorite bands if such a list existed. If you haven't heard them before I strongly recommend that you download some. Particularly "Demons."

Can't say much more since I gotta get back to work!

Wedding themes?

One of the first questions (after when is the wedding) tends to be "have you picked your colors yet?" Taken out of context, this question makes almost no sense. But in true wedding tradition, most couples have colors matched through their whole wedding. From the invitations to the website down to the napkins at the reception the colors are the same. Some people even pick a theme for their wedding. The more extreme versions of this include Star Wars themed weddings or medieval renaissance weddings. More likely though the theme would be winter, fall, waterlilies... you get the idea.

The question I now pose to you, faithful reader, (okay, I stole that from Stephen King but I always love it because it feels like he's talking directly to me. What a nice guy!) is what do you think our wedding theme should be?

Bridezillas

I've started watching "Bridezillas" on WE.

There. Admitting it is supposed to be the first step to recovery, right?

I first put it on because I figured that it was about brides and I'm going to be a bride so it could serve as a warning system for me. If I found myself doing any of the things that I saw these women doing on the show then I'd know I'd gone too far.

But after watching only 2 episodes I know that I will never go that far. This show is like the Real World, except it's so much worse because these brides are doing horrible things to their families and friends, not to strangers they've just met. One instance that comes to mind is when the woman stabs her husband-to-be in the head with a pair of scissors (it was a glancing blow and he was not injured), and then makes HIM apologize to HER for upsetting her so much that she was forced to attack him. If this wasn't a wedding show it would be a Cops episode where the mustached heroes arrive at their house to arrest the woman for domestic abuse.

In an interview with a bridesmaid (for a different bride) she tells the camera that this bride is a Bridezilla 365 because "she's been a bitch her whole life. Or at least since she was 10 when I met her." Which begs the question, why is she her friend?

It's a surprisingly entertaining show. I like seeing how far these women can push the limits and marvel at how much everyone else lets themselves be treated like shit. It's the sort of show I like to watch because it reminds me of how good my own life is. The only thing I don't like about it (besides it being trash in general) is that the narrator has this chirpy little voice that implies with every upbeat syllable that while she knows what these brides are doing is unreasonable, it's okay because it's their wedding day, and we can cut them a little slack, right?

Wrong. I don't care if a person is at a wedding, is drunk at a party, whatever. It should never be acceptable for someone to treat her friends like servants, her family like a bottomless ATM, and her fiancé-- the man she's supposed to be spending the rest of her "happy" life with-- like a puppy she can kick and yell at when there's no one else around to take her abuse.

But in the end I don't feel too bad for these guys. After all, they had to know what these women were like before the wedding and actually liked that bitchy attitude. If they didn't, they probably wouldn't have gotten engaged in the first place, and if by some chance they didn't beforehand, they definitely wouldn't have gone through with the wedding once they saw the Monster come out of its cage during the wedding planning! It's what I like to call the Mel Gibson situation. Maybe it takes a lot of booze or a wedding to bring to the surface the absolute worst in a person, but that nasty aspect of that person has always been there. And the men who are marrying them are attracted to the Monster just as much as the woman.

"When I say Rip, you say Ers"

Our softball team has played 6 games so far and while our record is a paltry 2-4, after last night's game I have reason to believe that this team could be a contender in the play-offs.

Our first game was what some people might call a disaster. We didn't know the rules (two different sized balls threw a lot of people off), our team was disorganized, our hitting was a disappointment, and our pitchers had been practicing at a distance probably a good 10 feet closer to the plate than what it turned out to be. We lost against a team that today we probably would beat.

Since then though, we've grown. Our batting has shown significant improvement, and our pitching is very good-- bordering on excellent. Most important to me, in this last game we made much better decisions than we have in the past. We held the ball instead of throwing it away, and when there were overthrows or misses people were there backing each other up. I think we listened to each other better than we have before.

Our batting was surprisingly poor this game considering how good it's been lately. This is mostly due to low pitching that the ump accepted as strikes, but besides that I think it was one of the best games we've played. It ended up going into extra-inning-overtime, where each batter only gets one pitch. If it's a ball they walk, if it's a strike or hit foul they're out. We really stepped it up and got 5 runs out of them and then played some solid D to hold them for the win.

It was suspenseful and exciting and so much fun. We even had fans-- the Boulderite parents showed up in force to cheer us on. I hope that the rest of our games can be as fun as this one.

We have a make-up game this Sunday: Stazio field 6 at 5:00pm against Intela, a team with a record similar to ours. Should be a good game. If you're around I hope I see you there!

Lessons from the Affianced

Zazu: Oh, just look at you two. Little seeds of romance blossoming in the savannah. Your parents will be thrilled, what with your being betrothed and all.
Simba: Be-what?
Zazu: Betrothed. Intended. Affianced.
Nala: Meaning...?
Zazu: One day, you two are going to be married!
Simba: Yuck.



It's been exactly one month since Ben and I got engaged. (If you didn't already know that well...sorry for not telling you. But better late than never, eh?) We knew each other for somewhere between 1-2 months just as friends. Then we dated for 6 years and one month (and 4 days, but who's really counting?). Now we've been engaged for 31 days, and while most of the time things feel pretty much the same, here are a few lessons I've learned already about the differences between "just dating" and "on the road to marriage."


1. The ring, holy crap, the ring!

I've never been big into jewelry, and when I say that I mean that a) my ears aren't pierced and I never wear anklets or bracelets, b) the only necklace I ever wear is a silver chain given to me by Ben, and c) I grew up playing sports, piano, and doing any number of other things that taught me that wearing jewelry will only hurt me in the end (and keep your fingernails trimmed at all times). But man I love this ring. I never knew that I could like a piece of jewelry as much as I do. Point C is still valid-- I've already made myself bleed at least twice that I can remember from this thing-- but the pain is worth it. The ring is gorgeous and every time I look at it I think about what it represents it only makes me happier.


2. There are a lot of ugly wedding dresses out there

Not only are they ugly, but someone out there must actually think they're pretty, otherwise they wouldn't be on the market in the first place. That bothers me.


3. I freak out more easily and more often now

I have two wedding books-- compliments of my mother-- that I am reading right now and coming to grips with the massive task ahead puts me more than a little on edge. One book said (paraphrasing here): "this is the most elaborate, biggest ritual/gathering you will ever host" which, when I think of it that way, is pretty overwhelming. I think my stress level is a notch higher on average than it was two months ago and I expect it will stay that way for the next year or so. But Ben's been a big help in keeping that stress level only one notch higher, rather than 4 or 5!


4. It's not "me and my boyfriend" anymore, it's "We"

Being a united front is key. It took me maybe 30 minutes to figure that one out. It's not something "I" was thinking about, it's something "We" were considering. I think the reason people go through engagements is to practice for raising kids. This is the precursor to the whole parenting technique of agreeing with your partner's decision whether or not you agree with them and then debating it later in private.

Howdy, Duty

About a month ago I got a letter in the mail that made my stomach roil. "Jury Duty" was stamped in clear bold red letters across the front. Ben tells me he's jealous, he's never been called and wants to see what it's like. But I've already been called twice before when I lived in NC and I knew it was no picnic. My experiences in NC involved angry government employees, dirty rooms in hard-to-find downtown administrative buildings.

This time however, was a pleasant surprise. Boulder's Justice Center is located on 6th and Canyon, pretty close to the library, the Boulder creek, and a lovely park is right next door. Parking is free right across the street, and signs are up everywhere so getting there was simple. The building itself is actually really nice too. Windows are everywhere, and if the outside looks a little outdated, they make up for it by providing a very soothing decor inside. I entered and a posse of mustached cops greeted me at the front entrance, waiting to tackle any ne'er-do-wells. They were really polite, directed me to where I needed to go, and told me to have a nice day.

When I got to the jury assembly room a nice lady took my forms and I read a book until they started a hokey video whose message was that being a juror really isn't all that bad. The cast of characters included a white-haired, wise but stern-looking judge, male and white. There were a few women, clerks and baliffs, all white, and then a big, bald and burly black man who played the "law enforcement officer" over the proceedings. Certainly stereotyped, but I found it highly amusing (my standards for amusement are low at 8:30 in the morning). The crazy part though, is that the message got through to me. By the time the video finished I was really excited about being a juror. For the first time ever I wanted to get picked for the jury! Let me do my duty, I want to do my part to keep this country running strong.

The video ended and the woman announced that the defendant had a medical emergency so the trial would not be happening. We were all dismissed. We didn't have to return tomorrow, and our duty had been complete. We wouldn't get summoned for at least another two years.

I walked out of the building feeling really disappointed. Not only had I not done my duty, but I wouldn't be allowed to participate again for two whole years! I started wondering if jury duty was the kind of thing you could volunteer for, before quickly realizing that would be a bad system and not really democratic at all.

It was the first time that doing my civic duty wasn't something that I just had to do, it was something that I wanted to do. Our country doesn't ask much of us, really. We pay her taxes, we obey her laws... mostly... and every once in a while we have to go to a justice center, and help enforce those laws. In exchange we get to live the easy life of a nation that has power, wealth, food, shelter, and all that other good stuff. But I think a lot of Americans are apathetic about their country and the kind of work it takes to make it so good. Maybe what this country needs is to demand more from its citizens. Maybe we should be required to do more for our own country and fellow countrywomen and countrymen so that we realize just how much work it takes to be successful.

This is just a random musing that I haven't thought through at all, but maybe all citizens should be required to do a year of duty in a civil group, something like Americorps. After high school perhaps. Everyone who did it would get paid by the government and work with their community to make where they live an even better place. Or they could travel to other states and help there. I think it could bring this nation together, and eliminate so much of the apathy that has a strangle-hold on our country. People would realize that they can make a difference, and maybe if our people help each other, then we could reach out and help the rest of the world too.

Eating my Words

I saw Across the Universe about a week ago and afterwards I said that I didn't care for it very much. I thought of it as a stoner flick... and I'm partly right. For those of you that don't know, Across the Universe a rock musical movie based entirely on the Beatles' songs. The writers took about 30 of their songs and strung them together (with some dialogue between them) to give it a plot. The plot therefore, has a lot of holes in it that bugged me to no end. They would often sing a song that seemed to have nothing to do with the movie at all, they just wanted another song in there. And halfway through the movie all the characters get into a bus and tour the country getting high on an assortment of drugs. In the middle of the drug tour there's a weird circus scene that I still don't come anywhere close to understanding.

But it's been a week since I've seen the movie and I can't get it out of my head. The songs stuck with me in a way that I never expected. I find myself singing them in my head when I'm at work, and I spent all of last week reading about the movie trivia on Imdb and then Wikipediaing The Beatles, several individual Beatles songs, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Charles Manson (because of references to them in the movie... okay so not Manson, but I was curious!). Last Thursday, I did what any person who wants to get these songs out of their head would do. I downloaded the entire Across the Universe album. Then I downloaded the original Beatles' versions and listened to all of them for probably a good four hours. I thought if I overdosed on it then maybe I'd finally get over it and they'd go away. But it didn't help. Then I found myself criticizing myself for not liking the movie enough in the first place. Why didn't I get it the first time? So this weekend, I bought the movie. I decided that if I didn't get it the first time I could at least give myself the opportunity to better appreciate it the second and maybe third time I watch it.What changed my mind about this movie? I realized that it wasn't meant to be a movie with a great storyline that is particularly coherent. It's supposed to be a reflection on life in the 60s, and more specifically an homage to the Beatles. What's really cool about it though is that they use classic songs but they twist the meaning into something that is often completely different from the original meaning. Which makes for an interesting mind-fuck because suddenly you're thinking not only about what the song means to the movie, but also what the original song was supposed to mean in the first place.

Across the Universe will never be my favorite movie, but I've learned to appreciate it for what it is. I recommend it to others too, keeping in mind that the plot should be taken with a grain of salt. But beware of the potential risks and side effects, mentioned above.

Favorite character: Max
Favorite song based on the twist of meaning: I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Favorite song based on song: I Want to Hold Your Hand

Jaded

I was in a meeting this morning where several random facts were revealed by various co-workers that were basically helpful little life tips. Things like how to keep your computer healthy, and which vacuum cleaners are the best (the robot ones that automatically clean your floor). At the end of the meeting someone said, "before we go, does anyone else have any words of wisdom to share?" and the only thing I could think to say was "there's no sex in the champagne room." Thank you Chris Rock.

ASOIAF Casting: Part X

In King’s Landing:

Varys: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Littlefinger: Edward Norton

Grand Maester Pycelle: Ian Holm
Barristan the Bold: Sean Connery
Gendry: Logan Lerman
Jaqen Ha’gar: Billy Crudup
Thoros of Myr: Ken Watanabe
Beric Dondarrion: David Wenham
Syrio Forel: Ben Kingsley

Rhaegar Targaryan: Jude Law
Mad King Aerys: Christopher Lee

Top Things making me Happy right now

8. Someone at work called me a genius

7. I played Catan for the first time in months and almost won

6. Summer is just around the corner

5. The promise of volleyball

4. Dexter

3. Softball!

2. I bowled a 200 on Monday - my best score ever

1. For our anniversary Ben got me a trip to my favorite place with my favorite person

Goodbye sweet Coke!

Since before I can remember I've always had a Coke for lunch. Maybe not in elementary school, when my parents probably gave me juice boxes, but definitely in middle school and beyond. It was the same every day for 7th through 12th grade: a can of coke (with a straw... I've had that habit since childhood), turkey sandwich, pretzels, and 2 Milano cookies. And since I've been regularly employeed, the sandwich has changed, but the soda remains the same... only it's Diet now.

But one day not so long ago I didn't have a can and I got a caffeine-deficiency headache. I told the Wolf that it proved how much I really needed caffeine. He said that it proved how much I really need to stop drinking so much caffeine. And for once I actually listened to him. I decided to start being a healthier person. I dropped my Coke addiction, and swapped it for V8. I used to hate V8 but I've recently discovered that it's not so bad as I remember. I haven't completely given up on soda, but this will significantly cut back on the amount of it I consume.

The most shocking part is how little I miss that Coke. I thought it would be hard, but it's really not. And it makes me happy to know that I can still make these sorts of adjustments to my life. Sometimes I feel like, even at 24, I'm set in my ways. It's a comfort to know that I can change. I know this is a small thing, but I still consider it at least a medium-sized step.

ASOIAF Casting: Part IX

This is the second-to-last posting, so those of you who don't care/like these posts anyways, have hope!

Arryns and Associates:

Mya Stone: Emmanuelle Chriqui
Lysa Arryn: Kirstie Alley

Robert Arryn: Charlie Tahan

Martells and Associates:

Arianne Martell: Mila Kunis

Doran Martell: Geoffrey Rush

Areo Hotah: Javier Bardem

The Red Viper: Hugo Weaving

A nicer Haiku for Zoe

Lips oh so floppy
The long claws of stretchiness
Zo Zo Zo Zo Zo

Haiku to Zoe

Zoe’s farts are rank
So much so they wake me up
I want to kill her.

Poker's a lot like...

It's my favorite Poker TV phrase. No matter what your profession, the interviewer always gets you to start a sentence like that. Like "Poker's a lot like playing professional soccer" or "Poker's a lot like being a waste manager for the city of Chicago." At some point it reaches a ridiculousness level where you either have to just laugh or cry. I choose laughter. (For a good poker analogy, check out the Kermyfrag's latest blog.)

All this stuff led me to think about what I would say if I was interviewed. Back when I was working at the wildlife rehab place I had a great line: "Poker's a lot like rehabilitating wildlife. Some days are rewarding, but other days you just get shit on."

Now that I work in a more mainstream line of work, that line doesn't fly quite as well. But the other night while we were bowling, I picked my new poker analogy.

I will never claim to be a good bowler. I think I'm averaging a 130-somthing, which is actually really good for me. But for some reason I'm leading all the women in our league with the most games won. I have 25 wins under my belt out of a total of 33 games played (I think... correct me someone if I'm wrong). And I roll against good bowlers too! But for some reason they keep bowling badly against me and I keep scoring the big Ws.

How is this possible, you may ask. I can't rightly say, but I will give you my theory. I show up to bowling on Mondays, grab one of the alley's 12-pound balls, and during warm-ups consider myself lucky if I get one spare. My opponent thinks, sweet, here's an easy 3 points for me. But then the real bowling begins. I go out and get a few spares, maybe a strike or two, and they realize that I'm not quite as bad as I first seemed. Then they get all thrown off that this mediocre chick is beating them, and they just get worse. Perhaps they start drinking more heavily to try and deal with the pain they are feeling. By the end of the night they are both wasted, and they got their ass handed to them by a girl who doesn't even know how to put spin on her ball.

By the end of Monday they leave broken men. And the Pickett racks up another 2 or 3 points.

So... in my future poker interview, I'll say: "Poker's a lot like my bowling league. I'm such an unassuming person that other players think I suck. They'll go easy on me because they think I'm out of my league. And then before they know it, this young lass with a beguiling smile has taken their stack. And their dignity along with it."

ASOIAF Casting: Part VIII

Baratheons and Associates:

Robert Baratheon: Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Stannis Baratheon: Gerard Butler
Melisandre: Famke Janssen
Davos Seaworth: Gary Oldman
Patchface: Zach Braff

Shireen: Georgie Henley

Renly Baratheon: Joseph Fiennes

ASOIAF Casting: Part VII

At the Wall and Beyond:

Jon Snow: Justin Long
Ygritte: Reese Witherspoon
Sam Tarly: Jonah Hill (okay, I don’t really think he’d be that great for the role, but he’s the only fat actor I could think of)
Jeor Mormont: Brian Cox
Allister Thorne: Nick Brimble (John Little from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)
Maester Aemon: Anthony Hopkins
Janos Slynt: Alan Rickman
Mance Rayder: Jim Carrey (think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Craster: Willem Dafoe
Rattleshirt: Steve Buscemi
Dolorous Edd: John Turturro

ASOIAF Part VI

Across the Narrow Sea:

Dany: Michelle Williams
Viserys: Elijah Wood
Ser Jorah Mormont: Jean Reno
Khal Drogo: Sala Baker
Mirri Maz Duur: Kathy Bates
Illyrio Mopatis: Vincent D’Onofrio

Good Communication

A couple of my co-workers went to a "good communication" seminar, and they relayed what they learned to us in a meeting this morning. One thing that really caught my attention was this fact: only 25% of what is communicated by the speaker is actually received by the listener. So my question is, if they only got 25% of the info from their session, and I'm only getting 25% of the info they're telling me, how much am I honestly getting out of this meeting?

Top 10 Drinking Games

10. Drinking Ro Sham Bo
9. Olives to Olives
8. Power Hour
7. Flip Cup
6. Drinking Jenga
5. Quarters
4. Hat Game (when applicable)
3. Kings
2. Short Bus
1. Beer Pong

Growin' Up Ghetto

Alizzle, Kermy, the Zo and I watched Step Up tonight— a movie that I enjoyed, despite it being a mediocre movie that has a plot that’s been reused at least a dozen times now. A boy from the ghetto meets a preppy girl and they dance the night away, falling in love with each other despite their different backgrounds because they love dancing so much. The part that caught my attention was, beyond mocking the generally lame parts of the plotline, Alizzle and Kermy criticized the ghetto boy’s clothes. Everything he wore was too baggy, and why on earth was he layering a t-shirt over a long-sleeved shirt? To which my thoughts were, why wouldn’t he wear that? I went to a high school where that was generally accepted to be the cool outfit. Even better if topped off with a toboggan (ski hat) with three tassels bursting from the top.

I usually don’t think of my childhood as particularly unique or special by any means, but tonight I was very aware of my roots.

I spent years 2-12 growing up in small town Vermont. It was 99% white, upper class, rural America. We lived in a town of 3,000 people. The nearest movie theater was a 30 minute drive away. We only got a handful of radio stations, and so I spent most of these years listening to my parents’ cassette tapes. I grew to love Paul Simon, Johnny Clegg, and Peter, Paul and Mary. But once my sister and I reached a certain age, my parents decided to move—for a number of reasons, but amongst them was so that my sister and I could experience what true diversity was. When I insisted that I did know what diversity was, my mother said, “You don’t even know any black people” to which I replied, “Of course I do. Mei Jing is one of my best friends.” The fact that Mei Jing was an adopted Korean girl only furthered my parents’ resolve.

I was just starting 7th grade when we arrived in Durham, NC. I had more culture shock then than when I studied abroad in Kenya. Everything was different. First of all, there were so many people! The middle school I attended probably had more students in it than my entire elementary school. One class I remember in particular was my 7th grade Social Studies class, where the boy sitting behind me would every day pull out his compass from math class and poke me in the back with it to try and make me bleed, while one of the kids in the back would try and get high on his asthma inhaler, and the teacher got fired because she was caught dealing pot to her 12-year-old students.

I took Honors classes, but I was very careful not to stand out too much. In Vermont you were encouraged to be smart, but in my middle school, smart kids were ridiculed and left friendless. We had a spelling bee in which I purposefully misspelled the word “herring” because I knew that if I spelled it right I’d be outed for what I truly was.

High school was much the same. Parents tended to choose which high school their child went to based less on which school was the most academically sound, and more based on which school had had fewer knifings. I had a solid group of friends, all of us pretty dorky, but I was on the softball team too, which certainly added cool points in my favor. (At least I like to think it did.) But even among talks with my fellow nerds we were more likely to be discussing whether DMX or Jay-Z was hotter rather than Hollywood celebrities. (I thought DMX was, because Jay-Z did too much “white” rap.) While most of the friends I have today were listening to Dave Matthews and Matchbox 20, I listened to Tupac, DMX, and Master P. And the louder your car stereo system was to blast this music, the better. Everyone cruised around town with their drivers’ seats pushed way back, so it almost looked like you were trying to catch a nap while you drove home from school. It was the cool thing to do… only later did I learn that this style originated because when your seat was that far back the side bar between your front and back seats would protect you better in a shooting.

Not that I was ever shot at, or even was worried about being shot at at any point in my life. In general I was simply a good student, an athlete, and led a very sheltered life. This is just to show how much the “ghetto” lifestyle infiltrated my entire school, down to the lowly geeks. The boys in our school would inevitably be wearing outfits exactly like the guy from Step Up, only showing a hell of a lot more underwear. My most-worn pair of pants was sweatpants that almost enveloped me, accompanied by wife beaters. Once I even gave myself corn rows.

After high school my ghettofication stopped almost instantaneously. I went to Duke, then moved to Boulder. I gave up rap and started listening to Dave, Michelle Branch, and other groups that I can’t name. I turned in the sweatpants for more form-fitting jeans. But there are still some times when I find myself in the confused, either about a huge gap in what I know, or a huge gap in what other people know. I can't name most bands or their songs to save my life. Or when my friends don’t understand people wearing baggy clothes or I meet someone who’s never drunk sweet tea or know what Bojangles is.

I neither miss my “ghetto” life nor do I resent those years. I think back on that part of my life as an adventure, sometimes wondering if that really had an impact on who I am; maybe I’ve gone back to that Paul Simon-loving child of 15 years ago. But then I’ll be driving and listening to my radio and Tupac will come on. Without even realizing it, I sing along, and I still know all the lyrics. That ghetto girl is still inside me, and I like it when she visits.

Survivor: Season XVI Picks - Go Chet!

Alia, defending champion:
Jason
Ami
Jonathan

Pickett, putting all her hopes on Ozzy:
Ozzy
Cirie
Tracy

Dr. Coins, who likes the chicas:
Amanda
Natalie
Eliza

Moon, picked the fluffy-haired guy first... enough said:
Erik
Alexis
Chet

Bag, likes beauty and brawn but not brains:
James
Parvati
Joel


As far as strength of each team, I think that I'm in the lead, only because Ozzy has the immunity idol. Then Alia, with no serious stand-outs yet, but all with the potential to come on strong (plus, as defending champion, she's always dangerous). Then Bag and Dr. Coins, each with 2 solid picks and one who probably will go out sooner than Chet. Last, and I must say least, is Moon. Out of his three picks the only one who's gotten serious air-time is Chet, and that's only because people keep talking about how horrible he is. Fluffy hair aside, I think this team has no stand-out potential.

p.s. Kathy was the only one not picked, and rightly so, I think. This woman has less chance of winning than Yau-Man, and he's already been voted out.

ASOIAF Casting: Part V

The Ironborn and Associates

Asha Greyjoy: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Damphair: Guy Pearce
Victarion: Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo from Rome)
The Crow’s Eye: Russell Crowe
The Reader: Michael Caine

Theon Greyjoy: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers

ASOIAF Casting: Part IV

Tullys and Associates

The Blackfish: Jeremy Irons

Edmure Tully: Michael C. Hall
Hoster Tully: Christopher Plummer
Walder Frey: Zeljko Ivanek

Racism at CU

There's a lot of hoopla going on right now about an editorial that was published in the campus newspaper a week or so ago. It was by a white boy who claimed that all "Asians" hate white people. (I put "Asians" in quotes because what does that really mean? Asian Americans? Actual Asians? If he means literally people who originally lived in Asia-- not children of people who originally lived in Asia, well, there just aren't that many of them in Boulder and I highly doubt that he's talked to more than 4 of them.) Anyways, it rightly got a lot of attention and flack. What I find interesting is that the paper published another editorial right alongside that one from an Asian American student that seems to support the original editorial's opinion, and in my opinion is equally offensive. But this one's getting almost no attention at all!

If you go to this website: http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/campuspress/chronology.html there's links to the two editorials. All I can think is there must be monkeys running the campus press, because no one in their right mind would publish either of these articles without expecting a lot of backlash. Perhaps they were supposed to be sarcastic and satirical, but in today's world where it was a Korean student that shot up Virginia Tech, this sort of satire is not welcome. There is enough racial tension in the US without poorly-expressed editorials like these fanning the flames.

Oscars Reflections

We had a girls' night last night and watched the Oscars. I got pizzas, Alizzle made sangria, and Amber brought Zoe. It was a great night, with altogether too much snarkiness regarding the celebrities' outfits and too much pizza... at least for me! Some majors points that I got from the evening:

1. Sangria is delicious. Rock on wine and rum!

2. John Travolta dressed like a woman for his last movie Hairspray, and decided to continue the trend by wearing a LOT of makeup to the Oscars.

3. Tilda Swinton wore no makeup to the Oscars. Her coollness level skyrocketed when I found that out. But perhaps she and John Travolta should take a page from the others' book and switch that trend up. John at least would benefit from the lesson.

4. A lot of the ladies went with the classic Hollywood look on Sunday. I thought they looked more beautiful than usual. I hope this trend keeps up.

5. John Stewart is frickin' hilarious. I hope he's the new Billy Crystal and they keep bringing him back.

6. I'm very grateful that the writers' strike is over. I hope they got a good deal out of it, but I'm really happy that they ended before the Oscars. It's such a fun night! Plus, it means that awesome shows like The Office will be starting up again soon!

7. Papa Murphy's may be my favorite pizza in town. Abo's would normally be number 1, but I've been disappointed with them lately. Their pizzas aren't as crispy as I like.

8. I really need to see No Country for Old Men.

The Gods Must be Angry

I played in the uber-crapshoot yesterday, the 10k FPP turbo tourney on PokerStars. 9600 ppl registered, although there was room enough for 12k. The top 4,000 people cashed, so it was a juicy tourney to play, even if it was a turbo. I managed to qualify for it in a 2k FPP 6-man qualifier, and joined the Wolf and Bag for what I predicted to be a wild, but fun ride.

It started off so well. I doubled up early and kept building my stack the way my bludgeoning style does so well. I was especially proud of the hands I didn't get involved in. Sometimes I get so excited about playing that I'll jump into pots I shouldn't... but not this time. I was up to 24k when the average stack was about 8k, and then made what I hoped would be the play of the tourney. Two players ahead of me with average stacks both went all in, and I called on the button with 99. I was wavering on the decision of whether or not to do it, but then Wolf said, "folding here is a fine play, but if you're playing for the final table, picking this pot up would be huge." And I always play for the final table. I called and the others showed A9 and KQ. I somehow managed to dodge all the high cards, and BLAMO! I'm at 42k.

This is when the poker gods got angry.

Apparently that was too much success, because I don't think I won a pot after that. And I was playing good hands. I lost 99 to KQ, KK to JT, AK to QJ, AK to J5, AK to AA, JJ to A4, and I'm sure plenty more that I've stricken from my memory. These were all in pre-flop. The only hand I didn't lose was when I got AK in against AK, and even then I was seriously worried, until the flop came rainbow for the split.

I managed to finish in the 750s for a pretty decent score considering that I put zero dollars into the tourney, but I found no joy in it. I was playing a great game, had a great stack size, and lost it all to an insanely bad run of luck. Even when I was crippled, with a measly 1200 stack when the ANTES were 400 each I got it in with Tc2c against KT. I thought that there'd be a little mercy at the end when the flop came 3 K x with 2 clubs. The turn was 3c and I had a flush to bring me back to 6k (certainly no reason to hope for a comeback, but it would've been a moral victory) but then the river brought the dreaded third tre and I was gonzo.

What's the lesson of this story? I have no idea. If you can find one, you let me know. The best I could come up with was that maybe I'm not meant to have a huge poker score, maybe the gods want me to be a small fish in a big pond. But I'll be damned if I stop trying.

ASOIAF Casting: Part III

Tyrells and Associates:
Mace Tyrell: Bernard Hill (seen in Lord of the Rings)
Loras Tyrell: Shawn Ashmore (seen as Iceman in X-Men)
Margaery Tyrell: Alexis Bledel
Randyll Tarly: Zach Grenier (pictured above)
Queen of Thorns: Gloria Stuart (old lady from The Wedding Singer)

Top 10 No-Thinker Games:

These are games that are good for slacking off at work, or when you just wanna zone out. Other game lists pending.

10. Mahjong
9. Free Cell
8. Solitaire
7. Bounce Out
6. Alchemy
5. Minesweeper
4. Web Sudoku
3. Daily Jigsaw Puzzle – shout out to Dr. Coins for getting me obsessed with this one
2. Spider Solitaire
1. Text Twist

15 Hottest Women

15. Padma from Top Chef

14. Angelina Jolie

13. Crush, the American Gladiator

12. Megan Fox

11. Ana Ivanovic

10. Emmanuelle Chriqui

9. Katherine Heigl

8. Jennifer Aniston

7. Shakira

6. Rachel McAdams

5. Evangeline Lilly

4. Jessica Alba

3. Elisha Cuthbert

2. Eva Green

1. Tricia Helfer

SUPERbowl

There are so many things to say about Sunday's Superbowl, and I've heard many of my own thoughts echoed on ESPN, in Moon's blog, and talking to friends. I won't repeat it again here. What I wanted to add was a quote that came to me while watching the game. It's from Miracle, the movie about the USA hockey team that beat the Soviets in the Lake Placid Olympics. I love that movie because it shows the side of great sports moments that are so often neglected by other sports movies. It shows that it's not just talent but working your ass off that'll get you that far. (I've never seen another movie devote so much of its time to sprints.) And it also shows that sometimes working that much harder, and having team unity can overcome a more talented team. That's a lesson that everyone should know, because-- if you're not Tiger Woods or Roger Federer-- there's always someone more talented than you playing your sport.

"Great moments... are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here, tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight. One game. If we played 'em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, we skate with them. Tonight, we stay with them. And we shut them down because we can! Tonight, WE are the greatest hockey team in the world. "

Nice job Giants.

ASOIAF Casting: Part II

Now for the "good guys," the Starks. This was my favorite House to pick, although they were also the hardest. I have a very specific idea of what they should look like. However, I think I've been very successful (if I do say so myself).


On a side note, how hot would the real children of Clive Owen and Cate Blanchett be? Wowza!

And I know that Brienne of Tarth isn't a Stark, but she was tied to Catelyn for a while, so I figured I'd just stick her in here.

Starks and Associates:

Ned Stark: Clive Owen
Benjen Stark: Ryan Gosling
Brandon Stark: Christian Bale
Catelyn Stark: Cate Blanchett
Robb Stark: Michael Anganaro (who you might recognize as the young William from Almost Famous )

Sansa Stark: Hayden Panitierre
Arya Stark: Hannah Marks
Bran Stark: Cayden Boyd
Rickon Stark: Spencer Fox
Lyanna Stark: Eva Green
Maester Luwin: Dan Futterman (seen in The Birdcage and A Mighty Heart)
Rodrik Cassel: Donald Sutherland
Roose Bolton: Kevin Spacey



Ramsey Bolton: Topher Grace (picked solely for his creepy resemblance in facial expressions to Kevin Spacey)




Old Nan: Maggie Smith
Hodor: Tyler Mane (seen as Saber Tooth, from X-Men)
Meera Reed: Jena Malone
Jojen Reed: Liam Aiken
Brienne of Tarth: Charlize Theron (think North Country)
Jory: Adam Baldwin (obviously the man has to be in here, and maybe one of the real Baldwins too...)

A Song of Ice and Fire casting (it’s a fantasy series, so this is my fantasy cast): Part I

For those of you that don't know the series A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin, you won't understand this, and I pity you greatly. You should go read the series, and then come back and read this blog. HBO recently bought the rights to the series, and since then everyone's been talking about which big name actor they want to play the major roles. I decided to make my own, rather extensive list. So I've split it into the major Houses/groups and will be posting them over the next several posts. Obviously, I have to start with one of the biggest, most powerful houses in the great land of Westeros, the dreaded Lannisters. Hope you enjoy!

Lannisters and Associates:

Tywin Lannister: Rutger Hauer
Kevan Lannister: Paul Giamatti
Jaime Lannister: Aaron Eckhart
Cersei Lannister: Rachel McAdams
Tyrion Lannister: Tommy Flanagan (with a lot of special effects, of course)
Joffrey: Max Pirkis (Octavian from Rome) Myrcella: Jenna Boyd
Tommen: Chris O’Neil
Bronn: Cillian Murphy
Lancel Lannister: Ben Foster
Shae: Jamie-Lynn Sigler (seen in Sopranos)
Shagga: Vince Vaughn
Conn: Owen Wilson
Timett son of Timett: Ben Stiller
Osney Kettleblack: Liev Schreiber
Osfred Kettleblack: Charlie Sheen
Sandor Clegane: Daniel Craig
Gregor Clegane: Vinnie Jones
Illyn Payne: Daniel Day Lewis
Vargo Hoat: John Malkovich

The Aussie Open!

I have so many fond memories of the Australian Open. Two years ago I was working a 2pm-10pm job, so watching the 1:30am games live was both doable and exciting. There's not usually a lot of good TV on at that time, so it was great to have something to watch. The Australian Open is without question my favorite of the tennis majors because of it's casual atmosphere. It has none of the stodginess of Wimbledon, and fans go to support the players, not just to watch the game. They hoot and cheer, and boo when they don't like someone's attitude. I find myself cheering right along with them, even though I know they can't hear me through the TV.

I haven't been able to watch as much of the Aussie Open lately, now that I have an 8am-5pm job, but what I've seen has been really exciting. At the beginning of the year I'm sure everyone predicted a Federer-Nadal match for the men and Henin-Williams for the women. But none of those names are in the finals. Tsonga's putting on a show reminiscent of Baghdatis' run a couple of years ago, and Djokovic just crushed the mighty Federer. The women's matches have been equally exciting, with Sharapova looking to take it all against the young Ivanovic. As Moon would say, it's the hottest women's tournament ever.

At first, I was wondering what I would be doing this weekend with no football on, but then I remembered tennis finals. Am I more excited about the Superbowl or the Australian Open? I really couldn't say right now. I love cheering on the underdogs, and each weekend has them. I'll be rooting for Ivanovic and the Giants for sure, and maybe Tsonga too. It's been a great year for sports so far. I only hope the rest of the year is as exhilirating!

Coat rack reviews

I found myself yesterday afternoon engrossed in customer reviews on amazon.com regarding coat racks. That coat rack is perfect, but it costs too much. That coat rack’s legs are noted as being unstable, I wonder if wood glue would fix the problem? This coat rack has good reviews but I don’t like the color. I want a coat rack that goes with my new end tables. But maybe in a few years the end tables and coat rack won’t be in the same room anymore, so does it really matter? I couldn’t help but laugh at what a sad and sorry person I’d become.

My life has changed a lot of late, seemingly overnight and inexplicably. I find myself going to bed at a reasonable hour, and being completely exhausted the next day if I don’t. When I drink I’m responsible about it and don’t find myself hugging a toilet all night or waking up to a massive headache. Just enough to get a buzz, thank you, and no more than that. I have a lot of errands to run tomorrow and don’t want to feel fuzzy. I watch the news every morning so that I can be a more informed citizen.

Less than a year ago I could stay up til 3am, wake up at 7 and be fine for the rest of the day. I’d get smashed every weekend and laugh at the stories we’d share for the rest of the week before a new drunken adventure would grab our attention.

A lot of you are probably thinking that these are all good things and why am I complaining? Yeah it’s probably healthier and I’m living a better lifestyle in general, but that’s not the point. When I graduated from college I moved away from home, got a job, paid taxes and did a lot of the regular domestic things: complained about gas prices, did the laundry, went to the bank. But I'd still party til dawn, hang out with friends, eat frozen pizzas around the clock. So I still felt young too.

Before I felt like I was growing up, but now I feel like I’m growing old. Maybe responsibility is a good thing in the long run, but I thought I’d have at least a few more carefree years before I started worrying about wobbly coat racks.

Old Me v. New Me

Whenever I write notes to myself I always use the second person, for example, “call your sister tomorrow and tell her happy birthday.” I used to try and be cutesy and write “I need to call my sister so I can say happy birthday!” but I hated writing it and hated reading it even more. I was indignant that the old me would presume to refer to me in the first person! But why would I hate that? I mean it’s not like I’m writing a letter to someone else; I’m writing it to me. So why would I phrase it like I was someone else?

That set me to wondering if maybe I was writing to someone else. Sure, I’ve got the same body as Future Me, but I’m not the same person that I will be tomorrow. Maybe tonight I’ll finish a puzzle, and that means that Future Me has accomplished more than I have now, and knows more that I do now. And has more memories than I do too. And I don’t think of Past Mes as the same person that I am now. I draw from the experiences the Past Mes have had and I share the same memories, but I don’t think I’m the same person that I once was. High School Me was shy and quiet, tried to keep a low profile, and quite frankly probably knew more academic knowledge than I know now. Today’s Me is much more outspoken, honest, and more experienced, and I like that.

I know this all sounds really dumb and more than a little weird, but I find it comforting. I picture Future Mes who have successful careers and spend fabulous vacations sunbathing in the Caribbean or wine tasting in Italy. I see a Future Me with a rambling country home and a yard full of dogs. I imagine a Future Me going on a book tour with agents and managers that I haven’t met yet. I see a wise and serene Future Me surrounded by grandchildren that I buy presents for that they don’t appreciate. I know that even if I’m not all these things now, someday I could be. I take comfort in knowing that I can change for the better, and hope that I will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

Top 10 Friends Episodes

Making this list turned out to be incredibly difficult, because I love Friends so much. Probably too much, really. But I finally got it down to ten episodes with only four on the honorable mention list. Apologies in advance to all those good episodes that didn’t get mentioned, but believe me, a lot of research went into this post.

Honorable mention:
The one with Princess Consuela (season 10, episode 14)
The one with five steaks and an eggplant (season 2, episode 5)
The one with the giant poking device (season 3, episode 8)
The one with Chandler in a box (season 4, episode 8)


10. The one with the jellyfish (season 4, episode 1)
Noteworthy moment - Ross and Rachel getting into a fight after he admits that he fell asleep reading her letter. Rachel: “Yeah, well it’s not that common, it doesn’t happen to most guys, and it IS a big deal!!”

9. The one where Ross finds out (season 2, episode 7)
Noteworthy moment – has one of the greatest ending scene during the credits, when Chandler bums Monica out by reminding her how much life sucks so that she won’t force him to work out. Only rivaled by the one where Ross pushes a mannequin down a flight of stairs as a practical joke and Rachel thinks it’s him.

8. The one with the holiday armadillo (season 7, episode 10)
Noteworthy moment – The episode ends with Santa, the holiday armadillo, and Superman lighting a menorah. Need I say more?

7. The one with the kips (season 5, episode 5)
Noteworthy moment – Ross is trying to tell Rachel he can’t see her anymore when she gets a letter from her mother telling her that the family dog, Le Poo, died. Rachel: “It’s Le Poo!” Phoebe: “I know it’s Le Poo now, but it’ll get better.”

6. The one with the prom video (season 2, episode 14)
Noteworthy moment - Phoebe: “It's a known fact that lobsters fall in love and mate for life...You know what, you can actually see old lobster couples walking around their tank, holding claws.”

5. The one with Phoebe’s birthday dinner (season 9, episode 5)
Noteworthy moment – Ross describes the fate of his and Rachel’s child when they’re locked out after Rachel’s imagination runs wild with worry: “The pigeon – no, eagle!—flew in and landed on the stove, bursting into flame. The baby seeing this, leaps to the mighty bird’s aid. The eagle, however, misconstrues it as an act of aggression and grabs the baby in its talons! Baby and bird still ablaze are locked in a death grip, swirling around in the whirlpool that fills the apartment.”

4. The one where everybody finds out (season five, episode 14)
Noteworthy moment – What I consider to be Phoebe’s best episode. She’s both clever, conniving, and witty. Phoebe: “They don’t know that we know they know we know.”

3. The one where no one's ready (season 3, episode 2)
Noteworthy moment - The only real-time episode that all happens in Rachel and Monica’s apartment. And so fantastic – includes the scene where Joey wears everything that Chandler owns. Could he BE wearing any more clothes?

2. The one where Ross got high (season 6, episode 9)
Noteworthy moment - The scene where all the friends start yelling, including… Rachel: “I wasn’t supposed to put beef in the trifle!” and Phoebe: “I love Jacques Cousteau!” Also responsible for some of the funniest outtakes in the entire series.

1. The one with the embryos (season 4, episode 12)
Noteworthy moment - Clearly the only non-noteworthy moment in the absolutely excellent episode is anything involving Phoebe’s plotline. But my favorite quote? “Don’t blame the questions!!!”

2007, a year in review

Quick version: 2007 was awesome.

Long version: I think I will always remember 2007 very fondly. It was a HUGE year for me, more than I even realized until it was over. I began 07 in the Bahamas-- not a bad start! I went straight from there to my new job, which I quickly realized was a vast improvement for me, both financially and emotionally. Obviously a lot happened over those 365 days, but here's a quick summary of the highlights: I travelled to France, I went to Hawaii, I went to Florida, and I feel like I travelled somewhere else too, but right now I can't remember. I took a day-long writer's workshop, which motivated me to work even harder on my book and set a deadline to have it done by the end of 2007. I celebrated my 5 year anniversary with my boyfriend. I created my own board game. I had some pretty good scores in poker-- nothing huge, but big enough to keep me happy. Then I ended the year by going to a kickass New Year's Eve party, and yet still woke up in 2008 without a hangover!

Downsides to 2007 - obviously it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, so here's a few of the negatives that happened. 1: I didn't finish my book. This is a big one. It's not really a big deal, but I don't like that I didn't reach a goal that I set for myself. 2: I got sick a lot. I actually got food poisoning twice, and I brought a nasty cold with me into 2008 that I'm not pleased with. Plus I think the holidays were a bit rough on my waistline (Florida food is largely based around frying and grease).

I feel like 2007 was the year that put my life in order. I'm finally starting to see a pattern, have some goals for my life that are more specific than, "don't die young, and have fun until you do."

So, taking all that into account, here are my New Year's resolutions:

1. Finish my book! Ideally sometime very soon, but certainly soon enough that I can have my peers read it and get back to me with ideas.

2. Exercise at least 3 times a week. I bought an elliptical specifically for this purpose and then neglected it for the entire month of December. Not good.

3. Put more citrus in my diet. This is especially important in the winter when it's not easy to come by. I've taken to putting wedges of lemon in my water (my illness had me craving lemons) which both makes the drink tastier, and makes me feel better. This is a habit I want to continue long into the future.

These are small goals, maybe, but I feel like at this point in my life that's all I really need to "have it all." I've got good friends, a loving family, a happy home. I have a good job, and a dream job in the works (fingers crossed). I have my whole future in front of me and it's full of potential, and a past that's full of happy memories. What more can a person really ask for?


Nostrovia!

Top 10 Christmas Songs

10. Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer
9. Let it Snow!
8. Twelve Days of Christmas
7. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
6. White Christmas
5. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
4. Baby, it’s Cold Outside
3. Do you Hear What I Hear?
2. All I Want for Christmas is You
1. Carol of the Bells

Quote of the Week

Julie: i have friends who just got a norwegian forest cat
me: they're poofy!
Julie: oh i guess she's a mix, so only her tail is poofy
Julie: if they had named her while looking at her from the back they would have called her fluffy-butt
Julie: but as it turns out they didn't. her name is millie.
me: lol

Quote of the Week

"so guess what

I just went to the bathroom...

and while I was washing my hands

I noticed I was wearing 2 watches

my metal one on my left wrist

my digital one on my right"

- Doug, on gchat

A World Drowning in Bureaucracy

Today I overheard my boss talking with my boss’s boss about a co-worker. This co-worker had been given a responsibility, saw a way to make the job more efficient, and adjusted some paperwork accordingly. Basically she rearranged some wording on a form. My boss’s boss found out about it today. “She just can’t be taking initiative like that,” my boss’s boss said in an appalled tone, as though my co-worker had just streaked the office or slapped a student in the face.

Since when did “initiative” become a bad word?

I thought that people who took initiative were supposed to be rewarded, sought-after employees. This co-worker, in my eyes, did nothing wrong. There are about 4 people in the world who actually look at this form, and she consulted every one of them to make sure they were happy with the adjustments. But she didn’t bring it in front of a committee of people who never even glance at this stupid piece of paper, and now she’s in trouble because of it. Why does every change have to have a committee’s support behind it? Isn’t “micromanage” supposed to be the bad word?

This sort of bureaucracy is what’s drowning our society today. Millions of people are employed, however unhappy they may be, to help slow the system down. I’m all for supporting the system, I think that societies need structure, but it’s reaching the point where it feels like we’re trying to prevent improvement, change, EVOLUTION. It’s a natural thing to change, see if things get better and stick with it, or go back to the old way if it got worse. I think my heart belongs to a place like Greenwood. It may not be managed well, but at least everyone supports you when you step up to try and fix the problems, instead of getting told off for it.

We’re taught when we’re little that we can make a difference, we can change the world if we want to! But if we can’t even change our own jobs, one tiny detail of our daily life, how are we supposed to keep believing that? I told a friend yesterday, “You can’t fix the world, but at least you can do something about your little corner of it.” But now I’m starting to doubt that too.

The sort-of top 15….

This isn’t a list of great literary novels of our time. This is a list of books that I really love to read. I know a lot of them aren’t deep, meaningful, symbolic, whatever. I don’t care! They’re entertaining, emotional, suspenseful, and that’s what matters to me. Screw you James Joyce!


Dead last. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks – I read it in Italy. It was left in Italy. I feel bad for Italy.

Second to dead last. Next by Michael Crichton – I warned Moon not to read it, but he did anyways. I’m sure he’ll regret it for the rest of his life.

Third to dead last. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce – seriously, a textbook of a novel. I appreciate the work that went into making this book (probably a billion times more than the Notebook) which is why it’s not dead last. But it hurts me to read it. It’s like reading cardboard. It’s full of unemotional, detached characters who I really couldn’t care less about what happens to them.

12. The Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey – probably doesn’t deserve a place on this list, but I’m giving it one anyways. I don’t recommend that anyone over the age of 14 read these books.

11. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin – a fabulous murder mystery book for kids.

10. The World According to Garp by John Irving – it’s funny, it’s heart-wrenching, it’s bizarre. It’s John Irving at his peak.

9. The Long Walk by Stephen King* - One thing I love about King’s books is he leaves some of them open-ended. You don’t REALLY know what’s going to happen to the characters. For me it makes the story keep going, long after the book is done. You can wonder about what happened next, come up with your own theories, relish it for a bit longer (kind of like garlic).

8. Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie – the definition of suspenseful. I couldn’t sleep until I found out what happened. I always had this weird thought in my head that Agatha Christie was Alfred Hitchcock’s pseudonym for literature

7. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling – yeah, so they’re children’s books. I still love ‘em!

6. The Stand by Stephen King* - I judge all post-apocalyptic books by this high standard. It’s epic, which in my opinion is the best kind of story you can get.

5. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving – an all-around great, which also gave me a new appreciation for armadillos.

4. Armor by John Steakley* - I can’t come up with a quip that can summarize how I feel about this book. It’s a great stand-alone book.

3. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card* - It’s one of those books that sticks with you, whether you read it once or a hundred times. Truly inventive and insightful.

2. The Redwall series by Brian Jacques – C’mon! It’s Redwall! It’s got mice and badgers at war against rats and weasels and foxes! Brian Jacques may be personally responsible for my love of small woodland critters (except the South Park Christmas critters, those are fucked up).

1. The George RR Martin series, A Song of Ice and Fire* - the series hasn’t even finished yet, but I can’t stop thinking about them… talking about them… reading them over and over. Thankfully there are groups for this sort of lunacy.

* denotes books/series that were recommended by the Wolf. The man picks winners. He should start a club, like Oprah.

Movies these days suck

The Wolf told me he'd take me to a movie, any movie, that I wanted. So I looked at what's in theaters, and decided that I'd rather watch Wheel of Fortune on TV. There's NOTHING out. I mean, it was tough picking between The Game Plan and Resident Evil: Extinction. What has happened to modern cinema? Wolf has mostly given up on American film and has turned to foreign films, which has yielded some pretty quality stuff, but I'm still a cinematic patriot at heart.

I hope that some day US filmmakers will pull their heads out of their asses and realize that what they're doing isn't working. Movies based on books, sequel after sequel, remake after remake-- the world isn't finished with creativity!! Come up with an original idea people!

The few movies I am excited about, sadly ARE a part of that category: The Golden Compass, Elizabeth: the Golden Age, and Sleuth. A couple of other movies have caught my eye: Rendition and American Gangster, but these are mostly based on the fact that I love the actors-- Jake Gyllenhaal and Chwietel Ejiojor respectively-- not so much the plotlines. (Actually, Clive Owen is why I want to see the Elizabeth sequel.)

Hopefully the Christmas season will improve the film landscape, otherwise it's gonna be a looooong winter.


p.s. congrats Moon!

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 1797684

Quote of the Week

"I know he's a good guy, but he's not welcome [at my wedding]."

- the Wolf, discussing Jesus

Quote of the Week

"You don't have to be smart. You just have to have an internet connection."
- Bag, on the AbsolutePoker scandal

When I'm a millionaire...

It's my new favorite way to start a sentence. I don't have anywhere close to a million dollars, but it keeps me positive and focused on my goals. (My goals are not ultimately having a million dollars, but rather a means to an end for my true goals.) After all there are so many ways to make millions these days! The top of my list right now is to win a big online tourney and to turn my book into a best seller. Sadly, I think winning the tourney is my most likely option since I don't think writing is usually a big money-maker. Unless you're JK Rowling, Dan Brown, or John Grisham.

But this is why I'm excited that the WCOOP is starting soon! Not only is WCOOP fun to say, it's fun to play! And it could be quite lucrative if the poker gods are on my side. I'm trying to qualify for a few of the bigger tourneys, though I'm notoriously bad at qualifiers. Qualifiers require more patience than most tourneys and patience is something I lack. But I'll keep at it and hopefully in a couple of weeks I can at least be a little closer to the million dollar mark!

The 15 Sexiest Men

Bag and I have each agreed to post who we think are the top 15 sexiest men. Here's mine:


15. Mark Ruffalo

14. Brad Pitt

13. John Krasinski

12. Dana White

11. Rafael Nadal

10. Orlando Bloom

9. Robin Hood

8. Colin Firth

7. Christian Bale

6. Ken Watanabe

5. Gerard Butler

4. Jamie Bamber

3. Daniel Craig

2. Jake Gyllenhaal

1. Clive Owen

Pickett Simpson

Some Sunday million hands

I played the Sundy million today and didn't do very well. I lost a few 50/50s but I also played very differently. In the beginning my aggression was not paying off, so I switched to a more loose-passive game. After this tourney I think I'll try to avoid this kind of play from now until forever. Here are just a few hands for your reading pleasure.


Seat 4: Trunkmonkee (9925 in chips)
Seat 8: Jdubtd10 (10000 in chips)
Seat 9: PunkyPickle (10000 in chips)
ragweed147: posts small blind 25
Jdubtd10: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PunkyPickle [Ad Td]
PunkyPickle: calls 50
ForeverDean: folds
mick69b: folds
BonesMaster: folds
Trunkmonkee: calls 50
akia86: folds
Ezu1: folds
ragweed147: folds
Jdubtd10: checks
*** FLOP *** [7s Ah 2s]
Jdubtd10: checks
PunkyPickle: bets 125
Trunkmonkee: calls 125
Jdubtd10: calls 125
*** TURN *** [7s Ah 2s] [3c]
Jdubtd10: checks
PunkyPickle: bets 350
Trunkmonkee: calls 350
Jdubtd10: raises 350 to 700
PunkyPickle: calls 350
Trunkmonkee: calls 350
*** RIVER *** [7s Ah 2s 3c] [Kh]
Jdubtd10: bets 1200
PunkyPickle: folds
Trunkmonkee: folds
Jdubtd10 collected 2650 from pot

- AT is my least favorite hand. I think it may be my all-time money loser. I limped UTG because quite frankly I'm afraid of the hand. I didn't want to raise with it in case I got reraised, but limping here is pretty weak too. I should probably just start folding AT all the time and save myself a lot of grief.



Seat 5: akia86 (9750 in chips)
Seat 9: PunkyPickle (10625 in chips)
Trunkmonkee: posts small blind 50
akia86: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PunkyPickle [Jc Td]
Ezu1: folds
ragweed147: folds
Jdubtd10: folds
PunkyPickle: calls 100
ForeverDean: folds
mick69b: folds
BonesMaster: folds
Trunkmonkee: calls 50
akia86: raises 300 to 400
PunkyPickle: calls 300
Trunkmonkee: folds
*** FLOP *** [4c 9c 8c]
akia86: bets 600
PunkyPickle: calls 600
*** TURN *** [4c 9c 8c] [Jh]
akia86: bets 1300
PunkyPickle: raises 1300 to 2600
akia86: calls 1300
*** RIVER *** [4c 9c 8c Jh] [2s]
akia86: checks
PunkyPickle: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
akia86: shows [Ah Qc] (high card Ace)
PunkyPickle: shows [Jc Td] (a pair of Jacks)
PunkyPickle collected 7300 from pot

- Obviously limp-calling with JTo is pretty loose but I felt good about the hand. When Akia raised I put him on two overs and figured I could outplay him in position. I'm really pleased with how I played this hand although it's one of the strangest hands I've ever played.



Seat 5: dvash9 (11155 in chips)
Seat 9: PunkyPickle (15991 in chips)
Jdubtd10: posts small blind 300
PunkyPickle: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PunkyPickle [Ah Ts]
ForeverDean: folds
magetzu: folds
UB_Bone: folds
Trunkmonkee: folds
dvash9: raises 1200 to 1800
TheDna: folds
mrsmontal: folds
Jdubtd10: folds
PunkyPickle: calls 1200
*** FLOP *** [Ac 7s 4h]
PunkyPickle: checks
dvash9: bets 600
PunkyPickle: raises 1200 to 1800
dvash9: raises 7555 to 9355 and is all-in
PunkyPickle: calls 7555
*** TURN *** [Ac 7s 4h] [8h]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 7s 4h 8h] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PunkyPickle: shows [Ah Ts] (a pair of Aces)
dvash9: shows [4c Ad] (two pair, Aces and Fours)
dvash9 collected 22610 from pot

- The damn AT again! I HATE this hand! I called thinking he had something weak like KJ or KQ. When the flop came and he bet the min I reR to 1800 because I wanted him to push over the top all in on a bluff. When he did it though, I got a really bad feeling. Before I thought he was on a bluff but now I couldn't decide. I ended up calling and being in pretty bad shape. I think the best move was probably to either reR or fold preflop and avoid all the trouble.

I was down to 4700 after that and went out soon after with Q7s on the button. The SB happened to have 99 and it was goodnight Pickle.

Book Update

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten.

- Natasha Bedingfield, "Unwritten"


I've finished writing the book and now I'm in the process of editing. I haven't even looked at the beginning of my story in so long that it feels like revisiting an old friend. Sometimes I've surprised myself at how much I enjoy what I've written. Other times I feel really sorry for myself because the writing is so terrible that I doubt I'll have a chance at getting this bad boy published. But one thing that I hold forefront in my mind is something another writer once told me: write every day, even if it's no good. Sometimes it's just vomit on a page, but at least it's out there. That's what I did. Now I have to clean up the vomit.

The plot's out there, everything is outlined. I'm fixing up the poor writing and trying to put the soul into the characters and into the book.

I imagine that I'll have a hard time finishing the book. There will always be room for improvements, I know, so I just have to make the decision to set it down and go with what I've got at some point. I've been working on this book since senior year of college, so it will be hard to put it out there if I'm not 100% happy with it. But I guess that's why people write sequels, right? ;)

Quote of the Day

When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
- from an email my mom sent me

Harry Potter predictions

So I know most people reading this blog couldn't care less about Harry Potter, but I want to get my predictions down for who will live, who will die, before the seventh and last book comes out Saturday.

Who's going to die:
1. Voldemort
2. Snape
3. Neville Longbottom
4. Someone from the Order of the Phoenix... I don't know who, but I hope it's not Lupin

Who's getting together:
1. Bill and Fleur are supposed to have a wedding at the beginning of the book, so I'm going to assume that goes through
2. Ron and Hermione. Rowling has been building this up for six books. I'm more confident of this than anything else I'm predicting. (Although I personally think they are a terrible match for each other.)
3. Harry and Ginny. A lot of people think Harry will die... so if that happens then obviously this one won't work out so well. But I think Harry will end up saving the day, getting the girl, and becoming Hogwarts' Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. And winning the Quidditch Cup just for being Harry. Actually playing Quidditch will no longer be necessary.
4. Tonks and Lupin have a relationship now, but I have a horrible gut feeling that one or both of them won't see the last pages of Deathly Hallows. That makes me sad because they are both kickass and two of my favorite characters.

In about a week I'll find out if I'm right or wrong and then everyone can mock me or revere me as appropriate.

Book Update

I've been inspired, but I have no idea who or what my muse might be.

Lately I've been on a writing rampage. Two months ago I'd finished less than half of the chapters in my book, although I'd started several. Now I only have 2 left to finish and I predict that I am over 90% finished with the first draft. After that I get to edit. And I do mean "get to." Words cannot describe how excited I am to rip my own piece of work to shreds. I think what I've got now is good, but I want to fix it so that it is great.

I read a quote one time that said something along the lines of "people don't become authors because they want to be, they become authors because they have to be." I completely understand that now. Even if this book doesn't get published, even if only my friends and family ever end up reading it, I still had to write it. The story was inside me and I had to let it out.

The timeline for now is to finish the first draft by August sometime and to finish the edits by December 31st, 2007. So far I'm right on schedule.

All the WSOP stuff on TV and real life got me excited about poker again. I started playing in some tournies, not doing so great, buying straight in to the Sunday Million on PokerStars after spending $160 trying to qualify for it, doing bad there too, and then going on tilt for buying into a tourney that was way out of my bankroll range. I whined for a while and then the Wolf told me to play the 180 player max tournies that PS has going all the time. He may have said it to get me to shut up, but never once actually told me I was being a big baby. For that I am grateful.

I took his advice and later that day came in 2nd in one of the $10 buy-ins. The next day I did the exact same thing. I'm no longer a big baby, now I'm happy I started with the poker again. I've decided to stick primarily to the 180 maxes from now on. They go fast (for a tourney) and the structure is actually surprisingly good. Much better than the Sunday Million which is unexpected. When it got heads up in the first tourney there was $270,000 in chips out there and blinds only at 1k, 2k. The next day was slower and the blinds were up to 4k, 8k when we got heads up, but still, not too shabby.


p.s. the title function isn't working right now which is why this post is officially "untitled"

Red pandas are in the garbage again... go get the broom!

I was reading up on red pandas a few days ago. (This may sound strange, but about once a month I get the urge to look up an animal species and learn more about them. I'm weird like that.) One of the things that the Wikipedia site mentions is that red pandas are most closely related to bears and raccoons. Now, having worked closely with raccoons I know how intelligent and fun-loving they can be. (Although they can also be a pain in the ass when you're trying to sweep their cage out and they're trying to steal your broom... but that's another story.) Unlike me, though, most people consider them pests and annoyances. But these same people would do a flip if they ever saw a red panda in the wild. I know that red pandas are more rare and live in Asia as opposed to their back yard, but if you look at them they basically look like fluffy red raccoons. So you have to wonder, if red pandas were native to North America and raccoons were native to Asia, would these people go bonkers if they saw a raccoon? I think they would... and just like that one of our most reviled species would become one of the most beloved.