Does whatever a spider can

I'm crashing over at All The Wine's place today geeking out about webcomics. You can read my guest post titled "Hey Pete, you want to see a comic book with pregnant zombie nuns?" here and if that's not enough to get you interested, I don't know what else to do. Come say hi!

As Sempai, do you think there is ever going to be a day where humans and robots can peacefully co-exist?

A review of WALL-E

Just a heads up--the following post contains info about the plot of WALL-E, go figure.


It's a tale as old as technology. Boy robot meets girl robot, girl robot goes back into space, boy robot follows her into the final frontier, boy and girl robot must save the human race.
I had been vaguely interested in this movie based purely on the fact it's a Pixar film. I read so many positive reviews yesterday (which is a major testament to the power of the internet) that I knew I had to see it opening weekend. And really, what can I say other than Pixar has done it again?

Pixar has this enviable ability to be able to portray raw and relatable human emotion in the most unlikely of subjects. They've covered toys, insects, fish, monsters, automobiles, and rats. (In my opinion, their strongest film yet is The Incredibles, but they were dealing with people in that one.) What makes WALL-E so impressive to me is that it seems like Andrew Stanton and crew viewed this the film as a challenge to improve everything else they have done before.

It first ups the ante because communication is dealt with in a very R2-D2 fashion of beeps and mechanical whirls. However, you still easily understand the longing of WALL-E for EVE and EVE's frustration with WALL-E. Secondly, the soundtrack melds together futuristic themes with some very old-fashioned stylings. One of the most beautiful scenes is aided by Louis Armstrong's La Vie en Rose in the background. Lastly, the color palette on earth is muted and stark, but still stunning in its own way. It's one thing to show that the undersea is lovely with bold fish as in Finding Nemo, but to use mainly shades of brown and still get the impression of earth's grandeur? That's some crazy talent.

Like all good movies for kids, it's more than enough to keep the adults engaged. A major strength of Pixar to other studios is that Pixar relies on rich storytelling and keeping the animation brimming with details as opposed to crass innuendos and pop culture references. Granted, it does allude to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars: A New Hope, and Short Circuit, but I think those are requisites for making a movie about space.

I loved the intertwining of Hello, Dolly! It's always been a favorite musical of mine and my senior year of high school I was in the pit orchestra for that show with all of my friends. I particularly adored the emphasis on hand-holding--in today's world there's so much focus on rushing the physical aspect of relationships. It was nice to return to a period where something simple like hand-holding meant a great deal. Heck, I still get giddy over the prospect. The romantic aspect of the show is terribly endearing, especially one scene set in zero-gravity.

Naturally, John Ratzenburger makes an appearance. I'm sure it's filled with other easter eggs, but I was too wrapped up in the story to pick up on them, so a re-watch is needed. The credits are gorgeously crafted. There's no extra end-bit like in Cars or A Bug's Life, but just stay for the new Peter Gabriel song and the art. Oh, also! The pre-film short is called Presto! and it's delightful. The story is about a magician and his rabbit in a brilliant homage to Bugs Bunny and the classic Looney Tunes. Chuck Jones would be proud.

There are a few take-home messages, namely 1. Take care of the planet, 2. Hard work is more rewarding than the easy way out, and 3. Stuff is less important than relationships. They aren't heavy-handed; in fact, they're important lessons for the upcoming generations to learn. It's also interesting to look at it as an updated version of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Honestly, I think the main moral I learned came from Pixar in general--put the most effort and care into your work you possibly can. Not because of the money, not because of the praise, but because the things you love deserve your best labor. The passionate production of WALL-E shows and the time spent is entirely worth it.
4/4 Stars

One of these mornings you're gonna rise up singing

A few things that have made life worth living in the past week...

Eric D. Snider blogged about a new site called Seriously, So Blessed! I have never seen something that so effectively and snarkily parodies the "Mormon Princess" culture. There's a "Breaking Dawn" countdown in the side bar and multiple exclamation points. The clique mind-set is expressed by the fact that it's written by Tiffany/Amber/Megan/Nicole who is married to Jordan/Jason/Wes/Taylor.

I have a date to the zoo tonight. This is exciting because a) I haven't been on a date in a good long while and b) I have this love of the zoo that exceeds that of your average 21-year-old. And probably your average 8-year-old, which is saying something. I don't know the guy very well, but I'm planning on having a blast.

Pandora, step aside! A friend directed me to ruckus.com. It's a free music download service for college students. I don't know if it works for alumni, but you do need access to an .edu email account.
Cons: It requires its own player and the site is inundated with ads. You can't burn the music and they won't play on iPods. Not all music is available that you might want. (Really, ruckus? No Dog Problems?)
Pros: It's extremely quick to get set-up and oh yeah, 100% FREE. The selection is actually quite wide-spread. Since Wednesday, I have downloaded something like 75 albums. (That is a completely accurate number.) There may have been tears of joy shed when I finally was able to download Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.

I worked out plans for going home for Independence Day. I have a history of really crappy Fourth of Julys, but I think this year will be perfect.

3 weeks until graduation! I've been receiving emails with all the nitty gritty details. I'm so ready to be done.

I just watched the Girlfriends and Boyfriends episode of Freaks and Geeks. I'd seen the Nick/Lindsey basement scene lots of times before (you know which one), but to see it completely in context? Beyond belief good. I haven't fallen this hard for a show in a long time.

Re: Your Brains

This easily qualifies for the Best. Meme. EVER. Be sure to check out the answers from srah, Jennie!, and Heather Anne.

You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have:

1. One weapon.
2. One song blasting on the speakers.
3. One famous person to fight alongside you.

Weapon can be real or fictional; you may assume endless ammo if applicable. Person can be real or fictional.

1. A lightsaber, hot pink--Just like Princess Leia's. That's not in the movies, but it is in the books. coughShutup!cough

2. Killer Queen, Queen--Dynamite with a laser beam, baby.

3. Veronica Mars, hands down. Those zombies are TOAST.

Also, the title comes from the most amazing song about zombies. Jonathan Coulton is at least nine different levels of awesome.

Wordless Wednesday: Bijoux

I’m going to break the cardinal rule of Wordless Wednesday right now and use words. Le shocker! This was another $.66 buy at the dollar store—awesome. Also, you know you spend too much time blogging when you see it and think, “This is just like those soup bowls Dooce posted about last winter that she uses for her jewelry! Must have!” Man, I can’t wait to move back to Utah so I can start stalking Heather. I will have a picture taken with her before the year’s end.

At the corner just in time to see the bus fly by

For your viewing pleasure: The visual aids for my addiction presentation in neuroscience today.
A+? Or A++?



I was always the Jessie of the group.



The ironic thing about this video is that the words they use to diss dope at the beginning are also pretty good descriptors of their character.

(I also plan on using Michael Scott's line about more people using cocaine than reading a book to their children during my portion on addiction statistics.)

This is such a small cheese box!

So...anyone else make cheese this weekend? Just me, then? Okay.
I whipped up a batch of paneer, which in the past I'd always confused with the Panera Bread Cafe. I've heard good things about both and they're both food related, so it's understandable.
Coconut & Lime gave a recipe a couple weeks ago and I was intruiged. It didn't seem too hard. The ingredients are basically whole milk and lemon. Simple, right? It did require an adventure through the aisles of Albertson's, which I like to call The Epic Quest for Cheese Cloth.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Once milk heats up, it froths up very fast. There was some spillage onto the super hot burner and now we have this burn mark that we can't get off of our stove. Oops.
2. It's because of this that I don't think it got quite as hot as it needed to be. I still added the lemon juice anyhow and let it curdle, which is a pretty cool process to watch.
3. The draining took longer than I thought and was quite messy.
4. The yield was much less than I anticipated--that was a bummer. I only got about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup, when the recipe said I'd get 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
5. The texture is similar to mascarpone and it tastes a bit like unsalted ricotta.
6. So far, I've tried it with rice and cinnamon and vanilla--that was tasty. Even better was Sunday dinner. We made sausage marinara sauce and mixed a bit of the paneer in with that. Yum. Next time I make it, I want to try Saag Paneer.


Fun fact: I bought the plate with three other vintage poster style dessert plates on Saturday at the dollar store of all places. Better yet, they were only sixty-six cents because the store's going out of business. They're enough to keep me satisfied and smiling until I can afford these.

P.S. I went this whole post without making a "That's so cheesy!" joke. You should be proud.

In French she would be called "la renarde."

Dear Firefox,

I'll admit. At first, I was apprehensive. You were unfamiliar and difficult to navigate. Everyone swore that I would love you and I just wasn't sure. You temporarily messed up my g-chat, but I was able to fix it with a quick cache clearing. My bookmarks did indeed transfer over, but it took a few clicks to restore them to the proper folders. The fonts changed, as did the appearance of my school e-mail account.

Firefox, I'm sorry for doubting you. Everyone has their faults and you more than make up for them. There's twitterfox, Foxytunes, and so many more. I'd heard of the joys of automatic spell check and I'm amazed! No more pop-ups? Hallelujah! You also allow me to update my facebook status as "Gretchen is firefoxy."

Plus, just look at how cute you are in stuffed animal form. {Image courtesy of qwantz.com}


I do believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Yours forever,
Gretchen

Dear Internet Explorer,

It's not me, it's you.

-Gretchen

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

-I faithfully downloaded Firefox 3, but I'm reluctant to switch over, since Internet Explorer is the browser I know. Plus, I'll have to redo my enormous amount of bookmarks and folders. Is it really worth it? What add-ons do I need?

-Threadless must have changed the shirts they print on, because the medium I'm wearing right now is noticeably wider and longer than the other mediums I own. I also have a couple of the old smalls and those are a tad snug. So next time do I buy the new small size, in hopes that'll fit me better? Not knowing the exact sizes and outrageous shipping prices are the only downsides to online shopping.

-I really, really, really like T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

-I'd like new music and a bigger iPod. Not necessarily in that order.

-I spent yesterday afternoon re-reading River Secrets. That was good for my soul.

-This helped me realize I need to remove myself my computer more often. (And yet...here I am.)

-Otter pops are at their best when they're still a mite slushy. Also, if you freeze otter pops vertically, then your scissors won't get sticky because there's a small amount of air at the top. That's probably the most useful thing I've ever said on this blog.

-I have to teach two classes next Monday (Behavioral Neurobiology and Intro to Psych), since the professor will be out. I'm flattered he asked me, but also deathly afraid of screwing up. Intro to Psych has 106 kids in the class. Eek!

-I'm pretty bummed out there's no new Harry Potter book coming out this summer. I mean, I know we get the HBP movie (Part Uno) (srah corrected me--it's DH that's in two parts) this fall, but I've always associated reading Harry Potter with the most sweltering parts of summer.

-I'm going to make paneer this weekend. Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures before eating it all.

-4 weeks until graduation!

-Some friends and I do a GRE Prep class every Thursday night. There's already a high level of nerdiness, given that it's strictly student-run and we make analogy jokes and stuff. Somehow, I have been branded as the geeky one. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but mostly proud.

-I've been debating about this post I wrote a while back. It's not really controversial, it's just a big step for me to actually put it out there. Maybe next week? We'll see.

-I've been playing around with new blog ideas. Wordpress vs. blogger? Do I dare to make the switch?

Top Three: Camera Phone Treasures

I love my camera phone because it's there if I need to capture something that instant. Heck, even National Geographic published a book centered around how to take great camera phone pictures. Because, you know, if I'm ever in the Amazon and this rainbow macaw comes flying by, I am going to whip out my Samsung Stripe and get some great shots courtesy of NG.

1. I went to the new Asian Market with my family on Friday. Those places rock. I saw everything from Tofu Jerky to "Cutted Pork Foot." They even had a whole section for Oriental Kitsch. This was one of my favorite finds:

It's a Pearl Soybean drink in Mung Bean flavor. As Creed Bratton will tell you, "I sprout mung beans on a damp paper towel in my desk drawer. Very nutritious, but they smell like death." Ah, Old Man Smell in a can!

2. This sign is in the hallway at our university library. I kind of wanted to take it down and hang it in my room, because I'm just that much of a nerd.

3. Without getting into the various rules my uber-conservative school enforces , let's look closely at the wording on the sign. "Leggings may only to be worn with modest knee-length clothing covering them." My favorite part's the person who crossed out the "to" and wrote next to it, "Proofread, stupid!" EDITING FAIL.

Wordless Wednesday: Peonies three ways

You Have Won A Tiny Dundie

I won the lovely CityStream's fabulous giveaway! It's mostly because I shared a rather mortifying story that will not be repeated here, but the point is, it worked. I took my $40 gift card to Wal-mart last week and went ka-razy. I was overdue for some pampering and here's what I picked up. Oh, and the adorable tote bag is from Target. I bought that with the gift card I got ages ago from Jenn's hilarious paint contest.

There was also a Peach Mango Fuze, but I drank it already. I'm proud of the fact that I'm the kind of girl who can buy the movie Airplane! and the latest Vogue without blinking an eye. Also, if you want to see something really funny, compare my haul to Seven's. She won the second place prize and we're clearly on the same wavelength when it comes to shopping sprees.

I'm not done spending it yet, but it's probably going towards stuff like bread and milk, because I'm still a poor college kid who needs her cereal in the morning. Thanks again, CityStreams!

Okay, you want to hear something else awesome? One of tumblr's best music sites is Tuneage. They held a contest to come up with the next theme for their podcast a while ago with some severely sweet prizes. I submitted something along the lines of "You guys should do a podcast about the songs that first got you interested in music. You know, the albums that changed your life, when you knew you'd never go back to just being a casual music fan." I knew it was a good theme, I just didn't think it was first-place good. But I guess it is. So I get a 1GB Product Red iPod Shuffle and the following, courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty:

My Brightest Diamond’s album Bring Me The Workhorse Castanets album In The Vines
Castanets DVD Tendrils
Half-handed Cloud’s album Halos & Lassos
Sufjan Stevens’ album Illinoise
Shannon Stephens’ self-titled album
Encyclopedia Asthmatica DVD
Asthmatic Kitty T-shirt

HOLY SMOKES. The music junkie in me is freaking out.

In honor of this, I made a mixwit of my own personal 'Heart Songs.' (Holla, Weezer!) Well, I thought I made a mixwit, but it didn't save it or something. Grrrr... I'll try and re-do it later.

Further proof that I have the sense of humor of a 14-year-old boy

I'm going home for the weekend to spend some quality time with my pops and meet some amazing teen bloggers, so it should be fun.

I cannot get enough of watching this, even though the guy on the left reminds me of the guys I automatically despise. You know, the kind that think they're the funniest person on earth.



Happy Friday the 13th (spooky!), Happy Useless Holiday Day tomorrow, and Happy Father's Day on Sunday!

Ticker Tape Parade

It's Post #100 here at Blog Headquarters, with imaginary confetti and cotton candy. Everybody celebrate! Come on, let's celebrate diversity!

That's all the fanfare you get.

Enjoy the meme!

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into flickr search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name.

1. Bob Jackson Super Vigorelli Track: 001, 2. Elbows with Homemade Low Fat Spinach Alfredo Sauce, Chicken, and Diced Tomatoes, 3. Jordan: Senior 2008 - Flare!, 4. Parasol, 5. Lee Pace Comic Con 07, 6. ginger ale, 7. Milan Train Station at Midnight, 8. green tea, 9. Madame de Remusat by Paul Delaroche, 10. The Old Library, 11. Cute cat alert!, 12. Walking Ginger

Note: There was this really awesome and disgusting picture of a gutted chicken I thought about putting for #2, but it just didn't jive with the rest of it. Otherwise, I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Airhead Review, Or Why I Read Meg Cabot

Airhead, by Meg Cabot, $11.55 from Amazon

I know plenty of people that will dismiss chick lit and YA literature as a waste of time, useless shelf space, mindless drabble, and so on. They might say that fluffy romances have a place in libraries, but only for for readers who aren't serious about literature. One of the more amusing/infuriating terms I've heard to describe Jane Austen is "emotional porn." Regardless of such dissenters, there's a huge market and community for this genre. I consider myself to be an intelligent reader and I love these kind of books. Here's why.

I believe in looking at things with a realistic perspective--light-hearted lit doesn't try to be profound or revolutionary. What I like about these books is that they’re the literary equivalent of a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. It’s of a higher quality than your usual ice cream and tastes really good going down, but it’s not something you can eat for dinner every single night. Anyone who has tried a steady diet of strictly Sophie Kinsella or Cherry Garcia knows this. But sometimes, a rainy Friday night comes around where both are necessitated. Most follow a simple formula, but it’s the kind that hooks you every time. They’re fun and make you think back to the days when you’d stay up all night at sleepovers and giggle so hard your tummy would hurt. (Of course, the stomach-ache could also be due to the rapid consumption of brownies, Swedish Fish, and popcorn.)

The female leads all have their quirks, but they’re basic enough that every single woman can relate to them. The romantic interest has minor flaws, but otherwise is reminiscent of Adonis. And you know what? It’s okay to like them. I’ve called these books my “guilty pleasures” in the past, but it’s time to stop feeling guilty about it.

And now for the review…

Meg Cabot has been writing her whole life, but wasn’t published until age thirty. In the past eleven years, she's become the queen of the YA universe. This fact would make her extremely happy, as she was born to be a queen. She would not be where she's at today if it weren't for the success of the movie adaptation of the Princess Diaries, but even without the help of Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, she'd still be freaking prolific. She writes for pre-teens (Alli Finkle) and women (Boy Meets Girl) and mystery lovers (Size 12 is Not Fat) and those of us who fit somewhere in between.

Airhead plays off her penchant for the paranormal. Emerson Watts is an awesome leading lady because she’s total geek material. Em is into video games and computers and tries to stay away from all the high school drama. She’s dealing with a little sister who’s turning into one of the popular kids (a.k.a. the “walking dead”) and a crush on her best friend. At the Stark Megastore opening, there’s a horrible accident. When she wakes up, she’s no longer Em Watts with the mousy brown hair and lack of fashion sense—she’s Nikki Howard, international supermodel. Nikki’s all legs and blackened tuna from Nobu is her favorite meal. There are, like, three guys seriously pursuing her and her new best friend Lulu is a little whack, but well-meaning.

It takes some significant suspension of disbelief, but Meg still puts all the bizarre puzzle pieces right where they belong. Parts of it are grating, but overall, it’s a fresh spin on the Freaky Friday twist. Pop culture references abound and the characters are endearing, especially Christopher (the best friend), her one regret about not being able to live her previous life. There’s an obvious mystery with the company she models for and the usual teen hijinks.

It ends quite abruptly, as Meg is currently at work on the sequel, but at least some sort of resolution would have been nice. Teen girls of both the cheerleading and gaming folds will get a kick out of it. 3.5/5

I wish they still had teeny beanie babies

Or
In Which I Get Ranty About Something Really Stupid
(Consider yourself warned.)

We got a letter from the apartment management tonight--exterminators are coming to take care of the invisible ant problem tomorrow. Okay, I understand the need to take preventitive measures, but it's at a really inconvienient time AND they made us move all of the furniture out from the wall. Which is large and heavy and laaaaaame. I don't know, it's really not that big of a deal, but I just was so not in the mood tonight to cope. And I don't know if they meant all the stuff from our closets, too, but that crap is staying right where it is. With the help of my stronger roommates, we were able to get everything moved, but it was still a pain. In the moving, I found a dollar behind the chest o' drawers. In this situation, there is only one process for an instant pick-me-up.


1. Drive to the fake downtown.

2. Sing along at the tippy-top of your lungs to the following songs on the radio: Lamar's On the Wings of Love, Miley Cyrus' See You Again, and Sean Paul's Temperature. Strange mix, but even stranger that I knew the words to all three.

3. Purchase this little beauty from Mickey D's.

4. Scarf it down faster that you can say "I'm lovin' it."

5. Hope that the rest of the week goes better.

P.S. Can I get a holla for the new iPhone?

P.P.S. I graduated from high school exactly three years ago. This makes me feel simultaneously very old and very young.

P.P.P.S Back tomorrow with some semblance of normalcy.

Consider the Following

A few things I’ve come to appreciate lately…

Movie: Baby Mama I’ve been wanting to see this since the first preview during 30 Rock and it finally came to a theater near me a good five weeks after the initial release date. Ah, the joys of living in a small town. I mostly wanted to see it out of residual loyalty to my girl Tina Fey and her bff Amy Poehler. I didn’t go in expecting brilliance and was not let down! (How’s that for a back-handed insult?) But here’s the key point: I laughed. A lot. It was slapsticky and predictable, but it was good at it. The only way I’d buy it would be if I found it on the $7.50 shelf at Target. So basically, in about nine months or so that baby is mine!

Book: French Woman Don’t Get Fat, by Mireille Guiliano I’ve been reading bits and pieces of this for quite a while now, but on Friday I zipped straight through the last half. Mireille does a convincing job of showing just how much she loves food, but that loving food does not equal over-indulging. It also made me more aware of my eating habits and what I need to change. I didn’t view it as a diet book, although some may construe it as such. Her descriptions are compelling and the recipes seem reliable.

Album: Weezer (Red Album) Confession: I’m a recent Weezer fan, which is totally weird because I should have been listening to them since age 12. Therefore, I’m not very knowledgeable about the debate between the Blue Album or Pinkerton. I got the Red Album for my birthday and here’s the deal. I like it. I don’t love it, but it’s catchy and mostly well-produced. They cram too many styles of music into a short set of only ten songs. Also, Rivers Cuomo and Rivers alone should be the singer of the band. Highlights: Pork and Beans, Heart Songs (if only for all the music allusions), Dreamin' and Thought I Knew.

Television: Freaks and Geeks I watched the pilot online while doing laundry last night and I’m hooked, line and sinker. I’m hesitant to see the rest of it because I really want to watch it with the Lil’ Bro. If we had grown up in the Midwest during the early 80’s, I’m positive our lives would be exactly the same as Sam and Lindsey Weir’s. Added bonus: A young-ish James Franco...if I lived anywhere near L.A. I would get a restraining order so fast because of him.

Website: Crème de la Mode The Crème girls are determined to bring you “the best fashion, decor, food, design, humor and randomness the web has to offer.” They aren’t kidding, either. They’re sassy and the writing is top-notch. And sometimes, they post about unicorns.

Win-win-win

First off, thanks for entering my giveaway. I had a whopping 44 entries, which was at least twice as many as I expected. I entered all the names (in order) into the generator at random.org and took the first three.
I'm ecstatic (really, I should learn to use the spell check) to announce that our winners are....

(dramatic pause for effect)

Heather, Jennifer, and Toystory! (Note to the winners: Check your email--I've sent you an email with further instructions.)


Heather and I have been blog friends for a good, long time (in the blog world, this equates to about six months or so) and I simply couldn't be more excited that she won. She's an exceptional writer and a talented photographer and has excellent taste in books. So she'll get to choose between the necklace, tote bag, and gift card and I honestly have no idea which one she'll pick. Oh, also! She made me laugh when she said that I was like "a hobbit, giving things away on my birthday." Too true.


As for the rest of you, thanks for entering! If you haven't read the rest of the comments, I highly recommend that you do. They range from the hilarious to the awkward to the heartbreaking.
If you're looking for some other good giveaways, Amy and Problem Girl are hosting contests of their own, for aprons and amazon gift cards, respectively.


Quick recap of the birthday: It was way fun. Laid back, but still way fun. I came away with a shiny new straightener, a couple CDs, real pearl earrings (yay!), and some money.
But one of my favorite gifts was probably this hat, courtesy of mi padre. I wore it the rest of the night.



It reminded me of when Jayne got his hat in that episode of Firefly.

And the food? Awesome. More funfetti cake and I got dinner from the taco truck that's always next to the Dairy Queen. There's something about the combination of warm white corn tortillas, spicy homemade hot sauce, juicy limes, and tender meat. I capped it off with a tangy pineapple Jarritos. This is the stuff dreams are made of.

Mmm....

We'll have to do this again soon--I promise!

Oh, Ed. You just sounded like Dirty Harry just then.

Okay, it's not up on the voting page yet, but I couldn't wait and just had to show y'all my latest creation.
GraphJams is my new favorite internet meme...some of the graphs are soda-out-your-nose hilarious. They are mostly taken from song lyrics, but a bunch are from movies. Hence, I came up with this:

Video

When it does make it to the voting page, I'll let you know, so you can vote vote vote (like a leetle stoat) and get it to the front page. We can make this happen! We can be the change we want to see on the internet!

Snippets

The professor I TA for: "Well, I'm not really up on 'pop culture' or anything like that, but is your hair supposed to look like Uma Thurman's in Pulp Fiction?"
Me (stunned that my straight-laced prof just referenced that movie): "Um...no. I didn't actually have anyone in mind when I got it cut."
Prof: "Okay. At least I tried!"
Me: "I appreciate it."

Via the Lil' Bro's birthday postcard--the front reads "National Procrastination Week has been moved to next month"
On the other side: "Hey look! I didn't procrastinate your birthday. Congrats! 21! You can now legally buy liquor and gamble. Hats off."
[I don't know why, but the deadpan "Hats off" slays me everytime.]

Text conversation with the BFF:
Me: If there were two guys named Hambone and Flippy, which one would you think likes dolphins more?
Her: I'd say Flippy!
Me: Well, you'd be wrong. It's Hambone.
[I love that we get each other.]

Roomie #1: "You should blog about it." [I don't remember what "it" was, to be honest.]
Roomie #2: "Yeah, Gretchen, that would rock. But you know what they say...thou shalt not covet thy roommate's weblog."
Me: "Yeah... I think that's like Commandment #56."

On the local pizza joint's sign:
BEETS ARE BACK.
LEAVE ME ALONE.
-MATT
[1. Um...what?! 2. A part of me hopes it's a beet pizza that pays tribute to Dwight.]

Don't forget to enter the contest by tomorrow afternoon!

Birthday GIVEAWAY!

Woohoo!
Because who doesn't love a chance to win stuff?
Here's the deal, guys. As a culmination to my gift lists, I'm giving away a present to one lucky reader! I believe in options, so the winner will get to pick one gift from the following three choices.

1. Typewriter Necklace, QA Creates, Comes in a variety of designs and all letters A-Z


2. Library Science Tote Bag, QC Merchandise


3. iTunes Gift Card, Apple



Also, the winner will receive a happy (un)birthday card and a mix cd made by me. I have these crazy good playlist skillz, so that should be just as coveted as the other potential prizes.

Just to sweeten the deal, two (2) additional commentors will get a card and a mix cd!
That's three prizes, just waiting to be won!

The rules:
1. To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me about one of your birthday memories.
2. Only one comment/entry per person.
3. Only readers from the United States and Canada. Sorry if that's not you, but you know how it is.
4. I will close comments at 7:00 PM Mountain Standard Time on Thursday, June 5th.
5. Please include a valid email address.
6. Winners will be selected by using random.org.
7. I will announce the winners the morning of Friday, June 6th.
8. Winners will be responsible to contact me with the necessary shipping information.
9. If one of the winners does not contact me within three days, then a new winner will be selected.
10. Is it obvious by now that my mom's totally a lawyer? I get it from her.

Spread the word--share it, link to it, love it, crave it.
Y'all are the best! Thanks for reading!

You say it's your birthday?

Holy cats, I turn twenty-one today! This means absolutely nothing as far as the most people view this occasion, i.e. I'm not planning on going out and getting plastered. In the Mormon community, all 21 implies is "You mean you're not married yet? You should really get working on that." (Joking! Mostly.)

I love everything about birthdays. I love the food and the tacky decorations and the attention and who are we kidding? I love getting gifts! But looking back on my past birthdays, I can remember more about what I've done to celebrate and who I've spent it with instead. (Look at me, getting all wise in my old age!)

Age 3: My first birthday party! I was the only girl in attendance, as my parent's friends conveniently managed to have all boys. (Seriously good odds. It's really a pity I was too young to care.) We made crime scene-style tracings of our little bodies on butcher paper. Mom and Dad? That was kind of morbid, but AWESOME.

Age 7: We went to a strawberry field and picked strawberries. When we came home, every girl got a jar of homemade freezer jam to take with them. Best. Party idea. Ever.

Age 8: Baptism day! My Grandma Teedie made me a cake with pink marshmallow flowers.

Age 9: The fourth grade class was supposed to go on a field trip to a gem mine. It was too rainy and I was so sad--we had one of those giant Mrs. Fields Cookies with frosting to take with us and everything. My mom was chaperoning and decided to take me out of school. Her, the Lil' Bro, and I went to go mine our own gems, just the three of us. This? This is why I love my mom. I found garnets, moonstones, and lots of other treasures, now tucked away in a box somewhere.

Age 12: This was the first time I was away from home for my birthday (this year being the second), because I was spending the week at Girl's Camp. When I got back, my family took me to Marie Calendar's and I got my first real camera.

Age 14: I had such a tight group of friends in middle school. We went to the zoo for a night concert and ate angel food cupcakes with chocolate whipped cream. Later that summer, I'd find out we were moving to Utah--I was devastated to leave them behind.

Age 18: This was the Senior Dinner Dance--I had a blast, but it was also difficult knowing that high school was really, truly coming to a close. You can just imagine the senior class in one big circle, all hugging to the strains of Vitamin C's "Friends Forever."

Age 20: The night before my official birthday, the family and I went to go see the Pioneer Theatre Company's Broadway-quality Les Miserables. That was as much a spiritual experience for me as just about anything else. Cried my guts out.

Age 21: Internship, Class, Work, Lab. Boring! No huge plans, but I'm still going to enjoy the heck out of the day. Here's to another great year!

Top Three: Birthday Gifts--Frivolous Edition

"I'd be the best rich person, seriously. I'd be the perfect combination of frivolous and sensible. Money is so wasted on the wealthy." -Veronica Mars

You sing it, Roni!

1. Valentino Satin Cap Sleeve Dress, Saks Fifth Avenue, $595.00 on sale for $357.00
Modest, but still daaaaang sexy.

2. MacBook Air, Apple, $1799
A MacBook Pro is very high on my list of things to own someday, but this is the frivolous list, so it has to be an Air.

3. Chihuahua Puppy, your local neighborhood breeder, ~$450
A lady I work with brings hers in every so often and I never thought I'd say this, but I want one SO BAD. They're so cute and funny and teeny! I know there's the whole Paris/Tinkerbell stigma but I'd be willing to risk that in a chihuahua-sized nanosecond. (Heart pattern optional.)

Recommended Weekend Activities

-Take a walking tour of your town. Meander from the park on the east side to the park on the west side and revel in the fact that all the rain from the past week has made everything a thousand different shades of green.

-Eat orange sherbet and otter pops, because hey, why not?

-Stay up so late reading Airhead that you fall asleep with the lights still on.

-Finish Airhead and wish its sequel was out right now.*

-Change your hairstyle twice in one day! (I got the bangs and trim done earlier in the afternoon and the BFF dyed it late Saturday night.)

-Eat copious amounts of fresh Filipino food with friends. (Also, alliterate!)

-Sing your lungs out at the 1964: The Tribute concert.*

-Consequently, bemoan the fact you were clearly born in the wrong era.

-Watch the last half of Sky High. (I get such a kick out of this movie.)

-Wonder where May went.

-Go to church.

-Take a nap in a hammock.**

-Make a big decision as to where you'll be this upcoming fall.* (In my case, it'll most likely be heading out on an 18-month mission for my church!)

-Eat roast and po-tay-toes for dinner.

-Eat peach cobbler and funfetti cake for dessert, because hey, why not?

-Discover daytrotter.com and try to figure out why you didn't know about it before.

* Slated for a future blog post.
** HIGHLY recommended

And since Elise asked so nicely, here's the end result of les cheveux.
If the bangs look a tad uneven, it's because I apparently have this long-forgotten and irksome cowlick where my part used to be. So, uh, just overlook that and trust me that it looks much better IRL.

I've got big stuff planned for this week! Be very excited.