http://xkcd.com/ -An online webcoming geared towards the technologically savvy and sometimes emo. I love me some mouseover text. Randall updates 3 times a week. It's not a time waster if you're learning, and chances are at least twice a month you'll have to resort to wikipedia in order to get the joke.
http://theoatmeal.com/ -Primarily a webcomic but also has a blog and quizzes. Matt interweaves factoids and his personal opinions and stories but the real attractions are his unique comic style and snarky sense of humor.
http://laughingsquid.com/ -If you're a little bit artys/geek/young you'll probably like Laughing Squid. They will keep you up to date with the latest videos, products, and events. You know that friend who's always sending you the coolest internet things? Now you can be that guy.
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/ -Allie is sort of crazy but you have to love her blog. She tells a great story and her illistrations enahnce her storytelling in a way you haven't seen since you read children's books. Expect random childhood stories, and some meta level bloging about bloging. Oh, and she loves her followers.
http://www.thefuckingweather.com/ -It's your standard type in your zip and it will tell you the current weather site...except with swearing and sometimes witty comments. Do it.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Animals are Scary
Fun fact: I'm a life long ovo-lacto vegetarian. That means I consume eggs, milk, honey, and other products made by animals but I don't consume fish, red meat, white meat, or sea food which would require harming an animal. You can think of the difference being like one of the dividers between vegetables and fruits. Vegetables are the plant and harm the plant when you remove the deliciousness. Fruits can be taken from the plant without mutilating the plant. This is why things like peppers and tomatoes are sometimes classified as fruits even though chemically they are vegetables. The more you know.
I also don't wear leather. This is because my high school history/psychology/philosophy/study hall teacher once kicked me in the shoe for being unwilling to kill an animal for food but having no qualms about wearing an animal to keep my toes warm. He had a point.
I would be willing to bet that most vegetarians you've met fall into one of the following categories:
a) Hippy crunchy granola save the rainforest types
b) Super skinny girls
c) People of Eastern decent/culture/religion
I fall into none of these categories. I'm more yuppie than hippie. I'm somewhere between a size 10 and a size 6, and I'm an American atheist of northern European decent. This particular outlier came to be because her mom decided to stop eating meat when she was a poor newlywed dietetic student living in Texas.
You may have noticed that people from categories a through c all tend to love animals. They pet dogs they pass on the sidewalk and they stop talking during Sarah McLachlan commercials. My first pet besides fish is Roommate's cat. I don't even know what to do with Roommate's cat. You know how comical it is when you give a 40 something confirmed bachelor a baby to hold? That's like me with this cat. I'm socially awkward around animals. I'm more than a little afraid they are all going to try to eat me.
I like people. I've spent a great deal of time learning what goes on in their heads, and I have a sporting chance of actually understanding how another person things. (Thomas Nagel's paper convinced me no one can ever know what it's like to be a bat or any other animal.) People take care of their own poop, they talk, and they don't shed on me quite so often. And have you noticed a trend here? HIV, bird flu, swine flu, mad cow: don't mess with the animals or they will mess you up.
Roommate's cat is good for me though. Maybe she will teach me to be less awkward and freaked out around animals. And then I can check "living with an animal" off of my list of important life experiences.
I also don't wear leather. This is because my high school history/psychology/philosophy/study hall teacher once kicked me in the shoe for being unwilling to kill an animal for food but having no qualms about wearing an animal to keep my toes warm. He had a point.
I would be willing to bet that most vegetarians you've met fall into one of the following categories:
a) Hippy crunchy granola save the rainforest types
b) Super skinny girls
c) People of Eastern decent/culture/religion
I fall into none of these categories. I'm more yuppie than hippie. I'm somewhere between a size 10 and a size 6, and I'm an American atheist of northern European decent. This particular outlier came to be because her mom decided to stop eating meat when she was a poor newlywed dietetic student living in Texas.
You may have noticed that people from categories a through c all tend to love animals. They pet dogs they pass on the sidewalk and they stop talking during Sarah McLachlan commercials. My first pet besides fish is Roommate's cat. I don't even know what to do with Roommate's cat. You know how comical it is when you give a 40 something confirmed bachelor a baby to hold? That's like me with this cat. I'm socially awkward around animals. I'm more than a little afraid they are all going to try to eat me.
I like people. I've spent a great deal of time learning what goes on in their heads, and I have a sporting chance of actually understanding how another person things. (Thomas Nagel's paper convinced me no one can ever know what it's like to be a bat or any other animal.) People take care of their own poop, they talk, and they don't shed on me quite so often. And have you noticed a trend here? HIV, bird flu, swine flu, mad cow: don't mess with the animals or they will mess you up.
Roommate's cat is good for me though. Maybe she will teach me to be less awkward and freaked out around animals. And then I can check "living with an animal" off of my list of important life experiences.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
How "Chuck" and Marriage are Less Fantastic and More Realistic Than You Think
Monday night House wasn't on so I actually watched Chuck as it aired instead of watching it several days later on Hulu. This was a pretty good one to watch on tv. It had a fantastic rap cover, a baby, good music (I have yet to figure out if the bad ass song I thought might be by Daft Punk is the Grand Vanity track or the Rad Omen track the internet tells me was in the episode), and a proposal. We could talk at great length about my love of any of those things, but let's focus on the proposal.
Chuck's been proposing to Sarah, or trying to, pretty much all season. They made a big deal out of him planning the perfect proposal. Now any good tv watcher could figure out that after all that hype it would end up happening either in a moment of crisis or in a moment that was perfect for all the emotional reasons, not all the geographic ones. But they had most of us fooled into thinking it was going to happen on the French balcony. And it didn't. Instead it happened in a hospital hallway, quietly, personally, and with the sound of a floor buffer working on the linoleum only a few feet away. It was possibly the most normal moment of Sarah and Chuck's relationship. It was probably the most realistic moment of the whole show. And you know what? I loved it.
Marriage isn't the indivisible unit you used to think your parents were. It's also not the jumping dolphins and sailing off into the sunset at the end of The Little Mermaid. The more I learn about adult life the more I'm convinced marriage is actually the least magical stage of a relationship and the most practical and difficult. The beginning is sort of magical. It seems statistically unlikely that there's someone right for you, that you could meet at the right time and say the right things and end up falling for one another. If you've read/seen Watchmen you can think about it like Dr. Manhattan's speech about gold and Laurie. But years into a marriage I think usually some of that wonder has rubbed off and while two people may love each other they tend to take each other for granted sometimes.
I'm not against marriage, but I think I take it a lot more seriously than a lot of people do, especially other nonreligious people. But, like most people going into a new job or a new year, having their first baby, or entering their first marriage, I think I get a little too hung up on the beginning of things. A lot of women become bridzillas, freaking out about cake decorations, music, you name it. I'm not quite on that level, but I'm not even close to getting married and I'm already hung up on the symbolism.
The way I see it proposals work like this:
We're a happy couple.
I'm a girl and I really hope he wants to marry me so I'm either not mentioning it at all or I'm nagging him about it publicly.
I'm a guy and I've chosen a ring, a place, and I wrote a speech. I even went and talked to her parents because I want them to know I respect them. "Here girlfriend. I bought you this really expensive present. I hope you like it because you're going to wear it for the rest of your life and show it off to friends. It's a status symbol for you, a sign of my wealth for both of us, and it will mark you as mine until we tie the knot."
"Thanks boyfriend. I'll wear this and point it out to everyone. I will also single handedly plan the wedding since you're pretty much the perfect man and I've been waiting for the perfect man since I was 4 and I planned my dream wedding. It will be a perfect mash up of what appealed to me in 1991 and also what bridal magazines tell me is hip and modern. It will work well because in 20 years when we look back a combination of modern styles and childish 90's dreams will seem classic."
That all seems wrong to me.
I think couples should talk about marriage on more than on occasion before getting engaged. They should both feel comfortable with it. I'm not opposed to the whole speech thing, but mostly because if I'm not too busy crying I'd like to respond with some sort of declaration of affection/intention. The guy can bring up the subject though but mostly because me being me, I bet no matter what sort of guy I marry I'll have initiated lots of the other important relationship steps. Maybe for other people it should be the woman doing it.
I also think the ring thing doesn't work. I like the idea of a trial run for a marriage, testing out a new level of commitment before saying vows, but I think both members of the relationship should have to wear engagement rings. Maybe the rings are claddagh rings and can be passed down to the kids some day. Maybe they are the wedding bands but before the ceremony they can be engraved or added to in some way; I don't know. Then the giving of rings says: "let's try out this partnership; being visibly committed to one another, and having agreed that it will be for life, forsaking all others."
And if you're not living together before that point, I think engagement is a fine time to move in with one another. Maybe wait a few weeks or months to settle into the new level of commitment before adding more to it, but if engagement is a trial run for marriage then you better make sure you can handle living together. Maybe even borrow a puppy or offer to babysit while some friends go out of town if you're planning on having kids together.*
Then there's the actually ceremony. How come the bride is given away and the groom isn't? I don't think I want to be given away. I give myself. I am not an event planner so maybe none of this would work, but it makes more sense to me for the bride to walk in from one side preceded by all the women in the couple's life, and the man to walk in at the same time preceded by all the men in the couple's life. They can meet at the center. I also sort of feel like there shouldn't be an officiator. Like maybe a couple should decide for themselves what they do and don't promise without prompting. Or maybe each member of the wedding party should take turns officiating throughout the ceremony and can end it in chorus, showing their backing and support for the couple.
Either way, I don't see a reason to have the reception separate from the ceremony. It seems easier to decorate one room and get everyone in it. If everyone needs to be rearranged for the tables to get shifted from ceremony focus to food and dancing focus then that seems like a good time for a receiving line which could take place at the front of the room or something.
*If you get to this point and haven't discussed if you want to have kids, that isn't a very good sign.
Chuck's been proposing to Sarah, or trying to, pretty much all season. They made a big deal out of him planning the perfect proposal. Now any good tv watcher could figure out that after all that hype it would end up happening either in a moment of crisis or in a moment that was perfect for all the emotional reasons, not all the geographic ones. But they had most of us fooled into thinking it was going to happen on the French balcony. And it didn't. Instead it happened in a hospital hallway, quietly, personally, and with the sound of a floor buffer working on the linoleum only a few feet away. It was possibly the most normal moment of Sarah and Chuck's relationship. It was probably the most realistic moment of the whole show. And you know what? I loved it.
Marriage isn't the indivisible unit you used to think your parents were. It's also not the jumping dolphins and sailing off into the sunset at the end of The Little Mermaid. The more I learn about adult life the more I'm convinced marriage is actually the least magical stage of a relationship and the most practical and difficult. The beginning is sort of magical. It seems statistically unlikely that there's someone right for you, that you could meet at the right time and say the right things and end up falling for one another. If you've read/seen Watchmen you can think about it like Dr. Manhattan's speech about gold and Laurie. But years into a marriage I think usually some of that wonder has rubbed off and while two people may love each other they tend to take each other for granted sometimes.
I'm not against marriage, but I think I take it a lot more seriously than a lot of people do, especially other nonreligious people. But, like most people going into a new job or a new year, having their first baby, or entering their first marriage, I think I get a little too hung up on the beginning of things. A lot of women become bridzillas, freaking out about cake decorations, music, you name it. I'm not quite on that level, but I'm not even close to getting married and I'm already hung up on the symbolism.
The way I see it proposals work like this:
We're a happy couple.
I'm a girl and I really hope he wants to marry me so I'm either not mentioning it at all or I'm nagging him about it publicly.
I'm a guy and I've chosen a ring, a place, and I wrote a speech. I even went and talked to her parents because I want them to know I respect them. "Here girlfriend. I bought you this really expensive present. I hope you like it because you're going to wear it for the rest of your life and show it off to friends. It's a status symbol for you, a sign of my wealth for both of us, and it will mark you as mine until we tie the knot."
"Thanks boyfriend. I'll wear this and point it out to everyone. I will also single handedly plan the wedding since you're pretty much the perfect man and I've been waiting for the perfect man since I was 4 and I planned my dream wedding. It will be a perfect mash up of what appealed to me in 1991 and also what bridal magazines tell me is hip and modern. It will work well because in 20 years when we look back a combination of modern styles and childish 90's dreams will seem classic."
That all seems wrong to me.
I think couples should talk about marriage on more than on occasion before getting engaged. They should both feel comfortable with it. I'm not opposed to the whole speech thing, but mostly because if I'm not too busy crying I'd like to respond with some sort of declaration of affection/intention. The guy can bring up the subject though but mostly because me being me, I bet no matter what sort of guy I marry I'll have initiated lots of the other important relationship steps. Maybe for other people it should be the woman doing it.
I also think the ring thing doesn't work. I like the idea of a trial run for a marriage, testing out a new level of commitment before saying vows, but I think both members of the relationship should have to wear engagement rings. Maybe the rings are claddagh rings and can be passed down to the kids some day. Maybe they are the wedding bands but before the ceremony they can be engraved or added to in some way; I don't know. Then the giving of rings says: "let's try out this partnership; being visibly committed to one another, and having agreed that it will be for life, forsaking all others."
And if you're not living together before that point, I think engagement is a fine time to move in with one another. Maybe wait a few weeks or months to settle into the new level of commitment before adding more to it, but if engagement is a trial run for marriage then you better make sure you can handle living together. Maybe even borrow a puppy or offer to babysit while some friends go out of town if you're planning on having kids together.*
Then there's the actually ceremony. How come the bride is given away and the groom isn't? I don't think I want to be given away. I give myself. I am not an event planner so maybe none of this would work, but it makes more sense to me for the bride to walk in from one side preceded by all the women in the couple's life, and the man to walk in at the same time preceded by all the men in the couple's life. They can meet at the center. I also sort of feel like there shouldn't be an officiator. Like maybe a couple should decide for themselves what they do and don't promise without prompting. Or maybe each member of the wedding party should take turns officiating throughout the ceremony and can end it in chorus, showing their backing and support for the couple.
Either way, I don't see a reason to have the reception separate from the ceremony. It seems easier to decorate one room and get everyone in it. If everyone needs to be rearranged for the tables to get shifted from ceremony focus to food and dancing focus then that seems like a good time for a receiving line which could take place at the front of the room or something.
*If you get to this point and haven't discussed if you want to have kids, that isn't a very good sign.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Naptime to the Max
Contrite - deeply sorrowful and repentant for a wrong
Sometimes, and this happened to me yesterday, I achieve the sort of tiredness at work which doesn't feel like it can be fixed by getting up and wandering about the building or even by a double shot of espresso topped with hot chocolate mix.
It feels like only by closing my eyes and curling up in a ball under my desk with my fleece hoodie as a pillow will I ever feel like a normal human being again. I end up imagining my inner child as the brown haired version of the squiggly girl Allie draws herself as in Hyperbole and a Half. Squiggle Sarah is sitting on my shoulder being all two dimensional and whiny and she looks up and me and says: "Whyyyyyyy can't we take a nap RIGHT NOW?" I look down at her with droopy eyes and I don't even have a response. It's not like I'm very productive at work when I get like that. I'll probably end up staring at abc's news home page not doing any work at all.
The kicker is I know that even though in that moment I feel like I would sell my left kidney for a nap, as soon as I get through the rest of the afternoon and drag my butt out the door, I'll start to feel a little bit better. I'll listen to some tunes on the way home, I'll talk to Roommate when I get home, I'll pet her cat, and then I won't want to take a nap anymore. I'll want to watch The Simpsons and eat baked Doritos while catching up on facebook.
Realizing this makes me feel contrite; I just want a nap right then. I want the sleep. I become my inner child. Rawr.
Sometimes, and this happened to me yesterday, I achieve the sort of tiredness at work which doesn't feel like it can be fixed by getting up and wandering about the building or even by a double shot of espresso topped with hot chocolate mix.
It feels like only by closing my eyes and curling up in a ball under my desk with my fleece hoodie as a pillow will I ever feel like a normal human being again. I end up imagining my inner child as the brown haired version of the squiggly girl Allie draws herself as in Hyperbole and a Half. Squiggle Sarah is sitting on my shoulder being all two dimensional and whiny and she looks up and me and says: "Whyyyyyyy can't we take a nap RIGHT NOW?" I look down at her with droopy eyes and I don't even have a response. It's not like I'm very productive at work when I get like that. I'll probably end up staring at abc's news home page not doing any work at all.
The kicker is I know that even though in that moment I feel like I would sell my left kidney for a nap, as soon as I get through the rest of the afternoon and drag my butt out the door, I'll start to feel a little bit better. I'll listen to some tunes on the way home, I'll talk to Roommate when I get home, I'll pet her cat, and then I won't want to take a nap anymore. I'll want to watch The Simpsons and eat baked Doritos while catching up on facebook.
Realizing this makes me feel contrite; I just want a nap right then. I want the sleep. I become my inner child. Rawr.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
There's an Apple Where My Heart Should Be
Word of the day: Fatuous - Stupid; foolishly self-satisfied.
For more than 20 years (and that's saying something since I'm in my early 20's) I've been in love with Apple. I learned how to type on a Mac, hell I came leaps and bounds with my ability to read by playing Reader Rabbit. My first personal computer was a mac. I remember when my parents got their first laptop. And now I am on my second lap top. I'm on my 4th ipod; my first was the first generation. But I have yet to own an Apple touch product. My current ipod has a clickwheel, my phone isn't even an Apple product. *gasp*
In fact, I don't have a data plan at all. It's only in the past 3 years that I've jumped on the texting bandwagon. Mostly I didn't feel the need for a data plan because I was in college until spring of '09 and everywhere I went my laptop came with me. But now that isn't the case. And sometimes I even have a social life and I go places for hours or even days without bringing my computer.
My semi-hatred of consumerism has managed to win out against my love of Apple in the case of the ipad. I don't need an ipad. I am not a photographer or a lawyer, I don't take the train or the bus in to work every day, and I don't play many games. Not that I wouldn't love someone to gift me one... That was an especially intense battle because while other people might have taken their first look at the ipad and saw a flat netbook or a small tablet or even a color ereader, I saw a freaking Star Trek TNG prop in Apple clothing and available for real usage. It couldn't get much better if it was made out of lattes and milk chocolate.
But back to the iphone. I don't need a smart phone. I don't need a touch screen. I don't need apps. I don't need a data plan. And even if I needed all those things, I don't need an Apple version of all that. It's not even like when I first got a cell or my GPS and I could justify it as solving a safety issue. It isn't very often that I'm going to have to wikipedia poisonous berries or something. It's a luxury purchase. It's like my fancy big girl apartment tv and it's cable package. It's a giant upfront cost and a seemingly ridiculous monthly bill.
I don't know how much it will really cost me because I do get a discount on Verizon through work. But I feel like it will be something like a good day of outlet shopping and a sale pair of jeans a month. I could also think of it like buying my boyfriend, roommate, and her boyfriend a really nice dinner in the city once and then buying all of them pizza every month. Do I love being able to check gmail, facebook, and wikipedia as much or more than I love pizza or jeans? I don't know. That's quite the three way tie.
I'm going to feel somewhat embarrassed and fatuous if I end up owning an iphone 4. But I will love it like it's my own child.
For more than 20 years (and that's saying something since I'm in my early 20's) I've been in love with Apple. I learned how to type on a Mac, hell I came leaps and bounds with my ability to read by playing Reader Rabbit. My first personal computer was a mac. I remember when my parents got their first laptop. And now I am on my second lap top. I'm on my 4th ipod; my first was the first generation. But I have yet to own an Apple touch product. My current ipod has a clickwheel, my phone isn't even an Apple product. *gasp*
In fact, I don't have a data plan at all. It's only in the past 3 years that I've jumped on the texting bandwagon. Mostly I didn't feel the need for a data plan because I was in college until spring of '09 and everywhere I went my laptop came with me. But now that isn't the case. And sometimes I even have a social life and I go places for hours or even days without bringing my computer.
My semi-hatred of consumerism has managed to win out against my love of Apple in the case of the ipad. I don't need an ipad. I am not a photographer or a lawyer, I don't take the train or the bus in to work every day, and I don't play many games. Not that I wouldn't love someone to gift me one... That was an especially intense battle because while other people might have taken their first look at the ipad and saw a flat netbook or a small tablet or even a color ereader, I saw a freaking Star Trek TNG prop in Apple clothing and available for real usage. It couldn't get much better if it was made out of lattes and milk chocolate.
But back to the iphone. I don't need a smart phone. I don't need a touch screen. I don't need apps. I don't need a data plan. And even if I needed all those things, I don't need an Apple version of all that. It's not even like when I first got a cell or my GPS and I could justify it as solving a safety issue. It isn't very often that I'm going to have to wikipedia poisonous berries or something. It's a luxury purchase. It's like my fancy big girl apartment tv and it's cable package. It's a giant upfront cost and a seemingly ridiculous monthly bill.
I don't know how much it will really cost me because I do get a discount on Verizon through work. But I feel like it will be something like a good day of outlet shopping and a sale pair of jeans a month. I could also think of it like buying my boyfriend, roommate, and her boyfriend a really nice dinner in the city once and then buying all of them pizza every month. Do I love being able to check gmail, facebook, and wikipedia as much or more than I love pizza or jeans? I don't know. That's quite the three way tie.
I'm going to feel somewhat embarrassed and fatuous if I end up owning an iphone 4. But I will love it like it's my own child.
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