Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The only way to make it through the day
So I'm having a rough day at work. Thankfully I brought some reinforcements because I'm not going to be seeing my house or my cats for a VERY LONG TIME (at least I have Ben here to keep me company, though he's doing most of the work, I'm just along for the ride).
There are few things that go together as well as peanut butter and chocolate.
Thank you Hershey's for helping me to keep my sanity today.
There are few things that go together as well as peanut butter and chocolate.
Thank you Hershey's for helping me to keep my sanity today.
More views on piracy
My friend Robert and I have been discussing the whole piracy issue and he gave me an interesting article about music artists and "big name backing" that I think is worth a read. Its pretty long and wordy but I think everyone can get a benefit from it by someone who's lived it.
"There's a really good article that Steve Albini, producer and founder of Big Black (industrial band in the 80's) about what a rip off bands get with "big name" backing that's worth reading just because of the industries themselves, which I think are at least partially to blame.
http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
The one thing that brings production to a grinding halt is lack of demand. If people rip off CDs it's either because the price is too high or all they care about is the music and don't mind ripping someone off to get it. Both are an indication of lack of demand, to an extent.
Is buying a used CD not the same thing? You're paying for a CD but the royalties have already been paid to the artist. They aren't getting any more money despite a second customer.
It's so damn complicated.
The shitty thing is, I really despise the idea of ripping off someone that is truly getting ripped off - as you said, like independently run operations. Unfortunately there is a trickle down effect even with the big guys - but a lot of the pay off or lack of - has to do with contracts agreed upon. If you made an album and someone negotiated a flat fee for that record - stupid deal right? - that's what happened to the Beatles - but at that point, whether their albums were ripped off or not, they've already been paid. In your case, if someone rips off your comic from Lone Star - same thing, you've already been paid. But with pirating, it's a matter of intent. If the intent is that I want it but don't feel like paying for it, now I've f-ed over the artist. If I could do without it one way or another, like downloading a song from myspace - it might not be that big a deal. I know that's still kind of skewed logic, but it's the best I got!"
Very interesting stuff. I love hearing people's opinions on this matter and its all still very open for debate. So let me know what you think (as many of you already have)! And if you're tired of hearing about it...
"Marlena get back to your silly antics, all this serious stuff is really bumming me out, man!"
Well, I think this might be the last of it. I'm going to be at work until the wee hours of the morning today so I should have some wackiness to report later on, like if I start speaking in tongues and see things coming out of the walls.
Poopshoot.
"There's a really good article that Steve Albini, producer and founder of Big Black (industrial band in the 80's) about what a rip off bands get with "big name" backing that's worth reading just because of the industries themselves, which I think are at least partially to blame.
http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
The one thing that brings production to a grinding halt is lack of demand. If people rip off CDs it's either because the price is too high or all they care about is the music and don't mind ripping someone off to get it. Both are an indication of lack of demand, to an extent.
Is buying a used CD not the same thing? You're paying for a CD but the royalties have already been paid to the artist. They aren't getting any more money despite a second customer.
It's so damn complicated.
The shitty thing is, I really despise the idea of ripping off someone that is truly getting ripped off - as you said, like independently run operations. Unfortunately there is a trickle down effect even with the big guys - but a lot of the pay off or lack of - has to do with contracts agreed upon. If you made an album and someone negotiated a flat fee for that record - stupid deal right? - that's what happened to the Beatles - but at that point, whether their albums were ripped off or not, they've already been paid. In your case, if someone rips off your comic from Lone Star - same thing, you've already been paid. But with pirating, it's a matter of intent. If the intent is that I want it but don't feel like paying for it, now I've f-ed over the artist. If I could do without it one way or another, like downloading a song from myspace - it might not be that big a deal. I know that's still kind of skewed logic, but it's the best I got!"
Very interesting stuff. I love hearing people's opinions on this matter and its all still very open for debate. So let me know what you think (as many of you already have)! And if you're tired of hearing about it...
"Marlena get back to your silly antics, all this serious stuff is really bumming me out, man!"
Well, I think this might be the last of it. I'm going to be at work until the wee hours of the morning today so I should have some wackiness to report later on, like if I start speaking in tongues and see things coming out of the walls.
Poopshoot.
Monday, February 27, 2006
I hate it when I cry, but I do it all the time...
Ok, so this weekend we had Girl's Night In with a special viewing of "The Notebook" starring James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. The viewing was sparked by a heated debate in the lunchbox about how good this purported "chick flick" is. Two guys chimed in saying how good it was and how they didn't feel less "macho" for saying so. My mom likes it, Laura even OWNS it (which is how the viewing came about, actually) but we were warned that its a "crying movie".
Great. I freaking cry at EVERYTHING. I know, you're all thinking "Marlena you LIAR! You're a heartless robot!!" No, I'm not. I have LOTS of feelings, I just choose not to show them to anyone but Ben on a regular basis. I will, however, apologize to anyone who attended the screening of Tim Burton's Big Fish with me in the theatre. I went to see this movie right after my best friend's dad died and it was too soon to see a movie like that. I was such a wreck coming out of that theatre that people were openly staring at me like I was a mental patient. I have recently bought this movie on DVD and can't bring myself to watch it for fear that I'm going to lose it again.
I cry at movies, stupid commercials, at old ladies I see on the street, animals, songs... you name it. Its not like I'm a running faucet, though. Its more like my eyes get stingy, or my throat gets tight, and I can usually blink back a lot of the day to day tears because they're silly and I don't want people to think there's something wrong with me. I mean I cried at King Kong, The Iron Giant, Winged Migration, Bambi and so many others. We actually had a small debate that Disney secretly hates kids and gives them horrible visions of losing their parents at a tender age because they're cruel.
My tears are also not always tears of sadness, sometimes its out of love or joy. I also cry when I'm fighting with someone or really angry. I guess I just get myself so worked up that its either pass out or let the waterworks fly.
I can't count the number of fights I've had with my sister or mom, or even friends where I'm so mad I could just spit and we're screaming at each other, and I just start crying. I can't help it. Usually that puts an end to the argument because the person I'm arguing with gets thrown off by it, so it has its advantages.
So anyway, back to the Notebook. We all had a lot of booze and were full of yummy cheese fondue when we started the movie, so our emotions were all a little heightened at this point as it was. The movie starts out pretty formulaic as far as love stories go. James Garner is reading a story to Gena Rowlands who's in a nursing home, the love story between Ryan Gosling's character and Rachel McAdams' character. We aren't given James Garner or Gena Rowlands' character's names at this point, just that it seems James Garner reads to her this story A LOT.
So the formula of the younger characters story is this: Guy is poor. Girl is rich. Guy tricks girl into going out with him. Guy and girl fall in love. Girl's parents don't think he's good enough for her. Girl's parents send her away (to college at least). Guy writes to girl. Girl's mom intercepts guy's letters. Girl thinks poor guy doesn't love her because he didn't write to her. Girl meets rich guy. Girl gets engaged to rich guy, but still loves poor guy. Girl meets up with poor guy later on. They rekindle their love. She then gets to decide whether to marry rich guy and do what society says she should or throw caution to the wind and stay with poor guy. Typical love story, I wasn't really impressed with it too much by this time. It was enjoyable but not fall off the couch with a box of kleenex enjoyable. (I think now that my discontent with it was because it got TOO hyped up by everyone. I hate it when that happens because I feel like I've gotten gyped.)
***Ok, BIG spoilers here. If you haven't seen this movie and plan to and don't want it ruined then don't read the rest of this entry. Go rent it and come back to it... ***
Everyone ready? Ok.
So then we flash forward to the older couple (this happens throughout the movie) and James Garner's kids show up to meet Gena Rowlands. She's happy to meet them and then she's whisked away by her orderly. I had pretty much gathered by now that James Garner was Ryan Gosling as an older man and the same that Gena Rowlands was Rachel McAdams as an older woman. And it was then confirmed by the showing up of the kids. They ask James Garner why he doesn't come home because their mother doesn't even recognize them or know who they are. It seems she has an advanced case of Alzheimer's Disease. James Garner tells them that he's not going anywhere, and that his home is with her (Gena). So now we know that he's been reading her their own love story trying to get her to remember who she is.
He sets up a nice candlelit dinner in her room at the end of the day and she finally realizes who she is and that this is their story. She fully remembers him and asks him how long they have. He tells her its usually about 5 minutes when she starts to forget him again. So he puts on a tape recorder and dances with her for a moment while they still have time to be together.
Now this is the part where I just lost it.
While they are dancing they are talking and he calls her "darling" or "sweetheart" something like that, and she pushes away from him and freaks out asking him why he called her that and who is he, what is he doing in her room. Then she starts screaming for help. Then they cut to James Garner who has sat down on her bed and the look on his face, the most horrible look I have EVER seen on a human being's face in my life, is just the saddest thing EVER. I can't even describe it, but its the most hurtful, soulful look I've ever seen. James Garner is now, in my opinion, one of the BEST actors ever. I've always like him, but now he's in my top ten. I don't think someone could have conveyed that kind of emotion if they haven't had some kind of tragedy in their life to work from, because you just can't fake that kind of torment.
So yeah, I'm a total puddle of goo at this point, trying not to let the other ladies realize that I'm about to start swimming in my own mess.
We then see him in his room going through old photos of himself and Gena which is another kleenex moment in its sadness. Then James Garner has a heart attack. Gena Rowlands seems genuinely concerned for him, its like she remembers a little bit but they don't really say. He ends up being fine and while he's recovering he goes to try to sneak into Gena's room. The night nurse says he can't go in, but she ends up leaving so he can visit her anyway.
He lays in bed with her and they hold hands and talk. I can't quite remember what she said, but it was along the lines of asking him if he was ready to go (like DIE) or something. I couldn't really pay attention at this point, and I told everyone in the room that if they both died that I was going to lose it.
So yeah, of course the nurse comes in the next morning and they're both there in the bed, looking peacefully asleep. WRONG! They're DEAD!!! They both died in each other's arms, holding hands.
WHAT THE CRAP!? So I just lost it and the rest of the girls are just bawling their eyes out, cursing this movie back to the depths of hell it came from. Laura told us there's a deleted scene where Gena (or Rachel I didn't ask, the character at least) realizes that she's losing her memory and she starts writing down their story for James to read to her. We see the actual notebook while James is looking through the photos and it shows that she's the one who wrote it and its has an inscription telling James to read this to her so she'll come back to him.
The whole movie was sort of a disappointment up until the last 20 minutes or so...So yeah Tony, you hit it, James Garner and Gena Rowlands stole the show.
I don't think this is a movie I'd like to own, or ever even see again, but I'm glad I saw it and I hope to God that I never get Alzheimer's. I don't know how scary it would be for me to have it, but I can't imagine my family having to endure that heartache. I'm sure not really remembering who you are would be scary, but I would just die if Ben had to go through what James Garner went through in that movie. I think that's what moved me most, because its things like that, situations that I can put myself and my loved ones in, that are the most emotional for me.
So that's what I thought about the Notebook. OK movie, but with a REALLY REALLY good (or bad, depending how you look at it. I HATE emotional porn) ending. So by good, I actually mean that it made me want to jump off the roof because I was so sad.
Thanks to everyone that made the big stink about this movie and forced me watch it.
Great. I freaking cry at EVERYTHING. I know, you're all thinking "Marlena you LIAR! You're a heartless robot!!" No, I'm not. I have LOTS of feelings, I just choose not to show them to anyone but Ben on a regular basis. I will, however, apologize to anyone who attended the screening of Tim Burton's Big Fish with me in the theatre. I went to see this movie right after my best friend's dad died and it was too soon to see a movie like that. I was such a wreck coming out of that theatre that people were openly staring at me like I was a mental patient. I have recently bought this movie on DVD and can't bring myself to watch it for fear that I'm going to lose it again.
I cry at movies, stupid commercials, at old ladies I see on the street, animals, songs... you name it. Its not like I'm a running faucet, though. Its more like my eyes get stingy, or my throat gets tight, and I can usually blink back a lot of the day to day tears because they're silly and I don't want people to think there's something wrong with me. I mean I cried at King Kong, The Iron Giant, Winged Migration, Bambi and so many others. We actually had a small debate that Disney secretly hates kids and gives them horrible visions of losing their parents at a tender age because they're cruel.
My tears are also not always tears of sadness, sometimes its out of love or joy. I also cry when I'm fighting with someone or really angry. I guess I just get myself so worked up that its either pass out or let the waterworks fly.
I can't count the number of fights I've had with my sister or mom, or even friends where I'm so mad I could just spit and we're screaming at each other, and I just start crying. I can't help it. Usually that puts an end to the argument because the person I'm arguing with gets thrown off by it, so it has its advantages.
So anyway, back to the Notebook. We all had a lot of booze and were full of yummy cheese fondue when we started the movie, so our emotions were all a little heightened at this point as it was. The movie starts out pretty formulaic as far as love stories go. James Garner is reading a story to Gena Rowlands who's in a nursing home, the love story between Ryan Gosling's character and Rachel McAdams' character. We aren't given James Garner or Gena Rowlands' character's names at this point, just that it seems James Garner reads to her this story A LOT.
So the formula of the younger characters story is this: Guy is poor. Girl is rich. Guy tricks girl into going out with him. Guy and girl fall in love. Girl's parents don't think he's good enough for her. Girl's parents send her away (to college at least). Guy writes to girl. Girl's mom intercepts guy's letters. Girl thinks poor guy doesn't love her because he didn't write to her. Girl meets rich guy. Girl gets engaged to rich guy, but still loves poor guy. Girl meets up with poor guy later on. They rekindle their love. She then gets to decide whether to marry rich guy and do what society says she should or throw caution to the wind and stay with poor guy. Typical love story, I wasn't really impressed with it too much by this time. It was enjoyable but not fall off the couch with a box of kleenex enjoyable. (I think now that my discontent with it was because it got TOO hyped up by everyone. I hate it when that happens because I feel like I've gotten gyped.)
***Ok, BIG spoilers here. If you haven't seen this movie and plan to and don't want it ruined then don't read the rest of this entry. Go rent it and come back to it... ***
Everyone ready? Ok.
So then we flash forward to the older couple (this happens throughout the movie) and James Garner's kids show up to meet Gena Rowlands. She's happy to meet them and then she's whisked away by her orderly. I had pretty much gathered by now that James Garner was Ryan Gosling as an older man and the same that Gena Rowlands was Rachel McAdams as an older woman. And it was then confirmed by the showing up of the kids. They ask James Garner why he doesn't come home because their mother doesn't even recognize them or know who they are. It seems she has an advanced case of Alzheimer's Disease. James Garner tells them that he's not going anywhere, and that his home is with her (Gena). So now we know that he's been reading her their own love story trying to get her to remember who she is.
He sets up a nice candlelit dinner in her room at the end of the day and she finally realizes who she is and that this is their story. She fully remembers him and asks him how long they have. He tells her its usually about 5 minutes when she starts to forget him again. So he puts on a tape recorder and dances with her for a moment while they still have time to be together.
Now this is the part where I just lost it.
While they are dancing they are talking and he calls her "darling" or "sweetheart" something like that, and she pushes away from him and freaks out asking him why he called her that and who is he, what is he doing in her room. Then she starts screaming for help. Then they cut to James Garner who has sat down on her bed and the look on his face, the most horrible look I have EVER seen on a human being's face in my life, is just the saddest thing EVER. I can't even describe it, but its the most hurtful, soulful look I've ever seen. James Garner is now, in my opinion, one of the BEST actors ever. I've always like him, but now he's in my top ten. I don't think someone could have conveyed that kind of emotion if they haven't had some kind of tragedy in their life to work from, because you just can't fake that kind of torment.
So yeah, I'm a total puddle of goo at this point, trying not to let the other ladies realize that I'm about to start swimming in my own mess.
We then see him in his room going through old photos of himself and Gena which is another kleenex moment in its sadness. Then James Garner has a heart attack. Gena Rowlands seems genuinely concerned for him, its like she remembers a little bit but they don't really say. He ends up being fine and while he's recovering he goes to try to sneak into Gena's room. The night nurse says he can't go in, but she ends up leaving so he can visit her anyway.
He lays in bed with her and they hold hands and talk. I can't quite remember what she said, but it was along the lines of asking him if he was ready to go (like DIE) or something. I couldn't really pay attention at this point, and I told everyone in the room that if they both died that I was going to lose it.
So yeah, of course the nurse comes in the next morning and they're both there in the bed, looking peacefully asleep. WRONG! They're DEAD!!! They both died in each other's arms, holding hands.
WHAT THE CRAP!? So I just lost it and the rest of the girls are just bawling their eyes out, cursing this movie back to the depths of hell it came from. Laura told us there's a deleted scene where Gena (or Rachel I didn't ask, the character at least) realizes that she's losing her memory and she starts writing down their story for James to read to her. We see the actual notebook while James is looking through the photos and it shows that she's the one who wrote it and its has an inscription telling James to read this to her so she'll come back to him.
The whole movie was sort of a disappointment up until the last 20 minutes or so...So yeah Tony, you hit it, James Garner and Gena Rowlands stole the show.
I don't think this is a movie I'd like to own, or ever even see again, but I'm glad I saw it and I hope to God that I never get Alzheimer's. I don't know how scary it would be for me to have it, but I can't imagine my family having to endure that heartache. I'm sure not really remembering who you are would be scary, but I would just die if Ben had to go through what James Garner went through in that movie. I think that's what moved me most, because its things like that, situations that I can put myself and my loved ones in, that are the most emotional for me.
So that's what I thought about the Notebook. OK movie, but with a REALLY REALLY good (or bad, depending how you look at it. I HATE emotional porn) ending. So by good, I actually mean that it made me want to jump off the roof because I was so sad.
Thanks to everyone that made the big stink about this movie and forced me watch it.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Am I not speaking English?
I'm working like a kid in a sweatshop today trying to finish up the Villains pages and I took a short break to take my mail to my mailbox this morning.
As I'm walking to my mailbox, this car goes by, stops and backs up back to me. 'Great', I think, 'why am I being punished?', because I know these people are going to ask me something.
"Excuse me, do you know Mr. Ortiz?"
"Nope, I sure don't."
Blank stares from the occupants of the car.
"You don't know him?"
"No, I don't. Sorry." (Just in case you didn't hear me the first time, jackass.) "Do you know his address?" (I know my street and could probably have pointed them in the right direction in case they had this knowledge.)
"No. But he's a BIG Cowboys fan." ??? OK. Like THAT makes a difference...
"Sorry, man, I don't know him."
I should tell you at this point that it has been raining like an SOB for the past two days. Its STILL raining at the time of this interlude. I've got my gramma's OLD ass yellow umbrella that has LONG since been due for the trash but I can't bring myself to throw it away. Its tiny, like the residents of Oz would laugh at me for using this umbrella, tiny. My nice Jack Skellington umbrella is in my car, plus I didn't think I'd be out in this mess for more than 3 minutes so I'm not wearing a jacket or proper footwear.
I've also got my iPod latched to my belt and have it up past its safe-from-damaging-my-eardrums level so I really didn't want to be talking to these people.
They finally drive away and leave me to my mail that is now almost soaking wet because they blocked me from getting to the mailbox and my clown car umbrella provides zero shield from the rain.
Thanks. I hope my bills get to where they are going and they can cash my checks because the ink has probably run off of them.
THIS is why I don't know my neighbors and why I don't talk to anyone I don't know. This is what it gets me. My jeans cuffs are soaking wet, my hair is frizzy, my mail is probably ruined and I've been outside in the cold for 15 minutes with no jacket and flip flops. All because these people don't know their "friend" Mr. Ortiz's address...I'm no rocket scientist, but I know whenever I invite MY friends over to my house, I at LEAST give them my address to work from. Maybe I'll go find this Mr. Ortiz and get the REAL reason these people were looking for him.
As I'm walking to my mailbox, this car goes by, stops and backs up back to me. 'Great', I think, 'why am I being punished?', because I know these people are going to ask me something.
"Excuse me, do you know Mr. Ortiz?"
"Nope, I sure don't."
Blank stares from the occupants of the car.
"You don't know him?"
"No, I don't. Sorry." (Just in case you didn't hear me the first time, jackass.) "Do you know his address?" (I know my street and could probably have pointed them in the right direction in case they had this knowledge.)
"No. But he's a BIG Cowboys fan." ??? OK. Like THAT makes a difference...
"Sorry, man, I don't know him."
I should tell you at this point that it has been raining like an SOB for the past two days. Its STILL raining at the time of this interlude. I've got my gramma's OLD ass yellow umbrella that has LONG since been due for the trash but I can't bring myself to throw it away. Its tiny, like the residents of Oz would laugh at me for using this umbrella, tiny. My nice Jack Skellington umbrella is in my car, plus I didn't think I'd be out in this mess for more than 3 minutes so I'm not wearing a jacket or proper footwear.
I've also got my iPod latched to my belt and have it up past its safe-from-damaging-my-eardrums level so I really didn't want to be talking to these people.
They finally drive away and leave me to my mail that is now almost soaking wet because they blocked me from getting to the mailbox and my clown car umbrella provides zero shield from the rain.
Thanks. I hope my bills get to where they are going and they can cash my checks because the ink has probably run off of them.
THIS is why I don't know my neighbors and why I don't talk to anyone I don't know. This is what it gets me. My jeans cuffs are soaking wet, my hair is frizzy, my mail is probably ruined and I've been outside in the cold for 15 minutes with no jacket and flip flops. All because these people don't know their "friend" Mr. Ortiz's address...I'm no rocket scientist, but I know whenever I invite MY friends over to my house, I at LEAST give them my address to work from. Maybe I'll go find this Mr. Ortiz and get the REAL reason these people were looking for him.
Friday, February 24, 2006
I knew this would bite me in the ass...
So yeah, you know how I said wackiness would ensue? Its early in the afternoon and I've already walked head first into some.
You know that awesome Beastles thing I was talking about? Yeah, turns out the "mash-ups" are illegal and the RIAA is turning the screws on that kind of stuff. See? THIS is why I don't voice my opinions about stuff like this too often, because I usually end up looking either like a jackass, a hypocrite or both.
In my defense, I happen to own ALL of the songs by both bands featured in the Beastles "mash-ups" on CD and if I had it in my power to make remixes of them on my own I would. Or if someone legitimately made these and asked Michael Jackson's permission to sell them, I'd buy them. BUT, they didn't and probably won't (plus djBC says on his website: "These mash-ups were made for fun, and as a demonstration of my remixing abilities.").
So I'm going to try not to lose sleep over it, but sorry if I made anyone out there think that I'm totally two-faced about all this and only care about comics or whatever...
I'll still buy everything I can, and if bands, like They Might Be Giants, want to release freebies on their site, well then, I'll go there and download them too...
Poopshoot.
You know that awesome Beastles thing I was talking about? Yeah, turns out the "mash-ups" are illegal and the RIAA is turning the screws on that kind of stuff. See? THIS is why I don't voice my opinions about stuff like this too often, because I usually end up looking either like a jackass, a hypocrite or both.
In my defense, I happen to own ALL of the songs by both bands featured in the Beastles "mash-ups" on CD and if I had it in my power to make remixes of them on my own I would. Or if someone legitimately made these and asked Michael Jackson's permission to sell them, I'd buy them. BUT, they didn't and probably won't (plus djBC says on his website: "These mash-ups were made for fun, and as a demonstration of my remixing abilities.").
So I'm going to try not to lose sleep over it, but sorry if I made anyone out there think that I'm totally two-faced about all this and only care about comics or whatever...
I'll still buy everything I can, and if bands, like They Might Be Giants, want to release freebies on their site, well then, I'll go there and download them too...
Poopshoot.
Random Friday
Here's some random observances from the past couple of weeks, days and today. ENJOY!
To the girl in the gold car chatting on her cell phone when she tried to collide with us on the freeway yesterday morning: GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE! This helps when you're trying to change lanes and can't see, because your arm is too busy blocking your view by holding up your phone to your ear, that there is a car ALREADY occupying the lane you're attempting to merge into.
My name is MARLENA (mar - LAY - na). If you can't be bothered to learn it, then I can't be bothered to listen to your lame attempts at explaining to me why you can't remember it. Need a "word association" to go with this? I was named after her character on Days of Our Lives. Oh wait, that didn't help you out before, so why should it now?
Check out Ben's Blog because its often more interesting and funnier than mine. Plus he draws things, which is more than I do in a year.
For example, the current blog is about finding out who, or who isn't, a piece of crap.
I'm going to be pulling two all-nighters this weekend trying to get issue two of the backstory for Viper Comics' Villains finished in time for my Feb. 28th deadline. Wish me luck!
I found out recently that during the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's performance of Star Wars music it was interrupted by a taping of the show Cheaters. I don't know how accurate this is, and I think that the Cheaters crew busted into the lobby, not the actual performance, but I heard it from a source that I find credible. Now, if you know me, you know that I LOVE me some Cheaters even though I should be embarrassed that I watch it. And if you know me, you'll ALSO know that I'm an AVID Star Wars fan, so what better thing to converge together than Cheaters with a Star Wars music SOUNDTRACK! Freakin' A! I'm SO pissed that Ben and I didn't bother to get tickets to that...
I guess there is ONE thing cooler than the convergence of Cheaters and Star Wars. That is:
The Beastles. Sadly, it appears that the tracks are no longer available on this website for download. They were for a time. I only got the second set from the "dj BC presents The Beastles", I missed out on the "Let it Beast" tracks. Since you all know that the Beastie Boys are my fave, next to Frank Sinatra, and that I adore the Beatles, this was another match made in Heaven. Thanks to Otis for turning me on to this guy's stuff. Since I'm lazy, I'm copying what Otis had to say about them, which pretty much sums up how I feel about it: "If you're a fan of The Beatles or The Beastie Boys you have got to check out The Beastles. Someone who calls himself "dj BC" has mixed Beatle and Beastie tracks together with really fun and creative results."
So that's my Friday so far. There may be more wackiness this evening, but hopefully this will keep your brains full enough until next time.
Poopshoot.
To the girl in the gold car chatting on her cell phone when she tried to collide with us on the freeway yesterday morning: GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE! This helps when you're trying to change lanes and can't see, because your arm is too busy blocking your view by holding up your phone to your ear, that there is a car ALREADY occupying the lane you're attempting to merge into.
My name is MARLENA (mar - LAY - na). If you can't be bothered to learn it, then I can't be bothered to listen to your lame attempts at explaining to me why you can't remember it. Need a "word association" to go with this? I was named after her character on Days of Our Lives. Oh wait, that didn't help you out before, so why should it now?
Check out Ben's Blog because its often more interesting and funnier than mine. Plus he draws things, which is more than I do in a year.
For example, the current blog is about finding out who, or who isn't, a piece of crap.
I'm going to be pulling two all-nighters this weekend trying to get issue two of the backstory for Viper Comics' Villains finished in time for my Feb. 28th deadline. Wish me luck!
I found out recently that during the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's performance of Star Wars music it was interrupted by a taping of the show Cheaters. I don't know how accurate this is, and I think that the Cheaters crew busted into the lobby, not the actual performance, but I heard it from a source that I find credible. Now, if you know me, you know that I LOVE me some Cheaters even though I should be embarrassed that I watch it. And if you know me, you'll ALSO know that I'm an AVID Star Wars fan, so what better thing to converge together than Cheaters with a Star Wars music SOUNDTRACK! Freakin' A! I'm SO pissed that Ben and I didn't bother to get tickets to that...
I guess there is ONE thing cooler than the convergence of Cheaters and Star Wars. That is:
The Beastles. Sadly, it appears that the tracks are no longer available on this website for download. They were for a time. I only got the second set from the "dj BC presents The Beastles", I missed out on the "Let it Beast" tracks. Since you all know that the Beastie Boys are my fave, next to Frank Sinatra, and that I adore the Beatles, this was another match made in Heaven. Thanks to Otis for turning me on to this guy's stuff. Since I'm lazy, I'm copying what Otis had to say about them, which pretty much sums up how I feel about it: "If you're a fan of The Beatles or The Beastie Boys you have got to check out The Beastles. Someone who calls himself "dj BC" has mixed Beatle and Beastie tracks together with really fun and creative results."So that's my Friday so far. There may be more wackiness this evening, but hopefully this will keep your brains full enough until next time.
Poopshoot.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Follow up to Stealing Comics
I post a link to my blog from my MySpace account and Freddy Lopez commented on it there with some good feedback in this matter. I thought I'd share it here with all of you non-MySpacers out there:
"Great blog, lots of good points. I had a discussion about just this thing with a friend of mine a while back...
Generally I'm on the fence on a lot of filesharing issues, as a web developer I see the potential for rapid file distribution and swarm technology that torrents brought.. unfortunately it's good attributes are mostly buried amidst the abuse of pirates and those out to get something for nothing.
I totally agree, what's being done by a lot of these pirate groups is not in the best interest of the creators OR the business as a whole. A lot of these people say they love the comic so much that they just have to get the new one online. BUT, if you don't purchase the comics, there's no incentive for people to create them. If everyone's downloading and no one's purchasing then the artists, writers, publishers, letterers, whatever will walk away and who's gonna create these books you love so much?
As much as i hate DRM, what are your thoughts on the future of comics and a migration to some kind of secure distribution? Similar to how iTunes is attempting to legitimize the anarchic mp3 free for all that was so rampant in the 90's/ recent years? i know one of the appeals of these scanned docs is portability and storage. I'd be interested in talking to some of these people who run the groups. I'm wondering if it's like the Video Piracy scenario where after all is said and done, the people who do the file trading purchase just as many videos and go to the theatre just as often (sometimes moreso) as those who don't. In that particular case it's becoming less a matter of revenue loss as creative control. Still a valid issue though. I guess I could see the appeal of the scaned docs.. I could carry an entire run of a particular series on a CD/DVD with me while I travel without having to cart around a bulky box of papers. I know I've purchased a few e-books (stephen king made a really great book available online too)... On the other hand I am proud of every "real" issue I have on my shelfs and no digital display will replace the feel of the art books and graphic novles that I enjoy reading. Compare the resolution of graphics on yuor monitor to what you get in print... no comparison. I guess if given the option, I would like to enjoy both worlds. One for my collection and another for pure portability and ease.
Anyway, just thinking aloud. Thanks for the great post and lots to think about!!
-Freddy"
So thanks, bunches Freddy, and here was my reply:
"Thanks, Freddy. I feel the same way you do. File sharing CAN be a great thing, but its the abusers who make it bad.
I know there have been talks to digitize comics for download and sell them like the song files you can buy on iTunes, which I think would be great. I'm the type of person that if I love something enough, I'm going to purchase it in all formats. I have every single issue of some comics but I'll still buy the graphic novel that collects the same issues. Its like you said, ease and portability has appeal, and the next step is to digitize them so you can have them to watch on your laptop or iPod. I think digitzing comics could work and be successful, as long as people did it legally and with respect to the creators, publishers and everyone involved.
Becase you're right, when the money stops, the creators and publishers will leave and we'll be left with nothing.
The only problem is that where there is a way to make it easier for people to enjoy their media, there's always going to be those looking to exploit it."
And now everyone go to his website and check out his awesome art!
"Great blog, lots of good points. I had a discussion about just this thing with a friend of mine a while back...
Generally I'm on the fence on a lot of filesharing issues, as a web developer I see the potential for rapid file distribution and swarm technology that torrents brought.. unfortunately it's good attributes are mostly buried amidst the abuse of pirates and those out to get something for nothing.
I totally agree, what's being done by a lot of these pirate groups is not in the best interest of the creators OR the business as a whole. A lot of these people say they love the comic so much that they just have to get the new one online. BUT, if you don't purchase the comics, there's no incentive for people to create them. If everyone's downloading and no one's purchasing then the artists, writers, publishers, letterers, whatever will walk away and who's gonna create these books you love so much?
As much as i hate DRM, what are your thoughts on the future of comics and a migration to some kind of secure distribution? Similar to how iTunes is attempting to legitimize the anarchic mp3 free for all that was so rampant in the 90's/ recent years? i know one of the appeals of these scanned docs is portability and storage. I'd be interested in talking to some of these people who run the groups. I'm wondering if it's like the Video Piracy scenario where after all is said and done, the people who do the file trading purchase just as many videos and go to the theatre just as often (sometimes moreso) as those who don't. In that particular case it's becoming less a matter of revenue loss as creative control. Still a valid issue though. I guess I could see the appeal of the scaned docs.. I could carry an entire run of a particular series on a CD/DVD with me while I travel without having to cart around a bulky box of papers. I know I've purchased a few e-books (stephen king made a really great book available online too)... On the other hand I am proud of every "real" issue I have on my shelfs and no digital display will replace the feel of the art books and graphic novles that I enjoy reading. Compare the resolution of graphics on yuor monitor to what you get in print... no comparison. I guess if given the option, I would like to enjoy both worlds. One for my collection and another for pure portability and ease.
Anyway, just thinking aloud. Thanks for the great post and lots to think about!!
-Freddy"
So thanks, bunches Freddy, and here was my reply:
"Thanks, Freddy. I feel the same way you do. File sharing CAN be a great thing, but its the abusers who make it bad.
I know there have been talks to digitize comics for download and sell them like the song files you can buy on iTunes, which I think would be great. I'm the type of person that if I love something enough, I'm going to purchase it in all formats. I have every single issue of some comics but I'll still buy the graphic novel that collects the same issues. Its like you said, ease and portability has appeal, and the next step is to digitize them so you can have them to watch on your laptop or iPod. I think digitzing comics could work and be successful, as long as people did it legally and with respect to the creators, publishers and everyone involved.
Becase you're right, when the money stops, the creators and publishers will leave and we'll be left with nothing.
The only problem is that where there is a way to make it easier for people to enjoy their media, there's always going to be those looking to exploit it."
And now everyone go to his website and check out his awesome art!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Stealing Comics
Ok, so I've recently found out some things about BitTorrent which is a file sharing system, similar to Napster before it went corporate, where you can file share with people on the internet. I really don't know much about this kind of stuff because I think its insane to let other people be opened up to your computer and I like to buy things and have them in my grubby mitts instead of "virtually" owning them on my computer.
Apparently, comics are now free game in this file sharing business. Ben was doing a search on comics and found some available for download. Ben tells me that someone's got so and so's comic on BitTorrent, which I have no clue about, so I say "That's cool." (thinking you could buy them online, why I thought this, I have no idea) to which I receive an IMMEDIATE response of "UH NO, that's NOT cool."
Wha? So Ben explains to me what BitTorrent is and that this person is pirating these comics, making it available for steal to anyone that wants it.
Its hard enough to get retailers to buy small independent comics and carry them in their stores, all we need is for some jackhole with a scanner giving it away and making himself look cool for all his pirating dweeb internet friends.
I admit, I have made the occasional copy of a CD for someone to introduce them to something that I think is cool. But I do so, in hoping that they will like it and go out and purchase more music from this artist and I've helped create a lifelong fan. I do not, however burn a crapload of CDs and hand them out to anyone and everyone I know. That's just wrong. I buy my songs from iTunes (mostly singles) or I buy the CD.
So, this is a message to all you BitTorrent users (or other filesharing programs that let you illegally download things that you SHOULD be buying) out there. Please stop, unless you also plan to purchase the thing that you're stealing at some point. (I know there are SOME people who will buy bootleg copies of things just because they can't WAIT for it to come out, but they will still buy the real deal once it DOES come out). Don't steal comics off the web, unless they are WEB comics that are meant to be read for free. My husband and I, and a lot of other people we know, are trying to make a living at this, and by you offering our work for free undermines everything that we're trying to do.
Even the big muckety mucks need that retail dollar because, as Ben was quick to point out to me, even at the top people need to get paid for the system to work. If people don't buy the comics, the retailers don't make their money, then the distributors don't make THEIR money, which means the publishers don't make THEIR money and then we creators are left cold and poor.
Apparently, comics are now free game in this file sharing business. Ben was doing a search on comics and found some available for download. Ben tells me that someone's got so and so's comic on BitTorrent, which I have no clue about, so I say "That's cool." (thinking you could buy them online, why I thought this, I have no idea) to which I receive an IMMEDIATE response of "UH NO, that's NOT cool."
Wha? So Ben explains to me what BitTorrent is and that this person is pirating these comics, making it available for steal to anyone that wants it.
Its hard enough to get retailers to buy small independent comics and carry them in their stores, all we need is for some jackhole with a scanner giving it away and making himself look cool for all his pirating dweeb internet friends.
I admit, I have made the occasional copy of a CD for someone to introduce them to something that I think is cool. But I do so, in hoping that they will like it and go out and purchase more music from this artist and I've helped create a lifelong fan. I do not, however burn a crapload of CDs and hand them out to anyone and everyone I know. That's just wrong. I buy my songs from iTunes (mostly singles) or I buy the CD.
So, this is a message to all you BitTorrent users (or other filesharing programs that let you illegally download things that you SHOULD be buying) out there. Please stop, unless you also plan to purchase the thing that you're stealing at some point. (I know there are SOME people who will buy bootleg copies of things just because they can't WAIT for it to come out, but they will still buy the real deal once it DOES come out). Don't steal comics off the web, unless they are WEB comics that are meant to be read for free. My husband and I, and a lot of other people we know, are trying to make a living at this, and by you offering our work for free undermines everything that we're trying to do.
Even the big muckety mucks need that retail dollar because, as Ben was quick to point out to me, even at the top people need to get paid for the system to work. If people don't buy the comics, the retailers don't make their money, then the distributors don't make THEIR money, which means the publishers don't make THEIR money and then we creators are left cold and poor.
Monday, February 20, 2006
If the milk turns out to be sour, I ain't the kinda pussy to drink it.
Here's a dilemma. If you buy milk from the grocery store and it tastes, well, off, what's your next move? Do you keep drinking it, thinking it must be you because the expiration date is still days away? Do you have someone else in your house drink it to see if they think it "tastes funny"? Do you just pour it down the sink and buy some more? Do you take it back to the store and have it replaced?
I've just had this happen and I was at a loss as to what to do. I've never taken anything back to the grocery store, EVER. I've had a couple of things that have been either broken, spoiled, missing, or empty upon getting them home, but I've never gone back to the store to complain and get something new. I just throw my money away and chalk it up to a loss, like I'm gambling or something.
Why is that? If I bought something from a clothing store with a hole in it, I'd take it right back and exchange it. Same with a DVD. But why not with groceries? Am I the only person that just sucks it up and takes whatever the grocery lottery deals me? Does anyone else return bad food items to the store when they discover the faux pas?
The milk was bad, so I bought a new gallon on my way home from work today and poured the offending gallon of milk down the drain.
Why? Why didn't I just take it back to the store? Why do I feel there is a stigma attached to returning things to the grocery store?
I've just had this happen and I was at a loss as to what to do. I've never taken anything back to the grocery store, EVER. I've had a couple of things that have been either broken, spoiled, missing, or empty upon getting them home, but I've never gone back to the store to complain and get something new. I just throw my money away and chalk it up to a loss, like I'm gambling or something.
Why is that? If I bought something from a clothing store with a hole in it, I'd take it right back and exchange it. Same with a DVD. But why not with groceries? Am I the only person that just sucks it up and takes whatever the grocery lottery deals me? Does anyone else return bad food items to the store when they discover the faux pas?
The milk was bad, so I bought a new gallon on my way home from work today and poured the offending gallon of milk down the drain.
Why? Why didn't I just take it back to the store? Why do I feel there is a stigma attached to returning things to the grocery store?
Nacho Libre
Everyone knows where I'll be on June 2 of this year.
The question is...
Where will YOU be??
Hopefully it will be standing in line next to me to witness the awesomeness, that is:
NACHO LIBRE!
And if you're REALLY nerdy, you can download the trailer for your iPod HERE.
The question is...
Where will YOU be??
Hopefully it will be standing in line next to me to witness the awesomeness, that is:
NACHO LIBRE!
And if you're REALLY nerdy, you can download the trailer for your iPod HERE.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
New Gallery Piece
I just finished coloring the back cover for issue 2 of the upcoming comic Villains, published by Viper Comics, featuring art by Robbi Rodriguez.
Have a look see.
Click!
Or go to my portfolio and check it out along with some other colored goodness.
Have a look see.
Click!
Or go to my portfolio and check it out along with some other colored goodness.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
They say it's your birthday...
So we had dinner with our friend Chris for his birthday tonight (His actual birthday is on Tuesday, but we celebrated tonight). Our particular group of friends is not like your average group. Topics of conversation range from tampons to cell phones to comics to hair products to movies to cars. Let's just say, we usually never have the same conversation twice, but if you've had something embarrassing happen to you with any of us around to witness it, be sure that it will come up again and again until the day you die.
We ate at Pappadeaux's which is a fancy schmancy seafood place, which Ben was happy about because I don't eat seafood so he rarely eats it either. This is due to the fact that I will rarely go to a seafood restaurant, willingly.
Lori and I had a small camera war because we both now have the EXACT same camera!
We were also witness to the birth of Aslan, The Insult Lion:
There was video of Aslan getting cheeky with Lori, but I didn't realize how dark it was in the restaurant and the picture didn't turn out. And well, its not really that funny without the visual.
After dinner we went to Gilligan's, a local bar where Chris, the King of Arlington, is a regular. Everyone in our group is pretty tech savvy, well Lori constantly claims how ignorant she is about all things technology based, but she has a laptop, digital camera and a Motorola RAZR phone.
One in our group, Jonathan, seen in the picture above, recently purchased a new VW Passat which has all these awesome bells and whistles, such as a compartment for your umbrella that drains out if its wet, a really fancy futuristic key system, heated seats and a myriad of other things. One feature that he's having installed soon is Bluetooth capability to incorporate his cell phone into the car so that when it rings, the phone is then jacked into the car so that he can hear his call through his speakers and the call controls go to the console in the steering wheel and he's got himself on speaker phone without even touching his phone. How cool, right?!
So it occurred to me that with technology being what it is, that wouldn't it be cool if the call could be voice activated so that when it was over, you could program a codeword to end the call so that you'd REALLY not have to touch anything. Most phones now have voice recognition for dialing, so why not to end a call? The first word that popped into my mind as what I would choose for my codeword was "poopshoot".
The possibilities and the can of worms was fully opened at this point.
"What if it doesn't recognize your voice after the call is over? You could say 'Ok, talk to you later, poopshoot.' and then your call doesn't end. The person on the other end would be like, 'What did you just call me?' 'POOPSHOOT POOPSHOOT POOPSHOOT!' Then you're screwed!"
So if this ever does become a reality and you can program a codeword to end your call, I would advise against using "poopshoot" because everyone knows that while technology is awesome and should be embraced, it isn't always as reliable as it claims to be.
So yeah, that's a typical evening with our crowd...
Happy Birthday Chris!
Poopshoot.
We ate at Pappadeaux's which is a fancy schmancy seafood place, which Ben was happy about because I don't eat seafood so he rarely eats it either. This is due to the fact that I will rarely go to a seafood restaurant, willingly.
Lori and I had a small camera war because we both now have the EXACT same camera!
We were also witness to the birth of Aslan, The Insult Lion:There was video of Aslan getting cheeky with Lori, but I didn't realize how dark it was in the restaurant and the picture didn't turn out. And well, its not really that funny without the visual.After dinner we went to Gilligan's, a local bar where Chris, the King of Arlington, is a regular. Everyone in our group is pretty tech savvy, well Lori constantly claims how ignorant she is about all things technology based, but she has a laptop, digital camera and a Motorola RAZR phone.
One in our group, Jonathan, seen in the picture above, recently purchased a new VW Passat which has all these awesome bells and whistles, such as a compartment for your umbrella that drains out if its wet, a really fancy futuristic key system, heated seats and a myriad of other things. One feature that he's having installed soon is Bluetooth capability to incorporate his cell phone into the car so that when it rings, the phone is then jacked into the car so that he can hear his call through his speakers and the call controls go to the console in the steering wheel and he's got himself on speaker phone without even touching his phone. How cool, right?!So it occurred to me that with technology being what it is, that wouldn't it be cool if the call could be voice activated so that when it was over, you could program a codeword to end the call so that you'd REALLY not have to touch anything. Most phones now have voice recognition for dialing, so why not to end a call? The first word that popped into my mind as what I would choose for my codeword was "poopshoot".
The possibilities and the can of worms was fully opened at this point.
"What if it doesn't recognize your voice after the call is over? You could say 'Ok, talk to you later, poopshoot.' and then your call doesn't end. The person on the other end would be like, 'What did you just call me?' 'POOPSHOOT POOPSHOOT POOPSHOOT!' Then you're screwed!"
So if this ever does become a reality and you can program a codeword to end your call, I would advise against using "poopshoot" because everyone knows that while technology is awesome and should be embraced, it isn't always as reliable as it claims to be.
So yeah, that's a typical evening with our crowd...
Happy Birthday Chris!
Poopshoot.
The Queen of Geeks
I just saw this on ThinkGeek.com. (click for a larger image)
My Sissypoo bought me these space monkey benders for Christmas and I sent the good folks at Think Geek an action shot of my monkey benders, in well, action, and they posted it! (Click here for the actual page) Here's the original shot:
And here's a shot of all the monkeys, you can see why I just sent in a picture of the yellow monkey, since he's the only one that's made it to the top of the ship, and is therefore the king of all that surrounds him. The other monkeys are just lowly crewmen...
I know that they post a lot of action shots and that I shouldn't be geeking out so bad about this, but I bought the UberGeek t-shirt from them a long time ago and I never sent an action shot into them while wearing it. I was always mad that I never did that, so when I got these monkeys I vowed to send them a shot and it worked!!
My Sissypoo bought me these space monkey benders for Christmas and I sent the good folks at Think Geek an action shot of my monkey benders, in well, action, and they posted it! (Click here for the actual page) Here's the original shot:And here's a shot of all the monkeys, you can see why I just sent in a picture of the yellow monkey, since he's the only one that's made it to the top of the ship, and is therefore the king of all that surrounds him. The other monkeys are just lowly crewmen...
I know that they post a lot of action shots and that I shouldn't be geeking out so bad about this, but I bought the UberGeek t-shirt from them a long time ago and I never sent an action shot into them while wearing it. I was always mad that I never did that, so when I got these monkeys I vowed to send them a shot and it worked!!Friday, February 17, 2006
More on the Randomness that is Me...
We finally (I say that like we've had this movie for months now, instead of 2 days) sat down to watch Red Eye last night. And I must say, for the price we paid to rent it ($0 since we used a blockbuster card we got from Lori to pay for it), it was worth the price! I'm not saying it was bad, it was enjoyable, I love Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams was good too. I've never seen her in anything before, so I have no idea who she is, but she wasn't annoying which was a treat. And of course, the incomparable Brian Cox was in it (though he did nothing to help re-rail the train wreck that was Troy) but for only a couple of scenes.
There were a lot of plot holes and completely unbelievable parts especially at the end, but on the whole, it was really enjoyable. I agree with Ben, its not something I would want to own, but renting it was ok.
The best part of the movie, though, wasn't even IN the movie! We put the DVD in and when the menu came up, it showed little clips of the movie and it looks as if Cillian Murphy is wearing an ascot (its actually a scarf, and he doesn't start off wearing it, but he ends up needing it later):
There were a lot of plot holes and completely unbelievable parts especially at the end, but on the whole, it was really enjoyable. I agree with Ben, its not something I would want to own, but renting it was ok.
The best part of the movie, though, wasn't even IN the movie! We put the DVD in and when the menu came up, it showed little clips of the movie and it looks as if Cillian Murphy is wearing an ascot (its actually a scarf, and he doesn't start off wearing it, but he ends up needing it later):
To which Ben says "I'm going to slowly work an ascot into my wardrobe."
I then said "I'll pay you a million dollars if you wear an ascot."
Then Ben replies "I really would like to start dressing better...but I don't think I'd ever actually wear an ascot."
I said "That would be cool (meaning I wouldn't mind if he wanted to dress better), but I'm glad an ascot would be out because I'd probably make fun of you for wearing one anyway (even if I DID pay him a million dollars for wearing one)."
It was COMEDY I'm telling you...
So the movie was good, not too long and I wasn't mad at the end of it that I'd lost an hour and a half of my life. Not one of Wes Craven's finest movies, but it was WAY better than Wishmaster.
Another public service announcement for Texas drivers on I-20 during the morning rush hour:
GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE IF YOU ARE DRIVING IN THE FAST LANE ON THE FREEWAY! It makes you go 5 miles less than the speed limit which pisses off everyone around you so that they drive like maniacs trying to get around you! ALSO, USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL!
I don't know why turn signal usage is such a sore subject with me. I just HATE it when people don't signal. I'll get pissed if you cut me off, but not even half as much as I will if you do it and then don't signal...
I then said "I'll pay you a million dollars if you wear an ascot."
Then Ben replies "I really would like to start dressing better...but I don't think I'd ever actually wear an ascot."
I said "That would be cool (meaning I wouldn't mind if he wanted to dress better), but I'm glad an ascot would be out because I'd probably make fun of you for wearing one anyway (even if I DID pay him a million dollars for wearing one)."
It was COMEDY I'm telling you...
So the movie was good, not too long and I wasn't mad at the end of it that I'd lost an hour and a half of my life. Not one of Wes Craven's finest movies, but it was WAY better than Wishmaster.
Another public service announcement for Texas drivers on I-20 during the morning rush hour:
GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE IF YOU ARE DRIVING IN THE FAST LANE ON THE FREEWAY! It makes you go 5 miles less than the speed limit which pisses off everyone around you so that they drive like maniacs trying to get around you! ALSO, USE YOUR TURN SIGNAL!
I don't know why turn signal usage is such a sore subject with me. I just HATE it when people don't signal. I'll get pissed if you cut me off, but not even half as much as I will if you do it and then don't signal...
Thursday, February 16, 2006
This must come standard...
I think that every pickup truck in the state of Texas comes with a breakaway turn indicator that if you attempt to use it, will snap in half and cut you like a shaved-down-prison-shiv and stick right into your palm, causing intense agony.
This is the only conclusion I can come to because no one that drives a pickup truck that I've ever encountered while living here has EVER used their turn signal! Apparently, you can't be a "man" if you use your turn signal while cutting off the person next to you, merging into traffic or before slamming on your breaks to make your turn into the parking lot of your neighborhood hillbilly rib joint.
So the breakaway turn indicator must come standard, because if you attempt to use it, you might as well be cut so that you're of no use to a woman and you have no business driving a pickup truck.
If this doesn't come standard and not all pickup drivers in Texas are like that, prove me wrong, people...prove me wrong.
This is the only conclusion I can come to because no one that drives a pickup truck that I've ever encountered while living here has EVER used their turn signal! Apparently, you can't be a "man" if you use your turn signal while cutting off the person next to you, merging into traffic or before slamming on your breaks to make your turn into the parking lot of your neighborhood hillbilly rib joint.
So the breakaway turn indicator must come standard, because if you attempt to use it, you might as well be cut so that you're of no use to a woman and you have no business driving a pickup truck.
If this doesn't come standard and not all pickup drivers in Texas are like that, prove me wrong, people...prove me wrong.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
V-Day pics
Here's some pics from yesterday's festivities:
First up, GIFTS! I got flowers and the stuff on the right. Ben got a BIG Hershey's kiss and the stuff on the left (that is a HUGE Jack Skellington head cookie jar behind the flowers, courtesy of my friend Michelle's Mom for Christmas):
Brownies! I got this recipe from Kraft Foods and it was GREAT! The brownies tasted WAY better than they look (but now I have a recipe to make brownies from SCRATCH! No more crappy mixes for this girl). I didn't want to waste any of the brownie and I had extra melted chocolate, hence the roundy bits up top. I wish I was Martha Stewart and could get things to turn out the way they do in the pictures:
Here's one of the MANY neighborhood cats that are frequenting our front yard. This one is perched on top of our front flowerbed staring at us as we came home from dinner. I took this pic from the front passenger seat of Ben's car. The cat never moved, even after I yelled at it:
And here's me looking like I've had WAY too much chocolate over the years with my double chin, one of my roses in my hair and laundry hanging up in the background. I'm a Total Dork but Ben still wanted to take my picture:
First up, GIFTS! I got flowers and the stuff on the right. Ben got a BIG Hershey's kiss and the stuff on the left (that is a HUGE Jack Skellington head cookie jar behind the flowers, courtesy of my friend Michelle's Mom for Christmas):
Brownies! I got this recipe from Kraft Foods and it was GREAT! The brownies tasted WAY better than they look (but now I have a recipe to make brownies from SCRATCH! No more crappy mixes for this girl). I didn't want to waste any of the brownie and I had extra melted chocolate, hence the roundy bits up top. I wish I was Martha Stewart and could get things to turn out the way they do in the pictures:
Here's one of the MANY neighborhood cats that are frequenting our front yard. This one is perched on top of our front flowerbed staring at us as we came home from dinner. I took this pic from the front passenger seat of Ben's car. The cat never moved, even after I yelled at it:
And here's me looking like I've had WAY too much chocolate over the years with my double chin, one of my roses in my hair and laundry hanging up in the background. I'm a Total Dork but Ben still wanted to take my picture:
Valentine's Day Wrap Up
So yesterday was Valentine's Day. Hated by some. Tolerated by many. Loved by most.
I can't say that I LOVE V-Day...it is, after all, a manufactured holiday that really doesn't mean anything. I don't need a day to celebrate my love for Ben. Frankly, we probably piss off everyone around us with how much we express our love for each other on a daily basis. But V-Day (I'm not typing out Valentine's Day throughout this entry, you all know what I'm talking about by now) is a nice way to publicly share it with other people how much you love the person you're with.
Did I just say that? A nice way to SHARE, PUBLICLY with OTHER PEOPLE? Yeah, if you know me, you know how anti-social I am, so my way of sharing my love with Ben is standing outside of the Olive Garden (since there's only one of these in Arlington) last night making fun of all the other people that were waiting the 2 hours to eat like we were.
And after waiting all that time for a table they ended up seating us in the bar area...It SUCKED because normally the bar area is seat yourself when you don't feel like waiting for a table. I was kind of put out, but was so hungry that I just conceded to it. I should have complained and got a table in the restaurant like the lady next to us did, but it ended up being kind of cozy and not too bad. The only downfall was that the people outside that were annoying us ended up coming inside and standing around the bar bitching about the wait some more.
We were going to try to catch a movie after dinner but we were so worn out with the whole dinner experience that we decided to rent something and eat the delicious brownies that I had made the night before. Curled up on the couch, we exchanged presents and cards and got geared up for the movies. I got Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit AND the Wallace and Gromit shorts that started it all. I had these on tape a LONG time ago and have been wanting them on DVD for a LONG time but have never justified getting them, so I was really happy when I opened them up. It was a good haul. Some girls want flowers and baubles, I want DVDs and yes, flowers...plus some candy.
Sidenote: I told Ben that he was lucky that I'm not a jewelry wanting type of girl. I have all the rings I'll ever need, wedding and engagement (I hate rings because I'm clumsy and have destroyed several in the past), I never change my earrings because I can't be bothered (I just wear horseshoe and hoop captive bead earrings all the time so I never have to change them!) and I only wear one necklace that I never change because the pendant is my grandmother's ashes (yes, her ashes, don't email me saying how morbid that is because I'll get REALLY mad) and I can't NOT wear it. EVER.
I got Ben Sgt. Kabukiman on DVD (I don't know if he really liked it, because he acted like it was SO weird that I bought him that) and a triple feature monster movie DVD, along with some chocolate so he didn't try to snake mine.
The movies we ended up renting were Scanners and Red Eye. So romantic right? Well, that's how we roll. I'd rather watch a horror movie than some sappy chick flick ANY day of the week. We decided on Scanners to start, which I had never seen before but had heard was good. Well, it seemed good at first, but it was VERY slow and I promptly fell asleep halfway through it. Again, very romantic...
So we'll probably watch Red Eye this weekend or something since I was wasted after Scanners and could barely drag myself to the bed from the couch. We've got some more plans for this weekend because its really hard to celebrate V-Day on a weeknight, so updates to come.
I can't say that I LOVE V-Day...it is, after all, a manufactured holiday that really doesn't mean anything. I don't need a day to celebrate my love for Ben. Frankly, we probably piss off everyone around us with how much we express our love for each other on a daily basis. But V-Day (I'm not typing out Valentine's Day throughout this entry, you all know what I'm talking about by now) is a nice way to publicly share it with other people how much you love the person you're with.
Did I just say that? A nice way to SHARE, PUBLICLY with OTHER PEOPLE? Yeah, if you know me, you know how anti-social I am, so my way of sharing my love with Ben is standing outside of the Olive Garden (since there's only one of these in Arlington) last night making fun of all the other people that were waiting the 2 hours to eat like we were.
And after waiting all that time for a table they ended up seating us in the bar area...It SUCKED because normally the bar area is seat yourself when you don't feel like waiting for a table. I was kind of put out, but was so hungry that I just conceded to it. I should have complained and got a table in the restaurant like the lady next to us did, but it ended up being kind of cozy and not too bad. The only downfall was that the people outside that were annoying us ended up coming inside and standing around the bar bitching about the wait some more.
We were going to try to catch a movie after dinner but we were so worn out with the whole dinner experience that we decided to rent something and eat the delicious brownies that I had made the night before. Curled up on the couch, we exchanged presents and cards and got geared up for the movies. I got Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit AND the Wallace and Gromit shorts that started it all. I had these on tape a LONG time ago and have been wanting them on DVD for a LONG time but have never justified getting them, so I was really happy when I opened them up. It was a good haul. Some girls want flowers and baubles, I want DVDs and yes, flowers...plus some candy.
Sidenote: I told Ben that he was lucky that I'm not a jewelry wanting type of girl. I have all the rings I'll ever need, wedding and engagement (I hate rings because I'm clumsy and have destroyed several in the past), I never change my earrings because I can't be bothered (I just wear horseshoe and hoop captive bead earrings all the time so I never have to change them!) and I only wear one necklace that I never change because the pendant is my grandmother's ashes (yes, her ashes, don't email me saying how morbid that is because I'll get REALLY mad) and I can't NOT wear it. EVER.
I got Ben Sgt. Kabukiman on DVD (I don't know if he really liked it, because he acted like it was SO weird that I bought him that) and a triple feature monster movie DVD, along with some chocolate so he didn't try to snake mine.
The movies we ended up renting were Scanners and Red Eye. So romantic right? Well, that's how we roll. I'd rather watch a horror movie than some sappy chick flick ANY day of the week. We decided on Scanners to start, which I had never seen before but had heard was good. Well, it seemed good at first, but it was VERY slow and I promptly fell asleep halfway through it. Again, very romantic...
So we'll probably watch Red Eye this weekend or something since I was wasted after Scanners and could barely drag myself to the bed from the couch. We've got some more plans for this weekend because its really hard to celebrate V-Day on a weeknight, so updates to come.
Monday, February 13, 2006
5 Years
5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months, 5 years.
It all means the same, its as if it happened 5 seconds ago.
I miss her every day, but some days...
especially this day....
I miss her the most.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
My iPod loves me
In my continuing saga of reaching iPod Nirvana, I had to succumb to the fact that iTunes does NOT give you album art unless you buy the music from them. So I went to Amazon and other places and had to look up images of EVERY SINGLE CD in order to have them listed on my iPod.
Kind of annoying, but I'm obsessive compulsive that way. If I have the option of having the album art show up, then dammit, I'm going to do everything in my power to achieve that. Plus, it makes me feel like I'm actually listening to the CDs when I can look down and see the artist, song title, album name and a picture of the album itself. With my mini I always felt a little like a poseur when a song would come on and I wouldn't know exactly what album it came from.
"Oh, I LOVE THIS SONG!" "What album is it from?" "How am I supposed to know? Its on random."
This is especially true with Frank Sinatra, Man or Astroman? and Beastie Boys songs. There are just so many songs that I can't be bothered to keep up with which song comes from what album.
I've also discovered some VERY interesting video podcasts. One is called Channel Frederator. Its a place where you can submit cartoons and animations to them and they will put it together in their podcasts. Some of the animations are ho-hum, but some have been really cool. I'd recommend checking it out if you get a chance. There's always the hilarious Ask a Ninja, Happy Tree Friends (not only can you get these on the internet, they are available for download! Rhode Montijo ROCKS!) and the Vintage ToonCast. You can get these by my handy links, or they can be found in the video podcast section of iTunes. There's tons more that I plan on looking into when I get the chance.
Also don't forget that They Might Be Giants does their own podcasts as well. They are truly awesome, you won't regret signing up for these babies. One of the newest ones features a song I feel they wrote just for me. Its called "Why did you grow a beard?" I hate beards and this song cracked me up.
Kind of annoying, but I'm obsessive compulsive that way. If I have the option of having the album art show up, then dammit, I'm going to do everything in my power to achieve that. Plus, it makes me feel like I'm actually listening to the CDs when I can look down and see the artist, song title, album name and a picture of the album itself. With my mini I always felt a little like a poseur when a song would come on and I wouldn't know exactly what album it came from.
"Oh, I LOVE THIS SONG!" "What album is it from?" "How am I supposed to know? Its on random."
This is especially true with Frank Sinatra, Man or Astroman? and Beastie Boys songs. There are just so many songs that I can't be bothered to keep up with which song comes from what album.
I've also discovered some VERY interesting video podcasts. One is called Channel Frederator. Its a place where you can submit cartoons and animations to them and they will put it together in their podcasts. Some of the animations are ho-hum, but some have been really cool. I'd recommend checking it out if you get a chance. There's always the hilarious Ask a Ninja, Happy Tree Friends (not only can you get these on the internet, they are available for download! Rhode Montijo ROCKS!) and the Vintage ToonCast. You can get these by my handy links, or they can be found in the video podcast section of iTunes. There's tons more that I plan on looking into when I get the chance.
Also don't forget that They Might Be Giants does their own podcasts as well. They are truly awesome, you won't regret signing up for these babies. One of the newest ones features a song I feel they wrote just for me. Its called "Why did you grow a beard?" I hate beards and this song cracked me up.
Friday, February 10, 2006
A couple things.
There are a couple things that I could list that I would not like to find when I come home from somewhere.
One being cat puke in my shoes.
Cat puke on ANYTHING I own.
My stove being left on.
Things like that.
But other than finding my house being broken into, burned down or currently ON fire, the number one thing I don't want to come home to is some dude circling around on his bike in my backyard/driveway area.
I live in a duplex where we have communal driveways that we share with our neighbors, and so our backyards are kind of open so that everyone has access to their respective carports...
This gives any weirdo yahoo who gets a wild hair the access, not the right, to poke around on other people's property.
When Ben and I got home from dinner I washed this guy in headlights and he just kind of nodded at us and rode off like he wasn't doing anything.
I was so shocked that I just sat there and pulled my car over a little to let him pass, rather than opening my car door to block his way and ask him if I could help him with something.
I think we have new neighbors in the connecting duplex and its possible that this guy is our new neighbor and was just checking out the other half of the house. True. But that's the OPPOSITE of what you should do to welcome yourself to MY neighborhood.
One being cat puke in my shoes.
Cat puke on ANYTHING I own.
My stove being left on.
Things like that.
But other than finding my house being broken into, burned down or currently ON fire, the number one thing I don't want to come home to is some dude circling around on his bike in my backyard/driveway area.
I live in a duplex where we have communal driveways that we share with our neighbors, and so our backyards are kind of open so that everyone has access to their respective carports...
This gives any weirdo yahoo who gets a wild hair the access, not the right, to poke around on other people's property.
When Ben and I got home from dinner I washed this guy in headlights and he just kind of nodded at us and rode off like he wasn't doing anything.
I was so shocked that I just sat there and pulled my car over a little to let him pass, rather than opening my car door to block his way and ask him if I could help him with something.
I think we have new neighbors in the connecting duplex and its possible that this guy is our new neighbor and was just checking out the other half of the house. True. But that's the OPPOSITE of what you should do to welcome yourself to MY neighborhood.
I Wake Up...
SCREAMING. ALOT.
Or, like last night, I'll wake up and see a spider or some other alien insect crawling on my bed, pillow, husband, or I'll see it dangling from the ceiling, inches from my face.
I will also wake up and see a person in the room, and just as I open my eyes, I'll see them crouch down under the bed, out of my field of vision.
Last night, I was sleeping on Ben's shoulder while he watched some random horror movie and I was startled awake as he shifted a little bit. When I opened my eyes, I was met with the most horrible vision EVER.
A Spider (this kind of bug HAS to be capitalized) was crawling under the covers and was WALKING on Ben's chest! BLECH! I jumped up and started shredding the bed of its layers of sheets and comforter. I flipped on the light and threw pillows helter skelter looking for the intruder. Ben calmly tried to convince me I had been dreaming and that there was no Spider...
He learned LONG ago that to try to startle me or call out loudly that I'm dreaming only results in being slapped, kicked or throttled while I try to get my wits about me. The time I remember most was when I was apparently thrashing around in bed and Ben tried to rouse me. This caused me to scream so loud that I woke myself up and didn't realize I was screaming. I wondered why my throat was raw and Ben looked like a deer in headlights. I've also mistaken the remote control for some sort of pistol and have asked Ben "You're not going to shoot me with that, are you?" with a total straight face, in my sleep induced delirium.
Back to last night, I conceded that, yes, the bug was PROBABLY a figment of my imagination, but dammit, I SWEAR I saw it.
So yeah, I have night terrors. I don't know why, I'm just paranoid I guess. I'll lie awake after I've seen the boogie man duck under the bed and squeeze the crap out of Ben's arm to try to wake him up without letting Mr. Boogie know that I know that he's there. Most of the time Ben doesn't wake up and I have to berate him the next morning. "What if there really WAS someone in the room?!"
Ben tries to not laugh at me when I have these "episodes" but sometimes I can see him just WISHING he'd set up the video camera to tape me in my hysteria.
I'm not that worried about it now, because Ben has learned to tolerate it and he's become pretty good at getting me to come around and realize what's going on. But I fear for our kids. Will they also have these night terrors? I never had them when I was a kid, I've only recently developed them in probably the last 5 to 10 years. What causes them? Am I dooming their potential mates to nights of interrupted sleep by association with my neurotic children?
I sincerely hope not...
Or, like last night, I'll wake up and see a spider or some other alien insect crawling on my bed, pillow, husband, or I'll see it dangling from the ceiling, inches from my face.
I will also wake up and see a person in the room, and just as I open my eyes, I'll see them crouch down under the bed, out of my field of vision.
Last night, I was sleeping on Ben's shoulder while he watched some random horror movie and I was startled awake as he shifted a little bit. When I opened my eyes, I was met with the most horrible vision EVER.
A Spider (this kind of bug HAS to be capitalized) was crawling under the covers and was WALKING on Ben's chest! BLECH! I jumped up and started shredding the bed of its layers of sheets and comforter. I flipped on the light and threw pillows helter skelter looking for the intruder. Ben calmly tried to convince me I had been dreaming and that there was no Spider...
He learned LONG ago that to try to startle me or call out loudly that I'm dreaming only results in being slapped, kicked or throttled while I try to get my wits about me. The time I remember most was when I was apparently thrashing around in bed and Ben tried to rouse me. This caused me to scream so loud that I woke myself up and didn't realize I was screaming. I wondered why my throat was raw and Ben looked like a deer in headlights. I've also mistaken the remote control for some sort of pistol and have asked Ben "You're not going to shoot me with that, are you?" with a total straight face, in my sleep induced delirium.
Back to last night, I conceded that, yes, the bug was PROBABLY a figment of my imagination, but dammit, I SWEAR I saw it.
So yeah, I have night terrors. I don't know why, I'm just paranoid I guess. I'll lie awake after I've seen the boogie man duck under the bed and squeeze the crap out of Ben's arm to try to wake him up without letting Mr. Boogie know that I know that he's there. Most of the time Ben doesn't wake up and I have to berate him the next morning. "What if there really WAS someone in the room?!"
Ben tries to not laugh at me when I have these "episodes" but sometimes I can see him just WISHING he'd set up the video camera to tape me in my hysteria.
I'm not that worried about it now, because Ben has learned to tolerate it and he's become pretty good at getting me to come around and realize what's going on. But I fear for our kids. Will they also have these night terrors? I never had them when I was a kid, I've only recently developed them in probably the last 5 to 10 years. What causes them? Am I dooming their potential mates to nights of interrupted sleep by association with my neurotic children?
I sincerely hope not...
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Random
So a few things have happened in the last few days.
I shaved off Ben's hair into a "buzz" type cut. If you want to know why, you'll have to ask him.
It was the first time I've held a pair of clippers in my hands in my whole life. Save for one time when I tried to shave my mom's dog's name into her side (the dog, not my mom) and it ended VERY badly...
I think I did a fairly ok job. Though I'm no Laura...
By any means.
I almost got a picture of the elusive Zach:
I found out what our cats do while we're toiling away at work:
And this is in response to a candid shot of myself and Ben at Chili's this evening:
I'm also figuring out how to work my new camera, hence the image intensive entry. Though the top image of Chris I took with my camera phone, for what reason, I don't know...
And I'm SO ready for the weekend it isn't funny.
I shaved off Ben's hair into a "buzz" type cut. If you want to know why, you'll have to ask him.
It was the first time I've held a pair of clippers in my hands in my whole life. Save for one time when I tried to shave my mom's dog's name into her side (the dog, not my mom) and it ended VERY badly...
I think I did a fairly ok job. Though I'm no Laura...
By any means.
I almost got a picture of the elusive Zach:
I found out what our cats do while we're toiling away at work:
And this is in response to a candid shot of myself and Ben at Chili's this evening:
I'm also figuring out how to work my new camera, hence the image intensive entry. Though the top image of Chris I took with my camera phone, for what reason, I don't know...
And I'm SO ready for the weekend it isn't funny.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Dirty Pillows No More
Yesterday was not only the end of dirty pillows (get your minds out of the gutter) but it was Ben's Dad's Birthday and Ben's parent's 36th wedding anniversary.
We were scheduled to go over to Ben's parent's house right after work without making a trip home to start the pillows on another dryer cycle, so this posed a pretty pillow predicament. Our work is so close to the parent's house that it would be a waste of time and gas to go home and then drive back...
Since there was nothing we could do, we just went to the parent's house and had a nice dinner with PIE(!) and then we watched a movie called The Cave. Never heard of it? Don't be surprised, I vaguely remembered it either...that is until the almost end where I had a moment of clarity as I remembered the thinly veiled plot from some trailers I saw last year. Ben and I had wanted to see it, but never got around to it, and Ben's Dad rented it for his birthday.
I'll save you from renting it yourself by giving you a plot synopsis. Think Aliens meets Made-For-TV-Cheeseball writing meets the Exorcist prequels and they have a bastard child. Ben made the comment on the way home that the PG-13 no cursing made it a little unbelievable, and that the monsters looked cool, but the movie employed the now trademarked shaky-cam cinematography so you couldn't tell what the hell was going on half the time. I agreed, the monsters could have been cool if we got to see them and didn't feel like we'd been on a roller coaster due to the camera angles. At least in Aliens the camera was still enough to where you got a good glimpse of the creatures, even if it was just for a second. I also KNOW for a fact that if some nutty creature was coming at me in the middle of an underground cave, I'd be dropping some F-Bombs all over the place.
Anyway, the festivities being over, we drive home to confront our arch nemesis: PILLOW.
My pillow was almost dry at this point, I guess keeping a ceiling fan aimed at it in confined conditions all day had some effect. Ben popped it into the dryer for about 15 minutes and I was good to go. Ben's pillow had a little bit of a damp area and so his got a full 30 minutes in pillow heat heaven.
I was even more grossed out at how clean they looked after the washing. "I don't remember our pillows being white!" And the thought of the only thing between my face and the foulness of the dirty pillows being a thinly woven breathable cotton pillowcase made me want to throw up a little.
BUT we had our pillows back and all was well in the Hall House...
Though next time I get the urge to wash the pillows, I'm hoping Ben just drags me to Target or Costco and we just buy new ones...
We were scheduled to go over to Ben's parent's house right after work without making a trip home to start the pillows on another dryer cycle, so this posed a pretty pillow predicament. Our work is so close to the parent's house that it would be a waste of time and gas to go home and then drive back...
Since there was nothing we could do, we just went to the parent's house and had a nice dinner with PIE(!) and then we watched a movie called The Cave. Never heard of it? Don't be surprised, I vaguely remembered it either...that is until the almost end where I had a moment of clarity as I remembered the thinly veiled plot from some trailers I saw last year. Ben and I had wanted to see it, but never got around to it, and Ben's Dad rented it for his birthday.
I'll save you from renting it yourself by giving you a plot synopsis. Think Aliens meets Made-For-TV-Cheeseball writing meets the Exorcist prequels and they have a bastard child. Ben made the comment on the way home that the PG-13 no cursing made it a little unbelievable, and that the monsters looked cool, but the movie employed the now trademarked shaky-cam cinematography so you couldn't tell what the hell was going on half the time. I agreed, the monsters could have been cool if we got to see them and didn't feel like we'd been on a roller coaster due to the camera angles. At least in Aliens the camera was still enough to where you got a good glimpse of the creatures, even if it was just for a second. I also KNOW for a fact that if some nutty creature was coming at me in the middle of an underground cave, I'd be dropping some F-Bombs all over the place.
Anyway, the festivities being over, we drive home to confront our arch nemesis: PILLOW.
My pillow was almost dry at this point, I guess keeping a ceiling fan aimed at it in confined conditions all day had some effect. Ben popped it into the dryer for about 15 minutes and I was good to go. Ben's pillow had a little bit of a damp area and so his got a full 30 minutes in pillow heat heaven.
I was even more grossed out at how clean they looked after the washing. "I don't remember our pillows being white!" And the thought of the only thing between my face and the foulness of the dirty pillows being a thinly woven breathable cotton pillowcase made me want to throw up a little.
BUT we had our pillows back and all was well in the Hall House...
Though next time I get the urge to wash the pillows, I'm hoping Ben just drags me to Target or Costco and we just buy new ones...
Monday, February 06, 2006
Washing Pillows: A How NOT To by Marlena
This weekend was the bed makeover weekend.
Having cats means that our entire house is in a constant state of being covered in hair. Our cats are short hair, but they still shed like crazy. This means that our comforter needs to be washed about once a month, or more if we just can't stand it anymore.
We also changed the sheets for this laundry cycle and at about 8 pm last night Marlena decides that the pillows could do with a washing too.
I'll gross you out for a second and let you know that we have NEVER washed the pillows we are currently using. They aren't that old and I hadn't really thought about washing them, really, because there is the barrier of pillowcase between my face and the foulness that lives inside the pillows. But as we were putting the clean sheets on the bed, Ben and I both kind of made a face and agreed that we needed to wash the pillows, at some point.
Well, I figured no time like the present and at 8 last night put my pillow in the washing machine. Ben didn't want to wash his but figured since I was washing mine, he might as well wash his too. So the pillows go through the wash and at about 9 I put them in the dryer...
At 10 we sit down to watch the Corpse Bride on DVD (and if you haven't seen this movie, go buy it, RIGHT NOW. I'll wait!!)
Are you back? Ok, good. So we watch the movie and I figure the pillows MUST be dry by now right?
WRONG!! The pillows acted like sponges and were FILLED with water, somehow I failed to notice this when I put them in the dryer. Was I just tired? Delirious from a weekend spent doing nothing but importing CDs into iTunes? Stupid? Who knows, I just know that I made a serious error and it was 11:30 at this point and we STILL had soaking wet pillows.
So I then had to drag them into the bathroom and proceed to wring them out into the tub. Chewie jumped up on the toilet tank to supervise my wringing and Ben could be heard laughing at me from the living room, full of "I told you so's" at my thinking I could wash and dry a set of pillows in less than three hours. I snapped at Ben that we have two bathrooms and it would go a lot faster if he would help me wring rather than laugh at me.
I got most of the water out of the pillows and put one of them back in the dryer and we then had to make a decision.
Go to Wal-Mart at midnight and buy some new pillows or create makeshift pillows for the night. Since our legs were soaked with gross pillow water and it was late and I was bitchy and tired, we decided for the latter solution.
Ben pulled out an old comforter from storage that I wrapped in a fleece blanket because the comforter was stinky from being in a storage bin for 3 years. I sprayed the blanket with some Pillow Mist from Origins to make it smell better and to make me sleepy.
It was actually pretty nice, I was shocked and amazed. I figured I'd be stewing in my own stupidity all night while tossing and turning, but I got a fairly good night's sleep. Ben claims he did as well.
Though he apparently stayed up until 2 am trying to get one of the pillows dry so that the other pillow could spend the day in the dryer and we could possibly have a two pillow evening tonight.
Let's review shall we?
I would like to thank Ben for putting up with my Lucille Ball-like antics of this weekend. He's a better man than most.
Having cats means that our entire house is in a constant state of being covered in hair. Our cats are short hair, but they still shed like crazy. This means that our comforter needs to be washed about once a month, or more if we just can't stand it anymore.
We also changed the sheets for this laundry cycle and at about 8 pm last night Marlena decides that the pillows could do with a washing too.
I'll gross you out for a second and let you know that we have NEVER washed the pillows we are currently using. They aren't that old and I hadn't really thought about washing them, really, because there is the barrier of pillowcase between my face and the foulness that lives inside the pillows. But as we were putting the clean sheets on the bed, Ben and I both kind of made a face and agreed that we needed to wash the pillows, at some point.
Well, I figured no time like the present and at 8 last night put my pillow in the washing machine. Ben didn't want to wash his but figured since I was washing mine, he might as well wash his too. So the pillows go through the wash and at about 9 I put them in the dryer...
At 10 we sit down to watch the Corpse Bride on DVD (and if you haven't seen this movie, go buy it, RIGHT NOW. I'll wait!!)
Are you back? Ok, good. So we watch the movie and I figure the pillows MUST be dry by now right?
WRONG!! The pillows acted like sponges and were FILLED with water, somehow I failed to notice this when I put them in the dryer. Was I just tired? Delirious from a weekend spent doing nothing but importing CDs into iTunes? Stupid? Who knows, I just know that I made a serious error and it was 11:30 at this point and we STILL had soaking wet pillows.
So I then had to drag them into the bathroom and proceed to wring them out into the tub. Chewie jumped up on the toilet tank to supervise my wringing and Ben could be heard laughing at me from the living room, full of "I told you so's" at my thinking I could wash and dry a set of pillows in less than three hours. I snapped at Ben that we have two bathrooms and it would go a lot faster if he would help me wring rather than laugh at me.
I got most of the water out of the pillows and put one of them back in the dryer and we then had to make a decision.
Go to Wal-Mart at midnight and buy some new pillows or create makeshift pillows for the night. Since our legs were soaked with gross pillow water and it was late and I was bitchy and tired, we decided for the latter solution.
Ben pulled out an old comforter from storage that I wrapped in a fleece blanket because the comforter was stinky from being in a storage bin for 3 years. I sprayed the blanket with some Pillow Mist from Origins to make it smell better and to make me sleepy.
It was actually pretty nice, I was shocked and amazed. I figured I'd be stewing in my own stupidity all night while tossing and turning, but I got a fairly good night's sleep. Ben claims he did as well.
Though he apparently stayed up until 2 am trying to get one of the pillows dry so that the other pillow could spend the day in the dryer and we could possibly have a two pillow evening tonight.
Let's review shall we?
- It is NEVER a good idea to start a long laundry process at 8 o'clock at night.
- Pillows will act like sponges (if you've got the synthetic kind, at least) and will retain LOTS of water even after they have completed the spin cycle in your washing machine.
- 2 hours in a dryer will not dry or expel the water that the pillow has soaked up (see #2 on our list)
- Wringing out a now 15 lb. pillow is a HORRIBLE way to end an evening, not to mention a weekend. Plus your hands will REALLY hurt the next day.
- If you don't own a very powerful full size washer and dryer, expect to spend at least a day cleaning your pillows. If you own a stackable unit, just laugh at your idiocy at thinking that you can wash and dry two pillows at one time in a single evening.
- Listen to your spouse or partner when they laugh at you and tell you that washing pillows at 8 o'clock at night is a silly thing to do.
- Lastly, if your pillows are funky and need to be cleaned, it might be better to just go to Costco and buy a new pair for $20. You'll save yourself a LOT of aggravation.
I would like to thank Ben for putting up with my Lucille Ball-like antics of this weekend. He's a better man than most.
Friday, February 03, 2006
I think I have a problem...
Ombrophobia, Pluviophobia, Astraphobia, Astrapophobia, Ceraunophobia, Keraunophobia.
All of these phobias are a little different, but they all kind of mean the same thing. Fear of rain, thunder, lightning and severe weather.
I have a storm phobia.
Now, I LOVE the rain, but only when I can sit safely inside my house and enjoy it while not having to drive in it. I love splashing in puddles, getting wet (sometimes) so the first two phobias aren't really that accurate because I don't have a fear of being rained on.
I just have a constricting fear of being in a car while its raining. I have mild claustrophobia, but it heightens whenever I'm "trapped" inside of a car in a thunderstorm. It doesn't matter if I'm driving, or if I'm a passenger, I am literally almost driven to tears (sometimes I do cry) everytime it rains and I have to drive somewhere. I can handle the light sprinkle, but if its coming down in buckets I feel like I'm going to pass out. If its snowing or icy on the road, forget about it, I would miss my own wedding rather than drive in that.
I don't really know where this comes from, but I have an idea of some causes. I've had a few mishaps on the road, some skidding and once, while a passenger, the car I was in went off the road in snow after just passing a large embankment where, had we gone off the road about 5 minutes sooner, I would have plunged to my death.
My sister got into a really bad car accident when I was a sophomore in high school in the rain. Miraculously she didn't get a scratch on her, but it shook her up pretty bad and she's horrible driving in the rain too. I wasn't in the car at the time, but I think that accident has something to do with my fear as well.
Its raining today and I started crying in the car on the way to work because there was so much traffic, visibility was almost zero and though I know Ben's a good driver, I have visions of the most horrible things happening on the road that play over and over in my head as we drive along. I trust myself and Ben to drive, its just everyone else on the road that I'm worried about.
I start to hyperventilate, my heart starts pounding, I can't look at the road, I cry, I get the shakes and most times I have to pull over if I'm by myself because I don't trust myself to drive until I can calm down.
But its only when driving, I don't know what it is. I love the rain, the temperature it brings, the sounds, everything about it. Just don't ask me to go anywhere in a car while its happening.
All of these phobias are a little different, but they all kind of mean the same thing. Fear of rain, thunder, lightning and severe weather.
I have a storm phobia.
Now, I LOVE the rain, but only when I can sit safely inside my house and enjoy it while not having to drive in it. I love splashing in puddles, getting wet (sometimes) so the first two phobias aren't really that accurate because I don't have a fear of being rained on.
I just have a constricting fear of being in a car while its raining. I have mild claustrophobia, but it heightens whenever I'm "trapped" inside of a car in a thunderstorm. It doesn't matter if I'm driving, or if I'm a passenger, I am literally almost driven to tears (sometimes I do cry) everytime it rains and I have to drive somewhere. I can handle the light sprinkle, but if its coming down in buckets I feel like I'm going to pass out. If its snowing or icy on the road, forget about it, I would miss my own wedding rather than drive in that.
I don't really know where this comes from, but I have an idea of some causes. I've had a few mishaps on the road, some skidding and once, while a passenger, the car I was in went off the road in snow after just passing a large embankment where, had we gone off the road about 5 minutes sooner, I would have plunged to my death.
My sister got into a really bad car accident when I was a sophomore in high school in the rain. Miraculously she didn't get a scratch on her, but it shook her up pretty bad and she's horrible driving in the rain too. I wasn't in the car at the time, but I think that accident has something to do with my fear as well.
Its raining today and I started crying in the car on the way to work because there was so much traffic, visibility was almost zero and though I know Ben's a good driver, I have visions of the most horrible things happening on the road that play over and over in my head as we drive along. I trust myself and Ben to drive, its just everyone else on the road that I'm worried about.
I start to hyperventilate, my heart starts pounding, I can't look at the road, I cry, I get the shakes and most times I have to pull over if I'm by myself because I don't trust myself to drive until I can calm down.
But its only when driving, I don't know what it is. I love the rain, the temperature it brings, the sounds, everything about it. Just don't ask me to go anywhere in a car while its happening.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Zaney's Black Mamba
That's what I christened my shiny new beetle black iPod that I'm now rocking out to. I've got a little over 2300 songs on it already and I've only made it through the F's in my CD collection...oh yes, I'm THAT nerdy about music. I'm also lame enough to give my iPod a cheeseball name...
My pink mini became Fawkes when I had to have it replaced after a mishap involving the cheap-as-crap iPod socks and my driveway, so now this iPod had to have an equally nerdy and clever name.
I also had it engraved with the phrase "I saved Latin. What did you ever do?" from one of my favorite movies, EVER. (again, my cheesiness never ends) I think its random enough to where I won't get laughed at (I wanted to put "Nobody Fucks with the Jesus" on it, but I didn't want my Dad to have a heart attack if he ever sees it and I also didn't want the F-Bomb on my iPod), and people might think I'm way more intellectual than I really am. Though I am pretty intellectual when I want to be.
I do have one complaint about it, and this is really an iTunes issue, not with the iPod. One of the main reasons why I was so giddy about this thing was that the album cover art appears in the screen with the songs...Little did I know, that iTunes isn't like Windows Media Player where it will go out and find the album art and plug it into your player for you. So unless you BUY your music from iTunes itself, you have to upload the album art to EACH AND EVERY SONG...
At least that's what it appears to me to be the case. I bought some songs from iTunes while I was importing CDs into iTunes and those songs have album art. So about 2367 of my songs do NOT have album art...and since there's NO WAY I'm importing all my CDs again (since I'm robotic in my efficiency and I don't like having my computer gummed up with music files, I delete my songs from my music library after I put them on my iPod. I figure I have the CDs and I can import them again if I need to, which, sadly, is probably going to be the case if I want album art. POOH!) so I'm basically SCREWED out of having album art on my iPod for all the songs that I've already imported into the damn thing...
If anyone knows a way of fixing this without going to a lot of trouble, I'd appreciate the advice. Since, well, I'm probably not going to waste a lot of time looking into a resolution for it. I just hope the people at Apple incorporate this feature into the next upgrade of iTunes, since, you know, there's a new upgrade every 5 minutes.
While I'm on a rant, I'd like to complain about Madonna. I really like the video for Hung Up (because I'm a total geek about Saturday Night Fever and the song rocks like bananas) and so I tried to buy it from iTunes and found out that you can ONLY get the video if you buy the WHOLE Confessions on a Dance Floor Deluxe Edition album from iTunes. WHAT?!?!
So people that have actually gone out and bought the physical CD (or had their awesome friends buy it for them for Christmas, thanks Lori!) are screwed if they also want the video. I'm against piracy to an extent and would rather purchase the video from iTunes (most of them are $1.99 and that's pretty cheap) than go download it somewhere, but COME ON!!
So I ended up buying the damn album to get the video because I (in case you didn't get this) am LAME and wanted to do the right thing...plus, I had some extra cash from my Dad so it wasn't like I was spending MY money and I could justify it somehow...it also came with a digital booklet of some sort that I haven't looked at yet. It better have a recipe for losing weight, winning the lottery and how to make the perfect roast in it for what it took for me to get it.
All that aside, I'm in love with my new iPod and I would suggest everyone save their pennies and ask for money for birthdays and Christmas and get themselves one. You won't be disappointed.
I'm SO ready for the weekend so I can waste it by putting new and interesting things on my iPod, all the while annoying Ben by squealing "Look what I found!" when I find something else new to put on there.
My pink mini became Fawkes when I had to have it replaced after a mishap involving the cheap-as-crap iPod socks and my driveway, so now this iPod had to have an equally nerdy and clever name.
I also had it engraved with the phrase "I saved Latin. What did you ever do?" from one of my favorite movies, EVER. (again, my cheesiness never ends) I think its random enough to where I won't get laughed at (I wanted to put "Nobody Fucks with the Jesus" on it, but I didn't want my Dad to have a heart attack if he ever sees it and I also didn't want the F-Bomb on my iPod), and people might think I'm way more intellectual than I really am. Though I am pretty intellectual when I want to be.
I do have one complaint about it, and this is really an iTunes issue, not with the iPod. One of the main reasons why I was so giddy about this thing was that the album cover art appears in the screen with the songs...Little did I know, that iTunes isn't like Windows Media Player where it will go out and find the album art and plug it into your player for you. So unless you BUY your music from iTunes itself, you have to upload the album art to EACH AND EVERY SONG...
At least that's what it appears to me to be the case. I bought some songs from iTunes while I was importing CDs into iTunes and those songs have album art. So about 2367 of my songs do NOT have album art...and since there's NO WAY I'm importing all my CDs again (since I'm robotic in my efficiency and I don't like having my computer gummed up with music files, I delete my songs from my music library after I put them on my iPod. I figure I have the CDs and I can import them again if I need to, which, sadly, is probably going to be the case if I want album art. POOH!) so I'm basically SCREWED out of having album art on my iPod for all the songs that I've already imported into the damn thing...
If anyone knows a way of fixing this without going to a lot of trouble, I'd appreciate the advice. Since, well, I'm probably not going to waste a lot of time looking into a resolution for it. I just hope the people at Apple incorporate this feature into the next upgrade of iTunes, since, you know, there's a new upgrade every 5 minutes.
While I'm on a rant, I'd like to complain about Madonna. I really like the video for Hung Up (because I'm a total geek about Saturday Night Fever and the song rocks like bananas) and so I tried to buy it from iTunes and found out that you can ONLY get the video if you buy the WHOLE Confessions on a Dance Floor Deluxe Edition album from iTunes. WHAT?!?!
So people that have actually gone out and bought the physical CD (or had their awesome friends buy it for them for Christmas, thanks Lori!) are screwed if they also want the video. I'm against piracy to an extent and would rather purchase the video from iTunes (most of them are $1.99 and that's pretty cheap) than go download it somewhere, but COME ON!!
So I ended up buying the damn album to get the video because I (in case you didn't get this) am LAME and wanted to do the right thing...plus, I had some extra cash from my Dad so it wasn't like I was spending MY money and I could justify it somehow...it also came with a digital booklet of some sort that I haven't looked at yet. It better have a recipe for losing weight, winning the lottery and how to make the perfect roast in it for what it took for me to get it.
All that aside, I'm in love with my new iPod and I would suggest everyone save their pennies and ask for money for birthdays and Christmas and get themselves one. You won't be disappointed.
I'm SO ready for the weekend so I can waste it by putting new and interesting things on my iPod, all the while annoying Ben by squealing "Look what I found!" when I find something else new to put on there.
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