12/18/08

* I'm a terrible Scrabble player.
* Don't touch the glass part of halogen light bulbs. The oil on your hands will make it get hotter and burn out faster.
* Secrets are a lot of fun at first. But they inevitably will lose some of the fun when the burden of knowing and not being able to talk about it sets in. Then the burden turns into frustration and impatience. And to convincingly stifle a really good laugh is one of the hardest things in the world to do.
* I feel a sense of victory when I gently machine wash expensive, hand-wash-or-dry-clean-only sweaters and they comes out just as well.

1/11/08

* Happy new year. How's it going so far?
* It's almost always tough to embrace change. Especially if that change involves having to make choices. Along with it comes confusion, fear, uncertainty, among other things. I would tell you how to deal with all that, but I'm still clueless myself.
* Employers do notice the design of your resume.
* Twelve pounds apparently is pretty big for a cat.
* " ... and romance is scary as hell ... just the idea of putting that much emotion into something and opening yourself up to the potential heartbreak and the potential harm that can come from committing to something full on is scary." Yep.
* When do the people you spend your time with become more important than where you're spending it? Do they ever? Are they always?
* And when is it not crazy to do things to make yourself happy instead of doing things because you think you're supposed to? And not in that cheesy, "carpe diem" sort of way, but realistically? Is it ever? Is it always?
* Not once since I've entered the "real world" have I used anything I learned in high school trig. Not once have I needed to really think about declarative vs. imperative sentences. Or the anatomy of a frog. Or the chemical make up of isotopes. Or Greek and Roman architecture. How did I spend the equivalent of more than 15 years in class and still have so many questions?

12/20/07

* Truman Capote was so short that his mid-length coat fit full length. Apparently this caused some confusion when people were cross-checking their historical accuracy for costumes during the making of "Capote."
* Things are compared with, not compared to.
* Toward. Toward. Toward. Good grief.
* Crossing off all the goals you thought would make you feel happy and fulfilled and then not feeling happy and fulfilled is a scary situation.
* The urge to be part of a team never really subsides. Regardless of how small the team becomes.
* "Strange how an entire life hinges on certain choices."

12/13/07

* I'm completely unprepared for Christmas.
* The cold makes me grumpy. Or maybe I just blame the cold.
* The Spice Girls unveiled a Boeing 747 called Spice One at Heathrow airport today.
* Studies show that babies can develop a taste for alcohol in the womb. (At least rat babies do.)
* Different studies from a New York university show that all-nighters result in lower grades.
* FOX 2 Detroit anchor and reporter Lee Thomas suffers from vitiligo, a disease in which pigment-creating cells are destroyed. Over the years, his formerly-black hands have turned completely white, and he wears make-up to cover light patches around his eyes and mouth.
* Rupert Murdoch. Shareholders approved his $5 billion bid for Dow Jones today, and he addresses the Wall Street Journal newsroom ...standing on cardboard boxes.
* The editor of the Des Moines Register has moderated the most recent Democratic and Republican debates in Iowa. Her name? Carolyn Washburn.

12/11/07

* Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping in the U.S.
* Family gets more entertaining -- and, in many ways, more understanding -- as you get older.
* Nearly half of Americans will date someone at work during their careers, and about one in five of those will result in a long-term relationship.
* Also under "as you get older": You're more free to make decisions, the options come in a wider range, but often the risk (and potential payoff) also is greater.
* Brides in Asian cultures wear red.
* You're never as alone as you think.
* Barack Obama's nickname in high school was Barry.
* Emotions always are hard to nail down, but knowing that you're thought about when you're not around definitely is near the top of the list.

12/7/07

* I'm finally ready to admit that it's Christmas. Thanksgiving is over, we've had a decent snowfall, and I didn't see anyone visibly frustrated with me when I went to Meijer and proceeded to be the single shopper with the obnoxiously full cart. Must be Christmas.

This is a poem my grandma stuffed in a present a few years ago. I'm pretty sure she found it in a magazine. (But she's been known to be pretty crafty, so you never know.)

"Now dear beloved Santa Claus,
Please listen to my prayer.
If near my home on Christmas Eve,
Leave just one present there.
It isn't for myself I ask,
But only for another.
Please leave a handsome son-in-law
For Daddy and for Mother."

Ha.

Happy holidays.

12/5/07

* The smaller your car, the bigger your ice scraper should be.
* Fingerless gloves: Good for inside the car. Great for the office. Bad for outside in the snow.
* Now I understand why there were so many people from Chicago in Phoenix.

12/4/07

* This cracks me up.
* I'm starting to think time actually moves faster as you get older.
* It's a cliche, but really great friends are hard to come by. When you find them, I don't think there's anything wrong with getting a decent grip.
* A number of different means can lead to the same end.

11/28/07

* I'm not sure yet what I've learned from this because I'm still laughing about it:
I was on the phone not paying much attention when I was pulled over tonight after work for speeding. After the officer gave me a bit of a hard time for not having my current address on my license (updated it online -- no worries, folks), he asked me how long it'd been since I'd gotten a ticket. When I told him a long time, since I was 16 or 17, he asked if I wanted "a ticket or a written warning this evening." I said, "You know, I would love a written warning." He said he'd make sure my license was valid, give me a written warning and get me "on out of here." A (very cold) while later, he comes back to my window and asks if I know that my license is suspended. (Getting panicked) "Uhm. No..."
"Ha! Nah, I'm just kiddin'," he says. "Here's your license and insurance back. And here's your written warning. Do whatever you want with it. Take it home. Throw it away. Whatever, I don't care. Now you have a good night."

11/26/07

* I started my first "blog" on Xanga on April 28, 2004. Like everyone else who hadn't yet taken time to fully understand the purpose or possible consequences of keeping a public, online journal, I poured my heart out almost every day. Let me tell you, few things are as entertaining as going back one, two, three, even four years to read what you've written, how you've felt, how dramatic everything was, and see how much you've changed (and, of course, how much you've stayed the same).
* I don't understand why cats nibble. It's weird. It's annoying. I can't make it stop.
* I read today that a friend of a friend said, "I'm getting to the point where I can't find desire in anything casual." He went on to talk about how he couldn't see investing in something he knew for sure wouldn't last. That sentiment seems to be popping up in a lot of places a from a lot of people in a lot of different situations lately. I think it's a great point. It reinforces valuing your time and being careful not to waste it. It also points out that we're getting to old to mess around with -- or screw up -- aspects of our lives that could someday be very important. Can you think of a more terrifying thought? I certainly can't.

11/25/07

* I have to admit that I get a pretty giddy when people tell me they actually read my nonsense. Then again, it's never taken much. Regardless, thanks.
* A 19-year-old woman in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to jail time and lashings after she was gang raped by several men because she "invited the attack" by being partially undressed while with her lover in his car. I'm constantly amazed at the differences in cultures.
* After watching a day's worth of interior-design shows on TV, I started to wonder how a person's occupation changes them. Or if certain types of people are more drawn to certain careers. Designers, for the most part, seem to be concerned with making the customer happy. They want to follow directions and learn their personalities to design a room that best fits them individually. As journalists, it's partially our job to disregard what people will think. Not from a customer service standpoint, of course. But being objective means saying and doing what needs to be said and done in what we see as the best interest of readers without much care for how people will feel about it. Then I started to think about the "kind" of people journalists seem to be versus the "kind" of people I was watching on TV. Granted, those specific designers are cultivated to be more showy for the screen, but I'd imagine the idea is similar. Were those people "people pleasers" before they went into design? Or did they start weighing others' opinions over their own artistic expressions after they realized what the business entails? Similar in journalism. I've met my share of jaded, cynical veterans of the industry. But I can't help but wonder whether they came into it like that or whether they once could have been suited for something more ...friendly?
* I believe people often philosophize to keep their minds off their own, personal worries.
* Doing what makes you happy isn't always (dare I say rarely?) doing what's rational.