like all the others, the newest pixar short is brilliant. i've loved all the pixar movies so far, but have stalled on going to see Wall-E as i figure we'll buy it on dvd once it's out - but it's hard to resist. if you've seen it, would you say it's worth catching now on the big screen even though we tend to buy all the pixar films?
[ht to ysmarko]
to break up the monotony after so many book reviews, here's something fun: last egg standing. i can't managing beating level 8, but it's an amusing little game.
dr. blaze tagged me again. for this one, i'm supposed to list seven random facts about myself. while dr. blaze went ahead and explained each one of her facts (even gave stories!), i'm going to keep mine brief:
1. i have dual-citizenship.
2. i once had a pet squirrel (she was named andy). and i used to have pet chickens.
3. i've driven across the country up and down (a few times) and right to left (once, so far), and have essentially lived within three of the four corners of the country (SE, NE, and NW).
4. i have two phobias, one major and one minor (if they can be categorized as such). the major being cockroaches (even typing that gave me the creeps) and the minor one, which comes and goes, being telephones (my anxiety level rises dramatically when one rings that i might have to answer or when i need to make a call).
5. i like nuts. i love chocolate. just don't mess with my chocolate by putting nuts in it, i find them far too distracting from the pure pleasure that is chocolate (though peanut butter is fine).
6. i've never broken a bone. i cut through one once, and i've had a couple of hairline fractures, but after plenty of injuries that should've resulted in a break, i've never actually broken a bone.
7. i have no rhythm. seriously, none. when people are clapping along to a song, i'm that person you hear who's nowhere near the beat everyone else is on. this lack of rhythm has kept me from ever learning to successfully play any instrument.
ah, now for the tagging of others. yellowinter, since the last one i tagged you with was a bit much to handle with a baby around, how about giving this one a shot (and i still owe you a phone call, when i get past my current phobia)? and rilina, since we've been out of touch for a while and i don't think i've seen you answer this one, wanna give it a shot?
never been tagged before, and then twice in the same night, i feel honored. . . or something. dr. blaze tagged me again, this time with the mission to make a simpsons avatar. so, here it is:
for this one i won't tag anyone in particular, but instead just say to make your own simpsons avatar and post them with a link back here so i can see them.
Dr. Blaze tagged me with this meme. personally, i think 55 questions about myself is an absurd amount, but here goes:
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? sort of. my mom read the name somewhere, and it's similar to a name in our family.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? i don't know, maybe a couple of weeks ago.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? depends. it's different virtually every time i write.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? since i don't eat ham/pork products or red meat, i'm not left with a lot of options for lunch meats (read: turkey and chicken). i like turkey well enough, but i really prefer cheese.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? nope.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? i've always thought that if two of me were in the same vicinity of each other the world would simply explode or something. so, probably not.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? not intentionally. people think i'm sarcastic more than i intend to be.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? nothing about getting bounced around like that really appeals to me. i'd go sky diving first.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? lucky charms, closely followed by captain crunch with crunchberries (yes, pure junk food).
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? is that what you're supposed to do with the laces? no. i just kick them off.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? physically or emotionally? physically, not anymore, i'm easily in the worst shape i've ever been in. emotionally, too much in certain ways, not enough in others.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? two, both ben & jerry's: phish food (thanks to Dr. Blaze for introducing me to it many years ago) tied with one sweet world.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? i don't know, i don't think i've ever noticed what i noticed, or maybe i don't want to think about how shallow i can be.
15. RED OR PINK? neither.
16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my tendency towards depression.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? our niece & nephew.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? nah, i'll just hunt them down and read it on their blogs.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? jeans. always wearing jeans. no shoes, just socks (but usually sneakers).
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? sushi (well, that was dinner. since then i've eaten nerds and a cookie, but i was trying to avoid admitting all that junk food).
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? our friend matt's cd (currently in boston, soon to be joining us in seattle), misplaced americans.
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? indigo.
23. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SMELLS? cookies baking. forests.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? my parents.
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? yes. she's my oldest (as in amount of time, not age), and one of my dearest friends.
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? ugh. i don't watch sports. i'd rather play. but if i watched any, it'd be soccer (futbol).
27. HAIR COLOR? these days, bleached blonde.
28. EYE COLOR? blue.
29. ARE YOU: OVERWEIGHT, UNDERWEIGHT, JUST RIGHT, OR NEVER RIGHT? i'd rather not talk about it. :)
30. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no, glasses all the time.
31. FAVORITE FOOD? silly question. chocolate. (but since this asks about dessert later, i'll say that as far as non-sweets, i like sushi)
32. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? depends on my mood, usually scary though.
33. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? apocalypto.
34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? navy.
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? if it's snowing, then winter. but really, i love fall and spring.
36. HUGS OR KISSES? kisses, though i guess it depends who i'm getting the hug or kiss from.
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? chocolate.
38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? book? haha. i'm never only reading one book at a time. so the three i'm most actively reading right now are: a deeper shade of blue by Ruta Nonacs; an emergent manifesto of hope by Doug Paggitt and Tony Jones; they like Jesus but not the church by Dan Kimball.
39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? laptop, no mouse pad.
40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T. V. LAST NIGHT? naruto.
41. FAVORITE SOUND? my niece & nephews voices and laughter.
42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? not really into either.
43. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME/HERE? well, since i grew up in miami, and then lived in boston, and now live in seattle, i guess being in seattle in some ways is the furthest from both of those homes i've been.
44. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? i don't know, but i like making people laugh.
45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? panama.
46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VACATION SPOT? toss up between costa rica and panama.
47. WHAT'S THE ONE THING THAT YOU'VE BEEN DYING TO DO BUT HAVEN'T DONE YET? have kids.
48. WHAT'S THE ONE SIMPLE THING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY? once again, chocolate.
49. HAVE YOU EVER TRULY BEEN IN LOVE? yes. still am.
50. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK/AUTHOR? anne lamott.
51. WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? in the mountains.
52. WHAT'S YOUR PERSONAL THEME SONG? can't say that i have one these days. maybe i should go find one. . .
53. ARE YOU REGISTERED AS A REPUBLICAN, A DEMOCRAT, OR AN INDEPENDENT? independent.
54. WHEN YOU WERE A KID, HOW DID YOU SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME? daydreaming or playing with g.i. joes.
55. WHAT IS THE AIR-SPEED VELOCITY OF AN UNLADEN SWALLOW? african or european?
and of course, since i got tagged with this, the only right thing to do is to tag a few others, but i'll keep my list short, so rilina, Becky, and yellowinter, tag, you're it!
i'm not sure when this blog switched from mostly book reviews to mostly posting videos, but that seems to have become the case in the last few months.
i know a lot of you don't bother clicking through to links, but this one is definitely worth it. revveduptv has a series of videos that are freaking hysterical. my favorite's are eternal darnation and lyrical punishment, but so far, all of them are funny.
[ht to Michael Spencer at the Boar's Head Tavern]
if you google the answer to life, the universe, and everything, google gives you the answer. pretty trippy.
okay, i know i've posted a lot of videos lately, and i promised to post other stuff, but i've got one more first:
[ht to ysmarko]
sorry to be posting another video so soon after the others, but i like this one.
i don't remember where i first saw this, but i've now seen it on a bunch of blogs. the church that produced it has a series of something like six of these now, though this first one is my favorite so far.
anyway, just a fun look at american christianity.
beliefnet has a quiz that tells you what religion you are (or should be) or at least what your beliefs come closest to. it's obviously not wholly accurate as they try to squeeze 27 world religions into about 20 questions or so. but fun and interesting anyway, and i'm curious to hear your results as well.
this is what the site says:
The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa. Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.
my results:
1. Orthodox Quaker (100%) <-- cool. though i'm sure i'm not all that orthodox.
2. Seventh Day Adventist (85%) <-- but i eat a lot of chocolate.
3. Eastern Orthodox (84%) <-- didn't expect that to rank so high.
4. Roman Catholic (84%) <-- not that surprising.
5. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (83%) <-- i'm not all that conservative.
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (70%) <-- i might be just about that liberal.
7. Liberal Quakers (58%) <-- curious.
8. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (54%) <-- no.
9. Orthodox Judaism (52%) <-- expected this to be higher. i guess my belief in the trinity knocked this one down a bit.
10. Hinduism (50%) <-- how'd this make it to the top 10?
11. Islam (49%)
12. Bahá'í Faith (49%)
13. Jehovah's Witness (46%)
14. Unitarian Universalism (45%)
15. Sikhism (44%)
16. Jainism (38%)
17. Reform Judaism (37%) <-- would've expected this to be higher, too.
18. Neo-Pagan (31%) <-- pagan? not really. heretic? probably.
19. Mahayana Buddhism (30%)
20. Theravada Buddhism (29%)
21. Secular Humanism (26%) <-- that's what i get for not being a strict creationist.
22. New Age (26%)
23. Taoism (22%)
24. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (21%)
25. Nontheist (17%) <-- some days this is probably true.
26. Scientology (16%) <-- ack. don't want it on here at all.
27. New Thought (15%) <-- what's this?
in case you were wondering, here's how to get from cambridge, ma to cambridge, england (please note step 12):
Google Maps
*it really is worth the click*
hee hee. ok, that just had to be said after that title.
so, there's this website called weeworld where you can create a mini-you (or anyone else for that matter). it's a pretty funny, and a pretty stupid - yet entertaining - waste of time.
so if you make a little you, i'd love to see it. if you're a friend, then you have my email address and can send me a weeworld e-card with your little you, or just let me know, and i can look for you in weeworld.
wow. i post really stupid things at 3 a.m.
** edit **
and here's a pic of Jak :)
c'mon, let's all play! okay, maybe this is just a self-serving excuse to find out who really pays attention to anything i write here, or a good way to procrastinate on the five essays i need to be writing this week, but smack the little penguin and post your best scores!
my top score for the night was 593.
okay, so it's been like three weeks since i last posted. . . if you read this blog, then i'm sorry for your useless visits over that time. i haven't read much worth writing about recently, and i haven't really had enough going on to bother writing about either. so i figured i'd just send you all over to play this game instead, it's for all of us who've never learned to like brussel sprouts no matter how hard our moms tried to get us to eat them.
thanks danteknave for passing this along.
this video is good for laughs - especially between writing papers. sorry if you find the language at the end offensive, but i thought that the video overall was well-done and funny enough to post it anyway.
if you haven't yet discovered pandora radio, you really should check it out. it's this cool site that plays music for free based on the artists or songs that you like. you just type in the names of artists, and it builds a station for you based on what you entered. then, if you don't like a particular song, you can just give it a thumbs down, and it skips it. because of licensing restrictions, there are only a certain number you can skip per hour, but it's still a pretty cool way to listen to free music online. you can even create several stations so that you can have each station focus on a particular style of music.
i have it playing virtually every time i'm on the computer these days.
okay, i have to make this comment now: if you're going to read my blog, you first have to click on the llama link on the right. it's my blog, i get to make up my own rules, and that's my rule. so click already! watch the llamas. and make sure not to watch it just once or twice, it's like a fine wine, it gets better with age. i don't really care much if you look at anything else, or if you even read other things on my blog, just make sure to check out the llamas.
