I Am Ready.

95% sure this is not the music video for this song, but the shots are completely beautiful.

About being a girl...

I *KNOW* how to change a tire. I am comfortable in my ability to do so. But here's the thing. I have girl genes. You know, the genes that dictate my gender. Of the two options, what is, to be truly realistic, the more feminine gender. This may appear sexist, but it is the case for me. So, when I need to change a tire. I know how, but physically CANNOT. And, as an independent woman, this pisses me off! So, this afternoon, I could not change my tire. My male roommate did. *angry face*



It's been 10 days of crazy and I've loved every minute of it. I literally had too much fun this past weekend. What happens, you ask, when you have too much fun?! You literally make yourself sick. True story.

But here are the highlights.
*Brown Bag Drag on campus! Along with Chancellor's event and school field trips. There's always a lot going on during the Brown Bag Drag lunch hour!



*We drove the 50 minutes to Kaufman Stadium so we could watch the Royals game Saturday night. An hour before the first pitch, standing room only tickets had been made available and then sold out twice. We weren't getting in this game. In my defense, Becky had told me the games had been selling out and I *DID* tell Ryan. He just didn't listen to me. See, this is what boys get for not listening to the ladies! We didn't get to see the game, but we did get some beer, some good grillin' and a viewing of Sex and The City with the ladies. (Also, my allergies kicked in, but let's focus on the fun, no?!)

*This weekend was also jampacked with some crazy, good old-fashioned Kansas weather. Tornadoes, hail and thunderstorms, oh my! I love a good thunderstorm. Despite the noise and lightening, it's oddly comforting.

*Got to see some friends who I hadn't seen in awhile. Becca (who lives in central Kansas stayed with me the whole weekend), Becky (who is in charge of some before and after programs in the KC area AND my freshman year dorm roommate!), and Lauren (who is working on her phD in Scotland!)

All in all, one of the best weekends in a long time. But also the cause of my blogging hiatus, despite BEDA. oops.
Random notes from the tv I have on in the background:

"Arlen is willing to eat it" as said by Chris Matthews on Keith Olberman's show tonight about Arlen Spector. Just MOMENTS after he has slobber on his chin. You're a winner, Chris.

Later, "I'm glad to be your lead-in bro" said by Chris to Keith. Someone should tell him to shut up!

Be a Winner!

Please see Mrs. Newlywed's site to enter to win some fabulous monogrammed towels. SOOOO adorable!

Work hard/play hard makes life pretty fun. This week definitely fit the bill. Planning on being as lazy as possible today. Except, I should fold and put away my TWO WEEKS of clean clothes on my bed. *SO* lazy sometimes!

Ooh, except there's lots going on in Lawrence today. Not to mention Panera or Milton's is calling my name. Oh, unless you've been to Lawrence, you've probably never heard of Milton's. Well, this charming little paper on the east coast recommends the french toast if you're in town. Let's just say, if you're in town, you MUST go. Just be sure to beat the church crowd!

Don't call this place boring...

...it's freakin' gorgeous.






and me, heading out to enjoy the lovely evening :)

Ok, A or B? 1 or 2?

Look to the left. I currently have two ways to import twitter updates.

Number One: The RSS feed with my twitter page in the website.
Number Two: A twitter-specific widget.

Which looks better? Very similar, yes but also importantly distinct. Thoughts?

Also, busiest 48 hours of my adult working life. WAY behind both work and personal emails. Behind with my google reader Behind with INSANE facebook status debates (that story to come this weekend!). Also behind with my BEDAing. *sigh* What are you gonna do? Life gets CRAZY!

EDIT: Removed the RSS feed. That does not update automatically (every time I tweet) and does not show how long ago the tweets were. So, there ya go!

Blogger Question of The Week

How do other blogger users get their tweets to update automatically onto their blog? Is it a specific gadget google already has? Or is it your own html (which *might* kill me if I try to figure out... help!

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OR! Is it using a RSS feed? (Which I don't totally understand but will now attempt to figure out...!)

LOLCatz... makin' me laugh for over a year

*Because I pledged (in a way) to BEDA (Blog Every Day in April) and because it's Monday (so I don't have a lot of spare brain power to spend writing a clever post) you're getting my favorite lolcats from the past week. (Although, it does take significant brain powers to correctly embed the pictures...) Don't forget to smile :) *

Amen.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Cute.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Funny AND timely.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Awwww.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

hahaha.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I could go on. OR you could just go the website. http://icanhascheezburger.com/ ... making Mondays more memorable...

Beyond Expecations

My friend Ashlee from high school (now in a love-hate relationship with law school in St. Louis) twittered the following video this morning. Amazing.



From this video, I remembered Paul Potts, who sings opera.



This video brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it (and makes me want to see an opera). Happy Easter :)

Use Somebody

I had kind of forgotten about Kings Of Leon since Christmas when I gave my sister the CD and meant to borrow it from her. I don't think she actually likes it, so my request will be "to borrow it" with the intention of never giving it back. I gave her my new earrings I liked so much and ordered myself another pair so it's only fair. And I wouldn't want the music to go to waste! But here's their newest video for "Use Somebody", a song that makes me want to make out with someone but breaks my heart at the same time.

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

Living your life online

Ah, the internet. Suck a fickle beast, no?

Let's start with a couple things you can read, do, see, track, monitor within your Google account. Lots, right? There's your blogger account. (ie THIS blog!) And you can keep track of all the blogs you "follow" through your dashboard. OR, you can use Google Reader. I've heard good things about the Reader although, I've just started exploring it. Can anyone tell me the reasons to use Reader instead of just tracking the blogs you follow through the Dashboard? I guess you can keep track of more than just blogs?!

I don't know who I heard mention this, but, through the use of Google Alerts, you can monitor your online presence. Enter your name as an alert and google will email you every time something new is out there on the internet with your name! I just set mine up. Hopefully, no one plans on writing anything bad about me because I WILL KNOW!

In addition to reading news or watching videos, you can also date online. I do have a profile (site to remain unnamed) it hasn't been that successful for me. But every so often I get the most bizarre messages. Here's one I got today.

"That's a lot of info packed into your profile. I guess you have a pretty good start on sounding like an interesting person to get to know (very cute smile by the way) Tell me something...what is there about you that would make me want to get to know you better?"

Besides it coming across as slightly RUDE, how the heck would you respond to this? Maybe HE should be giving ME a reason to respond. Argh. I still believe dating is dumb. Maybe because people are stupid and frustrating!

Blogger?

Does anyone know how to start a draft of a blog, but when you go to post it, post it for the time/day you finish it and not when you STARTED the draft? This bothers me.

On the up side, I JUST figured out how to receive notifications of when someone comments on a post. Yeah, I'm a genius.

*B

The Credit Situation

In high school, when I was getting ready to go to college, I decided it would be a good idea to get a credit card. You know, emergencies, build your credit, etc. After months of searching with a friend who also needed credit, a "student" bank finally gave us a credit card. Well, two years later when rent > income, I was excited to learn my current apartment (apartment #1 of many, but that's a post for another day) accepted credit card payments for rent. Did I say "excited"? I meant STUPID. Then began my use of the credit card for things that YOU DON'T PUT ON A CREDIT CARD. Like rent and an occasional bar tab.

I have now been in my current, salaried job for 10 months and I'm STILL paying off my credit cards. I have the "Big One" which may take me another 18 months and several smaller ones (ie Gap, Old Navy, Target). I received my federal government refund 10 days ago (I only really only worked 8 months last year) and promptly paid off the balances on my Target and Old Navy credit cards. And on Monday, I canceled them. I was ecstatic. In preparing to call the first company (Old Navy), I braced myself. They don't like to let you cancel your credit cards and I was ready for the battle. But what's this? I don't have to talk to anyone? "Push 2 to cancel your card". Really? I pushed 2 and wallah: No more Old Navy credit card! I did not have the Target card at work with me, so I would call to cancel that one later in the evening. My disbelief at not having to actually SPEAK with someone turned to triumph. I had beat the system. (Let's not talk about how much in interest I've paid on that one over the years. No, really, let's not. I don't know and I don't want to know.) So, I got home, found my Target card, called the number in the back, punched in some numbers and listened for the "cancel option". I pressed "3" but the automated system did not give me the "okay, we'll cancel your card" option. It gave me the "ok, let us connect you to customer service" message. I tensed. I had to talk to a live person? Crap. Yes, I know you can pay off the balance right after you make the purchase. No, I don't care that I'm losing 765 points. My biggest strategic plan: "I have no credit" didn't even work. They have ways AROUND that. I think I said "I really just need to cancel it" 11 times. I had been working towards paying off and canceling as many cards as possible for several months. These 6 1/2 minutes I spent pacing the kitchen, dining area and laundry hallway so my resolve would not waiver. If I stopped, they could inch away at my shield. I even promised to keep shopping at Target. I would have liked to threaten to not continue spending my money at Target, but who would I have been kidding, really?

So, while I have the majority of my debt left to pay (me and student loans are going to be GOOD friends for 18 more years) getting these two of my plate felt good. I may even get to start SAVING money next month. I can only hope, for my sanity, that I will be able to.

BEDA

Maureen Johnson is young adult fiction writer. Don't ask me how I found her blog, but I did and it's hilarious. (And I am no longer a young adult. What does that say about my maturity level since she's writing FOR young adults? No se...) Well, she made an offhand crack (via Twitter, I believe!) to blog everyday in April because she had been neglecting her blog (or something). Well, her followers thought it was a real thing and thought she should do it. Well, now she's doing it and, I guess, it is a real thing.

So, even thought I missed the first few days (with family, you never have time for anything, let alone BLOGGING), I'm going to attempt this. Should be easy, no?! (ESPECIALLY since THIS counts as today's entry!!!)

You can even follow the project on Twitter: @BEDA09

One year ago today...

...I was in Allen Fieldhouse. (Baseketball again, I know. But this will be it until October!) Not watching KU play live, but watching a video on the big video board of the men's basketball team playing in San Antonio. We (yes, it's a collective "we") were down by 9 with just over a minute to go and several spectacular plays later (and several missed free throws by Memphis and Mario Chalmers (with a scrappy floor-assist from Sherron Collins) hit the most magestic 3-point shot I will ever see sending the game into overtime. As a KU fan, you almost knew the outcome from there.

Here is the pep talk from KU Coach Bill Self before the game on April 7, 2008:


A video from where I was:


And then we went to Mass. Massachusetts Street that is...


Here's to next year, an unstoppable team, I'm sure!

(Oh, and GO SPARTANS! MSU beat KU in the tournament last weekend, so it's better if they win! I think?!)

Working on a coherant thought

My sister turned 21 today so I was in my hometown for the weekend. Last night (early this morning) was a lot of fun but exhausting. Then I got to drive 4 hours home. In the snow. Basically, I'm a grumpy mess. Thankfully, I restarted Netflix and have episodes of Weeds to watch. I'll probably be asleep before the sun goes down. OH WAIT, it's COMPLETELY gray out today. Argh. A weekend with this much family time always deems necessary some reflection. So, I'm working on that. I was also able to enjoy some good conversation about the Iowa Supreme Court's decision to overrule a law banning gay marriage. Exciting! LOVE my home state :) Apparently, in addition to other great thing this does, it will help the Iowa economy - now a popular wedding destination!

Thank goodness for recaps because I forgot 4 out of 5 details of Weeds at the end of season two. This family is in SO many predicaments, it's ridiculous. My fave quote of the first episode:
"Looked a little young to be driving. But with all the preservatives people are eating nowadays, people are looking a lot younger."

Don't believe what you read today..

Happy April Fool's Day! Be on the lookout for google and other fun websites to pull some pretty fun pranks!

Here are its pranks since 2000. The one I fell for? The free printing services it would offer (including free delivery!) Yes, I felt dumb. And last year, Google owned You-Tube jumped into some of the fun with some rick-rolling.

I definitely appreciate Google's good-natured humor. As long as I'm in on the joke!

Celebrate Earth Day With a Giveaway!

Go to www.loveMaegan.com to find out all your ways to enter!
You can win up to three bags! You should DO IT!
(You should also follow Maegan's blog because it's GREAT!)
And don't forget to recycle and take care of your planet.
Have a happy EARTH DAY!!!

I like my independence, thankyouverymuch

I work on a college campus (a rather liberal one at that...) and let me tell you: NO ONE with whom I work (85% female office) would go for any of this. This makes me muy grateful to have grown up in the very latter part of the 20th century. But really, if we HAD been a housewife in the 50's, this article would not seem as ridiculous. And THAT is the scary thing!

Missing the frenzy; my book abandonment tendency

In college, I did a lot. Too much, really. Any leisure time I used was usually accompanied by large amounts of guilt. I should have been reading for western civ, working on a journalism project, preparing a pols outline for a paper or sending emails for SUA. I rarely read for fun (maybe during breaks), was never caught up on the tv shows I wanted to watch, did not work out as much as I wanted and my apartments were never tidy. I had grand plans for post-undergrad degree life, some of which aren't exactly working out... (Seriously, I thought I'd have so much more money to spend! Damn you student loans and bad credit decisions!)

But reading can be cheap, right? (Hellooooo public libraries!) Yet, I seem to have ADD in my life without a million things going on (ie college!). Right now, I'm reading approximately two thousand books. I started on Wuthering Heights but couldn't quite get interested. I started Farewell to Arms but leave it at work to have something to read during lunch. I watched a recent Vlog about The Great Gatsby and got out my copy from the bookshelf in my room - it's now my main bedside book. I also have a collection of short stories I bought before Christmas by F. Scott Fitzgerald and am somewhat invested in The Last Campaign, a book about Senator Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign.

The last book I actually finished was David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames. And that was all short stories. Apparently, I'm not focused enough to finish a full length novel. I'll let you know if it happens.

40 minutes 'til gametime!

As previously discussed, I love KU basketball. I've also decided in the past week college basketball is probably one of my top 10 favorite things ever. (Possibly top 5 even!)

KU plays today, and even though they are playing the Cinderella team of this year's tournament, I would encourage you to root for KU today. If not because we have an AWESOME mascot...





...than do it for me. Because the tournament is not nearly as enjoyable when KU does not make at least a decent run. Decent = advancing to the 2nd weekend. Now, we KU fans are pretty spoiled. This year, though, we were a little generous with the team. We WON the championship last year and all the starters left, so the '08-'09 season was billed as a "rebuilding year". Apparently, we should not have let our expectations down as KU ended being the Big 12 champs of the regular season. Yes, Oklahoma and Texas, we're in a rebuilding year and we STILL win the regular season. Do you see what I mean about being spoiled?!

I could go on and on about KU basketball, it's history, it's LEGENDARY status in college hoops. But I won't because sometimes you can't explain it with words. Here, watch these videos (below text from my facebook photo album description of pictures I took on during the final 4 game against UNC and the championship game against Memphis.)

ONE SHINING MOMENT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKKbrHMGkD4

WHY MARIO IS MY HERO, UNBELIEVABLE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHt0tszfk3A
(can we also notice how FAR Sherron FLEW after he passed that ball? Best assist EVER!)

AND THE MAN WHO LED THE TEAM TO VICTORY, because KU Basketball is great and watching these Jayhawks is much freaking fun. We will ALL remember that night for the rest of our lives!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrG3BYQiI1Y

and because we all need to KEEP ON DREAMING:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U53afA3SNdo

one more, because BILL SELF HIGH FIVES BIG JAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxM9c4kqjT0&feature=related



The scene at Allen Fieldhouse after we won the championship. Thousands gathered at the shrine of college basketball to watch the game on the jumbo screens. The winning was pure joy.