23 years and 152 pounds later...

Interesting Fact: The #1 Google Search on my 23rd birthday was "Richard Simmons"

Another Interesting Fact: The first line of his bio reads "Thirty years and 3,000,000 pounds later, Richard Simmons is still going strong."

For real, why did they even continuing writing after that? Doesn't that first sentence say it ALL? Honestly I don't see why people bust on him. He seems like a genuine, happy fella. And after Google searching him it's like "Phew, I feel like sweating to the oldies tonight." And by sweating I mean "sitting." And by "to the oldies" I mean "in my recliner."

hummakavula, when will the news stop freaking me out?

I have yet to make a donation on this site but I think it deserves some props.

http://www.kiva.org/

About Me: Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. By choosing a loan on Kiva, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive e-mail journal updates from the entrepreneur you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back (or you can choose to give it to another entrepreneur).



I'm writing about this because all the reports on our struggling economy freak me out. I know that by helping out other countries our own won't directly benefit. However if the fear mongering press is correct about a "greater depression" then maybe those same countries will help us out if/when we're in need too?

Happy 31st Anniversary, Mom & Dad

Speedolicious

Do you need some quick art direction and promotional work? Or do you like to pass gas in a swimsuit? Either way, check out www.speedofart.com. I love potty humor.

Also, did you hear that Jay-Z is opening his own advertising agency? If working there means I can start saying things like "bootylicious" without getting made fun of in the office then I'M IN!

Note: I googled "speedolicious" out of pure curiousity and checked out the images. They were surprisingly 1) unfunny and 2) not disgusting. Good job Internet.

why doncha dooo somethin'?

Dudes, in a recent letter I sent my delegate I outlined the importance of education, transportation solutions and environmental activism in our state. Then I realized that if we can do 1 & 2 then 3 should be cake. Who wants me for President? Poo in '08. There's a certain ring to it, no?

If not, in the mean time maybe we should just go to sites like this: dosomething.org and vote every chance we get. Kapeesh?

PS- I almost bought this for myself "from the Mayan people to you" until I saw the cover was in Comic Sans typeface. Muy terrible. And mi madre still uses that font, too. Oye vay!

Rhetoricals on Follicles

Why does your arm/ leg hair only grow to a certain length and your head hair grows forever?

Why did people find it attractive to part their hair in zig-zags? And did I only not like this style because I couldn't do it to my own hair?

Is it true that your life is more centered when you have a straight hair part?

How does hair know how to grow back when it's shaved off? Especially leg hair. It only grows to a certain length so how does it know when that length has been compromised?

CAPTION: Human hair under 200-times magnification (Wikipedia).

American Idol Night Two: Girls

It's night two of American Idol Season Seven. I usually judge the women on this show by whether or not they can sing better than me. Not that I'm a phenomenal vocalist but it bugs me when people on the show try to show off and end up not using their voice correctly. So here I am tonight, putting my "cap of judgement" on in the new La-Z Boy recliner with a cat laying on my feet, giving you my opinion on night dos.



Kristy Lee Cook.
What a pretty girl. She sounds and looks like a mix of Miranda Lambert and LeAnn Rimes. You can tell she has the bubble in her throat to really blow. Someone needs to buy her pony back for her if she doesn't win. I like her but I think I can sing this song better. I know she's sick so this may be effecting it, but she keeps lifting her eyes at the camera. However instead of looking sexay it looks stuhrange.

Joanne Borgella.
I missed most of her performance because the doorbell rang. She looks like she's going to cry after hearing Simon.

Alaina Whitaker.
She auditioned to Faith Hill?!? Nice. And she's only 16? Good for her! She's our country girl this year and I really like her performance. She's in-- and Seacrest is flirting. Down boy!

Amanda Overmyer.
She's my age! I think she should make her bangs pink, if I was punk like her I'd totally have pink hard. Anywho, I'd like to hear her voice more than we can in this song because I think she has it. Oh snap! Simon just agreed with me as I typed it.

Amy Davis.
She's flat but I love her eyeshadow. Some people just ain't meant to be country singers, darlin'.

Brooke White.
Well she has a very nice, genuine voice. Annnnnnnnd I love this song! I think she should date Jason from the boys. They're both so happy! She really knows how to work a song so it fits her voice.

Alexandrea Lushington.
She's got a nice flat voice and I see some funk in her. I really wish she would have hit that high note she just tried and I'm not digging her as much anymore. She really needs to stay in the lower octaves.

Kady Malloy.
Britney impressions! Yes! I liiiike it. And she's singing about a 'groovy kind of love'. I've never heard this song before but it's oustandingly stupid. Just the way I like it. Ms. Malloy has a solid, strong voice. Way to go sister. I hope she takes the advice of the judges

Asia'h Epperson.
Asia'h shirt is hot tamale. 2) She's having so much fun. 3) She's my new favorite girl right now. What a great version of Joplin that she's got going on. Way to go for her to be happy at a sad time in life.

Ramiele Malubay.
Tila Tequila called and wants her hair back. I really like this performance, it's a bit slow and I think she can put some sass in there. I'm excited for her, good for her!

Syesha Mercado.
Girl's got soul. The weather advisory is beeping and it makes her sound like she's cussing, ha. I never knew the words "tobacco row" could sound that nice to my ears.

Carly Smithson.
Representing the brunettes with some tats, I like it. Does she have an Irish accent? And her bio says she can pour a perfect pint-- that's on my resume. I like her and she's just like me! I don't like this song. But homegirl can show us what she's working with. It looks effortless too. Rock on.

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So now it's time to pick my top four. I love being the nerdy girl who blogs during Idol.

American Idol Night One: Boys

Anybody remember when the URL used to be http://www.idolonfox.com/?
Those were the days of great the Idols like Kelly, Clay, Bo and Carrie. Let's get another one this season!

I've noticed that people either like or don't like Simon because he's mean. But I like him because he's honest and real. Simon has a mission: to find a recording artist. The other judges are so fluffly and annoying. Seacreast cracks me up and my favorite quote of his was in Season Two: "Daddy needs new highlights!"

Anywho, here's my take on the Top 24 Boys Night One...

David Hernandez.
Bland start. He's cute but that's all. I'm waiting for the other dudes to come on. Booooring.

Chikezie Ezie.
Cool name. His smile makes me giggle but I actually don't think he's the next Idol. He's much cuddlier than Ruben but I'll have to hear him sing something else before I'm sold. PS- Simon was totally wrong because Chikezie's suit is BANGIN'.

David Cook.
He reminds me of the older brother on Seventh Heaven. He's okay for now and that's one of my favorite songs so he can stay.

Jason Yeager.
Oh puh-lease. He is laying it on t h i c k about his son and his grandmother. It's too early to try and get the sentimental vote. Plus his voice is bland. Next please.

Robbie Carrico.
Be still my heart. The next Bo Bice. His face reminds me of someone famous. Seacrest says Timberlake but I'm actually thinking Spencer Pratt? Puke. There's someone else he looks like but I can't put my finger on it.

David Archuleta.
He's so friggin' adorable. His voice & personality are unreal and I can't look at him because he's so cute. Good thing I'm not 17 anymore or else I'd be in loOoOoOove.

Danny Noriega.
He has Zac Efron's hair. He can get the tween vote but I actually think that tween crowd will be taken by my homeboy Archuleta. I agree with Simon that he's not so great- but OH CRAP Noriega can snap his neck like a PRO.

Luke Menard.
HELL-O. Look at that bone structure! Downside: his voice is too soft for this show and I don't like that high note. If he plays an instrument (guitar) I'll like him better. OH GOSH why can't Paula just speak straight? Simon's right... his performance was forgettable.

Colton Berry.
STAUNTON, VIRGINIA! He's a hometown boy! I feel more excited for him then I did for the Chesafreak, VA boy last year (Chris Richardson). Though he needs to figure out what not to say on television (ahem, Telletubbies?!?). Niiiiiice voice and he's right... he looks just like Ellen Degeneres.

Garrett Haley.
"Singing live is hard to do." Come back next year kid.

Jason Castro.
He's sincere and SO happy. He has a really good shot at Idol and now, as his performance is coming to a close, I am starting to like his hair. This was a solid start and I think I like him more than Carrico right now. Terrifico! Go Dread Boy!

Michael Johns.
To my boyfriend: I love you but I think that I might love Michael Johns too. I'm torn. He has an accent and the voice of an angel. This performance isn't so great but I believe in him and know it will get even more solid in the weeks to come.

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Good start boys. Now I can't wait to see the girls tomorrow night.

Stranger than Fiction.

In a very strange turn of events, I was lost by myself in our hotel in DC at 2AM last night -cut off from communication with the friends I was with (cell phones died). However you can tell you're with good people when something like that happens. I ended up finding them first- but they were already trying hard to find me.

It seems strange that I was able to get lost in a hotel, right? Well...
1) It was very fancy and they had many things to distract me (chandeliers)
2) There were many corridors and it was like a really clean labyrinth
3) It was humongous

PS- Lori and I are redonk

Nothing Beats Fresh Flowers

I'm going to sleep next to a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers. Men: a really good gift is always fresh flowers. I have about a dozen yellow and white daisies on my nightstand. Good job boyfriend.

MySpace For Pups

My nephew, Tucker Brown, is on MySpace.

Check his page out or view the MySpace image I uploaded below. BTW he's 130 pounds and still growing...

Cat on a hot tin roof.

My cat, Leo, has been outside all day long. I just let him in through my window. I live on the second floor. He cries at me from the roof and it's so weird.

If I call his name from my window he'll even jump on the roof and run to me instead of going through the downstairs doors. See...



Question: How do animals know to look humans in the eye?

Vote or Die.

I'm not yet convinced which of the candidates (if any) should be President next year. So why am I only allowed to vote in one primary tomorrow (Virginia)? I want to vote in BOTH the democratic and republican primary- I think that's fair. I understand a bunch of nearsighted old guys made up this rule a while ago to force people to choose a side. But I'm not ready to choose my President or even decide which "side" I'm voting on. Don't they all mush together these days anyhow?

People who read my blog: why can I only vote in one primary? Who decided this?

Update: Why can’t I vote in both primaries or vote for candidates from different parties?
Virginia is an open primary state which means that any qualified voter can vote in either party's primary election. Virginia does not have party registration in its voter registration process. In other words, citizens do not designate a political party affiliation when registering to vote in Virginia. Virginia election law stipulates that while any qualified voter may voter in either political party's primary election, no voter may vote in more than one political party's primary on the same election day...

Thing a Day: Days 5,6 & 7 rolled into one...

... and I think I'll roll 1 & 2 into this one since I didn't do anything on those days either. All caught up.

My thing today is Marble Rum. Please read on...

"It's a picture. Not terribly artistic but I like it. I collect marbles. There are lots of jokes I've received growing up and one time I actually lost them. Yes, lost my marbles.

Anywho, they used to be in the old fashioned Coke glass until my cat broke it when I was in Europe. So now I keep them in an old rum bottle that was a gift from my sister on my 21st. She and I polished it off on my 21st too :) The other bottles that contain the "rollover" collection (get it?) are old timey Coke bottles from Bobby's mom.

Let me know what you think of the lighting and marbles (fun fact, I used to call them 'narbles')"

I think the best part about this rum bottle is not the lighting surrounding it or the marbles inside... but the memories it created.

As I said earlier, my sister Katie and I polished it off on my 21st birthday at the most kickass party you could ask for!

Here's a v. brief recap:

October 16, 2005:
The night began. One of my awesome sisters drives into town on her way back to Knoxville. She gives me a bottle of rum to drink on my 21st (we finish it off throughout the course of the evening)! We drank and we danced. Oh how we danced...




and the rest is history.

Ash Wednesday. Lent, Day One

OH MY GOSH. I gave up celebrity gossip and I miss it already. It's only 4:30 p.m.
That's all I have to say about that.

Thing a Day: Day 4

Today I spent some time with the fonts I downloaded a while ago. My computer is too old and tired to support any of my graphic design programs anymore so I had to uninstall them (sigh). So I played around on Microsoft Word, Adobe and Microsoft Photo Editor, woot! I wish I still have InDesign so I could design an appropriate logo and play around some more. But I guess life without the help of graphics forces me to do things by hand. I like it that way.

Anywho, I had a few fonts in mind for the Cross Town Rival blog. I like it but it needs to be spiced up. You can check out my post below...

http://www.thing-a-day.com/2008/02/04/thing-a-day-day-4-thing-2-cross-town-rival-logo/

I've also uploaded the four files I uploaded to the blog here. Tell me what you think! It's a start to helping Bobby spice up his site.

What else do you think would help?

What would help spice up my site?

And finally, what do you think of these:

It takes the work out of your workday.

Thanks to MentalFloss.com and the amazing people at the Hawaii Chair I got about 10 minutes of entertainment today.

"If you can sit, you can get fit."
"The secret to slim and sexy abs is the hula dance."
"Right at home without ever driving to the gym, picking up a weight or doing a sit up!"
"Take the work, out of your workout."



I watched these kids on YouTube playing with their mom's Hawaii Chair. They said "it looks like a pancake" and that she paid $400 bucks for it.

Pass the Test

Well I've already passed the Red Sox test. It was difficult and I still have some things to prove but I've passed.

Now, our 13 month anniversary lies on Super Bowl Sunday. B is a huge Patriots fan. Their record is amazing. If they lose to the Giants it will be an upset.

Haha wouldn't this be an awful breakup story if he actually broke it off if the Pats lost?

Oh well...
GO PATS!

A Message From the Past...

This image tells the story. I LOVED receiving this, especially knowing I'm where I wanted to be when I was a Senior in college, scared and hopeful.

I think I remember sitting down and writing this to myself. I was overwhelmed because so many of my peers had started interviewing for jobs, received offers and knew what they were going to be doing. Also many of them had been in a relationship that wasn't completely self destructive. Those were two things I was super worried about and I'm glad I was able to get past that.

I highly recommend sending a message to your future self. Go here: www.futureme.org

Thing a Day: Day 3

It's my first day posting to the February "Thing A Day" web site. This is a site used to promote creativity and make the drab February month go by quicker! Please check out my first creation at this link:

http://www.thing-a-day.com/2008/02/03/my-first-thing-on-day-3/

What other things should I create this month? I'm thinking stories, songs, poems, drawings and doodles, outfits, makeup masterpieces, etc. etc.

They only ask that you spend 20 minutes to an hour each night- which is totally do-able.

Yippee ky yay.

OH BTW- this is the late anniversary gift for Katie and Brooksy :)