Thursday, January 20, 2011

You learn something new every day...

...even if it is useless information.

A customer came into work today and wanted to return one of the Xbox 360 Slims. We have to test that sort of thing so I took it over to the "nerd herd" counter to have it checked out, but when I saw they were busy I decided I would just test it myself since I'm familiar with them.

I plug it all in and turn it on and it powers up fine. I go to turn it off when I notice the power button feels different. I take a closer look and tap the button to power it back up and gasp in surprise.

Me: Oh my god the new power buttons are touch sensitive!
Nerd Herd Guy: Um, yeah...
Me: I didn't know that! (I stare in awe as I lightly tap the power button on and off a few times.)
Me: Wooooaaaaah. (At this point I see the manager staring at me)
Me: Don't mind me, I'm just easily amazed. (He cracks up at me as I package the Xbox back up to do the return.)

I couldn't help being so amused by the power button. It completely took me by surprise because I have tested and played with the new Xbox 360 Slim multiple times and I only just now noticed the power button was touch sensitive.

Hey, I see you laughing. Don't laugh, I'm the type of person that if you give me something shiny I'll be entertained for hours. Which just means I'm rarely bored.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Conversations With My Mother Pt. 4

On Life Insurance:

Mom: Hey, just wanted to let you know that I got a new life insurance plan through work and I put you, Doug and Jon as the recipients.
Me: Thanks for letting me know. You know what this means now right?
Mom: You're going to put a hit out on me?
Me: No, no. We're just going to fake your death. Drive your car off a bridge into the bay, maybe cut off a finger so the cops find some sort of body part so they don't declare you a missing person and we have to wait 7 years to get the money.
Mom: Not the finger, I'm rather attached to them. Maybe I can get the doctors to give me back my uterus and we can use that and all they'll find is a floating uterus?
Me: OH GROSS! Oh my god, that was a good one, but gross!
Mom: (A ridiculous amount of laughter on her end) Your brother just had the same reaction.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Conversations With My Mother Pt. 3

I had called my mom after her surgery to see how she was feeling:

Me:How've you been today, feeling better?
Mom: Okay, still a bit sore but I've been relaxing and we watched How to Train Your Dragon 7 times.
Me: Holy...7 times??
Mom: I know. It might just be the movie, or maybe it's the drugs I'm on but How to Train your Dragon is just adorable!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Rollerblading: Potentially Hazerdous to Your Health

Today I'm going rollerblading for the first time in years. If you don't hear from me by next week don't worry. It just means I fell and broke my neck.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

I Could Quote You Buffy All Day Long



I don't think I've expressed my love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer enough on this blog. Just so you can grasp the enormity of my love for that show I'll elaborate. I Fucking LOVE that show. Elaborate enough for you?

I love Joss Whedon's writing, yes even the campy first season stuff. I loved the acting, yes even the campy acting. I loved the crappy special effects. I loved it all! And I still do, forget that past tense ridiculousness, I lovelovelovelovelove, less than three multiplied by a sideways eight, LOVE Buffy.

Part of it was because when it came to BtVS I had something I could relate to as a teenager. And no it wasn't the vampire slaying, although that would have been cool. It was the characters and the stories.
I remember the first time I saw Tara and Willow as a couple a little light bulb kind of went DING! and it gave me a window into a part of myself I was just beginning to question. So, naturally, I was (SPOILER ALERT!) devastated when Tara died, but part of that was because of my strong attachment to the character and what she meant to the show.

And thanks to Neflix's instant streaming I have all 7 seasons at the tip of my fingers, literally. Since I've had Netflix I've watched through the entire series a minimum of five times. I can't even count how many times I've seen some of my favorite episodes (re: The ones with Tara and Willow).

Most likely, it'll come as no surprise to you that I have Buffy quotes going through my head all day long. Especially, now that I just finished watching season 5 (Glory had such great lines).

I was at work today, and this guy comes up to my counter and I saw he had a laptop in his hand. I asked him if he needed to see the "Nerd Herd" and he said yes, but he also had a return. So he goes "You know, two birds, one stone." And I cracked up, because in my head I finished the line with "BAM! You have yummy dead birds," a la Glory from season 5. The guy kind of looked at me like okay that wasn't really funny but I'll laugh too. Good stuff.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Conversations With My Mother Pt. 2

Mom: I'm un-friending you on Facebook. My profile is going to be strictly for work.
Me: Wait til I tell everyone, "my mom un-friended me on Facebook, can you believe it?!" This is gonna be great.
Mom: Oh jeez.


Me: Why are you calling me at 5 in the morning?
Mom: We're leaving for my surgery, you wanted me to call you.
Me: OH! I thought you meant 5 at night.
Mom: No, you crack head.
Mom: There's a girl jogging this early, she's a crack head too.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Christina Perri - Another Music Post

I know I just posted last night about Automatic Loveletter but oh well. I have found a gem of a musician and I am in lurve with her songwriting. Christina Perri.

You've probably heard of her, she debuted her song "Jar of Hearts" on So You Think You Can Dance this summer that blew up the charts. I heard it on the radio for the first time yesterday and was hooked. Her voice has a smokey quality and the song had emotional impact that immediately caught my attention.



So last night, while I should have been dreaming, I scoured the internet for more of her music since she doesn't have an album out anywhere and I hit a gold mine. She has a Youtube page that she posted a ton of her music to and WOW. I thought "Jar of Hearts" was good, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. This girl has a talent for songwriting that reminds me so much of Sara Bareilles. And you know me I love anything and everything Sara Bareilles related.

I noticed a lot of what she writes on guitar is more centered around the lyrics, but what she writes on piano is amazing. Two of the songs she wrote for piano immediately became my favorites the moment I heard and I was so torn that they're not available for download anywhere. It kills me that this much talent can not be in my iTunes!

The first one is titled "Mine" and this is the song that made me go crazy over what she writes on the piano.



This second song is simply called "You".



Ugh! So much talent I can't stand it! I can promise you the second she comes out with an actual full length album I'll be snatching it up.

I see that most of her music is centered around love which isn't unusual, 90% of what is played on the radio is, but she does it in a way that makes it seem almost original.

And as a bonus, I really enjoyed this one as well.


OMG Automatic Loveletter

GUYS! Oh my god, guys! You will not believe what I just found! Automatic Loveletter released a full album! A full freaking album! I can't express how freaking excited I am!!!....!!!

Back in the day when I used to spend nearly all of my free time scouring Myspace and music stores for new bands I found Automatic Loveletter and fell head over heals in love with their EP. But now they actually have a complete album out with Sony!

From the release date it looks like the new album came out in June and I can't believe I'm only finding it now.


The new album is called Truth or Dare and from what I've heard of it so far it's pretty darn good. "Let It Ride" is really great and what looks to be the most popular song on the album. I think what I love most about Automatic Loveletter is that the lead vocalist, Juliet Simms, has such a unique sounding voice.

I am so excited I stumbled across her new album which was completely by coincidence since I was looking up a different artist and happened to see it in the "Listeners also bought" section.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Winter is Dumb Without Snow

Just before New Years we got this warm front that came in and melted all the snow. It got up to 55 F and I even went without my jacket it felt so nice. Two days later it dropped back into the teens and I'm freezing my ass off again. Only this time there is no snow on the ground. Do you realize a winter without any snow on the ground is completely pointless? The whole reason it gets cold is so it can snow, but without snow THERE'S NO REASON IT SHOULD BE THIS FUCKING COLD!!!

Conversations With My Mother

Ever since I was a kid I've always had this knack for knowing exactly what to say to traumatize my mom or get a really funny reaction out of her.

I was on the phone with my mom and I mentioned wanting to see the movie Black Swan.

Me: Natalie Portman is in it, I love her, but anyway rumor has it she has sex with her understudy or something like that.
My mom: Oh, boy.
Me: Well you know me, Natalie Portman and lesbian sex, I'm so there.
My mom: *silence then a lot of coughing*
Me: Are you okay?
My mom: You just made me choke on my drink!

It was all very amusing, I try to give her an "Oh jeez my daughter is ridiculous" moment every time I talk to her. You know, gotta keep her on her toes and all. Heaven forbid she starts thinking I'm an adult.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

My 365 Project Begins Anew

Last year I attempted to start a 365 project and that fizzled quite unexpectedly early on. With the new year beginning I figured it was a perfect time to try again.

I took this yesterday evening.

While I was driving home from work I noticed the sunset was amazing. We had a cold front headed towards us and you could literally see the wall of clouds moving in:

I drove home as fast as I could, grabbed my camera and headed back out to find a good spot to get a clear shot of the sunset, but when I drove past the electrical towers silhouetted against the sunset and the swirling clouds I couldn't pass that one up.

I also started a new Tumblr page for my 365 project. I can't wait until I get more pictures up because it's going to look soooo preeeeetty with the theme I'm using. Go here if you would like to see more of my pictures as I go along.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Fun at Work

I've mentioned before that I work with some interesting characters. One of them being the manager of my department. Technically, she's only the temporary manager while our actual manager is on maternity leave.

Anyway, this woman is hilarious. We had a small reprieve in the 30 seconds where there wasn't a line at customer service so I was trying to get things taken care of and put away when my manager comes up behind me and goes "Oh my god I have a cramp on my butt and it really hurts."

I paused for a moment thinking to myself, did she really just say that? When I realized she really did say that and cracked up.

"You have a butt cramp?" I asked her still laughing and she's kind of dancing in place when she says "Yeah it's right on the cheek and it hurts every time I walk!" I'm kind of just shaking my head at her with a bemused look on my face when a girl I work with at the desk comes up and asks why my manger looks like she's in pain, to which I frankly respond "D's got a pain in the ass."

Ah, good times.