I never find anything good on Etsy.
I love the concept, I just don't have the patience needed to sit down and look at all the ugly purses while trying to find the one I actually like. The "search with color" option only finds colors in the photograps of the items, meaning that cerulean blue color I'm looking for is a cloth that the person laid their brick red jewelry on top of in order to take a picture.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Why "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" is so good...
I greatly enjoy the Food Network. Ace of Cakes, Paula Deen, especially Alton Brown, and, yes, even Rachael Ray (God help me but that woman is spunky). One thing I cannot stand about the Food Network is that some of their personalities are overbearing. There are very few people on TV or in real life that I would like to cold-cock as a matter of principle, and the Food Network has one of them.
He's arrogant. He's abrasive. He has an annoying voice. He is so smug that he likely sniffs his own farts. No, it is not Anthony Bourdain. I love that man. For him these annoying qualities just work in a television context. And when you just start to get uncomfortable about how much of an ass he is, the producers of No Reservations make him crawl through bat guano. Excellent television.
No, the man that I despise also makes me hate Iron Chef. His smugness offended the Japanese in the original version of the show. The sheer arrogance of the man made me embarrassed to be an American (and I really don't feel that way often). Now that he's the star of the American version... let's just say I avoid the show like the plague.
Yep, I hate Bobby Flay.
If that man ever stepped foot into my kitchen I would probably throw him out on his ear. He can stay the hell away from my BBQ grill too. And I don't even have one.
The reason that I like Throwdown so much is also the reason my dad DVRed the episode of Iron Chef where he loses and watched the last 10 minutes repeatedly: it is so much fun to watch Bobby Flay lose. I'm pretty sure this is why Throwdown is a show in the first place.
Basically the premise of the show is for Flay to travel all over the US challenging various cooks to a "Throwdown" where he takes the basic premise of their dish or recipe and "shakes things up, Bobby Flay style" meaning he adds expensive-ass ingredients to a dish and makes it way too f-ing complicated. He challenged Paula Deen of all people to a chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. Of course he lost. Of course it was satisfying. Of course it was AWESOME.
If you enjoy watching an asshole get his nose rubbed in his own shit, then you'll enjoy "Throwdown with Bobby Flay."
(Cue Reading Rainbow book report finale "Du dum DUM!)
He's arrogant. He's abrasive. He has an annoying voice. He is so smug that he likely sniffs his own farts. No, it is not Anthony Bourdain. I love that man. For him these annoying qualities just work in a television context. And when you just start to get uncomfortable about how much of an ass he is, the producers of No Reservations make him crawl through bat guano. Excellent television.
No, the man that I despise also makes me hate Iron Chef. His smugness offended the Japanese in the original version of the show. The sheer arrogance of the man made me embarrassed to be an American (and I really don't feel that way often). Now that he's the star of the American version... let's just say I avoid the show like the plague.
Yep, I hate Bobby Flay.
If that man ever stepped foot into my kitchen I would probably throw him out on his ear. He can stay the hell away from my BBQ grill too. And I don't even have one.
The reason that I like Throwdown so much is also the reason my dad DVRed the episode of Iron Chef where he loses and watched the last 10 minutes repeatedly: it is so much fun to watch Bobby Flay lose. I'm pretty sure this is why Throwdown is a show in the first place.
Basically the premise of the show is for Flay to travel all over the US challenging various cooks to a "Throwdown" where he takes the basic premise of their dish or recipe and "shakes things up, Bobby Flay style" meaning he adds expensive-ass ingredients to a dish and makes it way too f-ing complicated. He challenged Paula Deen of all people to a chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. Of course he lost. Of course it was satisfying. Of course it was AWESOME.
If you enjoy watching an asshole get his nose rubbed in his own shit, then you'll enjoy "Throwdown with Bobby Flay."
(Cue Reading Rainbow book report finale "Du dum DUM!)
Monday, June 9, 2008
Computer Lab Job and "Deep Thoughts"
I got the computer lab job. Whoo hoo! I was pretty much able to walk in, have him talk to me about the job and when he asked me which hours I had available he hired me on the spot. Turns out he was really worn out and just wanted the position filled.
All of this means that I'll be on the computer for at least 13 hours/ week so I'll have a better, more boring atmosphere to update my blog.
Some "deep thoughts" might occur. Just FYI.
Additionally, Lesser Sean has been doing unspeakable things to Joseph's Jurassic Park pillow while Joseph is out of the apartment. Clancey got chewed out as a result, which made it funny to watch the little Swede try to justify himself.
All of this means that I'll be on the computer for at least 13 hours/ week so I'll have a better, more boring atmosphere to update my blog.
Some "deep thoughts" might occur. Just FYI.
Additionally, Lesser Sean has been doing unspeakable things to Joseph's Jurassic Park pillow while Joseph is out of the apartment. Clancey got chewed out as a result, which made it funny to watch the little Swede try to justify himself.
Monday, May 26, 2008
South Beach Diet and Other Things
I'm not sure if it's the South Beach or a celebrated lack of Sertraline hyrdochloride in my system (Zoloft, it makes you fat, ask your shrink.) but I've lost a little weight. Yay. Dearest boyfriend is pleased, although not as much as I am.
I've moved into an apartment for the summer and it's pretty sweet. The walls I mean. Someone coated them with candy. (Not really, I just need to get out of the habit of describing something positive as "pretty sweet" if the thing I am not describing is not a food product that contains sugars, or small children, as I am neither a surfer nor a jackass.) But yeah, cooking and privacy, not to mention a closet twice the size of the one my that parents share, is a gratifying and somewhat new experience.
I'm reading Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne. I guess I'm just like everyone else that has a Tudor fascination lately. I was slightly mollified when I grabbed it off of the display at Barnes & Noble, then I remembered that I'm not a hipster nitwit and just enjoyed my book. The intense focus on her early life is excellent reading, not dry at all, however the author's selective bias in the research bothers a former history major. When the author used "I" the first time I assumed that it was the roman numeral, then I realized that "One believe that..." doesn't make sense, and that David Starkey broke the rules. If I can't use "I" in an essay in college then you can't use it in a supposedly historical book, and a spanking will be in order for the violator!
I've moved into an apartment for the summer and it's pretty sweet. The walls I mean. Someone coated them with candy. (Not really, I just need to get out of the habit of describing something positive as "pretty sweet" if the thing I am not describing is not a food product that contains sugars, or small children, as I am neither a surfer nor a jackass.) But yeah, cooking and privacy, not to mention a closet twice the size of the one my that parents share, is a gratifying and somewhat new experience.
I'm reading Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne. I guess I'm just like everyone else that has a Tudor fascination lately. I was slightly mollified when I grabbed it off of the display at Barnes & Noble, then I remembered that I'm not a hipster nitwit and just enjoyed my book. The intense focus on her early life is excellent reading, not dry at all, however the author's selective bias in the research bothers a former history major. When the author used "I" the first time I assumed that it was the roman numeral, then I realized that "One believe that..." doesn't make sense, and that David Starkey broke the rules. If I can't use "I" in an essay in college then you can't use it in a supposedly historical book, and a spanking will be in order for the violator!
Milk
I wish mom and dad had put two and two together and realized that it's not normal to have your kid barf every day, and that maybe there was more to it than a "glass stomach."
Oops
Oops
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Convention and Anal Retention
Well I got back today from the annual Texas Young Democrats convention. I've decided that the drive between Dallas and Hillsboro and Waco and Salado are both unbearable. Even more unbearable is the drive between Ft. Worth and Denton. Honestly, I'll take Dallas traffic over getting stir-crazy in my car driving through the middle of nowhere.
Convention was fun. Most of it was coming from young Democrats to other young Democrats, so that was a good time. I saw Boyd Richie speak, which was cool, and got to see a Q&A with some Young Democrat Super delegates.
Richie is a classic Texas politician. I hear him speak and my mind wanders to "Texian Decor" : offices with leather couches, star cut-outs on every lampshade, door handle and table, Texas Monthly and Texas Parks and Wildlife magazines on the table, backroom deals from the office and a glass of liquor to celebrate the deal. That's not really a bad thing, it's just the way it works here. (We wear "being Texan" on our sleeve most of the time, have you ever been to the Capitol? Yeah, and almost every lawmaker's personal office is that way too, I can assure you.) I got to see the big Texas Cheese, and it was cool.
There was a bit of a generational disconnect though. In one session we were encouraged to use facebook and other online social tools to recruit and gather information on potential Young Democrats. In another, the presenter told us to delete our myspace accounts, facebook profiles and stop blogging. Then he joked that it was already too late. Yeah, too late for an entire generation. Eventually people are going to learn to see the internet as a community, and not merely data on other people. Of course we need to not be dumbasses and put extremely personal information online. I don't think other people should know about intimate relationship details, or my address and what type of underwear I wear, either. At least, that's not my thing. I like reading other people's blogs on the subject, of course. But the thing that older people don't realize is, we don't judge other people for having this information online. It's basically accepted by our youth culture. In fact, it defines us as who we are. Differing values for differing generational cultures.
It boils down to the fact that previous generations have a bigger privacy bubble, and a smaller definition of community. They're usually limited to hometown, neighborhood, alma matter, and work for their social needs. I, on the other hand, dated a guy in high school that was from California. I met him through a friend I knew IRL (in real life, another example of change because of the internet), who met another guy through the internet, and then I met California guy through this guy. That wouldn't have happened a few years ago, and not just because of technological advances, but also because of cultural evolution. People were used to knowing the other person's 2nd cousin once removed, and the rest of their genealogical line, going back several generations.
While we are "strangers" in the sense that we can't really trace a bloodline personally, and that can be a discomfort because there is the quality of the unknown, as well as a bit of a risk, but our youth society as a whole is more likely to judge the individual in that way. I don't really care if you're the first person in your family going to college and your "ancestral manse" consists of a lot in a San Marcos, Texas trailer park. I care whether or not you're a nice person or an asshole, intelligent or stupid, whether you have a sense of humor or are a stick in the mud, curious or ignorant, well adjusted or fucked up, responsible or immature... I make those judgments based on what I know of the person, and they do the same for me.
I am fully aware that a person isn't who they are on the internet, and some people, I actually prefer their internet personas. We have time on the internet to process each thought as we type and post. I've probably deleted at least 1/3 of this post as I typed it, trying to most successfully get my point across without sounding like a slavering gibbering asshole. In conversation, especially over the phone, I am not nearly as articulate, but on the intertubes, I am a goddess of intellect with spell check and wikipedia at my side. I'm okay with the concept that people are different people in different contexts. It's just a part of how I grew up, and the experiences that shaped me.
So yes, I will continue to blog. I will continue to monitor my own interpretation of privacy, and to interact in my generation's version of community.
Convention was fun. Most of it was coming from young Democrats to other young Democrats, so that was a good time. I saw Boyd Richie speak, which was cool, and got to see a Q&A with some Young Democrat Super delegates.
Richie is a classic Texas politician. I hear him speak and my mind wanders to "Texian Decor" : offices with leather couches, star cut-outs on every lampshade, door handle and table, Texas Monthly and Texas Parks and Wildlife magazines on the table, backroom deals from the office and a glass of liquor to celebrate the deal. That's not really a bad thing, it's just the way it works here. (We wear "being Texan" on our sleeve most of the time, have you ever been to the Capitol? Yeah, and almost every lawmaker's personal office is that way too, I can assure you.) I got to see the big Texas Cheese, and it was cool.
There was a bit of a generational disconnect though. In one session we were encouraged to use facebook and other online social tools to recruit and gather information on potential Young Democrats. In another, the presenter told us to delete our myspace accounts, facebook profiles and stop blogging. Then he joked that it was already too late. Yeah, too late for an entire generation. Eventually people are going to learn to see the internet as a community, and not merely data on other people. Of course we need to not be dumbasses and put extremely personal information online. I don't think other people should know about intimate relationship details, or my address and what type of underwear I wear, either. At least, that's not my thing. I like reading other people's blogs on the subject, of course. But the thing that older people don't realize is, we don't judge other people for having this information online. It's basically accepted by our youth culture. In fact, it defines us as who we are. Differing values for differing generational cultures.
It boils down to the fact that previous generations have a bigger privacy bubble, and a smaller definition of community. They're usually limited to hometown, neighborhood, alma matter, and work for their social needs. I, on the other hand, dated a guy in high school that was from California. I met him through a friend I knew IRL (in real life, another example of change because of the internet), who met another guy through the internet, and then I met California guy through this guy. That wouldn't have happened a few years ago, and not just because of technological advances, but also because of cultural evolution. People were used to knowing the other person's 2nd cousin once removed, and the rest of their genealogical line, going back several generations.
While we are "strangers" in the sense that we can't really trace a bloodline personally, and that can be a discomfort because there is the quality of the unknown, as well as a bit of a risk, but our youth society as a whole is more likely to judge the individual in that way. I don't really care if you're the first person in your family going to college and your "ancestral manse" consists of a lot in a San Marcos, Texas trailer park. I care whether or not you're a nice person or an asshole, intelligent or stupid, whether you have a sense of humor or are a stick in the mud, curious or ignorant, well adjusted or fucked up, responsible or immature... I make those judgments based on what I know of the person, and they do the same for me.
I am fully aware that a person isn't who they are on the internet, and some people, I actually prefer their internet personas. We have time on the internet to process each thought as we type and post. I've probably deleted at least 1/3 of this post as I typed it, trying to most successfully get my point across without sounding like a slavering gibbering asshole. In conversation, especially over the phone, I am not nearly as articulate, but on the intertubes, I am a goddess of intellect with spell check and wikipedia at my side. I'm okay with the concept that people are different people in different contexts. It's just a part of how I grew up, and the experiences that shaped me.
So yes, I will continue to blog. I will continue to monitor my own interpretation of privacy, and to interact in my generation's version of community.
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