My Lappy is sad :(

Before I begin, I have to brag about the new shoes I just bought. They're gorgeous! They only cost me $56 but retail for $185! Ridiculous! They're absolutely mint and I can't wait to wear them out with the new blue top I bought. Anyway, they took my mind off of everything just long enough that it's just now that I'm remembering all the problems my laptop is causing me.

So sometime during that party we had last week, my laptop decided to make a fool of itself and disprove all of the wonderful things I've ever said about it. It's now slow and the sound won't work. Well, it works, but it's so choppy and cracks so much that it might as well not work at all. I'm actually asking for help now: someone, anyone, please figure out what's wrong with Lappy. She's sad because she can't play videos anymore because they skip or fail to load in under a few minutes. This is so unlike her! I used to have the best Lappy in the world with an amazing graphics card and processor, but now....I'm heartbroken once more. I refuse to buy a new Lappy. Since the whole system is running slow now too, it's hard to do much of anything. Here's what I've done so far:

-Ran chkdsk /f because I was prompted to do so.
-Tried to defragment but was told that it was unnecessary by Lappy
-Reinstalled the sound drivers
-Tried to use headphones to see if the speakers were blown but they made no difference
-Almost cried

And thus, here I am now. I'm so distracted by how many bug bites I have that at least my laptop problems are currently overshadowed. I just noticed that my spellchecker on Firefox is not working. Perhaps someone who has the new 3.0 version knows why this is. I'm just about to install my XP service pack 3 so who knows what fun this will add to all that I already have.

That's it. I'm going to Target. Maybe I'll buy more shoes.

Bugs and other creepers

So, in case you have not heard, it seems that The Cottage is infested with baby spiders and bed bugs. What does this mean? It means that Beth and I are both covered in bug bites from head to toe, literally. Being a holiday weekend (labor day is Monday), we have no choice but to endure the biting for another couple days. The two of us have been sleeping on the couch since our beds have caused us nothing but trouble, it seems. This certainly won't help the infestation, but it has been making things less stressful.


Speaking of creepy things, I don't know why but the guy from Terminix is a real creeper. I asked Derek to have a different guy come on Tuesday, and he said that wouldn't be a problem at all. The fact that the bug guy asked Jenny out probably doesn't help his case. Today I got asked out by the neighbor above me. I told him that Ronnie and I are together, so that should end that. I hate lying, but I'm really not interested in anyone and am not ready to even consider seeing other people. I hav a nagging suspicion that Ronnie doesn't want to be with me, especially after he said that I shouldn't keep liking someone that doesn't like me back. Ouch. Things like that make getting over this whole thing a lot easier. And by getting over, I mean moving on from the heartbreak.

I think I'm going to go shopping. I'm the only one home and I'm pretty lonely. I think I want to go dancing tonight!

Just stuff

I just got home from work and I'm tired so I'm not going to write a whole lot. The picture above might be called a Ronnie Kun since he's playing soccer.

Let me start by saying that my apartment is the best apartment ever. That's fine if other people live in apartments that have valet parking *cough* Lucky *cough cough* but ours is really nice and we aren't paying very much at all. Our living room is massive and my room is a beautiful blue. I bought cute little plants for only $3 each at Home Depot, and I absolutely love the girls I'm living with.

Work is going well, it just stinks that I'm the only one working right now. Today I posted only a few things and then I got to stay in the air conditioned office the rest of the day. I even had a showing today!

Here's what I really wanted to write about: I'm thinking about what I might do for my Halloween costume. Here are a couple ideas:

• Domo kun (thewebsite has instructions on making a costume!)
  
• Xena, princess warrior
• Princess Peach

I haven't really decided yet, but I've got to start thinking about it and get my stuff together. Hopefully we'll have a Halloween party that'll be just as much fun as Ronnie and Cait's party was. I'll write more later since I'm hanging out with Liz, Beth, and Ace (Beth's friend from Denmark).

U.S.A. - Rockin' the Olympics since 1904

So I was clicking around Sports Illustrated and came across these interesting facts.

In 1904 the US took home 239, or 86%, of the total medals. Of course, the only other countries competing and earning a medal were Germany, Cuba, Canada, Hungary, Britain, Greece, Switzerland, and Austria. Quite a short list. Another interesting fact: Chicago was supposed to host the 1904 Olympics, but lost the bid due to St. Louis' celebration of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which wouldn't allow another international event to take place anywhere other than St. Louis. So there it was held. There was some guy with a wooden leg who won six medals (three were gold!) even though he had a wooden leg from being run over by a train (George Eyesor).

Since I love random facts, here are a few more:

• The first Olympics was held in 776 BCE. If you're in any field related to Classics, this is a fact you already know. Lots of texts speak of "the year after the first Olympiad..."etc.
  
• The 1916 Olympics were to be held in Berlin, Germany but were canceled due to WWI.
• The U.S. has hosted the Olympics four times: St.Louis (1904), Los Angeles (1932), Los Angeles (1984), Atlanta (1936).
• In 1936 Carl Diem (an Olympic organizer) had a torchbearer's ceremony at the stadium at Delphi (site of the Delphic oracle) and erected a stone to carve the Olympic rings, which became official in 1914, onto. In the 1950s two British authors reported in "History of the Ancient Games" that the rings as a symbol must have originated in Greece.
• The "mascots" for the 2008 Olympics include a fish, giant panda, Olympic flame, Tibetan antelope, and swallow (see top image). Their forms are kind of hard to distinguish.
• The US has won a total of 2404 medals, including both summer and winter games. Russia has the next most, with 1202 total.
• Through 2006, 15104 medals have been awarded.

Most of this stuff came from Wikipedia, a very credible source indeed.

Bernie Mac - gone, but certainly not forgotten

Well, friends, it seems that this morning Bernie Mac passed away due to complications of pneumonia. I mistakenly thought he was in remission, and was obviously surprised to hear this news. I'm quite saddened and regret not watching the Bernie Mac Show last night because I was tired. Promise me that you check out the Bernie Mac Show at the least - it's well worth your time. You might even start using phrases he uses and start calling people "baby girl."



I finally got a new phone! It's a Palm Centro, and thus far I love it! It's blue (although Ronnie mentioned that he preferred the black). I've been playing around on it since I got it last week and it's addicting. I'm using it as my personal planner as well as a phone. It hooks up to my laptop so I can easily upload info from my calendar on my computer to my phone. I'm amazed how far phones have come since my last phone (which perished in my car - the official cause of "death" was water damage due to the humidity). Anyway, I'm so excited about it that I have to go in a minute to add an appointment to my calendar. Oh to feel businessy....

Yesterday was Holly and Brian's wedding. All I can say is "wow." It was incredible. My dad especially liked the service since it was brief. I thought the reception was really nice since it was at Maggiano's at Mayfair. There was a pasta bar! I, being boring, chose fettuccine with marinara sauce, but there were other things you could have put in for the chef to cook. The drinks were around $8 each, so I settled with soda (which started off at $3 a glass!) which was free. It was really nice getting to see family I haven't seen in a long, long time. Something I observed, however, was that the only people under 21 at the reception included me, the flower girl, the ring bearer, and my cousin's two children. I didn't really care since I didn't bring enough money to even afford a drink, but it was a pitiful observation. Another realization: Steven and I are the only people on my dad's side to not be married and us and Liz are the only people on my mom's side not to be married (with the exception of my uncle Brian).

I'm excited to be moving in soon! I find myself missing Katie E. an awful lot. I didn't realize how much I would miss her, but I really do. I think a lot of it is because we were roommates freshman year, and lived together last year. I'm hoping that when I go up to Madison (either tomorrow or Wednesday) that I get to see her. I'm also excited to see my roommates for next year! There are people I'm not so excited to see, but I don't have to see them unless I want to. And I don't. So there.

Since I'm addicted, I'm going to go play on my phone now. Forget about Dark Cloud. I have Klondike!

Things that are UNDERrated

Some people just aren't living their lives to the fullest. Why not? Because they're missing out on these gems:

1. George Lopez and Bernie Mac
-I know, I know. A lot of people are watching or doing "something better" at 11 pm CST on weeknights. Give these guys a try! I love the Hispanic hilarity every night on George Lopez. His jokes are similar to those my friends might make, so it's like we're BFF. Now Bernie Mac is a favorite for a different reason. I like that his eyes look different directions when he talks. And while I'm on the subject of the way he talks, I like that too. These guys are way too funny to be on during prime time while quaint families are enjoying shows like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars, which is why their timeslots are 11 pm and 11:30 pm, respectively.


2. Red Robin
-You don't have to tell me that it's pricey here. But if you sign up for the birthday club you do get a free burger (a $9 value) the week of your birthday. Ronnie and I recently went and their fries are heavenly, and unlimited. UNLIMITED???? Yes! Unlimited! I think I've finally found my favorite restaurant. The chicken strips were delicious and unforgettable. Maybe my mom wants to go with me now...hmmm.

3. Sci-Fi as a genre
-So I showed Ronnie a recent Netflix movie my parents picked out: a disc from the first season of the Outer Limits. It was pretty hilarious. The episode we watched began with tumbleweeds attacking people, and then frogs, and finally boulders. It wasn't bad for being from 1964. Otherwise, I'm generally a fan of sci-fi movies from the days when special effects were in their infancy as well the newer movies. Some are better than others, of course. But don't hate just yet. Check out this list of sci-fi movies from IMDB and I'm sure you'll find that many are already some of your favorites: Best & Worst Sci-Fi titles.