$500 Facebook Gift

Just wondering if anyone else happened to espy the gifts facebook has decided to offer as of recent. Here is a screenshot of the elusive "Rare Rose" gift, available in a "limited" quantity (15,000) until Friday, and an explanation of the gift system by Facebook. I also highlighted the gift before it, a $50 "Gold Rose" gift.



For $500, or even $50, I'd better have some tangible gift or else something I will be able to appreciate. $500 would buy a nice necklace, a ton of chocolates. Nobody wants a crumby facebook gift that might even go unnoticed (recently I turned off my email notification for gifts).

R.I.P. Fish

My fish died yesterday. I'm not really upset at all. I mean, the fish were from Wal-Mart. However, Cait's fish died today. I feel worse for her fish dying because I think she loved hers more. So it goes.

I went to the Shell bright and early at 7 am and was turned away because I forgot my student ID. I was frustrated, so I went back home, grabbed my helmet and rode my bike to the Arboretum. I was gone for nearly 45 minutes and managed to see two deer! It began to rain, however, so I biked back as fast as I could.

I updated the Classics Society's blog. I need to give it a new logo (perhaps one without an empty banner? lol) and an exciting new name. Any ideas?

I miss Liz already! I already plugged her blog, but you can visit it using the blog links at the right. Apparently her flight was delayed for four hours yesterday so she was stranded in Dallas. Poor girl!

P.S. I am making the best Valentine's Day gift ever. Ever!

Change in punctuation marks new era in Britain

This article is ridiculous. My favorite quote:

"Apostrophes denote possessions that are no longer accurate, and are not needed," he said. "More importantly, they confuse people. If I want to go to a restaurant, I don't want to have an A-level (high school diploma) in English to find it."

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky...

I don't often admit it, but I'm not "color-blind." I'm not trying to say that I'm racist because I'm not at all. But I do see everything and everyone's name as a particular color. Here are some examples, and the alphabet in its "true" colors:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

"I" and "O" are clear, not white, and often influenced by the colors of the letters directly proceeding and following them. "Z" is black, and thus probably won't show up on the black background. The "rules" which govern how a particular letter and word will look have only recently come to light for me. I love to read and it is through reading and spelling out nearly every word I see and hear on a daily basis that I have begun to understand why some words might look the way the do. Some words completely defy what I would expect them to look like. Certain words lack color completely, and I'm not sure why. Extremely long words have no color. Some letters are "stronger" than others and play a large part in determining what colors the other letters appear to have. Because reading is seeing familiar words, those words often appear as one color rather than individual letters. Numbers also have colors too (but not all numbers):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (10 is a dark gray because 1 seems to be black when next to 0, which in this case is white. In all other cases, ex: 12, 13, and 14. the reason why numbers are the colors they are seems to make little sense)

Below are some examples of words and the overall color they create. I've tried to make the individual colors above as accurate as possible (according to what I see) but regardless, they are subject to change when placed next to each other by lightening or darkening the letters near them. The first letter often defines what the overall color of the word will be. Some of the examples below will highlight this.

BETH (dark blue)

CAITLYN (yellow and pink)

LIZ (the "Z" is black) (purple)

RONNIE (purple)

ELIZABETH (playful green)

ALEX (medium red)

PUPPY (pink)

ICE (tealish blue)

CAMEL (yellow-orange)

COASTIE (light yellow)

MOM (soft yellow)

DAD (whatever color this is)

JUPITER (periwinkle)

NEPTUNE (greenish-blue)


Sorry if this makes me look crazy :P

A bittersweet cacophony

I have to vent. There are some songs on the radio that are just awful. I drive around the city for work and have a hard time not just giving up and switching to my Meteora CD. I really can't stand some of them, and here in Madison we have only a small variety of radio stations to choose from. In fact, to put it in perspective, here is a link just to prove how pitiful the stations offered here are. All I want is something comparable to FM 102.1 (which we have in Oak Creek). Yet there's nothing here that even comes close (don't let the website linked above fool you - the "alternative" stations are a mix of classic rock and metal and perhaps even classic metal).

Anyway, here are some songs that should be permanently removed from the radio, and why:

1. Single Ladies - Beyonce. Just a really annoying song that I've never enjoyed. If I were a boy (get it? lol) I would definitely not put a ring on it, nor would I allow a song this annoying to make it onto a CD.
   
2. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz. Overplayed - remember "Hey There Delilah?" yeah...exactly.
   
3. Just Dance - Lady GaGa. Kind of a trashy song. I've also never like this one.
4. If I were a Boy - Beyonce. Really? I can hardly imagine Sasha Fierce as a boy, and this song just seems fake and emotionless. Not to mention it's simply boring.
5. Womanizer - Britney Spears. I have to admit that this song used to be catchy, but then I realized how often she said "womanizer" and got tired of it. Quickly.
6. Gives You Hell - The All -American Rejects. I've been an AAR fan since before high school, but the poor grammar in this song and the fact that it's played ad nauseum puts this song on the list.

I don't mean to be picky, but I don't like country or gangsta rap and prefer alternative, pop, and embarrasingly, motown and disco. I really want to host a disco party. Or a Michael Jackson party. I wonder if anyone would come?

On another note: Jessica Simpson is not fat!

For fun, I signed up for a triathlon today! It's at UW-Whitewater, so if you go there let me know and I'll visit you! I'm going out there on Saturday, April 26th so that I don't have to drive out the morning of the event. So far it's April and Ben (perhaps a couple? who knows?), Kara, and probably Cait, Beth and Elyse Wojo. Here's the link: http://www.j-hawks.org/Tri/Tri.aspx. Let me know if you want to do it too!

If you don't have it, you're on the other side

Not ready for the "Digital Transition" from analog tv to digital? Neither am I. Or, I should say that Madison stations must not be. We, not having cable, went ahead and used our coupons to purchase our converter boxes and I went out and bought a digital/analog antenna so that our tv can better receive the digital signal. Several stations have decided that despite the June 12th movement of the required date to switch to digital, they will still be converting on February 17th. Honestly, the signal is so bad here, at night I hardly get any channels at all. This morning only three channels came in. I'm really hoping that when it comes time to switch, that we will eventually get all of the regular channels that we used to get (before we got converter boxes, et al).

Today after Ronnie left I decided that I would make the most out of this quiet afternoon alone. Cait is at Point, Beth work, and Liz home. I can hear that the guys upstairs are playing Halo again. I put "50 First Dates" in the PS2 and unfortunately, the movie froze halfway through. I tried to clean it off and replay it, but it looks like it's irreparable. So that means that sometime this week I need to go back to the $5.99 DVD store and return this movie. I hope that they have another copy, but who knows? Since I wanted to watch something light-hearted, I'm now enjoying Brother Bear.

I'm really happy for Liz that she's going to Costa Rica and is going to have a ton of fun! She left the apartment today for the last time before she leaves, and I completely forgot that we were going to go to Wendy's to celebrate a premature Valentine's Day. I hope that we do get to see each other when she gets back since I'll be leaving right around the same time she returns! Here's a link to her Costa Rica blog: http://costaricaliz.blogspot.com/

Well, I've spent enough time trying to get songs added to itunes and writing - time for homework!

You didn't want anyone to know? Really?

I came across this article and thought it seemed odd that the woman in it was trying to keep their names private, despite having CNN publish a story about her situation. It seems reminiscent of the woman who recently had octuplets and didn't want her name released. Kind of impossible if you have 14 kids from two pregnancies....

Things I Like

This is a brief list of things I like in no particular order, because I am unwilling to post a note about 25 things about myself on facebook. Also, I am procrastinating and waiting for Ronnie to call.

• Blueberries
• Playing video games
• Eating popcorn at the Rathskellar after APO with friends
• Lists
• Knowing that no matter where my life takes me, I will be able to find happiness; I am optimist.
• Writing, keeping a blog
• Asti
• Riding my bike - but not biking, because that implies vigorous exercise and sometimes I enjoy a leisurely ride.
• Snuggling, and being close to Ronnie
• Doing nerdy things
• Wearing high heels and looking sexy
• Yoga, as of recent
• Chicken nuggets, though I am trying to not eat so many at once :/
• Going to the Shell in the morning. It is a challenge going so often. I really hope that I can lose some of the weight I've put on since college since I don't feel like myself with this extra "love."
  
• Reading just about anything - magazines (so long as they are not about celebrities), newspapers, online news, readings for class, and of course fiction. I have read non-fiction and enjoyed it, though my preference is historical fiction.
• Laying outside in the sun
• Working at JSM. The people there are amazing and I love what I do!
• Swimming. Recreationally only, though.
• Shopping for gifts for other people
• Making things - I love building things, creating things, and designing things. I think that had a been better at calculus, engineering may have been the way to go.
  
• Learning about anything and everything
• Good surprises
• Getting texts and being surprised by Ronnie - I love when he does unexpected things for me, and when he's spontaneous
• Grammar, and those who can understand its quirks.
  

I can haz woot?

Liz has gotten me addicted to Woot! It's amazing. I am compulsively checking every day to see what their new product is. I even entered a woot contest to win $100/$50/$20. All you have to do to enter one of their contests is photoshop pictures according to their guidelines. The one I entered involved photoshopping a past or the current U.S. President with a product he would enjoy that was offered on Woot. Below is my entry, though the hand on the steering wheel is somewhat messed up. I chose Eisenhower since almost all of the other posts featured Barack, Bush, or Clinton.


Eisenhower questioned continuing to create the interstate system when his wife volunteered to be the voice of the Garmin StreetPilot c510.


Here are the source images: Eisenhower, car, gps

I'm a creep

Today, rather than beginning my reading for cultural anthro (Anthro 300) I ended up spending about an hour creeping on facebook. Why? I'm really not sure. All I know is that the semester is just beginning and I already feel busy. Last week I worked 26 hours. I also worked out for at least 7 hours last week. I've been really good about going to the shell every morning, except for one time last week. But, to make up for it, I ended up going to the SERF later and working out an hour before I went to Late Night Yoga with Cait. It's also nice knowing that I've inspired Cait and Beth to come work out! I even bought cute stretchy pants at Old Navy.

Because I like lists, and I just bought four new movies, here is a list of all the movies I own, color-coded by how I acquired each:

Amazon.com Gift 5.99 DVD Store on State
Target Blockbuster Wal-mart

• 1408
• 50 First Dates
• Alexander
• Along Came Polly
• Amityville Horror
• Anchorman
• Big Daddy
• Brother Bear
• Count of Monte Cristo
• The Day After Tomorrow
• Dirty Dancing Havana Nights
  
• Finding Nemo
• The Green Mile
• Gladiator
• Kingdom of Heaven
• Knocked Up
• Lord of the Rings (1-3)
  
• Mamma Mia!
• Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl
• Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest
• Planet of the Apes
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• There's Something About Mary
• Troy

That was exciting. Anyway, for anyone who caught my name on the news or through online articles, yes, I was at the Monster Truck show here in Madison and yes, I did see that man get run over. It was awful to see and I'm going to leave it at that. I don't think I'll ever forget what I saw, or the reaction of the crowd and driver.

On a happier note, I've now visited Sonic three times successfully. I say successfully because of almost all of the times I've attempted to go there, there has been such a long line that it's almost not even worth it. Yeah, I said it. Though delicious, it is not worth it to be in line for more than 20 minutes for Sonic.

We hosted a fondue party last night for Liz's going away to Costa Rica complete with a homemade fondue recipe invented by Liz! She made a chocolaty peanut butter fondue in which we dipped angel food cake, pretzels, strawberries, oranges, apples, and marshmallows. Yummy! It was the four of us roommates plus Katie, Amy, April, Steph, Mitchy, Josh, Alex, Trent, Ashley, Dani, and Bri. I'm really going to miss her - she is amazing. Who else is going to enjoy FailBlog with me? Honestly though, we've gotten a lot closer this year and it's too bad that we might not see each other until August. Why August? I finally got my acceptance letter to Greece! That means I'll be in Athens, and possibly at a field school afterward, from late May until July or August. We'd end up missing each other by only a day or two.

My room is an absolute mess. If I had to pick an adjective to describe it, I would say that it's awful. The excuse I make is that the time I spend cleaning my room could be better spent working out. Though often I find that I work out best in the morning and end up not cleaning my room anyway.

I think that's it for now. I really should get around to studying since I have an Italian exam this week (thank goodness I'm taking it pass/fail) and I have a bunch of anthro reading to catch up on.

Back from break!

Well, it looks like it's been a month since my last post. That means that this post should be incredibly long, but I'm going to skip a lot of things.

I finally hooked up my antenna and digital converter box. Thus, I am ready for the DTV Transition on Feb. 17th. Exciting. It's only taken me an entire semester.

I went to a Group X class yesterday: Power Flow. It was a combination of Yoga and Pilates, but it was just okay. I really love Core Crunch but I can't go to it because of my schedule. So I decided that I will probably go to the classes I can fit into my schedule on the weekends and at night, but I will spend my mornings at the Shell. They have open ice skating on Mondays and Wednesday nights, but with APO I'll probably make it a once a week thing on Wednesdays.

Wyatt asked an interesting question the other day. He picked up a ridgy yellow gourd and wanted to know if it is still alive. It wasn't moldy, but I didn't know what to say so I looked to Liz and Beth to help me out. We got into technicalities and even Cait offered up an opinion. I guess the big question is at what point is something considered dead? Just something to think about, since it can have implications for people who are in the hospital and can't take care of themselves and are completely on life support. When those people are unhooked from the machines which keep them alive, when are their lives officially over, assuming they can't breathe on their own? Interesting.

I have to go to class! (Click below for my fantastic school schedule)

My life as a 21 year old (thus far)

Well, not much has actually changed, so I apologize for giving this post a title that is misleading. I've managed to go to only a handful of the bars in Madison thus far, though when I went out it was with great people who I haven't seen in a good while.

For my birthday about nine of us met at Porta Bella for dinner. I felt awful that Liz couldn't come because she had an exam (not even a final, a third exam). Either way, it ended up being Beth, Cait, Ace, Paul, Blaise, Ashley, Eric, and Drew and we enjoyed a fun, if not slightly awkward, meal together in celebration of my birth. When it came time to go out, everyone was either underage or unable to go out, so Beth came out with me, despite having come out that morning to celebrate my 21st at Lucky's. I don't know if she actually wanted to come out since she had so much to do, but it was extremely nice and she even bought me a drink! What a lady. We hit up Wando's and got free shots, the Nitty and got free beer, and then Brats where I kissed the nasty bull and got a free shot. Yay for free.

I forgot to mention that Beth and Mark, as well as (as best I can remember) Sam, Katie, some guy named Eric who is also from Franklin, perhaps Ryan, and probably a bunch of other people who I am forgetting, went out to Lucky's the morning of my birthday. The bartender was awful but I had a lot of fun. Beth and I even played shuffledboard! It was definitely a fun night despite being a Monday night/Tuesday morning.

Finally, I went out with Kimi last Friday. We have been talking about going out with Kel since the beginning of the semester when I was still underage, and we finally did it, except that Kelly couldn't come. So it goes. We had "pre-drink" at Kimi's which included watching the Bourne Ultimatum and drinking Bailey's. We then took the 82 to State from Kimi's (we only had to walk one house down to catch it and it dropped us off at the bar) to Brats where we met up with Kevin, Mark, Ryan, Katie, and um...other KHK people? It ended up being a New Year's Eve celebration so we got free champagne at midnight, 12:45 am, and around 1:15 am. It was my lucky day since I love champagne and free things. Delicious. We got wristbands for a free limo ride home but ultimately Bethy picked us up from Wando's (I was only there a few minutes since I got stuck back at Brats with Kevin saying goodbye to his fans). While we were at Brats Kimi and I left so she could show me the "naked lady game" at City Bar. I have to admit that it was quite fun and I would like to play it again, though she is leaving for Florida soon and it won't be the same without her! Anyway, Beth picked us up and took us through the drive-thru at McDonalds which was nice of her. And that was that. I went home and went to sleep.

I think that my alcholic beverage of choice is Bailey's. It is actually yummy and I actually desire to drink it sometimes. Crazy.

Things I've Neglected to Add

I went to Five Guys for lunch and I saw that all of the good seats near the window were taken. Who took them? Firefighters. No big deal, right? Wrong - look what they drove to get there. Ridic!




I took a picture of the gas station sign because I was so happy about the gas prices, but now I am sad because they are much lower ($1.69 today). womp womp.




This is why pedestrians in Madison have a bad reputation....you should have seen the two people who climbed under this train before I got my camera out.

I am on a Mac....right now :(

Random tidbits

Today I enjoyed a delicious lunch at Five Guys which featured potatoes from Sugar City, Idaho. These potatoes yielded perhaps the most delicious batch of fries yet. Anyway, I noticed that all of the "window seats" were taken by firefighters. Guess what they drove to get to lunch? The fire truck! It was parked outside as these men consumed oversized portions of heaven proceeded by gulps of delicious Pepsi, or "nectar," as my dad calls it. I'll add the picture I took later this week. Yeah, I know, I'm a creeper.

Whilst at Memorial Library I decided to rent a laptop so that I could go up to my tower and work without the sound of keys clicking around me and phones vibrating against the desks. They only had one available, a *gasp* Mac. I'll give it a try. I'm still using a desktop since the laptop was just returned. But in 11 minutes, it will be mine. All mine...for three days.

I ran across an update to Professor Hawk's blog that I like. Classicists will enjoy this more than everyone else, but have at it: Cicero.

The Wii interface reminds me of Macs. I do so enjoy the Wii, however, I don't think I'm ready to switch from a PC to a Mac, and I don't think I want to. I want to be able to play Age of Empires and Age of Mythology and avoid Safari. I am not a Mac person, which is why renting this laptop will be somewhat of an experiment. I'll let you know how it goes.