HAPPY 2008!!!!
Thank you to all my friends,
to everyone who has been patient with me this year,
to everyone who reads this...
and most of all, the wonderful boy who married me this year.
I hope everyone has a GREAT 2008!!!
12/31/2007
12/28/2007
Same old song
I’m sure you’ve heard a song called "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat:
It starts in my toes
and I crinkle my nose
whereever it goes
I always know
Well, if you are going to splash into public view with a signature song, would you really want it to be a song whose main melody sounds very similar to a song that was out only six years ago?
I’m talking about “Superman” by Five for Fighting.
I’m only a maaaaan
In a silly red sheet
Digging for Kryptonite
On this one-way street
See if you hear a similarity in the melody:
It starts in my toes/
And I crinkle my nose
I’m only a man/
In a silly red sheet
It’s the same darn thing!
Does this make my a hypocrite? After all, rappers use melodies and samples from other songs all the time, and I don't complain about those. Yes, but they don’t try to hide it. In the album, they credit whoever they sampled from (at least, usually).
Now, it’s possible any two people can have similar ideas quite by accident. Even similar sentences. But melodies are familiar enough, especially to people in the music biz, that sometimes it just seems odd when parts of songs (even small parts) are so close together. Maybe I’m just annoyed because every time I hear
It starts in my toes/
And I crinkle my nose
I then want to hear
“It ain’t eeeasy..to be…meeeee…”
On another matter, VH-1 recently released its list of the top songs of the ‘90s. By “top” they may have meant “most corny,” since Rico Suave is at #100 and “I’m too Sexy” is in there, too.
They did a countdown of all the songs on TV last week, and the Hubby and I watched it.
During the countdown, they mentioned “Jump! Jump!” and implied that no one knows what the two boys from “Kris Kross” are doing today. As if they’d be really hard to find. Their names are both Chris. Their last names are on the internet. They’d be about 27 now. How hard can that be?
Well, that’s enough ranting for today. I hope you all have a lovely new year.
TGIF!!
I’m sure you’ve heard a song called "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat:
It starts in my toes
and I crinkle my nose
whereever it goes
I always know
Well, if you are going to splash into public view with a signature song, would you really want it to be a song whose main melody sounds very similar to a song that was out only six years ago?
I’m talking about “Superman” by Five for Fighting.
I’m only a maaaaan
In a silly red sheet
Digging for Kryptonite
On this one-way street
See if you hear a similarity in the melody:
It starts in my toes/
And I crinkle my nose
I’m only a man/
In a silly red sheet
It’s the same darn thing!
Does this make my a hypocrite? After all, rappers use melodies and samples from other songs all the time, and I don't complain about those. Yes, but they don’t try to hide it. In the album, they credit whoever they sampled from (at least, usually).
Now, it’s possible any two people can have similar ideas quite by accident. Even similar sentences. But melodies are familiar enough, especially to people in the music biz, that sometimes it just seems odd when parts of songs (even small parts) are so close together. Maybe I’m just annoyed because every time I hear
It starts in my toes/
And I crinkle my nose
I then want to hear
“It ain’t eeeasy..to be…meeeee…”
On another matter, VH-1 recently released its list of the top songs of the ‘90s. By “top” they may have meant “most corny,” since Rico Suave is at #100 and “I’m too Sexy” is in there, too.
They did a countdown of all the songs on TV last week, and the Hubby and I watched it.
During the countdown, they mentioned “Jump! Jump!” and implied that no one knows what the two boys from “Kris Kross” are doing today. As if they’d be really hard to find. Their names are both Chris. Their last names are on the internet. They’d be about 27 now. How hard can that be?
Well, that’s enough ranting for today. I hope you all have a lovely new year.
TGIF!!
12/27/2007
F*****
No blogging today so that instead you can read this, and if you haven't grasped the importance, note what's in bold:
Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack at a campaign rally that also killed at least 20 others, aides said.
....The death of the charismatic 54-year-old former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism [some aren't as sure about that latter part now...]
No blogging today so that instead you can read this, and if you haven't grasped the importance, note what's in bold:
Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack at a campaign rally that also killed at least 20 others, aides said.
....The death of the charismatic 54-year-old former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism [some aren't as sure about that latter part now...]
12/26/2007
'Free rice' is real
A few people have e-mailed me a link to a site that donates rice to poor folks, if you answer vocabulary questions. I started to get a little suspicious, but according to Snopes.com, the urban legends page (which you should always check when you get an email about some promotion or other suspicious story), it's REAL.
So go to freerice.com and play!
I think I will finally post about that song I don't like tomorrow, as long as I have time. I know you just can't wait. Can ya?
This just in: The hubby recommends using http://m-w.com/ to look up definitions so you can score better on the site, thus giving more rice to people who need it. Brush up your vocab - some of those words are hard! Good suggestion, buttercup!!
A few people have e-mailed me a link to a site that donates rice to poor folks, if you answer vocabulary questions. I started to get a little suspicious, but according to Snopes.com, the urban legends page (which you should always check when you get an email about some promotion or other suspicious story), it's REAL.
So go to freerice.com and play!
I think I will finally post about that song I don't like tomorrow, as long as I have time. I know you just can't wait. Can ya?
This just in: The hubby recommends using http://m-w.com/ to look up definitions so you can score better on the site, thus giving more rice to people who need it. Brush up your vocab - some of those words are hard! Good suggestion, buttercup!!
12/23/2007
Merry Xmas to all!
I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday.
Yesterday the Hubby and I went into the city to do a little shopping, see some freight train displays, and see the Rockefeller Xmas tree. This year, the tree came from beautiful Connecticut. Many good things have come out of Connecticut. Many good, sweet things.
The best train display was at Citicorp at 53rd and Lexington. There's something wonderful about freight trains. Maybe because even in this modern era of planes and iPods, you can still spot a vintage boxcar tottering along, stamped with some foreign town you haven't been to (Burlington, Santa Fe, etc.) and an old-fashioned pro-business slogan ("Southern Serves the South!") With model trains, you get to see these boxcars rolling through towns decked out to look just as quaint as the trains, with model Esso gas stations, theaters, ice rinks, post offices...it's really quaint. There was a small line to see the Citicorp display, which is inside.
At night, we ate at the renowned Jackson Hole Burgers, which has several locations. I do not recommend getting a veggie burger. I know, I know, "Why in the world would you go to Jackson Hole to eat a veggie burger?" Well, I did it because they're healthy, duh. But their veggie burgers are thin, too soft, and green. There were actual whole peas in them. I like peas, but really....I have had better veggie burgers that were frozen in a box. They were a little more meatlike in consistency. Next time I am there, I'll probably get a turkey burger as an alternative to beef. The Husband seemed to like his burger.
Today was a football day. The Giants are in the playoffs. Do you care? Well, they are. So there.
Have a nice Xmas!
I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday.
Yesterday the Hubby and I went into the city to do a little shopping, see some freight train displays, and see the Rockefeller Xmas tree. This year, the tree came from beautiful Connecticut. Many good things have come out of Connecticut. Many good, sweet things.
The best train display was at Citicorp at 53rd and Lexington. There's something wonderful about freight trains. Maybe because even in this modern era of planes and iPods, you can still spot a vintage boxcar tottering along, stamped with some foreign town you haven't been to (Burlington, Santa Fe, etc.) and an old-fashioned pro-business slogan ("Southern Serves the South!") With model trains, you get to see these boxcars rolling through towns decked out to look just as quaint as the trains, with model Esso gas stations, theaters, ice rinks, post offices...it's really quaint. There was a small line to see the Citicorp display, which is inside.
At night, we ate at the renowned Jackson Hole Burgers, which has several locations. I do not recommend getting a veggie burger. I know, I know, "Why in the world would you go to Jackson Hole to eat a veggie burger?" Well, I did it because they're healthy, duh. But their veggie burgers are thin, too soft, and green. There were actual whole peas in them. I like peas, but really....I have had better veggie burgers that were frozen in a box. They were a little more meatlike in consistency. Next time I am there, I'll probably get a turkey burger as an alternative to beef. The Husband seemed to like his burger.
Today was a football day. The Giants are in the playoffs. Do you care? Well, they are. So there.
Have a nice Xmas!
12/20/2007
Is this any way to treat a baseball?
The Hubby, who is a newshound (ha ha, get it? hound? well, you only will if you follow the link), sent me this delightful news story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3163105
It leaves out an important question: Did the dog get indigestion?
While I'm here, I'll note that soon I will get to two short posts I've been meaning to get to:
1) Explaining why I don't like that "It starts in your nose and goes to your toes" song, and
2) Noting that after I wrote my post about "Lazy Literature" last week, two friends followed up by mentioning in their e-mails to me that they loved "Catcher in the Rye," and one said he couldn't STAND it.
Just goes to show, everyone has a different reaction to a book. (Which is slightly comforting every time one of mine gets rejected!)
The Hubby, who is a newshound (ha ha, get it? hound? well, you only will if you follow the link), sent me this delightful news story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3163105
It leaves out an important question: Did the dog get indigestion?
While I'm here, I'll note that soon I will get to two short posts I've been meaning to get to:
1) Explaining why I don't like that "It starts in your nose and goes to your toes" song, and
2) Noting that after I wrote my post about "Lazy Literature" last week, two friends followed up by mentioning in their e-mails to me that they loved "Catcher in the Rye," and one said he couldn't STAND it.
Just goes to show, everyone has a different reaction to a book. (Which is slightly comforting every time one of mine gets rejected!)
12/18/2007
What? Ever?
For some reason, in the past few weeks, I've sent e-mails to people and AOL added question marks after every sentence. I don't know why.
But if you get an e-mail from me that has a lot of question-marks in inappropriate places, or seems to be asking a lot of questions that wouldn't ordinarly be questions...like? this?....then it's not me. I apologize.
A few weeks ago, an intern asked if the story she submitted to me was good, and I wrote back saying it was, and AOL added question marks to all my sentences. She wrote back and said, "Are you sure it was OK? I get nervous when I see that many questions."
Anyway...I apologize in advance and I don't know why? it? happened?
For some reason, in the past few weeks, I've sent e-mails to people and AOL added question marks after every sentence. I don't know why.
But if you get an e-mail from me that has a lot of question-marks in inappropriate places, or seems to be asking a lot of questions that wouldn't ordinarly be questions...like? this?....then it's not me. I apologize.
A few weeks ago, an intern asked if the story she submitted to me was good, and I wrote back saying it was, and AOL added question marks to all my sentences. She wrote back and said, "Are you sure it was OK? I get nervous when I see that many questions."
Anyway...I apologize in advance and I don't know why? it? happened?
12/14/2007
T.G.I.F.
I got a press release today that noted, "the longest night of the year falls at around 1 AM on Saturday, December 22." Well, a night can't fall at a particular hour, but it's still interesting: Shortest day of the year means longest night.
On another note, I need to write a post soon about why that song "It starts in your nose and goes to your toes" really annoys me and seems to rip off another song from a few years ago. But not today. I know you just can't wait.
Have a good weekend, all!
I got a press release today that noted, "the longest night of the year falls at around 1 AM on Saturday, December 22." Well, a night can't fall at a particular hour, but it's still interesting: Shortest day of the year means longest night.
On another note, I need to write a post soon about why that song "It starts in your nose and goes to your toes" really annoys me and seems to rip off another song from a few years ago. But not today. I know you just can't wait.
Have a good weekend, all!
12/13/2007
12/12/2007
Storm
Weather forecasters are predicting storms for the next few days, especially here on the East Coast for Saturday night into Sunday. This could all turn to nothing, but one Accuweather blogger seems into it:
Dr. Joe Sobel wrote yesterday: "....But all of this is just the preliminaries setting us up for the main event this weekend. Finally, it looks like a strong jet stream disturbance from the southwest will run eastward and interact with our stalled frontal system in the middle of the country. As a result we will finally see an intensifying storm come out of the southern Plains, toward the central Appalachians, up the East Coast and finally off the New England coast later Sunday. Such a storm should bring some helpful rains to the drought areas in the Southeast, and potentially a blizzard to parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England. The devil of course is in the details, and since the details aren't yet clear on flat wave number two, they certainly aren't clear on the big weekend storm."
Potentially a blizzard?? Is that a bit exaggerated? Well, you never know, I guess. I haven't seen a blizzard in December since...I don't know, definitely not in the last 20 years.
Weather forecasters are predicting storms for the next few days, especially here on the East Coast for Saturday night into Sunday. This could all turn to nothing, but one Accuweather blogger seems into it:
Dr. Joe Sobel wrote yesterday: "....But all of this is just the preliminaries setting us up for the main event this weekend. Finally, it looks like a strong jet stream disturbance from the southwest will run eastward and interact with our stalled frontal system in the middle of the country. As a result we will finally see an intensifying storm come out of the southern Plains, toward the central Appalachians, up the East Coast and finally off the New England coast later Sunday. Such a storm should bring some helpful rains to the drought areas in the Southeast, and potentially a blizzard to parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England. The devil of course is in the details, and since the details aren't yet clear on flat wave number two, they certainly aren't clear on the big weekend storm."
Potentially a blizzard?? Is that a bit exaggerated? Well, you never know, I guess. I haven't seen a blizzard in December since...I don't know, definitely not in the last 20 years.
12/11/2007
Offers I can refuse
Two fabulous offers in my mailbox on the same day!
#1
I am miss Vannessa M---, by name and i am 30 years of age from South Africa. I am lady with a pure heart and i am also born again christian. I want you to send an email to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom i am, then i hope you will like what you see and write me to my e.mail ?
My aim here is to meet a man that will love me and be my husband then i will do the same thing to him and i will love him with all my heart . I am not here for any game and i am not looking for a player either so please if you are player dont bother to write me back but if you are seriously looking for a serious relationship like i do then lets make it happen.
Write me to my email and i will write you back with my beautiful picture attach to it. Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life. Waiting for your email.
Yours Love Vannessa M---.
#2
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Two fabulous offers in my mailbox on the same day!
#1
I am miss Vannessa M---, by name and i am 30 years of age from South Africa. I am lady with a pure heart and i am also born again christian. I want you to send an email to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom i am, then i hope you will like what you see and write me to my e.mail ?
My aim here is to meet a man that will love me and be my husband then i will do the same thing to him and i will love him with all my heart . I am not here for any game and i am not looking for a player either so please if you are player dont bother to write me back but if you are seriously looking for a serious relationship like i do then lets make it happen.
Write me to my email and i will write you back with my beautiful picture attach to it. Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life. Waiting for your email.
Yours Love Vannessa M---.
#2
Your org*sms could be stronger and longer withWonderC*m.
WonderC*m is the leading semen enhancement product on the market. Thisfantastic product helps to increase your power, potency and volume ofejaculate, and thereby intensity of climax.
WonderC*m can be shipped to any country. We have friendly and politecustomer service. Just fill the form privately and securely, and you willreceive your shipment fast in discreet package.
12/06/2007
Lazy readers' book club
A friend of mine posted an entry the other day about how she tries to read almost every book to the end before she can fully judge it. While I admire that, I'd think a few chapters would be sufficient. After that, you might be torturing yourself. There are a lot of books out there; why push yourself through 300 pages of a book whose author has not done a passable job of making it swift and interesting and well-written enough? Are there so few good books out there these days?
Actually, it's possible. It's certainly true of movies! The husband and I have had trouble finding decent flicks to rent.
I admit that I'm a lazy reader. I pushed myself through so many books as an English major in college, both books I loved and books I hated, that I don't do it so much anymore. Some books are hard to read but still worth it, of course, for what they teach you. And sometimes they're only hard to read because they're written in Olde English.
But if a book is modern, its author should try not to pile on excess verbiage just to make himself look clever. It's his job not to overwrite.
A great nonfiction book came out a few years ago called A Readers' Manifesto, tearing apart pompous passages in modern award-winning fiction. While I didn't agree with all of his criticism (some of it nitpicked), it was certainly fun and refreshing to read.
I have taken books out of the library recently that I put down after one chapter, because they just were trite, boring, or some other nonsense - and they were bestsellers that won awards. Then again, I'm a jealous writer, so I get picky and impatient.
Of course, no two people will agree on what is and isn't fun to read. Maybe everyone reads and approaches books differently. I got a memoir called Goat a few months ago, a young guy's memoir of brutality and fraternity hazing, and I absolutely loved the taut but evocative writing style. I thought everyone would agree, but I read several reviews on Amazon from people who didn't like the style or called it a "faux hipster" style, which I disagree with. Still, I think it's a breezily-written book and have mentioned it to The Hubby a few times as something he might enjoy.
I have thought that someone should write a book called "Lazy Literature" (if you use that title, pay me) that details good books that are still a pleasure to read. It doesn't have to be difficult or obscure to be classic, does it?
Some classics I absolutely loved in high school and college that were easy to read:
Catcher in the Rye
Lord of the Flies
Of Mice and Men
Goodbye, Columbus
Most of you probably read those in school already, but if you missed 'em, go for it. I would recommend any of those to fellow lovers of lazy literature. But as I said, one person's lazy is another person's tough.
Finally, friends, here are some modern classics:
Drown by Junot Diaz (okay, it's short stories, how lazy am I?)
Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler (yes, also short stories, but read it - he's an amazing writer)
If you are interested in any of these titles, just click on www.amazon.com or www.bn.com, and type them in. Let me know what you think!
A friend of mine posted an entry the other day about how she tries to read almost every book to the end before she can fully judge it. While I admire that, I'd think a few chapters would be sufficient. After that, you might be torturing yourself. There are a lot of books out there; why push yourself through 300 pages of a book whose author has not done a passable job of making it swift and interesting and well-written enough? Are there so few good books out there these days?
Actually, it's possible. It's certainly true of movies! The husband and I have had trouble finding decent flicks to rent.
I admit that I'm a lazy reader. I pushed myself through so many books as an English major in college, both books I loved and books I hated, that I don't do it so much anymore. Some books are hard to read but still worth it, of course, for what they teach you. And sometimes they're only hard to read because they're written in Olde English.
But if a book is modern, its author should try not to pile on excess verbiage just to make himself look clever. It's his job not to overwrite.
A great nonfiction book came out a few years ago called A Readers' Manifesto, tearing apart pompous passages in modern award-winning fiction. While I didn't agree with all of his criticism (some of it nitpicked), it was certainly fun and refreshing to read.
I have taken books out of the library recently that I put down after one chapter, because they just were trite, boring, or some other nonsense - and they were bestsellers that won awards. Then again, I'm a jealous writer, so I get picky and impatient.
Of course, no two people will agree on what is and isn't fun to read. Maybe everyone reads and approaches books differently. I got a memoir called Goat a few months ago, a young guy's memoir of brutality and fraternity hazing, and I absolutely loved the taut but evocative writing style. I thought everyone would agree, but I read several reviews on Amazon from people who didn't like the style or called it a "faux hipster" style, which I disagree with. Still, I think it's a breezily-written book and have mentioned it to The Hubby a few times as something he might enjoy.
I have thought that someone should write a book called "Lazy Literature" (if you use that title, pay me) that details good books that are still a pleasure to read. It doesn't have to be difficult or obscure to be classic, does it?
Some classics I absolutely loved in high school and college that were easy to read:
Catcher in the Rye
Lord of the Flies
Of Mice and Men
Goodbye, Columbus
Most of you probably read those in school already, but if you missed 'em, go for it. I would recommend any of those to fellow lovers of lazy literature. But as I said, one person's lazy is another person's tough.
Finally, friends, here are some modern classics:
Drown by Junot Diaz (okay, it's short stories, how lazy am I?)
Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler (yes, also short stories, but read it - he's an amazing writer)
If you are interested in any of these titles, just click on www.amazon.com or www.bn.com, and type them in. Let me know what you think!
