uniqueness?

Has anyone ever come across someone who was trying so hard to be "unique" that the person came across as lame? Thereby, negating their uniqueness because lameness is so common? Heh.

To me, uniqueness is just being who you are. The most unique people I know don't try, they just are.

So, I'm watching What Not To Wear, cause, well, I'm sick and can only handle fluff when I'm sick.

Anyway, for those not familiar with this show, the two hosts help the person shop for clothes that are better suited for them (fit, style, etc.) than their old wardrobe. Teach them what looks good, what doesn't, and then give them a $5,000 credit card so they can go and shop after they've "taken lessons". The hosts leave them alone and watch via remote camera to see how the person fares shopping on their own.

So, the victim amused me. He would shop, once a year, at a thrift store and spend $40 on clothing. He really thought he had a unique look because he did that. And, well, I guess he did. He kept repeating to the hosts, "I want to look unique. I want to look unique. Don't make me dress like the rest of the herd of sheep out there. I want to look unique." Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Just be who you are. So what if your neighbor has the same jacket as you? Gimme a break.

Posted by jennj at 09:26 AM | Comments (5)

banned for life

I've been sick for the past two days, but have managed to drag my sorry ass off to work anyway. Each morning, having that internal dialogue about whether I should go in or not. So this morning the argument was should I go get my nails done and do the lunch/imax film thing with friends who are in town. You have to understand. I don't really think I have a full-blown cold. But it's not gone either. It's like, would the cold just become what it's meant to be, please? Or go away. It's frustrating with a sorta (ha ha i originally typed snorta) nasal drip, sorta sore throat, sorta aches. Well, you get the picture.

Yeah, I got out of bed. Went to the nail salon. And that's probably when I realized that I should have stayed in bed. But I'm committed now.

I'm sitting there on the lovely couch, waiting for my nails to dry while sipping some tea. Ahhh.

Overheard: "So, he (her husband) keeps talking about how he wants to do a vacation to China. One of those river trips. Well. All I can think of when I think of China is dyptheria. No, wait, dysentary. I just think of diaarhea. And then, my car, he won't put in one of those remote starters. He wants the dealer to do it. That's $500! Forget it! He's just so selfish. Only thinking of himself. Which is why I'm worried about the vacation that he's planning. I just know he's not going to keep me in mind. I know him too well. I can read him like a book."

*pause*

"Sounds like that's a book that needs to be banned."

*blink*

I'm thinking to myself, did I just say that out loud?

Shit.

Posted by jennj at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

this is cool

A flash-based plane-arium (via south park pronunciation). Fun.

Posted by jennj at 06:51 PM | Comments (3)

hello kitty mp3 player

At this point, is there anything that hasn't been Hello Kitty configured?

I bring you the hello kitty mp3 player. It's very cute.

Posted by jennj at 10:14 AM | Comments (9)

yayayayayayayayayay

Our friend Mark is coming to town next week! Yay! Downside: he'll be in Leominster. Yay!

Posted by jennj at 08:48 PM | Comments (3)

i got an i-pot

I forgot that there is a tea shop in downtown Natick. I got off the train tonight and started to walk past it and saw all the lovely teapots...*ding*

I walked in and found one that I liked. See "C" at the top of this page. Except in pink, not cotton candy. I couldn't find the exact one in my color on their website, oh well.
(Thanks, Terry, for the kind offer....)

I also picked up some loose leaf tea. decaf green tea, and a decaf african tea that I can't read the name of on the label....

This is a nice way to wind down the day, because by 7:15a.m. the following things had happened to me:
* Train was running late (waited for it since it was only 20 degrees, not -1)
* While waiting for train, another train came whipping through the station and managed to spray snow sludge on me (at least I saw it coming and turned my back to it, and I have a long coat and I wore jeans..)
* Tripped down four stairs trying to get to the bottom portion of the double-decker car and landed on my ass (I'm fine)

And classes started today. Yippee.

Posted by jennj at 07:25 PM | Comments (2)

yikes

I forgot to share with you all. During a meeting last week, I looked up and saw someone adding Equal(tm) to their Yoplait yogurt. Good god.

How'd they know?

Posted by jennj at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)

have to get the money somewhere, eh, bush?

Looks like they're cutting off funding for servicing the Hubble telescope. They are arguing it's not worth spending the money on something that is only supposed to be around for another year. Never mind that we can probably get more time out of it with regular service.

Posted by jennj at 12:31 PM | Comments (8)

surf city, usa

Whilst watching the falcons/eagles game on HDTV and contemplating if I should work from home tomorrow, I was searching on the web (love that wireless) for a one/two cup teapot I could use at work. I like the idea of a nice little pot of tea keeping warm on my desk, at the ready, to refill my mug.

Anyway, I found this website of eccentric teapots. I'm most especially amused by the Marmite teapot. It would go well with the Marmite cookbook. Oh hey, and check this out, an ilovemarmite website (of course). Good heavens, make sure you look at the marmite "outfit". So, folks, marmite. Love it or hate it?

Posted by jennj at 04:47 PM | Comments (2)

a chupacabra? but there isn't a goat to feed on for miles!

From LOTR to....chupacabra: dark seas, oh how the mighty have fallen. I think I'm gonna TiVo this bad boy. Oh god, you can win a free copy of an autographed script. bwahahahahaha.

Posted by jennj at 11:04 AM | Comments (2)

it keeps snowing...and snowing...

Thought you'd like to see what our snow depth has been so far. Here's non-blogging husband who measured the snow depth with a hoe.

More pictures can be found here.

I love being snowed in. I made homemade mac and cheese last night and we have leftovers for today. We got some netflix to watch. It's quiet out. Now, off to drink my tea and chill.

Posted by jennj at 08:24 AM | Comments (12)

last, last, last, last, last minute planning

So, at 4:40p.m. yesterday, as I left my workplace and drove to the airport to pick up Bridget, my bud April calls and asks if I want to go attend “Women in the Roaring Twenties: an evening of song, poems and stories”….at 8p.m.

Sure, why not?

Now, I’m saying yes to this without knowing when Bridget’s plane arrives. I only had a vague idea of when. I didn’t have her paperwork with me and didn’t get a chance to call her before she left Philly to find out. I didn’t have the flight number, which was the only way I could check for any sort of arrival times on the web (stupid US Airways). None of the timetables that are published worked either (none of the arrival times made sense). Fuck it. I was *guessing* at the time of her arrival when I left work.

Call non-blogging husband to see if he wants to go over to Kevin and April’s for dinner and hang out with Kev (and the kids) while we go out. He’s deep in code, doesn’t want to stop, so no. Then I remember, he’s at home and could look at the flight arrival time for Bridget. 4:50.

4:50, folks. I’m good.

As I pull into the US Airways terminal, Bridget is calling my cell phone and I see she’s stepped outside the terminal building and is waiting. I pull up. “How long have you been waiting outside?” “I just stepped outside.” “Brilliant.”

I’m good. Yet again.

We swing around and April calls and invites Bridget (she passes) and says she’s called Donna and Bob and they’re coming over and Donna will then join us for the show. I call nbh knowing this will close the deal. It does. I’m supposed to pick up Chinese food on the way over for all of us to eat.

I arrive with said food at just the right time of everyone’s arrival. I’m good. Again.

During the course of dinner, we were discussing an extra that appears on the ROTK extended version. It’s a pretty neat (even to me, who isn’t a horse person) little film about the horses in the movie. Anyway, Donna mentions that she was surprised that they used so many stallions for the movie as they’re notoriously pigheaded when it comes to training. Some of us (okay, most of us) look at her and go, “Why?” I mean, really, what do we know? She’s the horse lady.

Apparently, it’s really not fun having a bunch of stallions hanging around a bunch of mares, cause when the mares go into heat, the stallions want to a) well, you know what and b) want to harm/hurt/make go away the other stallions.

At that point, Kevin turns towards nbh and starts fake punching his arm.

Without missing a beat, nbh says:

“Dude. I’m a gelding.”

Oh man. Too funny. (Yeah, folks, think about why nbh would say that...starts with a v...)

The event was really good. Nothing like I expected. I had to admit, a part of me was like, oh god, is it going to be an overbearing feminist kind of thing? It so wasn’t. I think the guys would have liked it too, actually. We learned some history. We heard some good music and poems. It was neat.

After we got back to the house, we all ended up talking until really, really late and nbh and I crashed at kev and april’s. Thus, that is why I was shopping at Whole Paycheck,er,Foods with the mob of panicked shoppers at 11a.m. today (well, I had my nail appointment first…). We’re supposed to get 20-30 inches of snow in the next 24 or so hours.

Posted by jennj at 04:17 PM | Comments (6)

fucked up humor

Found on doctorgrosz.

Warning: If you can't handle some fucked-up humor, do not click on this link.

"VW ad". More news about it. Yes, I laughed. Jeebus help me, I laughed. Will you be able to admit you did?

Posted by jennj at 09:25 PM | Comments (8)

follow up from last night

Michele, chrism, nbh and I went to dinner with our friend Patrick last night, who is in town on biz.

Anyway, I mentioned to them a calvin and hobbes cartoon "updated" for today's ritalin-addled kids. Thought I'd just share it with all of you.

And then, via betnoir and akirlu, turns out "Women barred from Harvard presidency by "genetic predisposition," study finds". *snort* In case you don't know why this satire is posted, read the news.

Posted by jennj at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)

i'm feeling like an asshole

So, without thinking, I did a reply all last night in response to an e-mail to me about a pretty charged subject for me.

I'm trying spread some wisdom: reply all isn't always the best thing to do. Especially when most of the people on the list are people you don't know.

And of course, I want to send a reply all apology, but at this point, I've already done the damage. Remember that whole try to have a positive interaction with everyone thing I try to do? I soooo blew it last night.

Posted by jennj at 03:42 PM | Comments (2)

scarred for life?

Have you heard of the show Super Nanny? I hadn't until last night when I tuned in while flipping channels cause I couldn't get to sleep. My god, the three girls in the partial episode I watched were...horrific. It appeared at the end, tho, that the nanny did help reign in the girls and create a more loving, healthy and happier environment. I can't help but think this is a good thing.

Will it encourage more parents to either a) try to get the show to come to their house or b) make it easier for parents to just seek outside help? Will it help parents watching it get a clue as to how to handle their children, kind of like queer eye and the metrosexual phenom? Does it matter that you're seeking parenting skills from a reality show, provided you really want to make a change? Will these kids be scarred the first time they're in their early teens and watch a re-run on TNT or Nick-at-Nite or somesuch? Would these parents have sought help if there wasn't a reality show called super nanny?

I constantly struggle with distate towards reality tv and a morbid fascination with it. I watch Survivor religiously. I've watched some episodes of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. But then I see it announced that there's a dating show for midgets or The Will or joe millionaire or whatever and I think, "Good god, enough!"

Can one have a black and white view of reality tv? Is it either good or bad?

Posted by jennj at 02:05 PM | Comments (11)

i'm feeling lost

I have had NO time for the past month to continue my quest to become an activist. What I have realized is that I just want someone to tell me what to do (which is ironic, cause I'm usually a leader). As in, "here's an organization that will be worthwhile, etc." But even then, is activism for activism's sake the right way to go? I'm not even sure which way to turn with regards to what needs to be fixed. DNC? Should we be reaching out to the christian right? Should we be reaching out to the Bush supporters? Should I just look at jobs in our Amsterdam office and turn my back on America?

The thing is, we read that the 9/11 commission said there were no WMD's. They stopped their searching for WMD's last week. There are probably a few more sources about how the WMD's never existed that I've forgotten about. And yet, only 52% of American's think that the war in Iraq was a mistake?? Are the people who believe that the war was right the same people who believe that there is no global warming crisis? Despite all the facts? How do you fight that? I don't know. Anyone know?

It makes me feel helpless. And I hate feeling helpless. Hates it.

Posted by jennj at 09:45 AM | Comments (15)

it's always great coming back home and sleeping in your own bed

Well, good news, I don't have peripheral arterial disease. You're probably thinking, "What is she talking about?"

I was a practice patient at the meeting I just spent three and a half days in Miami attending (no, that's not why I was at the meeting, that was a small part of the meeting's purpose). It was pretty cool how they detect it. They use doppler devices and then find your heart beat and systolic blood pressure on your arm first and then your foot and then they do some calculations and....well, whatever. It's beyond me.

If you ever get a chance, my god, stay at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel anywhere. Every room is nice. My room's bathtub looked out through the room towards the balconey and tv. Needless to say, I took quite a few baths when I had downtime. I even managed to find time for a massage, which was probably one of the best massages I've ever had.

Anyway, it's nice to be back. I love to travel, but I always end up missing the kitties and when it's not a trip with the non-blogging husband, I miss him.

Posted by jennj at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)

poor impulse control

If you haven't read Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson you won't get why I find this even more amusing than it deserves. You should read Snowcrash if you haven't. Freakin' brilliant.

Posted by jennj at 03:48 PM | Comments (12)

assimilated

I was the only one snickering in the meeting today when someone mentioned using the "Borg scale" for a functional test....

Posted by jennj at 03:39 PM | Comments (2)

preaching to the choir

I’m tired of reading opinions about the current state of affairs in America on Big Name blogs. I’m tired of reading the same op-ed’s over and over again. They’ve morphed into one big blog. Yeah, yeah. I agree. Yeah, yeah. I feel the same way.

Anyway, I should be happy that I’m going to Miami in a few days for business. Especially with the snow fall today and icy driveway. And I’m staying at a five star hotel _with spa_. But why can’t I? Because I’ve got too much work to do back here? Because I’ve got too much work to do back here and while I’m there? Both. I picture myself in my hotel room, in the evenings and early mornings, using the high-speed internet access, doing more work than just what I’ll be doing at the business meeting. I just can’t stop feeling overwhelmed by work. And it’s frustrating. Yes, my boss already knows my frustration and we’re working on offloading some work. I just don’t think it’s going to happen as quickly as I’d like.

In the meantime, almost had a heart attack last week. Got my grades in the mail. There, right in front of me, a “D” in one of my classes. WHAA?? I want to brag about the worst grade I’ve gotten so far (which isn’t bad at all, if ya know what I mean), but I’ll spare you. Suffice it to say, how the f* could I get a D???!! Yes, you guessed it. Mistake. My biggest problem with the D was that my company wouldn’t reimburse me…heh. Second biggest problem: ego.

And Cinnamon is not doing well. The lump on his chin we found earlier? It’s grown significantly. We’re not talking about it. We’re in denial. He still purrs, cuddles up with us, eats, poo, pee….and purrs. And it doesn’t seem to hurt him. But….deep down, we know it’s not good. It’s grown way too fast. I feel like an asshole even thinking of putting him to sleep. He’s obviously happy and ok, how can I think that? What kind of human being am I to even think about putting him to sleep when he “appears” healthy? Well, there’s the drooling… :-) How can you put an animal to sleep when they don’t seem to be in such bad shape? You’re not supposed to put an animal to sleep unless they’ve stopped eating, right? That just sounded like an old wives tale (heh, accidentally typed tail) and totally not rational.

The France trip is coming along just fine. We’re staying at a really cool “guest house” in Bedarrides, which is outside of Avignon. When I wrote to them in e-mail to make sure that the breakfast is included in the room rate, they responded “About the rate, the breakfast is included, don't worry our guests never starve here…” heheh

We decided it’d be a good place as base camp for our Provence journey. We’ll be staying our first and last nights in Nice. Yay. This vacation is so deserved.

Posted by jennj at 09:54 PM | Comments (7)

movable type and livejournal together

Via my friend Hal, I found out that six apart (Movable Type product) has bought LiveJournal.

My idealistic hope is that they manage to combine the cool things in MT with the cool things in LJ and make for a better blogging environment for all of us.

I actually am kind of excited to see this happen. Provided my idealistic hope turns out true. It's rare that you get a *good* thing out of a merger. Usually one company just gets obliterated and their true product and vision go down the tubes. We'll have to wait and see.

Posted by jennj at 09:39 AM | Comments (1)

*snort*

"It's like tequila - it's very healthy"

And I wonder if my manicurist would do this kind of nail art. iMac fake nails. (oh my god, I've become a mac zealot)

Posted by jennj at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)

that was fun

Number of holiday cookies eaten (by me): 3,873
Number of Settlers of Catan wins (by me): 1
Number of disturbing conversations involving bidets or breathe right nasal strips: 2
Number of disturbing conversations: 413

New Year's in Broadalbin, NY was a blast. I believe the final tally was 17. It was *great* seeing everyone. non-blogging husband and I missed last year's so it was nice to be able to go this year. Everyone ate too much. But that's par for the course at these things.

I got my Settlers of Catan fix (one of my favorite games ever). I learned a new board game, Munchkins. It's fun.

And I tried crack. It's called City of Heroes. It's only available on Windows machines, which is probably a Good Thing(tm). If you haven't played it, you should. Not only is it fun, but you'll be making sure a friend of mine, who is one of their developers, has a job.

There were two major things that I love about this game: Character creation. Their interface to design your super hero character is awesome. It's easy to use, you get a ton of colors to pick from for your character ranging from skin color to sunglasses to body armor or clothing to shoes, you can accessorize, and in some cases you can make a two-color tye dye effect. Cool.

The second thing I liked about this game is the community feel of it. I have to admit, I wasn't so much interested in completing missions to get to the next level as I wanted to just walk up to other characters in the game and say, "How _you_ doin'?" Course, with a character named poorimpulsctrl (you only get a certain amount of characters for your super hero name), I would expect that kind of behavior. It was fascinating to see other people's designs. I could have spent the whole time just creating characters. And this from a gal who hated playing with dolls as a child.

It's a beautiful game to look at too. And the missions are interesting (again, with the community, hooking up to complete missions with complete strangers was fun, too. Although, annoying too if they didn't understand the concept of making sure we all regroup before opening a door to fight the next round of villains. And the super powers you get are interesting. Etc. I highly recommend it.

For now, I will not be buying a cheap windows machine in order to play. A major reason for that is a) it's addictive and b) I do get motion sickness when playing third-player games. I managed to last 40 minutes on the big screen and then was able to play for another 2.5 hours on a smaller screen before the motion sickness got to me.

Anyway, back home safe with the kitties. Looking forward to the next get together with everyone.

Posted by jennj at 08:49 AM | Comments (7)