Neighbors

Two very entertaining little girls live across the sidewalk from us at our new apartment. The youngest is 4, and her older sister is 7 or 8 or whatever age you are in 1st or 2nd grade. They sometimes sing for us songs they write themselves, enjoy "helping" us carry things in from the car -- this started when they climbed onto the moving truck the day we moved in and just started unloading our things -- and, from what I can tell, worship the ground Miley Cyrus walks on.

A recent Miley Cyrus related interaction:

me: Ashley, I like your umbrella! (that she was using even though right outside her apt on a beautiful sunny day, w/Miley all over it)
Ashley: Thanks!
me: That's cool it has Miley Cyrus on it. I like her new song.
Ashley: oh, which one?
me: that "Party in the USA song"
Ashley (look of disgust? perhaps disappointment? crosses her face): oh . That's not new.

Moral of story: Do not discuss Miley Cyrus with those under age 10. maybe age 15 to be on the safe side. you will be schooled and laughed at.

When Country tries and fails...

So, I'm not ashamed to admit that I love country music. Whatever, its fun and real and mostly about drinking and friends. to that, i say, YEE HA!

But occasionally, country music tries to be serious. And sometimes, they mess up big time. I about wrecked my car I was laughing so hard at this particular set of serious lyrics from the song "Welcome to the Future" by Brad Paisley:

I had a friend in school/running back for the football team
They burned a cross in his front yard/for asking out the homecoming queen
I thought about him today/Everybody who's seen what he's seen
From a woman on a bus/To a man with a dream
Heeeeeeeeey
Wake up Martin Luther
Welcome to the future.

I realize that adding "King, Jr." to the line would not rhyme with "future" (actually, Jr kinda DOES rhyme with future, come to think of it).....But the thought of "calling out" the wrong historical figure just cracks me up. I haven't seen the music video yet, but I hope to see Martin Luther hammering the 95 theses on the side of a bus during that part. Though Lutherans did burn a hefty number of "heretics" on the stake back in the day, so maybe that is what they meant?

Also....

I'm getting married in 11 days! holy crap.

i think i discovered at least some of the root of my easy annoyance of others in my grad school program...(and that was a lot of prepositional phrases...)

For my Management class night, we took personality tests and discussed the results. Of the 15 people present last night, only 5 were extroverts, and I think all but a few of us were "J" types. I'm a pretty solid ESFP, perhaps an unlikely candidate for librarianship, being that the defining characteristics of this type are talking a lot, wanting to be the center of attention, and a general dislike and disregard for rules (i would add, especially stupid rules). Meanwhile, my more "typical" librarian classmates are introverted and thrive on structure & instruction.

This comes out most when we go over future assignments in class (not just this class...EVERY class). Classmates end up spending 20 minutes asking questions to make sure they are doing every freaking aspect of the assignment correctly. This drives me insane! Just do the damn assignment! I always just thought the people in my program were incapable of doing something for the heck of it and not for a grade, but, turns out, its actually a part of their personality: the need to know exactly what it is they are to do, and then do it. makes them fine librarians, i suppose, but wow does it drive me crazy (last night was especially bad, with the Colts game and all...). But, turns out, I really am the only one.




*note to my grad school friends who might read this: I understand the need for clarifying questions, I love you all, and don't worry, its really only a few people that drive me nuts, and all of them are 40 years of age or older....well, mostly. :)

The Horror of the BMV

This year, my driver's license finally expired -- tomorrow, my 27th birthday, was the expiration date. It still had my first Goshen address on it -- where I have not lived since 2005 and have lived 5 places since (geesh, i move a lot!). On Tuesday, I headed in to get it renewed.

After standing in line for like 25 minutes, ugh, I finally got to talk to someone, who informed me that the piece of mail with my new address on it was no official enough to be used to get my license renewed. Um... not official enough? IT WAS THE FREAKING POSTAL SERVICE OFFICIAL FORM. good lord. Whatever. Never mind that the postal service makes you jump through their own hoops to prove your identity and set up a forwarding address. After informing her about how stupid that was, in a polite way, of course, I left.

One problem in this whole fiasco is that I moved only 2 weeks ago, and haven't bothered switching any of my billing addresses or banking addresses yet. And why would I? thanks to the fact its the 21st century, I now pay every single bill online, and do my banking the paperless, electronic way. So why is it that the only change of address "proof" the BMV will accept are bills and bank statements? I cannot be the only person to have this problem.

So anyway, I went back to the BMV on Thursday, this time armed with the same damn useless postal service change of address form, and my lease. Again, i was told this information wasn't good enough. My lease was not good enough. It was good enough to get me a marriage license today, but not renew my driver's license? GAH! What the hell BMV? seriously. I explained the current situation -- I don't actually get any bills, so how the hell am I supposed to bring one in, I haven't changed the addresses yet anyway, and I only have 2 days left to renew the thing.

The solution? The BMV lady COULD give me a new license, but it would have to have the address that matches my address in the system. Which is neither the old, 2005 address, or my current address, but my address from my last year in Goshen. First of all, how the hell did that end up the address in "the system?" And second, how does this make any sense at all? They can use an old address that just happened to show up in the computer without ANY proof from me at all, but can't use the address I provide 2 pieces of evidence for?

stupid rules that make no sense really piss me off (also why I will never be a library cataloguer). But, I did end up with a new license so will not be illegally driving as of tomorrow.

Best part of the story? In a few months, when my name changes, I get to go back and deal with this whole mess all over again. yay.

grrrrrr.....

Update: success! Mine backed up no prob... and matt's worked when i limited to just the media and documents. yay.

What I am currently doing as I try to figure out why the Time Machine backups to the external hard drive keep erring:




Thanks xkcd

(and for anyone tempted to help me (since I'm nearing the 30 minute mark): It got about 22 GB of 40 saved to the external before the error message. Tried to resume from that and it erred again. I ran disc utility (verify disc, not repair...) on the external hard drive, no problems there. Don't really want to mess with partitions, that seems too complicated, and am not sure it would solve the problem anyway. Is there some sort of formatting I am missing? Oh, and I'm also not sure why the time machine icon doesn't appear in the top right hand corner. Makes me wonder if some Leopard update never got installed which is causing the whole problem to begin with, or it could just be a missing icon)

Computers. Ugh.

The pluses of Indy

I've lived here in Indy for a year now, and I don't think its any big secret that its not my favorite place on earth and I don't plan on staying here for long after graduating. Still, you don't live somewhere for a year and not start to like a few things.... and, i think its just in my nature to look for the positive (while still complaining about the negatives, of course). Anyway, thus I present to you the 5 things I like best about Indianapolis, in no particular order.

1. The traffic
(part one): There is no rush hour
Rush hour is not something that exists in Indianapolis. Public Transportation is another (well technically, there is a bus system, but its not well used and quite inconvenient), and I believe the two are linked. The city planners know/knew that everyone drives, and they made sure to cater to the commuter population. It makes no difference if I leave work at 5, when the roads are crowded, or 7, when they aren't: it take me approximately 20 minutes to get home (in fact, it seems to take about 20 minutes to get to anywhere from anywhere in Indy). I have a feeling this might change when we move in a few weeks and the fastest route home will be on the interstate. Not sure if the no rush hour thing applies to I-69 and I-70, I'll find out soon.

(part two): The amazing yellow lights
The yellow lights in Indy are the longest yellow lights I have ever experienced. I love it, though it does mean i'm guaranteed to run a red every time i'm up in goshen, or anywhere the yellows aren't 15 seconds long like they are here.

2. Verizon Wireless Center (aka Deer Creek)
Its really nice to live somewhere with a great music venue only about 40 minutes away (its in Noblesville, hence the 20 minute rule mentioned before doesn't apply). EVERYone on tour comes to Indy, it seems. If they don't play at Deer Creek, they play at the Murat, or the field house, or the State Fair, or the Vogue. I've never had so many concerts to choose from....or gone to so many in so little time. This year I saw Old Crow at the Vogue and Coldplay, DMB, & NKOTB at Deer Creek. Last Saturday we saw the Indianapolis Symphony play at Conner's Prairie. Going to Kenny Chesney in a few weeks, and Bonnie Raitt next Tuesday at White Rive State Park.

3. IMCPL (Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library)
Its almost brand new and it is awesome. Even if you don't want to check out books, you should stop by and take the elevator to the top floor, which gives you a perfect view of Indy's downtown skyline. There's also a gazillion branch locations, and the online system is very user friendly. Oh AND you can check out like 50 books/dvds/whatever, which is pretty great too. Matt and I have been requesting box sets of TV shows like mad. Unlike Blockbuster you get the whole set, instead of just one disc at a time, and its free. My biggest complaint is how hard it is to get a job there!

4. Location
We are close-ish to everything... or at least a lot of things. 2 hours to Louisville to see the Derby, 90 minutes to Cinci, 3 hours to Chicago, 2.5 to Goshen. Though man does that drive to Goshen suck.

5. The sports scene
I forgot (never knew, really) how fun it is to live in a place with sports teams to cheer for. I could care less about the NBA, but since the Pacers suck, still made it to 4 games last year (most of them for free or close to it) Until the Colts start to lose I'll never be able to afford tix, but its pretty fun going to a bar and cheering along. No MLB team, unfortunately, but there's the Triple A indians, though I haven't made it to one of their games yet either. Oh, and there's car racing, which is surprisingly entertaining -- I had an awesome time at the 500 and hope I can go again next year -- Roller Derby, and even a minor league hockey team, which i've yet to take in.

This list, of course, did not count many other good things about indy that I like: our friends, matt being here, my job(s), Broad Ripple, even my classes. Still can't wait to look for work and move and hopefully get out the midwest just for a little while, but hey, lets accentuate the positive in the meantime, right?

A book or two

I finished New Moon last night, the 2nd book in the Twilight series. Since I'm only half done, I'll blog about it later, but I will say, so far i am quite unimpressed. The first book bored me to tears, since I already knew the guy was a vampire (not only via current pop culture trends but because the DUST JACKET TOLD ME SO), so to not fully reveal that to the reader for like 300 pages seemed kind of like torture. Also, the main characters are just. freaking. annoying. Ooooh i'm so sad and manic and want to kill myself if we can't be together. you eyes are like topaz, gold, rubies, jade, and a thousand other gems. lets be emo vampires and sit in the corner and cry, if vampires could cry, about our terrible fate. seriously, awful. But, as across-the-hall Karl reminded me, these books are for girls about age 16, not 26. Not that I think 16 year old girls should ever want to be in a relationship like Bella and Edward mcVampirePants...but whatever. Anywho, despite really not liking the series so far, I feel compelled to finish what i've started. I'll let you know how it goes.

A couple months ago I started Eat, Pray, Love, that book by Elizabeth Gilbert that seems to be everywhere the last year or so. It took me forever to get into it, but I finally finished it a few weeks ago now. My reflection on this book could go on for pages, but I'll keep in short: I hated parts of it, but over all it was ok. No deep, life shattering revelations, really, but once I got past the word "pray" in the title (this is NOT, in anyway, a religious book) I started to enjoy it.

The book is a memoir of Gilbert's year abroad. "eat" is representative of her time in Italy, "pray" is for time spend at an Ashram in India, and "love" encompasses her experience (which included (suprise!) a whole lot of sexy times) in Indonesia. The first section - italy - was the worst. I realize, that for the book to make sense, Gilbert needed to give us her context for plunging into her adventure, but still... UGH. She's kind of like the Vampire in Twilight, wallowing in her own depression and misery and crying all the damn time and blah blah blah. (Clearly, i really don't enjoy reading about other people's problems...) And while she states over and over again how she is not a religious person, the theological assumptions she makes, especially in this first section, REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. She cries out to a god she doesn't necessarily believe in (well, that part i can actually understand), but then! this unknown divine figure in her life blesses her with the money to go on a year long adventure and write a book about it! COME on. No offense, dear Elizabeth Gilbert, but while I'm sure god cares about you and all, I really don't think it is an appropriate assumption to make (that the god you didn't believe in 2 months before made this allllll possible).

But anyway, I kept reading. the book got better, especially once I made a concerted effort to not read too much into her theology. She states several times that this is NOT to be a religious book, and that she has no religious training or upbringing, so I did my best to give her the benefit of the doubt. (though. for the record, if you are going to write a book and put the word "pray" in the title AND put Anne Lamott quotes on the front, you are kind of misleading people). Read as a memoir, then, "Eat, Pray, Love," is actually a nice happy tale of a woman's recovery from depression and her travels around the world.

I'm not sure what I gained from reading it -- at first I thought I had learned some nice insights into the human soul or something, but after friend Gretchen (who i believe hated the book) asked me, skeptically, "what sorts of insights?", and nothing jumped to mind, I changed my mind.

So. Read this book, if you want, but take it for what it is: fluff. Not bad, infuriating fluff -- though it did have its moments -- but mostly, nice, happy, occasionally laugh-out-loud fluff.

And now.... page one of Eclipse. Maybe Edward will be happy in this book. But somehow, I doubt it.

The Mac Saga

About 3 weeks ago now, my computer crashed and I lost EVERYthing. Every song, every document, every picture. Thankfully, a lot was backed up. But I still lost more than I cared to (well duh). Worse than that, though, was knowing that my just-under-two-year-old MacBook was no longer under warranty, and that I could not afford to fix it. Other things in life, like making sure your car brakes are functional, take priority (unfortunately).

So i did the only thing i knew how: I texted and tweeted and googled (on matt's still funtional MacBook). It is absolutely amazing how much computer work one can do with a few friends and the internet.

My first helper, a mere 30 minutes after the crash, was my friend Gretchen, who, over the phone, walked me through about 8 attempts to try and recover stuff and re-install my operating system. While ultimately, this was without sucess, I know now about things like target disc mode, and PVRAM, and it was especially nice to see somthing other than the flashing file folder of DOOM on my computer screen for awhile.

The next day I went to work with the thing, which at that point was nothing more that a $1500 paperweight, and found my 2nd set of helpers in internet bloggers and the computer consultants on the 4th floor of the library. Between those two sources, I was able to find the information on how to remove my hard drive, and the tools to actually do it. And, one of the nice computer dudes loaned me his copy of the newest Mac Operating System. I may have lost everything, but at least i'll have the newest and best when its all said and done!

Over the next day i found more help at the Mac Store, whose genius bar employee officially diagnosed the problem in a matter of minutes (which I already knew). The best info he gave me, though, was the name of a store in an Indy suburb that sells hard drives. That info, coupled with immensley helpful details on hard drive types from a long lost high school friend, led me to an electronics store in Fishers. And, by the way, the Mac Store Genius bar diagnostic stuff is free. (thank god).

I bought a new hard drive for only like $70.00 and installed it myself -- with the aformentioned new operating system (Leopard). All told, the saga only lasted about 4 days (since it was only $70 i could fix it AND get my brakes fixed. i only wish the brakes had been so affordable). Not bad for a non-techy, if I dare say so myself. If I had sent it to the Mac people without being under warranty, I would have been charged the cost of a hard drive and hourly labor, not to mention shipping and all of that. AND, i wouldn't have gotten to hand select my new hard drive (so much space i don't know what the heck i'll ever use it for and a 3 year warranty) or had the satifaction of taking something apart.... which i think i've always enjoyed for an odd reason (flashback to a disassembled CD player that broke in 8th grade. i fixed that by myself too!).

Anyway, thus ends the story of my computer. My MacBook is basically a brand new machine in the same shell. Thanks to everyone who helped me, especially gretchen and the computer peeps on the library 4th floor. My next project should be to figure out how to fix my own car so that I don't have to pay $600 next time my brakes need replaced. That's only $200 less than I paid for the thing. So... what friends want to teach me about car mechanics? Thanks in advance :)

Been awhile

Not sure why its been so long since I've blogged. I had gotten in the habit of blogging on Saturdays when work was slow, and i dropped that shift, so maybe that's to blame. In any case, not much has been going on, but i'll mention a few exciting tid bits.

A new apartment has been located and secured, as of yesterday. We'll be moving to the extreme North-East part of the city, known as Castleton. Broad Ripple, where I live now, is the artsy, hippy, bar-filled part of the city, and I will miss it A LOT. Castleton is basically one big strip mall with houses scattered in the areas between. Oh well! We found a very cute place, and its an excellent deal.

Wedding planning is coming along well. Invites go out in a couple weeks, so soon all of my spare time will be spent addressing envelopes. And in two weeks I'm going to Goshen for my "vacation" if travelling to Goshen can be called that. Basically, i'll be vegging on Kendra's couch or laying in the sun for a week, and taking care of wedding tid bits for a few hours a day.

I honestly don't know how people planned weddings before the internet. I order practically everything online -- Google Product Search is an amazing source for finding things for cheap -- keep in contact with everyone who is involved via email, and literally spend hours at work researching things like centerpieces and wedding favors on google images. One annoying thing with the internet is finding blogs of other brides-to-be, and their "struggle" to plan their wedding with their "tight budgets." Sorry ladies, a $15,000 budget is NOT tight. And it makes me want to smack someone. Maybe I'm just jealous? But anyway, our budget is tight for real, but it forces us to be creative and crafty, which I enjoy (well, most of the time anyway). It also turns out that we have an awful lot of talented friends and family which is helping us save a tremendous amount of money. I think everything but the food is being done by people we know.

That's all for now.... A real blog coming soon?

Just some random stories that I don't think i've blogged yet.

- So the other day, one of the local hospitals calls the library to inform us they lost a patient, and that said patient may or may not be on his way to our library. After being assured that the missing person was not a danger to me (just a confused guy who somehow "escaped" after brain surgery), I found it pretty funny. Though he never showed at the library, and I never heard if he was found, which makes the story both anti-climactic and perhaps a little sad.

- Did i tell this story yet? I can't remember. This guy in my apartment complex jumped into a freezing cold river in like Februaray to raise money for Downs Syndrome kids (remember that, its important later). I guess people in Indy do this every year or something. Anyway, after everyone plunged into the freezing water, they were served food and drinks and stuff, and there was a DJ from a local radio station spinning some tunes. At one point he played the song "Lets Get it Started" by the Black Eyed Peas...except, that the DJ played the original, uncensored version.... called....wait for it.... "Lets Get Retarded." Brilliant DJ, brilliant.

- I really like the new Dave Matthews Band cd. Its the first DMB cd that I've listened to on repeat since Under the Table and Dreaming....which was a looong time ago. I'm glad I like it since I'm going to the show on August 1st thanks to some ridiculously awesome friends who decided that Matt and I needed to be there. Anyway, pumped.

- Speaking of concerts, my plan for the year was to go to ZERO. And all of the sudden I went to Coldplay last night, have tix for New Kids on the Block in 2 weeks (thank you $10.00 sandwhich board ticket seller people!!), and have the previously mentioned DMB show in August. OH, and there's a mega country concert on my b-day that I think Kendra and I are going to try and make: Kenny Chesney, Sugarland, Zac Brown Band, Miranda Lambert, and Montgomery Gentry. Yeah, that would be awesome.

- a not funny, but interesting story: A girl i work with (i guess she's not really a girl, she's like 33...anyway) and I were discussing things about Amish and Mennonites -- incidentally, i find myself answering questions about Amish and Mennonites an awful lot at work and just amongst my friends down here, which is kind of cool. I suppose that's what happens when you finally move out of Goshen, Kalona, Bluffton, [insert other random "mennnonite town" here]. Anyway, my co-worker, a tarot-card reading, ghost-hunter sort of perosn, was telling me about some tv program on the discovery channel that she watched about the Amish and their response to the Nickel Mines tragedy. As she was telling me about it, she started to cry! She found it just so amazing that people could respond to such violence with forgiveness and even reach out to the killer's family. I forget how different the Amish and Mennonite world view can be sometimes...and it was... i'm not sure what the right word is... humbling? amazing? thought-provoking? It really is a different response than what people are used to, and I wonder if the Amish have any idea how their words of forgiveness and support for the killers family have impacted people so different from themselves.

Those Awkward Years....

So, haven't uploaded my Indy 500 pics yet, so that blog will wait for a few days yet. For the record both the Derby and the 500 were RIDICULOUSLY fun, and I recommend either for anyone with an interest in sunshine, sporting events, and general merriment.

Instead I will blog about my current reads, which all happen to be Young Adult books. Several of my friends in my grad program are, or hope to be, Young Adult or Children's Librarians....meaning that when we have nerdy conversations about books, they are always talking about the latest popular book for teens, which I usually have never heard of. Taking their advice, I recently read two: Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, and Uglies, by Scotter Westerfeld. Both books are the first in a trilogy... trilogies seem to be quite popular in YA lit.

Hunger Games was fantastic...probably one of the best books I've read so far this year. Set in a futuristic world (a favorite of YA authors), the Capitol keeps its cities and citizens under control by restricting communication between villages, and by holding the annual Hunger Games: a "Survivor"-like event in which 2 children from each city are selected at random and forced to fight until only 1 child remains. Yes, children are thrown into an arena of sorts, and have to kill each other. The premise is quite disturbing, and honest to god this book gave me nightmares. I had some terrible dream that Matt was killing people and I had to watch. Anyway, Katniss, from the city of Panem, volunteers to go to the Hunger Games in place of her sister. And.... I can't say much more without giving away too much of the plot.

The Uglies was also good, though I was bored for the first 110 pages or so. Thankfully, 110 pages in a YA book is like reading 25 in an adult book, so I was willing to keep reading. And it got better...much better. The Uglies is also set in a futuristic world (see?), but in this world, when children turn 16 they are surgically altered to become beautiful Pretties. Tally is dying to become Pretty, and only 3 weeks remain until her 16th birthday. Her friend Shay, is also scheduled to become Pretty soon, but isn't sure she wants the surgery... and on the night before she is to have the operation flees the city. Special Circumstances, a CIA/SWAT team type dealio, refuse to turn Tally into a Pretty unless she goes after Shay and tells them where she, and the other runaways, have fled.

One thing I like about Young Adult books is that its really easy to figure out what the author is trying to say. I'm not good with metaphors and deeper meanings and all that crap (Like, say, poetry)...it sounds good, but I can't tell what the heck its supposed to mean. YA books aren't like that. The message of these books are: be yourself, don't lie, you can do it!, and stuff like that. Coming of age stuff with tame hand-holding romances and tough decisions...really tough actually. In Hunger Games the main character is forced to decide if survival and victory is worth becoming a killer, especially since it means killing her male counterpart, who happens to be a friend of hers, from Panem. In Uglies, Tally must decide if her dream of becoming Pretty is worth the betrayal of her friend, and of the other runaways.

So I'm liking this brief respite in the world of YA lit, and I'm going to down the rest of the Uglies series, plus those Twilight books, before retreating back to books for my age group. The rest of the Hunger Games series hasn't been released yet, unfortunately. I suggest waiting to read the first one until Septemeber, so you don't have to wait. I wish someone would have suggested that to me! :)

of the Non (fiction, that is)

Its been awhile since I've blogged about current reading, probably because it had been awhile since I'd actually finished a book. Why? I'm going to blame it on the genre: non fiction. I like non-fiction, but it really does seem to take much longer to read.

Anyway, I finished 2 books in the last couple weeks, Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, and Know-it-all by A.J. Jacobs. Both fall into the category of non-fiction I like to read: funny. Thankfully, "funny" now encompasses a variety of non-fiction genres...memoirs, how-to books, travel books, etc. I also don't mind any non-fiction book that is told as though it were fiction -- Devil in the White City, a book about the world's fair in Chicago, was so good, riveting, and entertaining, that I really could not believe I was reading a true story.

I remember my dad bringing home a copy of Walk in the Woods back when I was in Jr. High or High school, and when he was finished with it, I tried to read it. A bit of the humor was over my head at that point, as was a lot of the vocabulary (note: just because something is funny does not mean it is dumbed down), and I ended up only getting about half way through. Matt owns the book, so I decided to give it another chance.

The book is the story of Bryson's quest to hike the Appalachian Trail, which he discovers runs right by his home in New England. The story would be quite sad, really, if not for Bryson's ability to laugh at himself...which instead makes this book a hilarious tale of two middle-aged out-of-shape men hiking through the wilderness. Also mixed in are meaningful facts and stories about the trail itself, the wildlife that surrounds it, and the people that attempt to trek it each year. An excellent book, from start to finish.

After finishing Walk in the Woods, I was thrilled to discover my library hold on "Know-it-all" had finally come in! Jacobs wrote the fantastic book "The Year of Living Biblically", which i thoroughly enjoyed, and I wanted to read some of his other works. In Know-it-All (which incidentally was written before Living Biblically, FYI), Jacobs reads the entire encyclopedia from start to finish. He reports to the reader the interesting facts he stumbles across, while also reflecting on his motivation for the quest -- to become the smartest person in the world, and the difficulties one encounters when attempting to read the entire Encyclopedia... everything from strained eyes, to lost motivation, to retaining knowledge. He tries to prove this new intelligence by meeting with Alec Trebek, trying to join Mensa, going on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and by maybe finally showing up his brother-in-law at a game of Trivial Pursuit. What I like about Jacobs is his frank honesty, especially about himself. It has to be moderately difficult to lay out one's insecurities for the whole world to read, but he does that, and the result is well... hilarious. I enjoyed this book as much as Living Bibilically..great book.

Of the 30-ish books I've read this year, only 4 have been non-fiction, the 3 mentioned in this blog, and Chelsea Handlers, "Are you there Vodka? It's me Chelsea" which was was ok. Maybe I should work more of the Non into my reading, but it just takes so much longer, and to me, part of the fun of reading is an escape from reality that just isn't there when reading something true -- the same reason I don't like to watch dramas or scary movies (If i'm watching something for fun, why the heck would I want to be scared?). I do like the thought of learning while I read, though as any English major will argue, there is plenty to learn from reading fiction as well. I wasn't an English major, but i agree completely. Of course, as I near the end of Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity (a very random walk into the world of action novels), I wonder if I learned anything more than how to make sense of the movie.

My next blog? A fascinating compare and contrast of 2 American events that I have the pleasure of attending this May: The Kentucky Derby, and next week, the Indy 500. Held only two hours apart, yet (i imagine), oh so very different.

Tax the fatties!!?!

We were up in Goshen for the last few days for my little brother's graduation. The weather was beautiful, and it was nice to catch up with my family and friends. On Saturday evening Matt and I went to visit two friends that matt has known basically forever, and who are about exactly opposite of us on the political spectrum. Not that this is a big deal...we get along with them just fine. While we were there, though, the female half of the couple began ranting about Obama and telling us that Obama is proposing to raise taxes for overweight people.

I counter with, "well.. i check the news pretty regularly, and i've never seen anything like that..." Her reply: "its been aaallllll over Fox news, O'reilly, and Hannity." That explained a lot right there.

Well in any case, I was curious. So I spent some time today at work researching this supposed tax on the fat, soon to be implemented by the Obama government. For 20 minutes I didn't find anything. And then... jack pot!

Ok, try to follow along.... trust me, its convoluted:

These LONDON scientists found proof that overweight humans produce more carbon emmisions than non-overweight humans, and therefore, contribute to global warming.

Around the same time the results of this study were released, the news and blogosphere in the United States was filled with all sorts of proposed ways to save the economy. Legalizing and taxing marijuana (this article from NPR) has been a popular one, as has the idea to tax sugary sodas, the theory being that sugar is just as bad for people as other heavily taxed items like alcohol and cigarettes. Please note that the link says NOTHING about this being an idea supported, considered, even on the radar, of Obama. Nor did any other article I could find.

But still, some conservative bloggers linked the two. Scientists in London say that fat people cause global warming! They are taxing our sodas! what next??? NEXT those crazy liberal environmentalists will be coming into our homes, checking our weight, and taxing us appropriately. Quite the logic, really, but here you go.

In the defense of O'Reilly, Hannity, and Fox News, I must add that I found nothing on any of their websites. O'Reilly did rant and rave about the London study, but none of these sources had any articles implying that Obama is going to impose a fat tax.

The problem, therefore, must be the veiwers and readers of such programming, who take it a step further, theorize the worst, and start spreading rumors (horray internet!). And being the trustworthy people that we are, we hear a theory from a friend, or read a blog on the internet, or watch a video on the news, and just belive it to be true. I don't mean to imply that our friends, relatives, and news sources are lying to us, I just mean that we should probably question what we hear and read a lot more than we actually do.

But anyway, the moral of this blog: Obama does not hate or want to tax obese people. And quit believing everything you hear.

Idol commentary... live this time

The internet is working! horray! Thus I present to you my first idol blog that is written live. I know, you all have been waiting for this special moment a long time.

Quentin Tarantino is the guest o' honor. He seems like far too cool to be on the Idol stage....does he have a movie coming out soon? no one would just come on idol for the heck of it, right? (he was a guest judge in season 3? i don't remember that).

Boring intros, simon blames the females for Idol going over last week. He is such an ass. Only 2 judges will critique each performer tonight, so that Fringe fans don't get pissy. Seems a little silly.... went over by what last week? 4 minutes? and this week there is one less Idol, meaning the show is automatically about 10 minutes shorter? right? well anyway, it seems unnecessary to me, and a tad unfair, since Americans only listen to what British God of Musical Awesomeness SImon says to them.

Allison's up first, doing "I don't want to miss a thing," that terrible song by Aerosmith from the movie Armageddon. Tonight's theme, fyi, is Songs of the Cinema. As for Allison, she rocked out the ending, but the beginning and middle were a tad shaNAsty if you ask me. once again they mention about 500 times her age (16! omg! 16!). Paula and Simon both loved her.

Anoop! He sings "everything i do," by Bryan Adams. Quentin tells Anoop to growl.... i like it. Anoop is in the first half of the show for like the 4th week in a row, making me think they are trying to get rid of him. He is doing awesome. ... i might be a tad biased cause he's my favorite, but this is easily his best of the season. Kara and Randy dig it. I really think not having Simon's critique is a bad thing right now... if simon says "Anoop, you should easily be safe with that performance," it means more than a thousand of Kara's cougarish advances. Oh well.

Adam screams a little. my ears hurt, but it sure was rockin. I hope that, for his sake, he doesn't win. Then he can do his own thing, like what happened to Chris Daughtry. Paula creams herself, and adds some cheesy poetic quote. Simon liked it, but is afraid half of america hated it, which is probably true. little teen girls scream for Adam which is hilarious in its own way.

Commercial break (in which i will list the random thoughts that run through my mind): Man... i want some ice cream; I'm glad matt's bipolar internet is in a good mood tonight so I can write this atrocious blog; I really don't want to do my homework after this (series of thoughts about to-do lists and uncoming homework assignments); dang the commercial breaks get longer and longer every week.

Horray we're back with Matt Giraud. He has a huge, ugly mole on his forehead, but I never would have noticed if not for reading Idol blogs that refer to him as "mole-boy" and that offer analysis of his mole's performance every week. Its one of those things, though, that you just cannot tear your eyes away from once you know its there. Another Brian Adams song. Its kind of boring. I'm trying not to switch channels.... ooooh a piano rock out followed by some louder and slightly more terrible vocals. Randy and Kara are iffy about it, and as Kara talks, Simon is totally making faces in the background. Can't tell if he's pretending to yawn, jabber, or.... something else...

Commercial break: I need to find a better position in which to both watch tv and type on the computer because sitting cross-legged hurts my knees

Ugh. Danny. Awh, he gets ANOTHER interview. Seriously, could you give ANYone else some screen time? No glasses this week...maybe Adam told him they weren't stylish. OOooooo bad note in there. I dislike the guy, but still, that's unusual. barf barf, mostly just another boring Danny song.

And.... more commercials. maybe they will manage to run into Fringe again this week -- 13 minutes till fringe is scheduled to air, and two more performances. Maybe instead of cutting the judges airtime, you should cut out one of the 25 minutes worth of commercials. just an idea.

Kris is next, which means they're pimping Lil this week. Unlike Anoop, Kris has been in the last half of the show for about 4 weeks in a row. I didn't know the song, but I really liked it. Randy didn't, Kara did... but maybe she has a crush? Nah, she's right, it was good. Cute lil Kris just may have a chance on this silly show.

Commercials.... 4 minutes till Fringe. Seriously??? they aren't going to make it.

Lil, singing the Rose. Ouch, first note is off. But it gets better, as does her annunciation. I swear I couldn't understand her first 4 lines. Back to ouchie at the end... She is only good when she's singing loudly. Awh Paula is being poetic again, something about her being on a long road, blah blah. Simon not a fan. Lil talking back oh no! its time for fringe! shut up lil! Ryan cuts her off. Not sure if her speech will help her or get her booted.

And thus ends another exciting episode of American Idol.
Bottom 3 prediction: Lil, Matt, Anoop. Anoop safe, Matt goes home.