Does anyone else remember the Punky Brewster episode where Punky hid in an abandoned refrigerator? Is this hiding spot a disease plaguing Hide N' Seek players or something?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
this greatest day
I woke up this morning just in the nick of time- my alarm was accidentally on silent. I woke up at 8:34 and saw all the important stuff. I don't think I've ever cried so soon after waking up- seeing all those people in DC was pretty amazing. I am SO GLAD I didn't have to be on set until 11.
4 years ago I was in Evanston. I have no idea what exactly I was doing, whether I was in class or at the Cage or at the Childcare Center. Chances are that I was doing some sort of prep for Eldritch, and that in the afternoon I'd be at the Cage checking out gear to people. But wherever I was, I certainly wasn't watching TV, I certainly wasn't crying, and I know I was pretty fucking depressed.
Today I'm not doing anything fun. I have to work at 11 on a set in a storage facility, where I get painfully claustrophobic every single day- but it doesn't matter, because this is pretty much the greatest day I've ever lived through. I can't quite decide if it's better than Election Day, but I know this: there's a lot less stress than there was on Election Day.
On CNN they just said that Obama was walking Bush to the helicopter that would take him "into retirement in Texas." HALLELUJAH! And that's pretty damn respectful, if you ask me- it's hardly a requirement to to escort the dude who handed him such a difficult job to his helicopter. Classy, Obama.
Obama's speech was good- I don't think it was his most stirring or inspirational, but that was to be expected. He has to start out in the middle, govern in the middle- and even though I want him to be the lovely liberal that I knew him to be in the campaign, I know he has to make some concessions. To quote The West Wing in some fashion, he's not just President to the people who voted for him, he's President to the whole country. It was the speech it needed to be.
I liked that he included "non-believers" in his list of the religious faiths in this country- I doubt that's ever happened before. He called to "cast aside childish things," and repeatedly mentioned the environment. I know the economic crisis is huge and all, but I think the environmental crisis is a much bigger deal, and I'm glad he hasn't lost site of it under all the pressure from the economy.
Ha, CNN: "John Roberts had one thing to do today, and he kind of screwed up." Obama nearly laughed at him.
OH GOD MUSIC TO MY EARS: "Former President George W. Bush." !!!!
Good luck, Obama. We know you can do it. We know WE can do it. Yes we can.
4 years ago I was in Evanston. I have no idea what exactly I was doing, whether I was in class or at the Cage or at the Childcare Center. Chances are that I was doing some sort of prep for Eldritch, and that in the afternoon I'd be at the Cage checking out gear to people. But wherever I was, I certainly wasn't watching TV, I certainly wasn't crying, and I know I was pretty fucking depressed.
Today I'm not doing anything fun. I have to work at 11 on a set in a storage facility, where I get painfully claustrophobic every single day- but it doesn't matter, because this is pretty much the greatest day I've ever lived through. I can't quite decide if it's better than Election Day, but I know this: there's a lot less stress than there was on Election Day.
On CNN they just said that Obama was walking Bush to the helicopter that would take him "into retirement in Texas." HALLELUJAH! And that's pretty damn respectful, if you ask me- it's hardly a requirement to to escort the dude who handed him such a difficult job to his helicopter. Classy, Obama.
Obama's speech was good- I don't think it was his most stirring or inspirational, but that was to be expected. He has to start out in the middle, govern in the middle- and even though I want him to be the lovely liberal that I knew him to be in the campaign, I know he has to make some concessions. To quote The West Wing in some fashion, he's not just President to the people who voted for him, he's President to the whole country. It was the speech it needed to be.
I liked that he included "non-believers" in his list of the religious faiths in this country- I doubt that's ever happened before. He called to "cast aside childish things," and repeatedly mentioned the environment. I know the economic crisis is huge and all, but I think the environmental crisis is a much bigger deal, and I'm glad he hasn't lost site of it under all the pressure from the economy.
Ha, CNN: "John Roberts had one thing to do today, and he kind of screwed up." Obama nearly laughed at him.
OH GOD MUSIC TO MY EARS: "Former President George W. Bush." !!!!
Good luck, Obama. We know you can do it. We know WE can do it. Yes we can.
Friday, January 02, 2009
every year
I really dislike it when, every single New Year's Eve and Day and really in the entire week leading up to New Year's, online newspapers print stupid articles about what MIGHT happen in the coming year. Right now there is an article on cnn.com entitled "2009 Political Predictions: What will be the big story?"
Isn't the whole point of the future the fact that NO ONE KNOWS what's going to happen? These articles make very pedestrian predictions about how "the biggest story will be the continued violence in the Middle East." a) No, I bet you anything there will be some stupid scandal that the news media will enjoy far more than anything Middle East-related. b) since when has the Middle East actually constituted a "big" story? Yes, it absolutely OUGHT to be a big story- a HUGE story. But it never seems to get much attention- I mean, god forbid we read about death and destruction and violence before we read about Bristol Palin's baby.
Isn't the whole point of the future the fact that NO ONE KNOWS what's going to happen? These articles make very pedestrian predictions about how "the biggest story will be the continued violence in the Middle East." a) No, I bet you anything there will be some stupid scandal that the news media will enjoy far more than anything Middle East-related. b) since when has the Middle East actually constituted a "big" story? Yes, it absolutely OUGHT to be a big story- a HUGE story. But it never seems to get much attention- I mean, god forbid we read about death and destruction and violence before we read about Bristol Palin's baby.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year
Further proof that I have been a nerd/geek all my life and was beyond saving even at a young age...
Exhibit C: STAR WARS
This one should be fairly self-explanatory- it was for a book report I did in 4th grade. Yes, on a Star Wars novel. A JUNIOR Star Wars novel- as in, not even the kind that had decent plots. My favorite part is the C3PO made out of a crayon... but it might also be the R2D2 made out of a candle.
Exhibit C: STAR WARS
This one should be fairly self-explanatory- it was for a book report I did in 4th grade. Yes, on a Star Wars novel. A JUNIOR Star Wars novel- as in, not even the kind that had decent plots. My favorite part is the C3PO made out of a crayon... but it might also be the R2D2 made out of a candle.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
self deprication
Since I've been home, I have been scanning and scanning and scanning our old family pictures. The intent was to create a Patterson Family Flickr site to which the whole family has access and can upload family-related pictures. I figured scanning old pictures would be the best way to get them to see the value of the site, which Taylor and I bought everyone for Christmas. The success of it has been dubious, thus far, but I have high hopes.
Anyway, it's kind of humbling to remind yourself of what a frickin' nerd you were as a kid. Let us examine the many ways in which I was/am a nerd (as though you all needed proof).
Exhibit A: FANNY PACK
Can we please discuss the phase when I wore a fanny pack, like, all the time? It was in 2nd and 3rd grade, and my best friend Amie wore one most of the time too. What exactly did I carry in it? Oh, ok, fine I legitimately did have to carry my inhaler around with me all the time. But other than that, what did I have? If I had money, it was negligible, although I do remember Amie and I filling our fanny packs (which we called "pouches" as though we were kangaroos or something) with change and marching off BY OURSELVES to the corner store in her neighborhood to buy candy. So I guess it was marginally useful. Still though... not even Hulk Hogan can pull off the fanny pack thing.
Exhibit B: INVENTOR
I had high aspirations as a child to be an inventor. The inventor stage was sort of ongoing, much like the novelist stage- in contrast to the detective, gymnast, ice skater, etc. stages. In the picture above, my brother is confused by the "hockey stick" I had "invented" for him for his birthday. Ignoring the fact that it is little more than a stick with a box taped to the end and lots of rubber bands, there is the problem of my skewed perception of what "inventing" really was. Creating a hockey stick by yourself does not mean you invented it. Perhaps I was more of a tinkerer. However, there is some evidence that I was way ahead of my time- I also once invented an Automatic Toothbrusher, and another time spent an entire afternoon trying to make an unhooked phone work hooked up only to batteries. A regular Jules Verne, was I.
There will be more exhibits as I get through more photos, but right now I'm beat and pseudodrunk from spending the evening looking for cute Irish boys in bars with Danielle. All evidence points to Irish boys being very not good for either of us, but we look anyway. What would I do without my fellow masochist?
Anyway, it's kind of humbling to remind yourself of what a frickin' nerd you were as a kid. Let us examine the many ways in which I was/am a nerd (as though you all needed proof).
Exhibit A: FANNY PACK
Can we please discuss the phase when I wore a fanny pack, like, all the time? It was in 2nd and 3rd grade, and my best friend Amie wore one most of the time too. What exactly did I carry in it? Oh, ok, fine I legitimately did have to carry my inhaler around with me all the time. But other than that, what did I have? If I had money, it was negligible, although I do remember Amie and I filling our fanny packs (which we called "pouches" as though we were kangaroos or something) with change and marching off BY OURSELVES to the corner store in her neighborhood to buy candy. So I guess it was marginally useful. Still though... not even Hulk Hogan can pull off the fanny pack thing.
Exhibit B: INVENTOR
I had high aspirations as a child to be an inventor. The inventor stage was sort of ongoing, much like the novelist stage- in contrast to the detective, gymnast, ice skater, etc. stages. In the picture above, my brother is confused by the "hockey stick" I had "invented" for him for his birthday. Ignoring the fact that it is little more than a stick with a box taped to the end and lots of rubber bands, there is the problem of my skewed perception of what "inventing" really was. Creating a hockey stick by yourself does not mean you invented it. Perhaps I was more of a tinkerer. However, there is some evidence that I was way ahead of my time- I also once invented an Automatic Toothbrusher, and another time spent an entire afternoon trying to make an unhooked phone work hooked up only to batteries. A regular Jules Verne, was I.
There will be more exhibits as I get through more photos, but right now I'm beat and pseudodrunk from spending the evening looking for cute Irish boys in bars with Danielle. All evidence points to Irish boys being very not good for either of us, but we look anyway. What would I do without my fellow masochist?
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
on Evite etiquette
I have a love/hate relationship with Evite. It is at once the most useful and most annoying social internet tool out there- it doesn't scream to the rest of the world that you are having a party and X is or is not invited, like Facebook does, but it has also developed a certain amount of its own irritating habits.
For example: Evite tells the host of the event who on their invite list has or has not viewed the invitation. Have you ever gotten an Evite, opened it, not responded because quite frankly you weren't sure if you could attend the event, and then later GOTTEN AN EMAIL from the host asking you why you hadn't responded? I have. It's annoying. I've also gotten emails from people "just checking" to make sure the Evite hadn't accidentally gone into my Trash folder, when in fact I hadn't opened them at all because I knew I didn't want to go to anything thrown by this particular person. So what do you DO if you don't want to go to something? If you don't open the Evite it shows that you did not do so, and you risk being berated by the host. If you DO open the Evite and don't respond, you risk getting the "why didn't you respond?" email, which is always going to be an awkward one to answer. And if you open it and respond "No" without having a legitimate excuse, you risk people finding out that you are lying.
Which brings us to another annoying factor of the Evite- comments in responses. The site allows you to write something when you RSVP, and the Evite culture- at least among my friends- has developed so that you are expected to write something witty. I have in the past RSVP'd to a party and gotten yet another kind of annoying follow-up email, the "you didn't write anything funny!" email. No. I didn't write anything funny. I have a hard time continually coming up with brief yet hilarious snippets to grace my RSVP's, and it's irritating that I am expected to do so just so that the host or hostess can feel like such a wonderfully witty group of people will be attending their event. This party will be so much fun! Just look at the witty repartee on the Evite!
Ugh.
Just today I got an Evite from a friend, and his AIM away message AND Gchat away message are both "I can tell if you've opened the Evite!" This strikes me as awfully passive agressive and makes me not want to open his Evite at all, but of course I did so and responded with a- legitimate- excuse as to why I may not be able to go. This is one that I actually would go to, if I can, but I may be on set, and I am also annoyed at the expectation that I will read the Evite.
The whole thing makes me long for the days when you'd get an invitation in the mail with a phone number to call to RSVP, and you could time your phone call so that you were reasonably sure no one would be home and you'd get an answering machine. No one to ask questions, no one to sound sad if you can't go. Just plain, old fashioned responses. Wedding invitations are even better- there's no talking involved at all! Just check a box on the card and send it back!
I realize this whole rant makes me sound awfully anti-social. This is not true. I am a lovely person, just one who dislikes particular expectations.
For example: Evite tells the host of the event who on their invite list has or has not viewed the invitation. Have you ever gotten an Evite, opened it, not responded because quite frankly you weren't sure if you could attend the event, and then later GOTTEN AN EMAIL from the host asking you why you hadn't responded? I have. It's annoying. I've also gotten emails from people "just checking" to make sure the Evite hadn't accidentally gone into my Trash folder, when in fact I hadn't opened them at all because I knew I didn't want to go to anything thrown by this particular person. So what do you DO if you don't want to go to something? If you don't open the Evite it shows that you did not do so, and you risk being berated by the host. If you DO open the Evite and don't respond, you risk getting the "why didn't you respond?" email, which is always going to be an awkward one to answer. And if you open it and respond "No" without having a legitimate excuse, you risk people finding out that you are lying.
Which brings us to another annoying factor of the Evite- comments in responses. The site allows you to write something when you RSVP, and the Evite culture- at least among my friends- has developed so that you are expected to write something witty. I have in the past RSVP'd to a party and gotten yet another kind of annoying follow-up email, the "you didn't write anything funny!" email. No. I didn't write anything funny. I have a hard time continually coming up with brief yet hilarious snippets to grace my RSVP's, and it's irritating that I am expected to do so just so that the host or hostess can feel like such a wonderfully witty group of people will be attending their event. This party will be so much fun! Just look at the witty repartee on the Evite!
Ugh.
Just today I got an Evite from a friend, and his AIM away message AND Gchat away message are both "I can tell if you've opened the Evite!" This strikes me as awfully passive agressive and makes me not want to open his Evite at all, but of course I did so and responded with a- legitimate- excuse as to why I may not be able to go. This is one that I actually would go to, if I can, but I may be on set, and I am also annoyed at the expectation that I will read the Evite.
The whole thing makes me long for the days when you'd get an invitation in the mail with a phone number to call to RSVP, and you could time your phone call so that you were reasonably sure no one would be home and you'd get an answering machine. No one to ask questions, no one to sound sad if you can't go. Just plain, old fashioned responses. Wedding invitations are even better- there's no talking involved at all! Just check a box on the card and send it back!
I realize this whole rant makes me sound awfully anti-social. This is not true. I am a lovely person, just one who dislikes particular expectations.
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