A writer for nonreaders

When I was in high school, my sister, who is not a big reader, raved about Stephen King's Eyes Of the Dragon. I read it, thinking if someone who doesn't even like to read loved it, then it must be good. I thought the book stunk. I even went so far as to think I could write better than this. I haven't read anything else by SK since.
That is until John told me I just had to read The Dark Tower series. I grudgingly agreed, if nothing else it would get John off my back. I wasn't crazy about the first book. John assured me that the story really picks up in the second book. I'm about a quarter of the way through the second book, and I'm still not impressed. Have I mentioned John is not a big reader either?
I am now convinced SK is a writer for people who don't read. And while I'm not impressed with his writing, I am impressed with the little niche he's managed to carve for himself.

Expensive Hair

DALLAS - A hair lock snipped from Ernesto “Che” Guevara before his burial in 1967 sold for $100,000 at auction Thursday to a Houston-area bookstore owner who called the Marxist “one of the greatest revolutionaries of the 20th century.” -from msn.com

Wow, I'm glad I live in a world where people have 100 grand to blow on a 40 year old lock of hair. Seriously, that is more than I make in 2 years. And the article even went on to say that it might not even be Che's hair. 100 grand for a lock of hair that may or may not belong to a famous person. How many Somalian children could have eaten off that money in a year? I went to the birthplace of Karl Marx a few years back. Guess what I did. I snapped a picture.
The whole idea of auctions like this grate on my sense of financial pragmatism.

Fun Game

Here is a really fun game to play when you are hating work. Go to adultswim.com and play 5 Minutes to Kill (Yourself). Like the title says, you have 5 minutes to kill yourself using only things found in your office. My best time so far is 3:21.

Creative vegetabling

So the boss leaves a box of decorations out and asks the night shift to decorate the office. Nobody here wanted to do it because they are all mad at him. I figured this might be my only chance to do something creative at work so I jumped on it.

There were a ton of these fake vegetables. I don't know what normal people do with fake vegetables, but I made everyone a Computer Buddy. Mine is a Vegetable Monster. I also made a witch, a ghost (covered in whiteout), and a werewolf.

I also made a display for my bosses door that involves a squash and two acorns. I wonder if he'll find all this as funny as I do.

The Sandwich Drama

I've been living with John for a week now (and I haven't killed him--woo-hoo!).
We went grocery shopping after the move. John was all hell-bent on buying peanut butter and jelly (despite the fact that I told him I already had both at the old place). He insisted, and beyond that, he dumped them into the cart and moved on.
I made myself a PB & J sandwich today. He has obviously not touched either sandwch topper. Why insist on wasting money, buying duplicate items, if you are not even going to use them?

Then, I suggested to him last week while I was setting up the kitchen, that instead of using a ziploc bag every day to take his (bologna) sandwiches to work he should use one of my sandwich containers. One of them has cartoon characters on it and admittedly might be embarassing to take to work with a bunch of manly men. The other one, however, is a respectable plain boring tupperware container. He said sure. He hasn't been using that one either. Apparently he'd rather throw away 168+ bags per year. And waste even more money...

WTF???

Relevance

I was recently contacted on Myspace by a friend I haven't spoken to in about 12 years. We say, hey we should get to know each other again.
But, how do you determine what is relevant in life? Beyond the job status, marital status, and children.
What bits of life are important enough that someone should know about them?

Jena 6=BULLSH*T

This Jena 6 crap has gotten out of hand. These guys are being held, not because they are black, but because they are criminals. If the situation were reversed and a bunch of white guys beat up a black guy, people would be crying that the punishment is not severe enough. People are so full of sh*t when it comes to this racial discrimination/profiling crap. It is only about race because people make it about race. There will be no forward strides until people make it about people, not about color.
And furthermore, what is with all these people protesting? Don't they have jobs? Are we really looking at a bunch of non-working welfare abusers getting together to cry about a problem that isn't there?

The news

I'm getting tired of the way every news channel plays the same three stories ALL DAY LONG!

First we have this business with the rich people whose child was "kidnapped." Regardless of whether they killed her or they really are victims of a vicious crime, what makes them more important than any other victim out there? I don't mean to sound callous but damn, people are killed and kidnapped every day. Why does the media select only certain cases to cover? And how do they pick these people?

Then we have Greenspan spouting out all sorts of crap. Did he miss the power and spotlight so badly that he had to get back in the only way he could (ie- berate Bush Jr, you know, something else that new and different for the media).

And who could forget OJ? Certainly not anybody in America who owns a tv...He committed murder years ago and got away with it. Why does anybody think he is going down for these new charges? It'll be Paris Hilton in jail all over again...only worse.

Office Ass-kissing

So here's a question...How is it that the person who is consistently a good employee (always on time, works independently, never causes strife with other coworkers) is the one who gets shafted on a regular basis? And the guy who is a whiny, kiss-ass little bitch is the one who gets what he wants? Seriously, I want to know. How is the good employee ever supposed to get ahead in life? Without all the ass-kissing and bitching and being an obnoxious know-it-all?
And furthermore, why do people who are married think their time is more important than non-married people (oh, I can't work late, I won't get to see my wife, boo hoo)? I can understand if you are a parent, your children sort of need you. But just because you have a peice of paper that legally binds you to another person does not make you some kind of instant royalty. And beyond that, how does a whiny know-it-all even find somebody to marry? Seriously, did she lose a bet?

Disposables

I just read a product review for Once, the panties you wear one time and then throw away. Designed for women to wear during their periods, Once is just the latest in a line of products that clog the environment. Everything is disposable nowadays.
Paper/plastic plates...because God forbid you wash your dishes.
Cleaning wipes...because sponges and rags are just icky.
Now underwear is disposable. I hope the government starts working on turning Pluto into a landfill (since it isn't considered a planet anymore) because ours will be full in no time. Seriously, is tossing your skivvies into a washing machine too much to ask?

latest movies

I saw two new movies in the last couple of days, Stardust and The Simpsons. Loved the first, the second not so much.
Stardust has action, humor, and a good story line. It's not the deepest movie you'll ever see, but it's entertaining. Stellar cast, good special effects and costumes/makeup.
While I like The Simpsons tv show, the movie is not worth seeing in the theater. There's a couple of chuckle-worthy moments, but overall it's a little disappointing. The story line is pretty much a big yawn. They could have done a lot more with this. Wait for it to appear at Blockbuster.

Birthday List

Inspired by a post on 52projects.com, I made a list of 26 things to do before I turn 27, one of which was to start a blog. So for my first entry, I'm printing the list...

1. Go somewhere I've never been.
2. Get published again.
3. Get back down to my college weight
4. Visit a local art gallery
5. Go to the planetarium
6. Finish Vol. 2 of The Book of Randomness for Valerie
7. Complete a photo project
8. Find direction
9. Become more organized
10. Try new food
11. Cook more often (or should I say Learn to cook?)
12. Make more time for my friends
13. Go to the symphony
14. Make a decision-free evening for John
15. Go to the farmer's market
16. Actually do Christmas cards this year
17. Reduce unnecessary spending
18. Eat less junk food
19. Start a blog (CHECK!)
20. Learn photoshop
21. Go to the beach
22. Run a 5K
23. Be more comfortable in my own skin
24. Be nice to John, even when I want to strangle him
25. Do more creative things
26. Enjoy life more!