Monthly Archives: March 2004

I know I promised I’d stay up to talk to sammynella tonight. And I promised myself – and the kids – that I’d get my Brownie stuff done, prepare forms, count the dues money, all that, but…

I’m just exhausted and need to crash. Now. Actually, twenty minutes ago.

I’ll figure out a way to either get all this done in the morning or sneak it in while at my desk tomorrow. And Tonya, I love you, but, unlike you, I need to sleep here and there. This is what has become of my social life this week. Sacrificed for sleep. Next it’ll be Early Bird Specials (although those will be with nafspeak at Chalet). I’m becoming old before my time.

Oh, and last night I was looking at Pictures of Dallas Freeways, and it reminded me of the freeway obsession in microserfs. And it caused me to fall asleep dreaming of driving on Central (US-75). Shudder, shudder. My commute this morning, over the bridge and through the woods, was particularly appealing in light of what it was four years ago.

A recent poll conducted by Oxygen Media, Grey Global Group’s MediaCom, and NOP World’s RoperASW found that:

• Twice as many younger women (18-34) as older women (50 +) think sarcasm is funny: 79 percent versus 39 percent.
• The majority of women 18-49 would choose a mate who is very funny over a mate with a lot of money, and two-thirds of women would choose a mate who is very funny over a mate with extremely good looks.

I can hear the outrage from my male friends from here, as they yell, “that’s not true! that’s not true AT ALL!”

In other news today:

AOL TO GIVE AWAY SPAMMER’S PORSCHE
AOL highlighted its success fighting spammers through
the courts with a contest to give away a sports car
confiscated from an e-mailer. The sweepstakes will award one
AOL member with a 2002 Porsche Boxster S Cabriolet that the
Internet service provider said it confiscated from a spammer
in a spate of lawsuits it filed in federal court last April.

Finally, being able to play moderate volume New Wave makes my job all kinds of more tolerable. Yay, new speakers!

Superstitious female that I am, I’m not even going to talk about any other job hopes here. It’ll jinx it.

However, I WILL talk about the OC. The scary Jewish Nana (THE NANA) just wasn’t NEARLY as scary as MY Jewish Nana was.

And she didn’t pronounce “tchocking” right, nor did I hear her use the words “shiksa” or “goyim” ONCE and the show’s crawling with them!

And she wasn’t NEARLY judgemental enough, nor did she lay down enough guilt trips. My mother and I were disappointed. All this lead up to how scary THE NANA is, and she’s not even half as frightening as my Nana, may she rest in peace, was.

You’d think in L.A. they could find ONE scriptwriter with a scary Jewish grandmother to base that character on. I’m upset with the lack of realism on the OC on that topic. The rest of the unbelievable characters, I’m fine with.

From my sojourn to the States with cracksmurf:

None of this is as funny as it was at the time, but hey, I’ve got the photoblog up.

And in case anyone was wondering, rainqueen.com is my new personal domain. “Rain Queen” not only cleverly references one of my favorite Counting Crows song, which in turn references a book, but also refers to the fact that I belong in the Pacific Northwest, which has a lot of rain.

Now, I just need the time & dedication to get the domain up, running and make it cool. Cool was SO much easier in 1996 when I started blogging than it is now.

So after a quick recap through Yahoo Canada Yellow Pages, I found out that one of the better equipped tanning operations in the area is six blocks from my house, right across from where I do spinning.

I wandered down there an hour ago, and explained my problem. I have ten days until I get to New Orleans. I don’t want to look like a pasty white Yankee. And it might be considered international warfare to go down there and blind people with my pale skin. So the guy showed me the two types of tanning beds, starting with the old-school lie-down bed, and then the new-fangled standing booth.

The stand-up kind of booths take half the time to work. You can tell which one I, Ms. Short Attention Span, went for. So I stepped inside the device, stripped down to panties, put on the goggles, and apprehensively hit the ON switch.

Immediately, the fans started up and the lights blared on, and I stood there, patiently, for eight minutes while the miracle of artificial sunshine worked its magic. By the way, it’s hot in those things. I imagined it as just light, but no, it’s heat, too. It’s about May-in-West Texas hot – dry, windy, and like being inside a hair dryer.

Stepped out, checked under my underwear, and there’s a tan line! Hooray! Of course, it really isn’t noticeable anywhere else, and I don’t look particularly healthier – but I’d be afraid if I saw any more difference than I do.

I bought a package for five sessions, at ten minutes in the booth apiece. I’m a little giddy from that much UV now. I’m a Northwest girl – I’m just not used to that much light!

Now, if I could just get the horror story about the girl who cooked herself tanning out of my head, I’d be thrilled!

…is when Big says he’s going to coldcock a foreigner, and mutters about beating up a Russian all the way up those stairs.

Bush wants all Americans to have broadband by 2007. You know, I don’t think the Internet could take that load. Or that much stupidity.

Bright side: that’s a LOT of online bingo players!

First of all, chai_tea_latte is one of the best Guiders I’ve ever seen. She’s very well organized, she handles the kids well, and she knows the Guiding system.

That said, she did teach the kids the hand gestures to “2 Legit 2 Quit” last night.

And we had to explain MC Hammer and what the expression means to seven year olds.

“See, legit is short for legitimate, so he’s saying he’s for real.”

Now, imagine 14 small children doing MC Hammer gestures and dancing. Knees and all.

Y’know, we’re good leaders – we just have moments where we can’t help ourselves. Maybe next week we can teach them to Vogue.

20% of permission based e-mail is not making it into inboxes. That means even if you signed up for a newsletter or other opt-in content, if your ISP thinks it’s spam, you’ll never see it. Not even in your junk mail folder, and really, if it’s not your job (like it is mine) to sift through that, no-one checks junk mail anyways.

Krispy Kreme did something cool awhile ago – they sent out electronic coupons for a new Coffee & Creme Doughnut. EVERYONE likes free doughnuts, right? What if you were in the 20% who signed up to get promotions from Krispy Kreme, via their website, and now your ISP is deciding it’s spam mail and you never get your coupon?

sure, jill, but isn’t this because of people like you?

Seeing girls spilling out of a bathroom stall, blatantly rubbing their noses, made Eighties Night so much more authentic! Then again, coke might be back, or might never have left – but really, did the girls partaking have to be so obvious about it? “Look, we’re checking our nostrils in the mirror!” Seriously, if you’re going to advertise it, just snort off the counter in front of everyone and leave the stall free for people who have to actually go to the bathroom