Fangirl Speaks!

http://fangirladventures.blogspot.com/2008/03/social-networking-and-internet-stalking.html

As you may have read either here or elsewhere on the Internets, I’ve
decided to move to Seattle when my lease is up at the end of July.

Since
this is a major lifestyle change, I’ve decided to blog about it. Talk
about all the things that go into uprooting one’s life in search of (in
this case - literally) greener pastures. I’ll talk about the move, the
moving and the settling in. I figure it is also a good way to help
family/friends keep track of me and all that I do or complain about
doing.

Fangirl Adventures
has been launched and is up and running. I wanted to make sure I had
some content before I announced all over the place. Please check it out.

I
do have a simple request. To help pay for all the moving expenses, I
have put up Google ads. If you could just click on one of them every
time you visit, I would be very grateful. Just click and stay on the
page for a couple of seconds. If you do it too many times, they
consider it fraud and none of it counts. Thank you in advance for all
the pennies that will pay for a drop of gas in my moving truck.

I appreciate it greatly!

The reason I didn’t want to keep it here is because I have a little bit more control over it there including being searchable by Google (this one isn’t).

I have been a Netflix member since 2001 and have watched a great many movies in that time. Today I cancelled my account. I have every intention of going back, but for now I needed to end it for two reasons. The first was saving a few bucks that can go toward my move to

Seattle

and the second is forcing me to spend more time doing other things instead of watching so many movies. So this may be my last recap of movies until the end of the year.

Shoot ‘Em Up (Action): Description from Netflix: When a mysterious loner named Mr. Smith (Clive Owen, Children of Men) delivers a woman’s baby during an intense shoot-out, he inadvertently lands himself at odds with the ruthless Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti). Aided by the enigmatic DQ (Monica Bellucci), Mr. Smith is tasked with protecting the newborn from Hertz and his henchmen. Written and directed by Michael Davis, this bullet-riddled action thriller also stars Ramona Pringle and Chris Jericho.

I honestly feel dumber for having sat through this entire movie. It was so far over the top even I couldn’t stomach it (this from the person who saw ID4 in theaters 7 times). I recommend avoiding this movie at all costs.

The Simpsons Movie (Animation) Description from Netflix: Homer Simpson is used to alienating people, but nothing compares to the level of animosity he’s inspired with his most recent foul-up: polluting the river with toxic waste from the nuclear power plant. Now, Homer’s been fired and the citizens of

Springfield

forced to evacuate in this first-ever big-screen outing for Matt Groening’s animated clan. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith voice the Simpson family.

It was better than I thought it would be, but no where near the quality of the Brad Bird years of the Simpsons. It’s worth watching just because it’s better than some of the episodes that have been airing recently, but keep low expectations.

Blades of Glory (Comedy) Description from Netflix: When a scandal strips them of their gold medals, two world-class skaters (Will Ferrell and Jon Heder) skirt their way back onto the ice via a loophole that allows them to compete together as a pairs team. Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") and Amy Poehler ("Saturday Night Live") co-star as their competitive on-ice rivals who vow to use their triple axel to the fullest advantage.

This movie was better than I thought. I’m not a big fan of Will Ferrell or Jon Heder, but they did a great job. Jenna Fischer (Pam from the Office) was very adorable and the movie held my interest. I would recommend it.

Superbad (Comedy) Description from Netflix: 40-Year-Old Virgin veterans Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen team up again as producer and co-star/co-writer (respectively) of this high school comedy starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as best buddies facing separation anxiety as they prepare to go off to college. Attempting to score alcohol for a party (believing that the babes will follow), the boys’ evening quickly dissolves into chaos. Bill Hader ("Saturday Night Live") co-stars.

I really didn’t like this at all and found myself not laughing and fast forwarding huge chunks. I seem to like every other project that Judd Apatow is associated with.

White Noise 2 (Thriller) Description from Netflix: Distraught over the murder of his family, Abe Dale (Nathan Fillion) attempts suicide and almost succeeds. But after he’s revived in a hospital, he learns he can predict when people around him are about to die. Abe takes it upon himself to alter the destiny of these ill-fated individuals but soon learns that playing God really angers some folks: namely the devil. The thriller is a stand-alone sequel to the 2005 film starring Michael Keaton.

I didn’t see the first movie and I only rented this because Nathan Fillion and Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica were in it. However, I liked it a lot. It gets a bit cheesy toward the end, but overall I thought this was a solid thriller. It is much better than those Saw movies because it focused on the mystery more than the gore. Worth renting and watching the behind the scenes features.

Dracula 2000 (Horror) Description from Netflix: After breaking into a high-security vault, a team of thieves discovers an ancient crypt that holds none other than the corpse of Dracula! Freed from a century of confinement, the fanged count travels to

New Orleans

so he can quench his thirst for blood … and find the woman who holds the key to world domination and eternal life.

Again, I only watched this because Nathan Fillion was in it, but I found the movie interesting in a weird way. It was a typical horror slasher film that decided to have a huge complex back story, but seemed to alienate both audiences. It was both too dumb and too smart for itself at the same time. Gerard Butler plays Dracula and I didn’t recognize him at all. I didn’t believe it was him until he spoke. He looks NOTHING like he does in 300. I can’t really recommend it as a good movie, but it’s interesting enough to check out.

Outing Riley (Comedy) Description from Netflix: Bobby Riley (writer-director Pete Jones) is finally ready to come out to his conservative Catholic family and stop pretending that his best lesbian pal is his girlfriend. But it turns out he’s not the only one harboring a secret. When Bobby announces to his three disbelieving brothers that he’s actually in love with a man, that revelation turns out to be just a sample of the smorgasbord of surprises members of the clan have long been hiding.

And again, I got this because Nathan Fillion was in it (and I swear I’m all caught up on his movies). It was a very cute comedy. This is the director’s second movie since doing the first greenlight project. It takes place in

Chicago

and you completely believe these guys are brothers. It’s a cross between Brothers McMullen and Jeffrey. I would recommend it.

Thus concludes all my Netflixing for a while. I will let you know when I start it up again!

Sometimes people get so used to using acronyms that they assume that everyone knows what they are talking about or that it could only stand for one thing. Such is the problem when you ask people if they have heard of TED. They either ask, “Ted who?” or think it is referring to United Airlines puddle jumper flights. The TED I am referring to is an organization that helps spread ideas and stands for “Technology, Education and Design.”

TED started out as a meeting place where people from those three fields could get together and swap ideas. Since its humble beginnings in 1984, the conference has grown to encompass global issues, business, science and the fine arts. Additionally, TED now has its own website that hosts videos of past speakers, a blog discussing various topics and a community of people that comment and discuss ideas.

Some people might read that and think “Snooze-fest” or “this has nothing to do with me,” those people couldn’t be more wrong. Okay, I admit it. I was the one thinking those things. I had first heard of TED on a design website I read and I had no idea what he was talking about. Then someone sent me a link to one of the talks which was by Hans Rosling (I hadn’t heard of him either) about debunking third world myths. The video was eighteen minutes and I, admittedly, didn’t watch it for a long time. Then one day when I needed to kill some time, I watched it. I was floored. It was amazing, funny, informative and the time just flew by. My interest was peaked and I began learning more about TED and watching more and more videos.

It is comprised of fifty speakers over four days who only get eighteen minutes to present and takes place in Aspen, Colorado. Some times they have musicians and comedians perform in between and that can range from five to ten minutes. The only way to go to TED is to be invited. They only let 1,000 people attend and it can cost $6,000 (but this includes books and CDs you get throughout the year in addition to getting to go). This is the point where you think to yourself, “You have got to be kidding me.” Sounds kind of crazy I know, but if I got an invitation and had a spare couple of thousand dollars lying around, I wouldn’t hesitate to go.

So if you aren’t on the invitation list and you don’t have the money to go, how can you partake in this amazing conference? Good question. They post the videos online for you to watch for free. They are always adding new ones and they have it broken down into categories if you don’t know where to start. The categories are: date filmed, most emailed, most discussed, most jaw-dropping, most persuasive, most courageous, most ingenious, most fascinating, most inspiring, most beautiful and funniest. When you finish watching a talk, you can rate it for others to find or not find as the case may be.

So in this time of the writer’s strike when you are looking for something to watch and you just can’t suffer through another “who is smarter - you or a hammer?” type shows, turn to www.ted.com and watch a video or twelve. Eighteen minutes is the same length of a half-hour show without commercials and you will definitely learn something new or thing about something in a new way.

Where should you begin? Another good question. I recommend starting with: “Rives on 4am” followed by “JJ Abrams on the mystery box” then “Erin MeKean redefines the dictionary” and finally “Hans Rosling on debunking third world myths.” Those four talks will give you a good idea on the caliber of videos you will find on the site. I hope you all find it as interesting and as informative as I have.

Let me know which ones you like best!

I’m trying a new approach to my health. Instead of diving into a diet or a regimented work out program, I am trying to be healthier first.

For the past month (once I was over all the flu and cold non-sense), I have been trying to do the "Eating Right For Your Type" guidelines. This is a system that lists which foods make your body work better based on your blood type. I’ve been trying to eat the foods in the "highly beneficial" and "neutral" categories.

I’ve been doing fairly well. Although, I’m having a harder time not eating cow, pig or shrimp. I also have cut all pop out including diet, have steered away from anything fried and avoided sweets. I’ve been bringing my lunch of salads or sandwiches, drinking 8 glasses of water and having snacks of yogurt or cottage cheese. I’ve been 98% good - I’m not perfect. I really like shrimp tempura rolls.

In addition to this, I have been trying to do 10,000 steps a day using my handy dandy pedometer. The most I’ve done is 9,300 so far. Without trying, I average about 4-5,000 steps so I’ve been using the treadmill and getting it closer to 7-8,000. I just get so bored after 30 minutes. I’m slowly working my way up and am trying to figure out different ways to work into my normal routine. I work on the 7th floor and we can’t use the stairs to go up, but we can to take them all the way down so I’ve been doing that 3x a day.

Once these things are apart of my normal routine, I can start upping it and doing actual programs. My problem with past workouts is once I stopped I didn’t workout at all. I want a future workout to be supplemental to my regular workouts and not the other way around. The same goes for a diet. If I just try making healthier choices, I’ll eventually be healthier.

So that’s my approach to health this year and we’ll see how that goes.

Since it is a new year, I thought I would post a new pic of me. I took this self portrait waiting for friends to come out of the Tower of Terror at California Adventure. The nice bonus of this pic is that it matches my blog background and is just a great photo of me in general.

Once a year, I try to go through and clean out my kitchen
cabinets and hall closets. I look for items that I haven’t used in over a year
and either put them back into rotation or donate them to charity. I have been
doing this since I moved into this apartment back in 1999. This seems like a
totally normal thing to do which I’m sure everyone has done at some point.
However, I have discovered something odd about my kitchen.

Every time I do this I discover that I have an over abundance of one item in my
kitchen. The first time I realized something was off was when I realized I had five
turkey basters. Now, I have never owned a turkey baster. At this point, I had
three roommates and all of them claimed that they had a turkey baster and it
wasn’t theirs. I willing to concede that I may have owned one of them, but not
five.

Next, eight spoons that didn’t match any of the silverware I owned nor the
silverware of past roommates materialized. After that, it was five different
kinds of beaters that didn’t anyone’s mixer. This time, it’s five strainers/colanders.
One of them I know is mine. The other four are new to me including one
stainless steel one. It’s not like I had a party and people just left their
strainers at my house like Tupperware or a serving bowl.

Now, I do this every year and I would have noticed these things adding up. They
all seem to appear between the yearly re-organizations. None of them repeat
once I’ve discovered them. For instance, I just have the one turkey baster now.
No new spoons or bowls or beaters have re-spawned in my kitchen.

My theory is that since matter/energy is neither gained nor lost that these
items are formerly the lost socks and clothes that go into the laundry and
never re-emerge. I lose socks and wash clothes and whatnot all the time. I
think they are not really lost and instead have been transforming themselves
into these random kitchen items. It makes sense because my kitchen and my laundry
room share a wall. Now Tupperware would seem to be the most logical thing to
transform into because I wouldn’t necessarily notice, but my Tupperware is kept
in a cabinet in the dining room.

They never seem to transform into anything with any kind of mechanical
workings. They also seem to regenerate in groups of five or eight. I’m willing
to believe at least one of them was originally mine and maybe one of a past
roommate, but I cannot account for the rest of them.

Sadly, these items never seem to be things I can use multiples of. I would
gladly lose a pair of pants for some new pots and pans or a shirt for some new
cookie sheets.

I managed to see two more movies so I would like to add "No Country for Old Men" to the Good list and "Charlie Wilson’s War" to the Mediocre list. I might see "American Gangster" tonight. If I do, I’ll just update this post.

I was planning on doing more stuff and more posts, but I’m not feeling great and plan on going into a nice Theraflu coma to ring in the New Year. Still a better than last year which was me attempting to sleep on the floor of the smoker’s lounge in the Phoenix airport. I hate US Airways. I hate them so very, very much.

UPDATE: I did see "American Gangster" and I’ll put it in the mediocre list. It was long and the ending didn’t match the rest of the movie. I immediately watched "Blow" afterwards which is a better based-on-a-true-story drug movie that actually chronologically takes place right after "American Gangster" so it fit. Also, I am still sick and slept all day New Years Eve and New Years day. Stupid Germs.

My friends had a birthday party for their two year old yesterday. At the party there were many adults and my cousin’s 16 month old daughter, Sammie. The party was decorated with many balloons that caused JJ to make these godzilla sounds when he smacked them around in pure glee.

So I’m sitting on the floor next to Sammie and she points to the balloons and says "Ball." I say "balloons." She just looks at me. I few minutes later she says "ball" and I say "balloons." After the third time this happens, she moves closer to me, tilts her head like a dog does when it is trying to understand and she points and in a slow voice says "b-a-l-l." To which I say happily, "balloons." She shakes her head, makes a deep sigh, tilts her head again and slowly, but louder this time says "b-a-l-l." I, of course, say "balloons." She shakes her head and walks off. For the rest of the party, she would just look over at me and shake her head.

She tried to make me understand that I was saying the wrong word and after two attempts she thought me an idiot and gave up and walked away. It was the funniest damn thing. Clearly, I do not know the difference between a ball and a balloon and she does. Therefore, I am an idiot and it is pointless to try and educate me.