Click the picture to enlarge please.
I always identified with Calvin as a child (I suppose you could say I still do), and this strip pretty much sums up what being a kid like Calvin is like. Constantly feeling out of sync with the rest of the world, and thus retreating to the world you create for yourself in your mind. If you think about it, Calvin was really quite an anomaly in popular entertainment — not just in comics, but in anything, be it movies, TV, etc. He has no friends, and no extracurricular activities; the only people he ever sees are his parents, who he has a strained relationship with, and Moe, Susie, Rosalyn, and Miss Wormwood, all of whom he detests and all of whom detest him. The only person he ever has any real interaction with exists only in his head. He is, for all intents and purposes, completely alone. And he’s fine with that. The kind of kid most people would entirely ignore all through school is not generally the kind you make the star of your show, and yet the strip became hugely successful.
I know that people of all ages enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes, but I have to think that it meant even more to those of us who grew up with him. Going to school every day and seeing all the ways we didn’t fit in, it was nice to see someone like us, who was intelligent and independent, and didn’t need to be a smile-plastered Mouseketeer to enjoy life. Though numerous motivational posters and guidance councelors and after-school specials had said it again and again, it was Calvin who managed to truly express the idea — without being preachy, without being sappy, perhaps even without trying — that it was okay to be different.
-quoted from Progessive Boink
Gather round all ye xangarians and listen to my tale of whoa.
A much-awaited package arrived at my doorstep the other day. Judging from the packaging, I ascertained that it contained my recent order from Urban Outfitters. As I ripped open the parcel, I was utterly dismayed to come upon a striped hoodie.
“I ordered no such item!” I sorely excliamed. “Alas! They must have switched up my order!” I lamented.
However, upon further excavation of the box did I discover the extent of my purchase intact. But what of the aforementioned, unexpected hoodie? ‘Twas in my size, although I definitely did not order it. Examination of the packing slip revealed it’s omission from the invoice. And then it dawned on me:
I guess I just scored a free $76 Paul Frank hoodie. Oh whoa is me.
Aside: I think I’ve been watching too much Deadwood — hence the strange language with which this entry was written. My apologies.
It’s time to throw caution to the wind–no more holding back. I’m going to take a walk on the wild side, kick ass and take no prisoners. Life just isn’t worth living without a little risk and danger.
From this moment forward, I’m going to start doing Sudoku with a pen.
Yeah, I know. I’m a badass.
I haven’t blogged in a while, but I thought this definitely warranted an entry:
Mosquito is a high-pitched sound “audible only to teenagers” sold by Britain’s Compound Security. It is sold to shopkeepers to use as a teenager repellent — the idea is to play it loudly in and around shops and “chase away those annoying teenagers!!!”
The kids have reportedly converted the high-pitched noise and turned it into a ringtone, which, being inaudible to grownups, can then be used to receive texts and calls in class without alerting teachers.
Link to article
That’s pretty clever of the kids. But what intrigues me more: is this sound actually legit? A bit of research unearthed this mysterious sound. It sounded a little fishy to me so of course, I, being the thorough journalist that I am, began testing it on people. I played it for friends and coworkers. The results were surprising. It seems that the sound is legit. But the claim that it only works on teenagers is a little muddy.
Two of my coworkers (aged 23 and 25) plus myself could hear the sound. The rest of my coworkers (one aged 26 and the rest 30+) were unable to hear it. Three of my friends (aged 23) were unable to hear it. I haven’t actually tried it on any teenagers yet, but that’s what this entry is for. Let me know if you can hear it!
Note: If all you can hear are waves, cars, laughs, etc. then you’re an old fogey. Sorry! If you’re “young” enough to hear it, then you’ll recognize the sound as soon as you hear it.
Bottom line: I’m still young at heart (and apparently at ears as well).
Nothing is less appealing (read: gross) than approaching a urinal filled with liquids of various shades of green and yellow.
Thanks to modern urinal technology, this doesn’t happen too often anymore in highly trafficked public bathrooms. The sensor in the urinal will flush your excretions for you. But for those urinals without the convenience of a blinking red light, there are always pools of dark yellow urine. I will not be discussing other disgusting features of the urinal (i.e. stray curly hairs, ice cubes, gum wads, urinal cakes, etc.) in this post–that is a discussion for another day. Today, we are dealing with negligent flushers.
Flush your urinals gentlemen. I am not fond of breathing in the musky odor of your urine when I approach a urinal, neither am I amused by the shade of your piss. Also, when I’m at a urinal, there is usually a strong desire to release the pressure on my bladder; wasting time to flush your pee down the drain is time I can not afford. Flushing negligence is also a sign of hand-washing negligence. If you don’t bother reaching out and pulling the handle, I’m sure you also don’t bother stopping to wash your hands. That’s just un-hygienic and gross. So please, next time you’re at an un-sensored (word play!) urinal, please remember to flush and wash your hands. For God’s sake, think of the children!
Thank you.
PS. I know this is too much to ask, but when you’re peeing at a toilet, please lift the toilet seat before you pee. Seeing little yellow droplets (wet and dry) on the toilet seat isn’t fun. Neither is it fun for an unsuspecting person to come and sit in your pee. And when at someone else’s house, please place the toilet seat back down. It’s just common courtesy.
Engaging introductory sentence.
Clever and interesting banter elaborating on aforementioned, eyebrow-raising introduction.
Witty conclusion.
Ok. This may be the stupidest question ever in the history of stupid questions, and I am well prepared to look stupid if it is. But I must know:
Are the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, or Torino, Italy? And what is the difference?
I’ve read and heard both referred to as the location of the 2006 Olympics. Is it the same place with just two names? Why couldn’t they just settle on one name? A quick glance down the main page at www.olympics.com offers a link to buy tickets to “Torino 2006″ while at the bottom of the page, there is a link to view the “Turin 2006 Operations.” Great, no help there. So if you know, please enlighten this poor, unenlightened soul. Thanks.
My best guess: Turin is the city name, while they call the Olympic games held there Torino. Sort of like New York 2016 in New York City. But who the hell knows.
P.S. I have recently become addicted to Grey’s Anatomy. Sigh.
Edit: Thanks to both J and S for speedy replies in explaining this to me. :D
What the hell? I open up my fortune cookie… and it’s empty.
Great.
The Bet
Antonio v. Melissa: who can send the most drinks at a bar to complete strangers?
The Rules
The Bet will take place at Gaslight and G Lounge with an hour and half time limit at each location. Within that hour and a half, Melissa (at Gaslight) and Antonio (at G Lounge) will attempt to send as many drinks as possible to complete strangers. The complete strangers must be complete strangers and must be someone who they feel reasonably attracted to (as approved by the judges). Points will be distributed as indicated below. The person with the most points at the end of the night wins. If they go home with someone for the night, they automatically win (although we do not condone such behavior here). The winner will have all the night’s drinks paid for by the one who doesn’t win (we don’t have losers here, we’re all winners).
The Point Distribution
+2 for sending drink
- 2 for rejected drink
+10 for accepted drink
+3 for them coming over
+1 for every minute they talk to you
+5 for a reciprocated drink
+3 if information is asked for + your real info is given
The Bonuses
+20 points for Antonio to send and have drink acknowledged at the straight bar
+20 points for Melissa to bring a straight guy to the gay bar
The Obligatory Send-off
Good luck and Godspeed to both of them!
So this bet came up in conversation and my boss had me type up the official rules. I thought y’all might find it interesting. It will prove to be an interesting competition; I’ll keep you updated. PS - if it wasn’t clear, Melissa will be working a straight bar while Antonio will be working a gay one.
I glanced at the weather widget on my desktop and had to do a double take:
“…Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Moonday…. wait.”
Moonday? That’s not right. It’s supposed to be Monday. Oh, just kidding. Looks like the moon will be 36% full tonight.
Moonday: I thought it was mildly amusing–at least enough to warrant a xanga entry. Hope this makes you chuckle, or at least raise an eyebrow.
