Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Mates of State
They're Mates of State.
They're Married.
They have two adorable daughters.
They're Musicians.
And in my opinion, they're awesome.
I [or rather a really cool (ex)boyfriend of mine] discovered them about a year and a half ago.
And for some reason, I find them extremely interesting.
Their music puts me in a fantastic mood. And the idea of a husband and wife making music and a family together gives me the warm and fuzzies.
perhaps they're not your style (although their older stuff sounds much different than their new stuff), but try to tell me this doesn't make you smile. or tap your foot. or jump up and down uncontrollably singing every single word:
In my opinion, it's the best of both worlds.
and I sort of envy their life...just a bit.
"Damn Ye' it'd be stupid to diss you, even your superficial raps is SUPERoffical!"
I'm supposed to think Kanye West is an asshole, that he's rude, that he is an arrogant load of crap. Well, maybe on opposite day.
Seems like in the past years everyone has had a jab at my dear Kanye:
Monday, November 29, 2010
Handle With Care (A Melodramatic Ode to My Broken Laptop)
I'm coming to you this evening from my room mate's laptop. Why? Because my own two-thousand dollar Macbook pro is incapacitated, the victim of a freak occurrence on highway 69.
It was shot 4 times in a drive-by incident
Actually, I found that with a quick Google image search. The truth, while drastically less interesting, was no less tragic. It went a little more like this.
Regardless, my life has reached a crux of desperation. Everything I once took for granted is gone. My world has been reduced to neolithic solitude. My only companion is my ipod, but still... the dwindling battery life works like a death clock, counting down to his demise and my moment of complete isolation. In this state of being, I can only bring myself to listen to one song anyway.
So here we stand, my Ipod and I, sharing our final moments together before it dies and I can't bring it back. I try to look back, to see where it all went wrong, and I can only come to one thing. I was always too careless, not just with my Macbook but with every electronic device I'd ever had.
My phone had been dropped, crushed, beaten, thrown, smashed, soaked, and lost so many times that one day, it just decided to stop working. I always hated it for that, but I guess I was too harsh. I went through a couple PS2s in my youth, always blaming it on faulty design. At some point, though. It's just not a coincidence anymore.
I never realized how much of my world was crammed into my Mac until the day it was gone. All of my writing, all of my music, lost in a digital purgatory that I can't even hope to understand. Not to mention my schoolwork. I will say that I owe my college education to Dropbox.
Ah, my dear iPod. Parting is such sweet sorrow. Technology seems like such a wonderful thing until you're forced to be without it. Then, you realize that living your life dependent on electronics and virtual entertainment is foolish and fragile, especially considering the likelihood of something going wrong. I'm nothing without my technology that I've taken so much for granted. It came into my life as a messiah but left it like a crutch. Somewhere along the way, I forgot who I was... maybe Carr has been right all along.
As much as I feel lost and unconnected, a part of me feels free. As I stood there with my iPod in his final minutes, I noticed so many beautiful things in ways I hadn't before.
It's a beautiful world we live in, why do we choose technology over it? Why do we gather in the millions to watch cats use poor grammar or some idiot looking at a rainbow? We should go out and find our own double rainbow. Maybe we'd see that he's not as crazy as we thought.
Alas...
Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Black Friday
Saturday, November 27, 2010
NERDS!
Story of my life. Actually, the real story of my life is that I've watched two Star Wars movies and one movie explicitly about Star Wars (for-die-hards-only Fanboys) over the last two days. Right now I'm on Attack of the Clones, otherwise known as the worst Star Wars movie (I'm open for debate, and also open to crush your arguments like Palpatine crushed the Republic).
This is good Star Wars:
This is not:
"Killing...younglings!!"
Even the talented Ewan Macgregor cannot polish the turd that is the dialogue from Episode III: Revenge of George Lucas.
I hate watching my childhood memories of my favorite fictional universe be crushed into tiny, Midichlorian-sized pieces, and then CGI'ed into stupid oblivion. I remember watching the Episode IV: A New Hope (the "first" Star Wars movie released in '77) and thinking "Damn, Tatooine is full of goddamn sand!". Now, I'm not entirely sure that Hayden Christensen, a.k.a. Mannequin Skywalker is a real person:
Cats (please lol).
Translation: I am a crazy cat lady.
Don't console me. I've come to terms with it.
Luckily, there's a place for people who like cats. A sanctuary.
It's called the internet.
I mean, seriously. Look how cute this is.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Reality Check: It's Just A Movie
When I was younger, I used to check under my bed and in my closet before going to bed. In retrospect, I feel like this wasn't all that wimpy though. At least I tried to face my fear by making sure nothing was there instead of cowering in my bed right? Now a days, as a young adult, I still have nightmares and occasionally keep my desk lamp on after I watch a really scary movie and I'm not ashamed about it. Congrats movie makers you got me! With age I've also gotten wiser and know when to just say no to certain scary movies that are just not worth it. My most recent movie I had to vow I wouldn't see: Paranormal Activity 2.
Who in their right mind could watch this and sleep peacefully? I mean there are real reports of things like this actually happening. its absolutely terrifying!
I know its a little childish to get so scared when it's just a movie. However, I blame my overactive imagination and the fact that I've seen way too many scary movies. Of all the scary movies I've seen, the Scream series is my favorite. I think the reason I like them so much is that you have to figure out who the killer(s) are. One of the characters I can sometimes identify with is Jamie Kennedy's character in scream. The nerd who takes scary movies way to seriously. He has a set of rules on how to survive a scary movie and sometimes when I get scared I jokingly quote him to whomever I'm with.
Even with these "rules" to survive a scary movie. I still get scared and I think I always will because, against my better judgment, I'll continue to watch scary movies. There may come a day when I realize it is just a movie, but until then I'll sleep with my light on.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Just One Addict Helping Out Another
Finally, I got one.
Now I'm addicted.
It turns out it's not so hard to make a phone call after all--although it is a tad more clunky than the tiny streamlined folding phone I had previously--in fact, it's very easy to use and even has a built in speaker phone, bluetooth capability for wireless headset use, or jack to use with the plug-in headset that comes with it.
I don't really use the iPod feature much (iTunes), I don't want to run the battery down. I rarely use the regular iPod Nano I have, unless I want to listen to an audio book or something.
My dog is wearing her Invisible Fence collar. |
If I had those special computerized Nike running shoes that went with this app, this would be cool. Of course, it would help if I ran. (I wonder if you could use it for a walking program?) This app came with my phone too.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Would you like to play a game?
I have just summed up my life in the above sentence. You can probably relate seeing as how you’re reading a blog about vices.
That’s right. I know you. I’m one of you.
You like to put off assignments until the very last minute because other things are just so much more enjoyable to do. Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, StumbleUpon, anything that will keep you from typing up that paper that’s due in eight hours.
Oh wait, that was seven hours ago. FOCUS!
Whenever I’m bored with nothing to do, I’ll probably check the old Facebook to see what’s new while I open up a new tab to see if any of my YouTube subscriptions has updated. I usually have a brief session of the Internets when I want to waste time.
However…
When I find myself at a computer for an assignment, I’ll be on the Internets to waste time. I start reverting back to websites that I have not been on since my sophomore year of high school. I’m talking about online flash games. AddictingGames, Kongregate, and Newgrounds are all casual online gamer staples.
Unlike many such gamers, I’m not one to play the games on Facebook. Aside from getting pointless notifications, spam, and the inevitable lagging, I just don’t find the games very enjoyable. According this graph, there are many people that would disagree with my gaming taste.
If you want a taste of my taste, I have listed some of the standout games that I have played in recent memory in no particular order:
Infectonator: World Dominator
This game is all about creating the ultimate virus that causes those who become infected to become zombies. Its retro pixely graphics only make the game more enjoyable. Beware: this game is hard to stop playing.
Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 3
It’s the third installment of the Guitar Hero-like series and it’s definitely harder than the first two. Be perseverant! Your frustrations will be worth the sweet victories in the end!
Afro-Ninja Escape Series
These 1st person games force you to strategically think outside of the box… and drive you to click on every single pixel on the screen. In all honesty, these games are interesting and fun. Once you beat one, you’ll find yourself starting another one.
Coma
This very nice looking game is one that will make you think about life. The graphics make me think of Tim Burton, and the story is pretty emotionally involved. You’ll want to play this one through just on curiosity alone.
Age of War 2
This follow-up to a simple strategic war game is an interesting one. It is your base against an enemy base in battles that evolve through the ages from cavemen to futuristic warfare.
These are just a few games that I have been sucked into thanks to my avoidance of work. If you liked these, tell your grades and your boss that I apologize for your future distractions.
By the way, the title was a Saw reference. I know, lame. Don't judge me.