Category Archives: thoughts

by | November 19, 2009 · 3:14 pm

how cool is this camouflaged octopus?

My biology lovin’ boyfriend had tried to get me to watch this video for about a month.   Each time he asked me if I’d watched it yet, I’d give some legitimate excuse, like “I’m so sorry, I just don’t have 5 minutes to spare in my unemployed day.”

Well, when I had run out of excuses and finally watched it, I was amazed…just as he promised I would be.   The part where the octopus literally transforms himself (I guess its a him? How sexist of me) into the coral is so cool.   I know it starts off somewhat slow, but watch it through to the end –  I swear.

I love this octopus.

The website is also an interesting concept.  This is an excerpt from the “About TED” page, because they said it better than me.

“TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year’s TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.”

Another bonus, checking out this website makes me feel intellectual again.

[Posted by Shannon]

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by | November 18, 2009 · 9:44 am

the flyest kid on the block.

On my walk to the metro this morning, I spotted a tall, slighty scruffy-faced boy wearing low-top Chucks with nice work pants and pulling it off. I decided right then and there that I wanted to marry him, so I gave him a good stare, just so he knew. Then — in my head, obviously — I had a conversation with him about what music we were both listening to. Do you ever do that? Imagine someone striking up a conversation about what you’re listening to? I do it a lot, and my hypothetical level of coolness fluctuates wildly from day to day. Some days I’m all “Ooh, I HOPE someone asks me today so I can tell them I’m listening to Cloud Cult, which means I’m alternative and cool.” Other days, I think I should probably be ready to scroll back a few songs in case someone pops the question. “Taylor Swift, haha, silly iTunes Shuffle. What was before that? Oh, Coldplay, um, and before that? ‘Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)’? Where did that come from??*” And then I’d awkwardly laugh and walk away.

Not that anyone’s ever actually stopped and asked me what I’m listening to. Sigh.

In other news, on Monday I went out to happy hour and realized that I left my ID at work. The waiter was being strict but luckily, I only lived two blocks away and was able to run home (bitterly, of course) to get my passport. This morning I found my ID buried in the pocket in my wallet where it’s supposed to be, juuust deep enough that it looked like the pocket was empty. Son of a bitch.

Also. You know how when you were little, you were told that if you put the plastic rings that hold pop cans (or “soda” cans, as the kids say) together directly into the trash/recycle bin, the dolphins would strangle themselves in the holes and die? Is that true? Because I totally still cut every individual hole and think about all the dolphins I’m saving.

*I’m kidding here, of course. If I ever found a man who loved “Aaron’s Party” as much as I do, I’d propose on the spot.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | November 13, 2009 · 12:18 am

poetry, lost umbrellas, and nice strangers.

umbrella

Don't bother sending compliments. I already know I'm a phenomenal artist.


Wanna hear some random thoughts I have? Great!

  • A good way to pace yourself when eating is to eat something that’s both absurdly spicy and absurdly (temperature) hot. It’s also a good way to make your mouth hurt like shit.
  • So remember the overpriced umbrella I bought from Anthropologie because I didn’t have a functioning one and I was having a bad day and dammit I needed a cute umbrella? Well, yeah, I lost that one in a bar the day after I bought it. I bought ANOTHER cute, overpriced umbrella from The Gap the other day and after three days of use, I left it in a cab. And today I discovered that I lost my water bottle somewhere between all of the millions of places I went on Tuesday. Now, these are all small things in the grand scheme of things, but REALLY? Is it REALLY necessary for me to lose 140 things in a row? No one likes to lose things, but when I lose something it stresses me out to the point that I can’t think about anything else until 1) I cain’t think about it no mo’ or 2) I replace the thing I bought. But see, I can’t buy another umbrella, because then I will just lose it. (And no, the DC Cab Commission has not found my umbrella, nor has anyone on Craigslist. What are these services FOR, if not helping me find my umbrella?!!)
  • Today as I was leaving swim practice and feeling all tired and parched because I didn’t have any water to drink because I lost my water bottle, I was talking on the phone with ex-roomie Miss Potter. Then a gust of wind blew by and flipped my umbrella (the cheap plain-colored one that I have to use in emergencies) inside out. I was carrying a large bag and attempting to hold my cell phone to my ear and the wind was still blowing, so flipping the umbrella back to its natural state was proving, er, difficult. And then — AND THEN — a kind stranger (probably a drunk college boy) flipped it back for me! How nice was that? I mean, okay, maybe he’s not Mother Teresa, but that made me rull happy. There are good people in the world. I just wish one of those good people would find my umbrella. And my water bottle. Sigh.
  • Officemate E.Lee sent me this video this morning and (if you can believe it), it made me cry.
  • Officemate E.Lee’s boyfriend is officiating his best friend’s wedding this weekend, and he is going to read his favorite poem at the wedding. This is the poem, and I lurve it:

Poem to Old Friends Who Have Never Met

When I’m not wishing I could find a unicorn
I wish all our old friends knew each other
The very least they deserve
is the pleasure of each other’s company

We’d go down by the river
and the rocks would hum
with this rich collection of men & women
They would look around and see themselves
no longer isolated

no longer points in the darkness pointing nowhere

but as links in a magnificent chain of
impossible flowers
girdling the world and their talk
(they are all talkers)
would burst like spray in the sunlight

and I would smile
saying nothing
with a bottle of beer in my hand
and a small white bird banging in my heart

By Peter Meinke
From The Contracted World (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006)

That’s enough random thoughts for now. I know I missed the Veterans Day Google Holiday yesterday (and all of the Sesame Street ones after the Big Bird one), but yay for all of those!

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | November 9, 2009 · 6:21 pm

finally, an artist that is cool.

I’ll be honest – I hate art.  Most of it makes zero sense to me and I believe that it makes zero sense to everyone…they just want to be pseudo-intellectual by saying how “deep” and “meaningful” the art is.   Really, the artist responsible is laughing at how gullible regular people are.  Yes, laughing at you, pseudo-intellectual.  Kind of like Scientology.

I can barely think back on all the art I saw in Europe without wanting to hyperventilate.  Not because it was memorable, but because I was in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence crying because there was NO way to get out of the endless hallways.  Literally no exit for 1,930,239,048,392,080,438,920,849,302 of the SAME painting.  The painting of the SAME ugly woman with the SAME ugly, naked baby.   Gross.

renaissance-art-04

Ew.

This artist (Kevin Van Aelst) makes art that is interesting from real life things.  And I like that.

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Here’s his website.

*Sidenote:  This commentary is a knock on art, not religion.

[Posted by Shannon]

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by | October 30, 2009 · 10:28 am

we hope. we despair. we hope.

If you are fed up with federal politics and just need some new faith in government (or want to see something clever and aesthetically pleasing), read this:

E Pluribus Unum

Out of many, one.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | October 26, 2009 · 10:10 pm

just six words and a picture.

suri

A blanky and heels? Not okay.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | October 22, 2009 · 12:28 pm

halloween costumes, testosterone and iphone reps.

It’s almost Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, and I am freaking out because I have absolutely no idea what I want to be.  I feel like this year needs to be particularly good, since I was so entrenched in the campaign last year I didn’t even realize it was Halloween. Somebody call the wahhhhhmbulance.

Anyway, my beloved HuffPo has posted some hilariously adorable costumes for babies.  Perhaps I’ll just take one of the ideas and adjust it a bit.  I’m thinking the WALL-E costume would be super cute in my size.  No?  Okay.  I always forget that Halloween means I’m supposed to dress skanky.

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Click here for the slideshow!

Speaking of last year’s election (Yes, yes, I KNOW that’s it’s almost been a year since the election, but this study just came out!) this news story kind of sucks for our male McCain voting readership. I have a feeling that demographic isn’t very high on this blog, but we are committed to reporting the strangest news to ALL of our readership.

According to a story from ABC news:

Republican men nationwide may have experienced a drop in testosterone levels the night Barack Obama was elected president, according to the results of a small study that found another link between testosterone and men’s moods.

But don’t worry boys, I’m sure you’ve gotten it back. I meant the testosterone.  Not the election.  Love you!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, here are some Youtube videos that you should have seen by now:

Teehee, it’s a drunk guy.  And this one:

Cleverness abounds in the Democratic party! HUZZAH!

And ONE MORE THING.  My friend over at Herding Scapegoats has been writing again.  You should probably check it out.  He is providing a rare look into the male psyche, addressing serious things like male jealousy and pooping.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | October 22, 2009 · 10:05 am

youtube clip of today: philip spooner.

Awww, shucks.  This made me tear up a bit.

Philip Spooner, a lifelong Republican and WWII veteran, makes the case for gay marriage at a meeting in Maine.  I can really picture my grandfather, who was also a Republican and WWII vet, saying these exact words.

Happy day before Friday!

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | October 19, 2009 · 10:20 am

here, read a quote i love.

“We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.” [Richard Feynman]

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by | October 16, 2009 · 11:51 am

yours to decide, cute or creepy?

disneySorry that I have been “the worst guest blogger ever” to directly quote Mallory.  I recently got back from a fantastic trip to Ireland and London with my Mom, and then we had a long-femurred visitor a few weekends ago.  I know, poor me.

All excuses aside, I wanted to share this youtube video to see how people felt about this marriage proposal.  So far, we’ve got 2 votes for creepy, 1 vote for cute (sorry, Caroline).

To me, it seems like the girl being proposed to in the video would vote creepy as well, but that’s just my observation.

Here it is:  Disneyland Musical Marriage Proposal

[Posted by Shannon]

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