On a scale of one to Vampire Weekend, I love(d) Selena. How great is this song?
And just FYI, when you are looking to buy Selena stuff on iTunes, Genius also recommends that you purchase “Lean Like a Cholo.” I realize that they are both, um, Latino, but I just don’t think that’s the same genre. Way to be culturally insensitive, iTunes.
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under celebrities, music, RIP, YouTube
Literally. They will not take his calls. Okay, it’s just the one. Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen hung up on Obama not once . . . but twice yesterday, assuming that it was a prank call.
Hold the phones (ha). This woman is the ranking Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs committee, not to mention, um, a congresswoman. Isn’t it part of her job description to take important phone calls? But wait . . . there’s more! Here is an exerpt from the official press release from the office of the congresswoman:
“Cong. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen thought it was a hoax when President-Elect Barak (sic) Obama called her twice today and she proceeded to hang up on him, twice.”
Really?! I mean, REALLY?! So, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called the Congresswoman to tell her that she had hung up on the President Elect. Ros-Lehtinen then hung up on him and spelled his name wrong in the press release as well (not to be accused of playing favorites):
“A short time later, Cong. and Chief of Staff designate Rahm Emmanuel (sic) called Ileana and stated ‘Ileana, I cannot believe that you hung up on the President-Elect.’ Ros-Lehtinen told Rahm that she didn’t believe the call was legitimate and hung up on Emmanuel (sic).”
Obama and Ros-Lehtinen were finally able to have a chat about Cuba and Israel (thank goodness he wasn’t calling about anything important . . . ) after Chairman Howard Berman of the Foreign Affairs Committee called the Congresswoman, proved his identity over the phone by sharing a story only the two would know (creepy . . .), and broke the news that she had indeed hung up on the President-Elect. Twice.
Once, I accidentally sent an e-mail to the president of my university which accidentally said that I loved him. That was pretty embarassing but I think hanging up on the President-Elect of the United States twice in one day would be worse. When Barack calls me and offers me a job (any day now . . . ) I will be sure not to make the same mistake.
[Posted by Madeline]
When I was in elementary school I wrote a “book” about visiting the boardwalk during a storm. Except that it was actually about visiting the doardwalk because the letter b was hard to wrap my mind around. Then I wrote a book about a dog named Penny who had puppies. Both were illustrated by the author. Neither was any good (of course, my mom would tell you otherwise).
Alec Greven, a fourth grader at Soaring Hawk Elementary School in Castle Rock, Colorado, has also written a book. The only difference between his book and my book is that his is a national best seller. Alec wrote “How to Talk to Girls” when he was eight as part of a school project. Based on his life experiences and playground observations the book contains such advice as:
Sometimes, you get a girl to like you and then she ditches you. Life is hard, move on!
Tip: About 73 percent of regular girls ditch boys; 98 percent of pretty girls ditch boys.
(from Chapter One: The Facts of Life)
It should be noted that those statistics are not national figures, they pertain only to Alec’s observations of girls at Soaring Hawk Elementary. The book impressed his teacher and principal so much that they decided to sell it for three dollars at the school’s book fair, where it became the fair’s best-seller. Harper Collins published the book last month and now Alec is dispensing his dating advice to boys of all ages all over the country. Some of his best advice?
“You also have to be aware that girls win most of the arguments and have most of the power. If you know that now, things might be easier.” (Chapter One: The Facts of Life)
That is a fact of life, indeed. Way to go Alec. To enjoy all of Alec’s advice you should probably buy his book or ask Santa to bring it to you for Christmas. In the meantime, enjoy some more of Alec’s innocent wisdom:
Many boys who have crushes don’t know how to act around a girl. Some boys tease girls they like and are mean to them. Some boys say silly things to girls and act goofy. Some boys think they are acting cool by showing off.
This is not a good approach.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Whatever happens, just don’t act desperate. Girls don’t like desperate boys
. . . . . . . . . . . .
The right thing to do when you have a crush is:
- Never show off too much
- Don’t be silly and goofy
- Control your hyperness (cut down on sugar if you need to)
- Make sure you have good friends who won’t try to take the girl you like.
I know what my brother is getting for Christmas . . .
[Posted by Madeline]
Filed under crushes, definitely not politics, humor, news, pop culture, random, the arts, Uncategorized
The other day my friend told me he had an extra ticket to see a band called Vampire Weekend, and did I want to go. I realized that I knew some of their stuff, and after not very long I realized that I LOVE THESE GUYS. They’re the kind of band I feel like I should have already known, and it’s weird to me that a few days ago I hadn’t even heard of them. Let’s call this fate, or something. Here they are:
They are all little babies. They just formed the band in 2006, after they graduated from Columbia, and they’ve already received a ton of critical praise.
Apparently everyone else already knew about them. Wikipedia tells me that Christian Lander (of Stuff White People Like) named them the whitest band, so I guess I’ve been a pretty bad white person.
That dude is the lead singer, Ezra Koenig. I think he’s adorable. I love that the band calls their music “African Preppy,” or “Upper West Side Soweto.” Also, how could you not like a band that works the following lyrics into one of their songs: “First the window, then it’s to the wall/Lil’ Jon, he always tells the truth”?
The concert was baller fantastic, and I can’t wait to see them again. I love the whole album, but I think my favorite song is M79. I mean, hellooo Paul Simon:
Yum yum. Now early to bed, so that I can get up and be intellectual.
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under adventures, crushes, music, pop culture, YouTube
The following gchat message is representative of many angry messages we’ve been receiving lately:
Mouse: your blog is ruining my lifei knowww you’re busy with like school and finals and those ridiculous things, but i like check it every 10 mins thinking that it’s magically going to have new thigs to entertain me with and all i see is whatever animal that is, AND Dooce and Caroline have been slacking too… am i being forced to actually do work by the blogosphere?
Barack ‘n’ Roll with the Boss!
(the election may have been almost one month ago but I’m still celebrating)
[Posted by Madeline]
Filed under celebrities, crushes, family, music, politics, pop culture, six word memoirs, Uncategorized
Anna Wintour and Parisian rival Carine Roitfeld
Sacre Bleu! Conde Nast employees (those that are left, anyway) are squirming with the too-delicious-to-be-true/reduced fat rumor that Vogue dictator-in-chief editor Anna Wintour is soon to be replaced by her french counterpart Carine Roitfeld. Vite! Somebody get Anne Hathaway to run across Paris in four-inch heels, storm into Anna Wintour’s suite, and remove all of the freesia from the flower arrangements!
Wintour’s contract is soon to expire, shortly after celebrating her 20th anniversary last Spring, and the rumor-mill has her out of a job as early as January 1st. Gawker has more of the juicy details here. Whatever happens, a major change on Vogue’s masthead would turn the fashion world and magazine publishing world upside down. Although considering the publishing industry has already been tied by its ankles to the top of the Conde Nast building, a shake-up of this proportion could flip everything back to where its supposed to be (and then the hiring freeze will be over and I can have a job!).
[Posted by Madeline]
Filed under celebrities, definitely not politics, fashion, movies, random
I will never pretend that I actually pay attention to football, but I am biologically required to care about the annual CU/Nebraska game. This year’s was just devastating for real CU fans, and me.
Ralphie says: “Way to choke, Hawkins.”
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under animals, family, news, six word memoirs, sports
I know he died a while ago, but I was just reading a People magazine commemorative issue about Paul Newman, and I was reminded of how freaking awesome he was. I’m certainly thankful for him on this Thanksgiving weekend. Kathleen already posted a bunch of wonderful photos of him a right after his death, but let’s look at a few more:
Paul and Joanne were simply perfect:
And this quote is what prompted me to write this post:
We are such spendthrifts with our lives. The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.
We love you here at SWTCTW, Paul.
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under celebrities, crushes, RIP, thoughts
You end a sentence/phrase with a preposition, your AP English teacher has a heart attack. You arrange a sentence/phrase so that it doesn’t end in a preposition, you sound like an elitist douche. When given the choice, I’ll obviously go for the latter.
Anyway, seeing that Madeline (the “guest” slash obviously permanent blogger) has beat me to breaking our dry spell, I was overwhelmed with Catholic guilt. Friends, it’s not that I haven’t wanted to blog in the past few days. I really have. It’s just that I’ve been too overwhelmed with work, to the point that blogging would have caused me even more Catholic guilt. So I cut my losses.
Now that I’m home on break, I have a little more time on my hands. In light of the upcoming holiday o’ food, I’ve decided to share a random list of some things for which I am thankful. In no particular order…
1. Stovetop stuffing. And while we’re at it, the cranberry sauce that looks like the can in which it came (now I’m super paranoid about the preposition thing, dammit). We’re not exactly fancy in my family.
2. Michael Franti. I saw him for the first time back in July, and I fell further in love with him when I saw him at the 9:30 Club in DC last Wednesday. Even if you think you wouldn’t like his music, I’d encourage you to go to one of his concerts. He has an amazing ability to put on the BEST SHOW EVER. His energy is just unbelievable. It didn’t hurt that he made me laugh, made me cry, and made me chant “Barack Obama” all in the span of three hours. And perhaps most impressively, Mr. Franti makes me feel like I’m a good dancer, even when I’m sober (!!!). Take a look at my favorite song off of his newest album:
If you don’t like that song, you should probably just give up on life. You clearly don’t have a soul.
3. While we’re thinking about him, Barack Obama. And Michelle, Malia, and Sasha. Also Joe and Jill Biden.
4. That my finger didn’t entirely fall off today at the nail salon. The entire story would call for a blog post in itself, but I’ll just say that it involved a bloody electric buffer, a sadistic manicurist, and sanitation standards that would have made a cockroach shudder.
5. My ability to entertain myself. My friend Rachel thinks that I could have my own reality show because of the embarrassing shit I do in the privacy of my own space. I’m not sure I agree with her (although, hey, people do watch The Real Housewives of Atlanta), but I am grateful for this skill of mine. The other day, for instance, I caught myself singing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” Out loud. In a British accent. Riiiight.
6. That I’m not pregnant.
7. That I’m not morbidly obese. (I honestly think about this on a daily basis.)
8. Goat cheese, breakfast sandwiches, salsa, bourbon, etc. etc.
9. The mountains.
10. Copper.
11. KBCO.
12. Cry Face:
13. All of you, dear readers.
14. The fact that I can make this ridiculous list, because it means that all of the important stuff (health of friends, family, etc.) are already there.
Happy Thanksgiving, SWTCTW readers!
[Posted by Mallory]
six words to change the world. 