I really dislike Celine Dion. It’s an intense dislike that has nothing to do with her music, but everything to do with the way that she speaks and her mannerisms.
That’s why I was disgusted this afternoon when I saw this video of Dion’s press conference where she is talking about her world tour that will kick off in South Africa soon.
I’ve got a serious case of phantom blackberry buzz or viberanxiety. What happens is I’m certain I felt my blackberry vibrate, and I reach down to check who sent me a message and there are 0 new messages. And sometimes I’ll hear it vibrate, and I’ll reach down and check. Occasionally my phone isn’t even in the same room!
The medical term is Phantom Vibrations Syndrome. I’m not kidding, it’s real. Google it.
Psychologically, the key to deciphering phantom vibrations is “hypothesis-guided search,” a theory that describes the selective monitoring of physical sensations, says Jeffrey Janata, director of the behavioral medicine program at University Hospitals in Cleveland. It suggests that when cellphone users are alert to vibrations, they are likely to experience sporadic false alarms, he says.
“You come armed with this template that leads you to be attentive to sensations that represent a cellphone vibrating,” Janata says. “And it leads you to over-incorporate non-vibratory sensations and attribute them to the idea that you’re receiving a phone call.”
My mom leaves me notes on the kitchen counter from time-to-time. Sometimes it’s a nice “have a good day” and other times it’s a gentle nag like, “don’t forget to phone the doctor.”
I bet to an outsider, these notes sound endearing and cute. Kind of like kittens: only cute if it’s not in your house.
So a couple of days ago after waking up I walked into the kitchen to find this note:
?!?
The first word is clearly “cars,” right? The second could be “cure” or “are.” It’s tough to say with her loopy writing. And that last word is totally make-believe.
When she got home I asked her what the note said, and she told me that she wanted everyone to know that there was frost on the cars and they may have to leave a little early. I guess the note should have said, “Cars are frozen.”
“How do you spell ‘frozen’?” I asked her.
She closed her eyes and started laughing. “I was in a hurry,” she said.
It was a good sweater, but the first time that I wore it I leaned against a stucco wall. Damned stucco. Now there is a small hole on the sleeve.
I think that I’m crafty enough to fix this small little problem. I took out my Mom’s sewing kit and looked for brown string (or is it called thread!??!) and a needle.
Then I picked the biggest needle I could find. Not because I thought that this sweater was so tough that it required a large needle, but because I have so much trouble threading those stupid things. The bigger the needle, the easier to thread.
And whenever I see old ladies sewing they have their glasses down on their noses. So I followed suit. I’m not certain why this is useful, but I didn’t want to mess with the order.
Then I sewed.
And sewed.
And now the hole looks worse than it did before.
Conclusion: if we are ever in an emergency situation and you need stitches, use me as your last resort.
I love Google Maps. I use it all the time. I have the Google Maps application on my BlackBerry that has saved me on a few occasions. I love the hybrid street map/satellite feature. I just love it.
I can only think of one thing I dislike about Google Maps: it’s nearly impossible to conjugate “Google Maps” into a verb.
The inferior competition, Mapquest, however has the verb conjugation cornered. “Just Mapquest it.” or “Give me the address and I will Mapquest it.”
Try it with Google Maps:
“Just Google Maps it.”
“Give me the address and I will Google Maps it.”
Boooo.
I was having an intensely deep conversation about this topic with Mr. D. and he suggested that we could just say “Google it.” But for some reason that doesn’t jive with me. I feel that the verb “Google” already has a meaning, and if someone told me that they’d Google my address I wouldn’t be certain that they’d find me.
Another options I thought of was”G.M. it” as in, “Give me your address and I’ll G.M. it.”
Ultimately I’ve decided that maybe “Google Maps” will just have to stay a noun, and we’ll have to use different verbs:
“I’ll just use Google Maps”
“Give me the address and I’ll look it up on Google Maps.”
This is a recipe that I created myself. Last Sunday (Superbowl Sunday) we had company over and after dinner everyone (except the diabetic) sat around and drank coffee and ate pastries. Since then I was craving something to dip into my coffee, and I came up with this sugar-free almond scone recipe. The ingredient list is below the video.
This video is spreading all over the net, and since it’s super Tuesday I thought I’d post it here.
If you’re registered to vote, and today is election day in your state…get out and vote. The more young people (I’m assuming that blog readers are generally young) that get off their asses today the more likely politicians will talk about issues that effect young people.
I wrote something about how just showing up at the polls can improve our lives a few months ago on The Liberal OC, and it’s particularly poignant today.
Politicians don’t take us seriously. Far too often what young people care about (the environment, civil liberties and the number of our friends dying in Iraq) is pushed aside for things that old people care about (prescription drug prices, Medicare and the privatization of social security). That’s because on Election Day, old people turn out.
We’re voting on a secret ballot…so the government doesn’t know what you voted for, but they do know if you vote.
Just showing up on Election Day (and convincing a friend or two to do the same) is doing a service to the interests of young people…even if you’re voting for bad candidates or propositions.
Don’t worry about who or what you’re voting for (remember, your vote isn’t deciding too much). But if a lot of people your age and my age show up and vote, the politicians will get the message that we are a political force. The environment, civil liberties and the number of our friends dying in Iraq will become more important to elected officials.
I just came across a website called Recipe Matcher which will allow users to enter the ingredients they have in their pantries and refrigerators and it will tell them what they can make.
What a great idea, right? I totally had that idea like three years ago.
My idea was a little more complex and it involved scanning the items into a computer when you got home from grocery shopping and scanning items right before eating it…so your computer would keep the inventory for you.
GRRRRRR. It’s frustrating to be an idea guy that just sits on ideas and never acts on them.
