Christmas is upon us

That's right. Christmas sales are in abundance, ABC Family is doing their annual "25 Days of Christmas" countdown, and I'm panicking over gifts because college has sapped all of my energies, creative and otherwise. I kind of just want to follow this guy's lead.

 

Eggnog is pretty much the best part of Christmas. Well, presents might be better, but just barely. Eggnog is definitely better than all that quality family time or whatever.

"I keep telling you self esteem is something that PBS made up.  Don't worry about it."

Tequila and Donuts is one of my favorite blogs. She writes about her mother and her mother's friends, and they are all quite hilarious. Sometimes she posts things that are not about her mom, and to be honest, I don't find those as entertaining, but she is a good and clever writer and her mother's movie club with her other "old folks home" friends are really really funny. In the post linked to above, they watched Die Hard, which I have never seen, but if it includes as many explosions as they make it seem, I just might have to.

http://open.salon.com/blog/tequilaanddonuts

Best. Idea. Ever.

"Why?," some of you silly, ignorant children may ask. "Why is this one of the best pieces of culinary technology ever to be created?"

Because the edges of the lasagna are always the best. It's the part everyone in my house likes the most. We will cut strange shapes out of the dish in order to obtain maximum amounts of that chewy, cheesy, slightly-burnt goodness that only exists on the edges of baked pasta dishes such as eggplant parmesan, baked macaroni, or in this case, lasagna. This baking pan not only cooks the lasagna faster and keeps it neater, but virtually every piece will have that most perfect border that we always strive to get when we are graced with this delicious dish.

P.S. I'm kind of hungry, which might have something to do with all this extensive exaltation of lasagna.

I did an interview for this book, and I am really very excited about it. It comes out January 5th, and if you are looking for something interesting and touching to read, I suggest you buy it. If you want to get an idea of what it's like, you can read some selected stories on salon.com (This was the first one featured, and is my favorite out of all of them).

P.S. If you are stuck on gift ideas for a certain college freshman who enjoys reading and whom you love very much, pre-ordering this for her might be a good idea.

P.P.S. I import this from my blog onto Facebook, so sometimes pictures and videos don't come through like they should. Please click "View Original Post" if this ever happens when you read my blog as a note on Facebook.

Things On the Internet

I have accumulated things to go on here that I found on the interwebs/net/tubes or the bloggy-boos (yes, I have heard someone refer to blogs as "bloggy-boos").

1. This website has cute backgrounds for your computer or iPhone (the ones for the iPhone are WAY cooler, so I might download them for use with something else), as well as apparel and original prints. PLUS, there is a memory game with some of the characters. I mean, Andy Awesome has everyone important, from Dr. Zoiberg to ninja peas that oddly resemble some other ballin' ninjas I know (also, note how similar Luke Skywalker and Robin look).

2. When I was younger, I wanted to get that special paint they make so people can just put up chalkboards wherever they want. That stuff is so cool. Almost as cool as this. Not only is dry erase neater, but it doesn't make such an awful sound when you use it.

3. John Green is one of my heroes. Not only is he an amazing author, but he and his brother Hank make a YouTube series called "Vlogbrothers," the history of which can be found here. These are two videos he made talking about the nature of fame in relation to Baloon Boy, which I know is a tired, subject, but John is hilarious.

Note: He calles his wife "The Yeti" because like The Real Yeti, "She'll be a prominent part of our folklore, you'll hear many stories about her, but sightings will be exceedingly rare."

Yes, Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort, the world makes so much more sense now.

About time, indeed.

I love TED Talks, and I obviously love webcomics, especially Least I Could Do. Rayne Summers is like Tucker Max or Barney Stinson: You want to hate them and everything they stand for, but you really can't keep yourself form loving them. I wish that today's comic could someday be reality. But, you know, Rayne isn't...real.

I am a new reader of The Sartorialist, but so far, I very much like what I see. This is also very true. Guys really underestimate the value of a good fit. A lot of girls do, too. Tailoring is important, and I wish I had a bigger budget for it.

http://www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

Clue, The Office, and Peanut Butter

There are many great combos in this world: Peanut Butter and Jelly, Peanut Butter and Honey, Peanut Butter and Nutella, Peanut Butter and Banana, and a lot of other things not including Peanut Butter. This has now joined their ranks. Clue and "The Office?" What a wonderful idea.

Hilarity in Human Form

Streeter Seidell is brilliant. No joke. He created White Whine, a website that is like Stuff White People Like, except real and updated more regularly. And he has a fairly newer project called Damn It Son, which should make every young man out there feel bad about himself. He also works for College Humor, which is my favorite place to waste time. Pretty much everyone who works there is brilliant.

P.S. When you click the link for College Humor (and I know you will), search for "Phantom of the Office." And watch them all. Every. Single. One.

"Because it's easier to be lazy than happy."

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

"Moving is hard, both furniture and Facebook networks. Who has the time?"

I'm all for new rules.

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

I agree, guys. That really does suck.

They both suck for inventing Calculus.

We all know I loves me the geeky boys. So this makes me happy. Although the inclusion of the Jo Bros kind of sucks. A lot.

Repost of myself

Megan and I have a blog, separate from our own individual blogs. Read it. This is my post about ACL.

How To Kiss Someone Passionately

Megan (SugarSnap) sent me this link once, but it has just been sitting in my email for literally seven months. I wish I had watched it earlier.

(Quite) A few things

I have had the busiest summer, so I have been gradually gathering things that I think are interesting and worthy of a blog post. Some of these are really old, and some of them are fairly recent. They are summed up with one adjective (for the most part). So:

Creepy

The My Life Urn seems a bit weird. I like the idea of reminding yourself of your eventual and inevitable demise, but an urn? That you have to take care of for forever? That it is "designed to carry a seed which will grow into a tree from the nutritional ingredients found in your placenta when you are born?" No thanks.

Pretty

Great dorm ideas. Also, I love the whole "child as decor" thing. Very Avant-garde.

Ballin'

What an awesome idea. Seven degrees from Kevin Bacon!

Want
(that is not an adjective, but fuck it)

I really want a converter for records to mp3's, but I they are always really expensive and really inconvenient. This may be expensive (I'm not sure), but it is incredibly convenient. And cool looking, so props for that.

Ari

Again, not an adjective. Again, fuck it.

These remind me of Ari's paper dresses.

Relevant

I went to Cuba aka Miami, and when I was there a distant cousin's husband made sangria to go with lunch, so this White Whine was extra amazing.

Stripper

Need I say more?

True G

I was not this cool when I was thirteen. Believe me. (You probably do).

Useful

I mean, I trust my room mates, but you never know what can happen. (As a side note, I REALLY like my room mates. They are pretty amazing).

Fucking Exciting

This is my personal line up (hopefully the link works), which means that it highlights the ones I really want to go to, but you can see everyone. I'm not sure which day I am most excited about yet.

Double Awesome

A. I ♥ Pat Cassels (Because I ♥ College Humor).
B. This guy is hilarious.

Story of my life

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement deserve to be recognized.

ABORABLE!!!

Turtles make me so happy. There is this mall in Dallas with this little turtle and duck pond, and it is uber cute. But you know what is better? Baby turtles by the ocean.

Austin-Dallas Connection

The mall in Dallas with the cute turtles and ducks also has lots of cool art, including a piece by a sculptor who did a piece in Austin (a piece that is my profile picture on my Blogger profile). So cool!

College!

I can has it! (And that is the only time I will talk like a LOLCat, because I hate them).

I ♥ Office Supplies

Although I can't stay organized to save my life, I love office supplies and things that let me at least pretend to be organized. And of course I will need a shredder, what with the top-secret documents I will have in my college dorm room and whatnot.

Of course I want it in pink, but they have it in white and black, too.

Latest reading, listening, and watching (Part 1)

Now that it is summer, I have had a lot of spare time to read, discover music, and watch TV and movies. And that is pretty much what I have been doing since I can't seem to find a job. Now for a few brief blurbs about some of the reading and watching.

BOOKS:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

So yeah, I am the only person I know past the seventh grade who hadn't read this yet. But now that I have, I see what all the hype is about, and I really want to watch the movie.
___

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
I have just started this, but so far it is really interesting. I must say, the foreword by Christopher Hitchens is a bit intense, but in a way that really makes you think about the role of censorship, religion, and religious tolerance as integral pieces in working societies (you know, light stuff). I am literally on Chapter 2 of the first part, but already I am really excited about this book. Besides, she was on the Colbert Report, so she must be interesting, right?
___

Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I love F. Scott Fitzgerald. I love Gatsby, This Side of Paradise, and every short story of his I have ever read, including the ones I have started in F and P. I have only started the fourth story, but the first two have a really interesting balance between Fitzgerald's richly descriptive writing and plots that border on something near Magic Realism.


MOVIES

The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II

Again, I was almost the only person to not have seen these, except for another good friend of mine who hadn't. And so we (and SugarSnap!) watched both of these together (we didn't wast time on the shitty one). And again, I see what all the hype was about. They are amazing, everything that films should be. And I had no idea that Diane Keaton was in them, which just makes them better. I love pre-90's Diane Keaton.
___

Land of the Lost

OK, so I was not expecting anything amazing out of this movie. Which is good, because there really wasn't anything amazing about this movie. I mean, I love Will Ferrell. I think that his skits on SNL constitute some of the greatest humor...ever. And the guy who was in Tropic Thunder is also really hilarious. And the movie overall has some really amazing parts, but for the most part, it kind of sucks. I get why it got all those shitty reviews. Although Matt Lauer's cameo was great.
___

So that is Part 1. Part 2 will involve some music, blogs, Internet videos, and random...stuff.

pharrell

I have the most massive crush on Pharrell Williams. Like, no joke. Legit. As my friend once said, "He is so sexy. I would love to be his baby mama."

So my new-found love Paper Magazine has an article about him. Of course, I die.

http://www.papermag.com/?section=article&parid=2662

Spring Mix

So I am in a program called Club Arthouse, a program in Austin for teens to participate in the Austin art community and plan ArtBash, a teen art show. I have been doing things at Arthouse since my sophomore year, so I know the programs and the people pretty well.

A few weeks ago, Erin (who is in charge of outreach programs, etc.) asked me if I would make a spring-themed mix tape for an online magazine she works for, Paperdolls. And so I did. And it is here (and it is pretty good, if I say so myself).

I love art, I love color, I love pens, I love circles, I love art supplies, and I love installation pieces. That makes this a totally epic win.

Everything Color Circle, Brooke Inman



I found Brooke Inman through one of the design blogs I read, Design Milk. As someone who is really interested in contemporary art, the work on her website is über appealing to me. It's got that kind of 21st century indie vibe thing going on (especially her non-installation pieces), while not being too hipster or pretentious about it. These structures are all pretty cool.

The first three pictures are from Karlanda, and the last is part of an installation called Tunnel.



She also has some pretty cool, less fort-like pieces, some of which seem kind of PostSecret-y in their frank and poetic phrases (those just might be my favorites after Everything Color Circle).





http://www.brookeinman.com/portfolio/

http://www.myspace.com/brookeanninman

Me Geeking Out

A. I fucking LOVE "Arrested Development." It was the first TV show that I was old enough to appreciate for its dry, subtle humor (and as a complete aside, I am pissed as hell that Michael Cera is being a total downer about a potential movie).

B. I am a total Sims 2 geek. Hardcore. I bought it the day I had enough money, and although I have never had the money and energy to invest in all of the expansion packs, I am geek enough to appreciate them.

C. Both of those combine to make me completely excited that in the Sims 3, in which characters can have traits that combine to make unique personalities, there is a "Never Nude" trait, just like Tobias.



I die.

Remember your old school SNL/obscure science references when answering this question

"Animal face-off! Who would win in a fight between a bear and a shark?"

This is tough. I mean, bears are strong. But sharks have sharper teeth. They both mostly hunt fish. But one of them is craftier, and that is:

The Shark. Do we not remember the Land Shark? Besides, I have never heard of a "Water Bear."

OK, so I looked it up, and apparently it exists. But it is microscopic. So Land Shark would win.

My weekend.

FYI, it was Thank You For Smoking and Batman Begins, respectively.

I know how words are made, but...

blogosphere
I understand that a lot of words come from other words, like "mixology" or "facebook stalking," but "blogosphere"? It's like "atmosphere" except, you know, lame.

Some girls buy shoes...

Google Reader is my best friend. I live to sort out my internet feeds, star items, create a reading order and system. It is really, truly exciting for me.

I think have a problem.

I have actually made a graph displaying the breakdown of all 92 (yes, 92!) feeds:




I used to have like 5 "The Office" blogs. It was seriously difficult to reduce it as much as I did. But as you can see, my biggest problem is with webcomics. I add them like they're going out of style. (I never liked that phrase because if something is going out of style, why would I want more of it?)

When I started this post, I only had 90 feeds. But it took me forever to post this, and so I ended up adding two more in the interim.

To see some of my favorites from the 92, you can look at Entertaining Things From My Subscriptions or at my Cool Stuff That Will Make You Cooler Just For Reading It.

http://nomefri.blogspot.com/