You're out on a date. You didn't really want to go out with this person... it's mostly a pity date. You can only take so much conversation from this person.
Your phone rings. Relief!! "Sorry, I've gotta take this call." You answer.
So, who saved you? Technology! Yaay, technology. All you have to do to be saved from conversation misery is arrange to have the Popularity Dialer call at a pre-specified time.
That's even more useful than the Rejection Hotline. Hmm, that reminds me... I may need to bring that number with me on this upcoming trip...
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as Margaret Wolfe Hungerford wrote. So today is all about art. The problem is that I can't decide which type of artwork I like best: order or chaos. Order? Islamic art, aka geometric art. Chaos? Fractals, aka nerd art.
I have discovered the secret to a happy and fulfilled life. And I have Google to thank! I wish I had known years ago what I know now. The secret is Google Maps. It will show you where you can find any of mankind's greatest desires. It's true! Here's what I get in my search for items on my wish list (and a few on the "avoid" list):
- Men: Brenoux Station, France - True Love: Akron, Ohio - Prince Charming: Amsterdam, Netherlands - Power: Pagosa Springs, CO - Fortune: Arkansas - Happiness: Memphis, TN - Wisdom: Montana - Chivalry: Surrey, UK - Life: Henderson County, TN - Jealousy: US Virgin Islands - Sadness: Knoxville, IA
It's that time. Time for a recap of current TV shows! Yaay! These are the ones I consider noteworthy right now:
- Food shows. Three of them, to be exact. The Monday night boring pointless yelling one on Fox, and then the two I like. Let's contrast them. Next Food Network Star ends on Sunday night. I'm all for having guys pluck unruly eyebrows, but this guy is outta control. Put the tweezers away! Oh, right--the show. I'd prefer to have Amy win. In contrast, there's Top Chef, featuring this season's TALL GUY. Best line:
Guest Chef Judge: Wow, you're really tall. CJ: Thanks for noticing.
- On The Lot. It's an anagram for Hen Lotto. Despite my Hollywood brother-in-law's feelings on the show, I've found the show to be entertaining. I like Will and Zach best. And I can't believe America has already voted all the girls off! Anyway, these are the films I've liked the best:
- Pirate Master. It's an okay show. They do have some interesting strategery going on. For instance, the current captain magically acquired a really fake British accent as soon as he put on his captain's jacket and hat. Plus they've already kicked off all the hot guys. Shame. UPDATE: I like the twist they added in today's episode, because it negated a significant portion of the strategery used by the captain and his mates. They brought back the eliminated players as "ghost pirates," and raced them for the treasure. Considering that they've been eliminating all the people they determined were their strongest competition, they've ended up creating quite a competition for themselves. Hmm, the show may be getting more interesting...
I was watching a DVD the other day, and it had all this anti-piracy information at the beginning of it, you know? It was saying things like, “You wouldn’t steal a car, would you? You wouldn’t steal someone’s wallet, would you?” And I was thinking, “You know, that’s right! I wouldn’t steal a car.” But you know, if a mate of mine called me up and said, “Hey, I just got this new car, would you like me to burn you a copy??” I reckon I might consider it...
- Doctor Who. Creative as always. And, thankfully, I do like his new companion! Better than Rose? We'll see...
- Eureka. Nerd humor. Ridiculous and infeasible, but typically entertaining.
- Just for Laughs. I'm not impressed. It's an identical copy of the Just for Laughs that they show on BBC America periodically (though I think the show is originally Canadian).
- I almost forgot: Traveler! I watched the first few episodes of this show. It was painfully boring. Dumb plot line, and the frat boy main characters aren't interesting or cute. Even the dark haired blue eyed one (my favorite combination) isn't that attractive, with his googly eyes and perpetual confusedness. The show is now on my "please cancel" list. I never had a "please cancel" list before now.
- The IT Crowd. I love this show enough that I'm kinda expecting a disappointment. They're recycling British Moss. I wonder if he'll use an American accent for the show, like House. I bet his unique fashion sense will overtake the US IT community. Heck, it even makes ME want to wear a short sleeved checkered shirt with an ugly tie!
And I'll end on an IT crowd note. This is one of the reasons I love the show:
Last week I bought a new computer. It's a fantastic laptop. OK, it's a laptop, but it's not fantastic. It was the cheapest one I could find. It doesn't actually have the minimum requirements to run Vista, but it came with Vista pre-installed. So the first thing I did was wipe the hard drive and install Linux (Ubuntu, since it has a pretty solid user base).
I'm now remembering why I stopped using Linux a few years ago. I like the open source movement and all, but I have to admit that I really like the fact that most hardware is automatically supported in Windows. And most software is easier to install on Windows. Under Linux, it's sudo everything. It took two days and a whole bunch of Googling, trial and error (mostly error), and vi under text mode, just to get the OS to recognize the cheap video drivers (sort of) and display at something other than 800 x 600. I probably should have written down which site had the instructions that finally worked. And if you want to run Java in Firefox on Ubuntu, I strongly recommend totally ignoring Sun's installation instructions and going directly to the Ubuntu user forums. Oh, and some network TV stations' online video options are only available to Windows or Mac users. Grr, so I still can't watch the "last" two episodes of Drive!
The trials of Linux. But at least this laptop runs faster than my other computer...
One day last week I saw a commercial for the local 11:00 news. They were talking about a new not-quite-official-yet disorder, known as Adult Picky Eating Disorder. After the 10 second clip and basically no additional background research, I have decided that my sister Emily must suffer from this. When she lived with me, the freezer was always stocked up with Smart Ones brand Three Cheese Ziti Marinara, and not much else.
Wondering how you can help expand her culinary horizons? I'm accepting donations. Simply send me a small donation (something ending in at least two 0s, on the left side of the decimal point) and I will do my best to encourage her to eat a wider variety of food. I plan to model her new taste in gourmet foods based on the culinary travels of Andrew Zimmern. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she tries mangrove worms or tripe soup for the first time. She'll love it. And she'll love us for encouraging her to try new things. It's all about being charitable.
