I feel like I should write something special because it’s a holiday today, but I’ve got nothing.
I’m wishing all of you reading these words now a happy Valentines Day.
You are loved, not only by me, but by someone else that you may never even know about. I guarantee it.
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I watched all the Superbowl commercials from this year and it seems that they have really gone downhill. It used to be that the best of the best would be saved for the Superbowl, but now it just looks like they are throwing any stupid thing up because they know their target audience is too drunk to really know the difference.
With one exception:
This eTrade baby was funny and well done. I’m surprised at how much better animating talking babies is now. Of course, the dead pan voice is half the humor.
By the way, eTrade. The reason that you are getting 1000 new accounts a day is because we can’t find our passwords to the old accounts. Fix your security instead of making it freakin’ impossible to get into your own account.
Via: Super Bowl 2008 Ad: E Trade Baby with Clown Commercial (Video) | TV Crunch
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I found the receipt on the floor of the car with a wadded up paper towel.
I don’t think I thanked you for buying the car wash.
Thanks…
If only forgetting were this easy for me…
It’s going to be okay…
Apparently, 1980 was the peak year for me and Barbie. Plaid Stallions has the 1980 Mattel Catalog, showing some of my favorite toys:
I earned half the money for my Barbie Star Traveler. It was forty dollars at Gibson’s Discount Center. My mom fronted the other half. My dad helped me put it together because it was REALLY complicated. There were a million stickers that had to be stuck correctly on the frame of the toy. I played with that thing long after it started falling apart.
I ended up giving it to The DI just a few years ago. I hope another little girl had the luckiest day ever at the DI and is still playing with it today.
I also saved up the eight dollars to buy the Barbie Starvette. I felt so proud because I put the car together myself and even put on the stickers correctly.
She could carry one friend in the seat next to her and two friends on the back. The seat belts were so impossible to use that they were removed the first day I owned the car. I always worried about the friends sitting on the back when we were driving because I knew that it wasn’t safe for them to do that.
My sister, Stacey, had this Ken doll. He came with a marker to draw on a beard on Ken’s face. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that we shouldn’t draw on his face with just any marker. Ken ended up with a permanently blackened face within days.
We eventually shaved his hairy head. His hair wasn’t nice like these pictures show it. It was a full-on afro mop-top mess. I convinced Stacey that he would look much better if we just cut off all his hair. He didn’t.
Sorry, sister…
If you didn’t see your Barbie here, Plaid Stallions has a bunch of other stuff:
Mattel Superstar Christmas Fun Book I Pulsar I Barbie I 1976 Catalog I Plaidstallions.com
True Value Toy Catalog from 1976 I Barbie I Tuesday Taylor I Plaidstallions.com: Check out this one to see the Tuesday Taylor doll that I had when I was a kid.
Update 04-05-10:
Here is a better picture of my Barbie Star Traveler from the 1977 Sears Christmas Catalog:
I still have the table, BBQ and plate from that set. The chair, pitcher and glass are long ago lost.
You can also see my Superstar Christie on that same page:
I also found Tuesday Taylor wearing the same outfit I still own.
She was a cool doll because she could have brown hair or blonde hair with a swivel top head. Now, though, her hair is matted and unbrushable. At least she still has her awesome Maude-like fashion sense.
I laughed so hard that tears came out of my eyes!
Watch big brother’s face.
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Totally adorable crocheted dolphins, whales and sea lions.
She is only selling the patterns, not the crocheted animals. Whenever I try to do things like this, they end up not looking nearly as cute as these little guys.
I still want to try, though.
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Winter again. We’ve had many snow storms, piling up the snow at the side of my driveway, but in all honesty, it’s a mild winter. We’ve had winters where the snow piled higher than me. We’ve had winters where they actually closed the school for several days. We’ve had winters that brought down the power lines and left people cold and shivering in their homes.
This year? There have been many small storms, but it has been pretty mild.
There has been sunshine. There has been white-out conditions. Enough of both and the winter feels mild instead of oppressive.
I’m still sick of the snow. I still want to escape to a sunny climate. But, this doesn’t feel like a never-ending drudge of cold and damp ugliness.
I wonder why…
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Here is an interesting story about curly vs. straight hair. She decided to use two different profiles on an online dating site, one curly and one straight to see which men prefer.
The straight hair received a lot more response than the curly-haired profile.
In the end, however, she realized what I did a long time ago:
What I do know is that when it comes to voting for curly or straight, if a man says it depends, perhaps it really does. It depends on confidence. Stepping into a date with a smile can make all the difference.
The minute I stopped fretting about my hair, I gained more confidence and suddenly my hair looked better to everyone. Best of all, when I let it stay curly, it takes a lot less time to deal with. I save the 45 minutes of hair dryer and flat iron, which I can use for whatever I want!
I thought I posted this in early January, but it looks like it was saved as a draft instead of published. It’s still funny, but you might have seen it somewhere else by now.
I’m wiping away the tears from my eyes, it’s so funny!
I’m going to practice all those new dance moves! The sprinkler, the lawn mower and the shopping cart! AWESOME!
Before Linda died, I saw something like this every day. Now that Linda is gone, Maggie is so lonely. Even when she sits on my lap all day, she meows.
I can’t be another cat. I can’t bear to get another cat. This video makes me happy and sad all at the same time.
Download this video for your iPod
On another note, this video was filmed over a year ago. I never posted it because Mike is sleeping on the bed behind the cats. The reason you don’t get to see more of the cats playing is because they woke him up and he kicked them off the bed.
I haven’t been awoken by a cat fight on my bed for months.
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Nice to know that you can double-dip that chip without causing a major health risk.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out this video:
That’s like putting your WHOLE mouth on the dip!
Via: Noted food scientist Harold McGee takes a look at the… (kottke.org)
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For the last three years, Mike and I have been covering CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) and posting stories about it on our blog, The Gadgets Page. We pay money out of our own pocket to go there. No big company sends us there. We take care of our own travel and lodging the entire time. We are beholden to no one as far as covering CES, unlike many members of the press who are sent down by their newspapers, television studios or radio shows. Even worse, some of them are sponsored by the very companies they are supposed to be impartially reviewing.
It has been almost a month since CES 2008 started. Experience has taught me to let things settle for a bit before I rant about them. I’m ready to rant now. 2008 marked the first year that CES made a distinction between “real” press and bloggers by issuing Blogger badges.
There was a separate Blogger Lounge, which was literally a mile away from the main floor. I measured the distance with my Nike+, and it was a mile of walking between the “real” Press Lounge and the Blogger Lounge. That was a sort of slap in the face, but the guards allowed bloggers into the “real” Press Lounge and vice versa. This made the the Blogger Lounge an abandoned haven of quiet, which I actually appreciated and needed when the din of the showroom floor got too much for me.
Walking to the Blogger Lounge really showed me how much they loved us, however:
Of course, when I reviewed the paperwork they had sent me, I FULLY understood how much they loved bloggers:
Not only were we a segregated class of lowly bloggers, they didn’t even bother proofreading their materials. Luckily, I was able to take advantage of the “Blooger Services” while I was there. At least they got our badges right…
There were some advantages to wearing the Blogger badge instead of the Press badge (like I did the previous two years). In the International halls, we weren’t attacked by the people manning the booths. We were able to look at everything without the companies desperately trying to get some “press.” Ironically, I can probably give them FAR more press than the tech editor of some po-dunk town newspaper, but I was glad to be able to see things without being bombarded.
I am continually surprised at how many times I was asked, “What’s a Blogger?” I bit my tongue and turned my laughing face away when an old-school Press-badge wearing codger asked Mike that very question. Mike, the saint that he is, patiently explained that we write technology stories on the Internet. More often than not, it was someone minding a booth in the International Hall asking what a blogger was. By the end of the show, we had a short and friendly response to the question.
All of the feelings of being a second-class citizen was painful. It just reminded me that we have so much further to go.
And then Gizmodo pulled their TV-B-Gone Prank and I hung my head in shame.
The teeth-grinding part of this situation is that the Gizmodo guys had “real” Press badges. I watched a few of them bragging about their shiny red badges when we were at the show. The worst part of it all is how much the Gawker blogs bragged about this incident. Even after a month of cooling, I feel such an anger at Gawker Media for embarrassing me and my profession. I want to see all of Gawker Media banned from CES next year, not just the guys who were involved with the prank.
The saddest and most pathetic aspect of this whole year at CES is the realization that Mike came to the first night that we were there. All the Hilton Convention Center employees had been given instructions to treat us nicely. CES had gone out of their way to set up lounges for Bloggers that had wi-fi. Last year, there was no wi-fi in the Press Lounge. Mike and I really got the impression that they were trying to be NICE to us, despite the segregation. Then, Mike had a flash of realization.
CES gave us separate Blogger badges because they wanted to BRAG about how many bloggers were at the show.
They were trying to prove how hip and up-to-date they are. It wasn’t meant as a kick in the gut. The CEA wasn’t trying to create a second-class press badge. They were actually trying to help and accommodate us. They were PROUD of how many bloggers they had and ended up insulting us all, despite all their well-intentioned efforts.
That realization makes the prank that Gizmodo pulled even MORE insulting. It makes us look even more unprofessional. I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes even more difficult for a blogger like me to get into CES.
Lots of people asked me what CES was like this year. I’ve shrugged my shoulders and bit my tongue for a month, and even after that long, I’m still embarrassed, angry and shamed.
When I saw this felted Yip-Yip Alien, I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I think of this?!” Never once did I think about making my own Yip-Yip. Not even when Rob and Mindy came to the Halloween Party as them!
Krissykat used the felting technique, but if I used a good yarn and crochet, I could make it look the same without the felting process. I think I would make mine “full size” and use ping pong balls for the eyes, just like Jim Hensen did.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here is a clip of the Yip-Yip Aliens trying to communicate with a telephone.
After watching this, I realized that kids today might not recognize the telephone. Phones today look so different now. In fact, in our house, we don’t have a land line. All we have are cell phones, which look VASTLY different than the rotary dial phone sitting on this desk.
In twenty more years, the Yip-Yip Aliens will resemble HUMANS more than aliens.
Via: Craftzine.com blog: Needle-Felted Yip Yip Alien
Update 06-21-08: Craftzine.com blog: HOW TO – Make a Yip Yip Costume
My friend, Naked Jen, just moved here. She just discovered LDS Seminary, which is LDS religious training that takes place in the junior high and high schools here in Utah. Sadly, it wasn’t explained to her very well and the resulting misinformation has her thinking that her tax dollars will go to pay for religious training.
There was far more for me to say about this subject than would fit into a tiny little comment form, so I thought I’d write a blog entry about the subject.
Be calm. NO tax dollars are spent to teach the LDS classes. It is ENTIRELY separate. The LDS church pays the salary of the teachers. The LDS church has paid to buy land next to EVERY junior high and high school in Utah. You actually have to leave school grounds to go to seminary.
To take seminary classes, you have to sign up for “Released Time,” which means that the school system is releasing you for the length of the class. It’s very much like if you had a job and took “Work Release.” You don’t get any school credit for the time you go to seminary. It just shows up as a blank on your schedule AND report card.
If you aren’t Mormon, like I was when I went to school, you don’t take seminary. Of course, you’re welcome to take the seminary classes, even if you’re not Mormon. I did when I was in ninth grade. That year, we studied the Old Testament. If you follow the curriculum, you end up reading the entire Old Testament over the course of that year. I believe they cover the New Testament in tenth grade, and then The Book of Mormon and triplet the following two years. If you aren’t Mormon, you can even take seminary, slough it, and no one can get you in trouble. If you ARE Mormon, you’ll have to suffer the wrath of your parents if you slough seminary, but I guess that depends on your family.
If you aren’t Mormon, and you don’t take seminary, you have one extra class a year that you can do anything with. Since the system is set up so you can graduate, even if you take seminary, you can get extra credits by taking classes that aren’t required (like art or music or shop or whatever). So, Naked Jen, you got your wish. All those non-LDS children have a wonderful advantage and are able to use that extra time however they choose.
Now, as far as separation of church and state? No, there is NO separation of church and state here in Utah. There is an appearance of it, but in actuality, there is none. I know this will change and Utah will slowly become more secular, but it won’t happen in my lifetime. I understand that I will never see it come to pass and I have come to accept this negative aspect of Utah with all the good that the state has to offer.
All the good…
Like huge snow storms that cause whiteout conditions and close the canyon to Park City… Maybe I need to rethink this whole Utah thing… :)
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Yesterday, when I was putting on lotion, I found myself staring at my bedspread. After a few moments, my gaze started to wander and I noticed that my bedspread is like one of those Magic Eye pictures where you can see something in the pattern.
I snapped a photo. This picture was adjusted for lighting and cropped. I didn’t change anything else in it. If you click on it, you can see a larger version on Flickr.
Mike saw me playing with the photo partially dressed. “What are you doing? I thought we were getting ready to go.”
“I noticed that there was some weird Magic Eye thing on the bedspread, so I took a picture of it. I can still see it even though it’s a photo.”
“Yeah, any repetitive thing will do that. So, what do you see? A squirrel?”
“No, it’s just some random shapes and stuff. No picture. Want to try it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“If I’m going to get a headache, I should at least be able to see a squirrel.”
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This is an EXCELLENT pattern for fingerless gloves.
I love this pattern works in spirals instead of rounds. It makes it so easy for someone who never really learned how to work in rounds.
This is a funny little video.
The thing is, I actually learned how to do paths with this video. He was right. I HAVE only been using about $75 worth of PhotoShop! Funny AND Informative!
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Note to self: Download this B-17 Model and put it together. Fun thing to do with Ian.
Ask Mike about this…
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I’ve been reading Megan Wallent’s blog and commenting FAR too much.
Megan is transitioning from Micheal to Megan. Almost every entry she writes makes me think about what it means to be a girl. It all reminds me of a song by Suzanne Vega, “As Girls Go.”
You make a really good girl
As girls go
Still kind of look like a guy
I never thought to wonder why
The most important line of that song is the title, “As Girls Go.” It implies that underlying scrutiny that girls put each other through CONSTANTLY. It was worse in junior high and high school, but I find myself surprised that it still occurs when we are adults. Most surprising of all is what I’ve noticed about myself.
I find myself quick to point out the spots where she “still kind of looks like a guy.” In my mind I’m just “helping,” but it’s more than that. I’ve written about this before:
I never wanted to be the girl to say, “Why would you wear THOSE pants?” Yet, I find myself nit-picking at Megan. It was ME that mentioned something about her watch. ME. I’m the one who has to constantly NOT buy a men’s watch because it has more features than the girl’s watch. I guess if I had to sacrifice features to beauty, I figured Megan did too. Uncool, Laura, Uncool.
If I wasn’t worried about looking too butch, I would buy the men’s Fossil watch with the black metal and the negative display. All the features and big and chunky. It’s the watch I keep trying to get Mike to buy for himself because it’s so pretty. I should just buy it for myself.
I am so far from the kind of girl who should be giving Megan advice. I’m the kind of girl who buys seven red shirts and seven pairs of jeans so that I don’t have to decide what I’m going to wear every morning. It’s always the same. Red shirt and jeans. Sometimes I go crazy and mix it up with khakis. In fact, now that I don’t work in an office anymore, I only pull out the high heels for really special occasions.
I’m not going to comment on Megan’s site anymore. She seems to be handling things just fine without some catty girl asking, “Why would you wear THAT watch?”
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I love this video! My favorite is 44! He looks so happy! What is it about banging on a snare drum that seems so joyful?
The Portable Film Festival is a video podcast available on iTunes as well as YouTube, so if you’re looking for some interesting little videos to fill your shiny iPhone, you can subscribe for free.
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You might not be able to see it. Not because I had a good dentist or anything. It’s just that it’s not something that people really notice unless you’re missing a whole tooth. A tooth broken in half and haphazardly fixed with a bit of porcelain on the top held in by a metal pin is hardly noticeable.
The porcelain has worn away over the years and the metal pin has become visible, but you can’t even see it in this photograph.
In fifth grade, we were having a bake sale. My mom made some awesome brownies for the bake sale. They were dark, chocolately and they were decorated with half a walnut on the top of each one. They were beautiful, simple and I KNEW they would sell out immediately at the bake sale, so I wanted one of my own.
Unfortunately, she had put them in the green FAKE tupperware container. You know, the one that little fifth grade hands cannot open, not by design, but by lack of it.
I was determined to have a brownie before I relinquished them to my teacher, so I took a butter knife and slide it under the lid of the container. I figured that with gentle prying, it would come off. It didn’t. I tried prying it harder, but the butter knife slipped out from under the edge of the lid and hit me square in the mouth.
I had a piece of tooth on my tongue and a bruised ego.
I have no idea where my mom was when I broke my tooth, but I got her. There was scolding and telephone calls to the dentist. They couldn’t get us in until the afternoon, so my mom sent me to school with a broken tooth in my mouth and the impenetrable box of brownies in my hands.
I visited the dentist while my mom’s brownies sold out at the bake sale. It didn’t matter. I never had money to buy things at the bake sale anyway. At least, that’s what I told myself. I never did get one of those brownies.
Over the years, I learned to smile without showing my bottom teeth (or upper gums, but that’s another story). If you look at my photos, you’ll hardly ever see my lower teeth because I have been hiding them for 28 years. When I look at that broken tooth now, it almost serves as a indicator of my gluttony. I wanted brownies for breakfast and I was punished for it. I still think of it with shame even though it was so long ago.
I really should get that tooth fixed…
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Every time I pull out the camera and ask Sid to sit, he sits… for about 10 seconds. Then he immediately starts doing all of his other tricks. He’ll lift his paw to shake, he’ll take a bow, he’ll start sneezing and yawning.
Honestly, he was just yawning in this photo, but doesn’t he look like something you would meet on the way to hell? Sid Vicious: Demon Dog.
Here’s a better photo:
Did you know that it’s virtually impossible to correct red-eye on this dog? Not even iPhoto could do it. I had to do it myself and it looks horrible. Oh well, I never said I was a Photoshop expert…
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I have a love/hate relationship with the Craftzine blog. I LOVE them because they find cute little guys like this for me. I hate them because they post SO many items that it’s time-consuming just to scroll past them all. They post so many things that they don’t have time to try out the things that they post, so they will link to things that have instructions in French, no instructions at all or in this case, instructions written by a graphic artist.
Christopher Bonnette, the creator of Macula.tv, is genius, but not a writer.
When Craftzine linked to Macula.tv’s Chibi Yeti Paper Toy on Flickr, I was so excited. I love these little papercraft figurines. Unfortunately, the directions were cryptic at best. I was about to give up, but I looked at Christopher’s website and everything there was so beautiful, I decided there MUST be a way to put it together and have it look good. Fortunately, I had just enough experience in topology to fathom it. If you would like to make this little guy, continue reading for more specific directions:
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