Another day with nothing to really post.
So instead I'll leave you with this xkcd comic. While I love them in general (as anyone who is on my google reader friends list knows, since I share them all the time even though most of you probably have them on your list anyways) this is the only one that I've actually printed out and put next to my computer. Because it is SO TRUE. And, as a comp sci major, I am the default computer help person for many people.
[here]
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Going TV-free in January?
Will and I were talking tonight, and are toying with the idea of going tv-free in January. We'd still use our tv for movies, but we'd basically unplug our coax cable. Things we really want to watch we'd watch on hulu, but as I mentioned before we watch way too much tv and it'd be a way to wean ourselves off it.
We actually would need to unplug the coax cable, since my instinct when I sit down on the couch is to turn the tv on, so I'd need something to remind me to stop rather than just sheer willpower. I don't do so well with willpower.
We're not completely set on it, but I think it's probably worth a try. Now just to come up with some board games that we can play instead. And that way we'd actually interact more than just "hey, can you fast-forward through this?"
We actually would need to unplug the coax cable, since my instinct when I sit down on the couch is to turn the tv on, so I'd need something to remind me to stop rather than just sheer willpower. I don't do so well with willpower.
We're not completely set on it, but I think it's probably worth a try. Now just to come up with some board games that we can play instead. And that way we'd actually interact more than just "hey, can you fast-forward through this?"
The Stoning of Soraya M
Today one of my RAs brought to campus the movie The Stoning of Soraya M., which is a movie based on the true story of Soraya Manutchehri, a 35 year old woman who was stoned to death after her husband falsely accused her of adultery so that he could marry a 14 year old girl.
It was a really good movie, albeit a gory one - I didn't watch most of the actual stoning scene, because I have a weak stomach and a tendency to have images stick with me for a really, really long time.
The director was there and answered some questions from the audience. The movie is based on the book of the same name, written by French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam. The part that I found most interesting was probably the fact that he said that practically all of the conflict that was shown in the movie within any of the men of the village came for dramatic effect, not from Sahebjam's research. In the book, which is non-fiction, there's no conflict from the men in the village - they're all for it. But in the movie, to deepen the characters a bit and in order to keep from villainizing Iranian men, they added some conflict, specifically in the character of the mayor, who ran the "trial" (if you chose to call it that) in which she was eventually found guilty.
Good movie, though it'll stick with you for a while. And don't be ashamed to look away during the actual stoning scenes - I had to.
It was a really good movie, albeit a gory one - I didn't watch most of the actual stoning scene, because I have a weak stomach and a tendency to have images stick with me for a really, really long time.
The director was there and answered some questions from the audience. The movie is based on the book of the same name, written by French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam. The part that I found most interesting was probably the fact that he said that practically all of the conflict that was shown in the movie within any of the men of the village came for dramatic effect, not from Sahebjam's research. In the book, which is non-fiction, there's no conflict from the men in the village - they're all for it. But in the movie, to deepen the characters a bit and in order to keep from villainizing Iranian men, they added some conflict, specifically in the character of the mayor, who ran the "trial" (if you chose to call it that) in which she was eventually found guilty.
Good movie, though it'll stick with you for a while. And don't be ashamed to look away during the actual stoning scenes - I had to.
Monday, November 16, 2009
There's money in the banana stand
Will and I have started watching old episodes of Arrested Development because (a) I've never seen it, but everyone says I need to, and (b) Will saw it a few years ago and said I need to. Everyone who told me I need to watch it was right - I do really enjoy it.
I also enjoy the fact that I'm starting to catch references that I'd never caught before. I think Dani used to have a shirt or something about Steve Holt, one of my lj friends had an icon that was Buster, and facebook groups that I used to just pass over finally have a context.
One of the coolest parts, however, is that it was filmed near where we live. The "bay" in the show where the yacht is (was) located and the banana stand is was actually filmed at a marina about 5 minutes from where we live. Today we went down there and wandered around with the specific intention of relating it to Arrested, rather than just eating Mexican food (which is usually why we go there). We found the spot where the banana stand is, to which Will said "That's exactly where the banana stand is!" And then we went home and watched an episode and, sure enough, that's exactly where it was!
So props to us for recognizing a filming location. If that's not LA life, I don't know what is!
Also, if you haven't watched Arrested Development yet, you should.
I also enjoy the fact that I'm starting to catch references that I'd never caught before. I think Dani used to have a shirt or something about Steve Holt, one of my lj friends had an icon that was Buster, and facebook groups that I used to just pass over finally have a context.
One of the coolest parts, however, is that it was filmed near where we live. The "bay" in the show where the yacht is (was) located and the banana stand is was actually filmed at a marina about 5 minutes from where we live. Today we went down there and wandered around with the specific intention of relating it to Arrested, rather than just eating Mexican food (which is usually why we go there). We found the spot where the banana stand is, to which Will said "That's exactly where the banana stand is!" And then we went home and watched an episode and, sure enough, that's exactly where it was!
So props to us for recognizing a filming location. If that's not LA life, I don't know what is!
Also, if you haven't watched Arrested Development yet, you should.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Holiday Decorations
Ha! Another clever and creative way of not decorating your house for Christmas.
Since we're limited in space, we'll probably just decorate a mini-tree and put it in our window. Maybe our neighbors will do the ditto thing, through.
Since we're limited in space, we'll probably just decorate a mini-tree and put it in our window. Maybe our neighbors will do the ditto thing, through.
12 Dates of Christmas
Last year, Will and I decided that instead of giving each other gifts, we were going to do "The 12 Dates of Christmas," and go on 12 dates in the month of December.
It didn't work.
First I'd like to add the disclaimer/public service announcement that I know that the 12 Days of Christmas are the 12 days after Christmas, leading up to Epiphany. But these are the 12 Dates of Christmas. That's different.
Part of the problem is that we didn't come up with enough things to do in LA, and part of the problem is that we're lazy bums who sometimes like our couches and our computers too much.
I'd like to try it again this year, so I've started looking for things we can do on our dates. One of them will be an at-home date - pizza and FINALLY finishing Secret of Mana. We started this game in 2004 on an emulator on his laptop, and then stopped, and then got it for our Wii and started again, but then stopped again. If we do nothing else this Christmas, we will finish the game.
Aside from that, though, I'm not entirely sure. There has to be some sort of Trail of Lights or something like that in LA like there is in Austin, we just need to find it. And some sort of neighborhood that goes all out with the Christmas decorations, like that neighborhood in the mountain in Austin. The one where some friends of the family decided to go the humorous route and did it halfway, and then put a mannequin up in ladder and then wrapped the lights around him, so that it looked like someone got all tangled up while trying to put them up. It's a clever and creative way of only decorating half your house.
Aside from finding those things, which I am assuming exist in LA, I'm not entirely sure what else we'll do. I'm sure we can come up with something, though. I mean, that's already 3, so we only need to come up with 9 more.
ask for suggestions
It didn't work.
First I'd like to add the disclaimer/public service announcement that I know that the 12 Days of Christmas are the 12 days after Christmas, leading up to Epiphany. But these are the 12 Dates of Christmas. That's different.
Part of the problem is that we didn't come up with enough things to do in LA, and part of the problem is that we're lazy bums who sometimes like our couches and our computers too much.
I'd like to try it again this year, so I've started looking for things we can do on our dates. One of them will be an at-home date - pizza and FINALLY finishing Secret of Mana. We started this game in 2004 on an emulator on his laptop, and then stopped, and then got it for our Wii and started again, but then stopped again. If we do nothing else this Christmas, we will finish the game.
Aside from that, though, I'm not entirely sure. There has to be some sort of Trail of Lights or something like that in LA like there is in Austin, we just need to find it. And some sort of neighborhood that goes all out with the Christmas decorations, like that neighborhood in the mountain in Austin. The one where some friends of the family decided to go the humorous route and did it halfway, and then put a mannequin up in ladder and then wrapped the lights around him, so that it looked like someone got all tangled up while trying to put them up. It's a clever and creative way of only decorating half your house.
Aside from finding those things, which I am assuming exist in LA, I'm not entirely sure what else we'll do. I'm sure we can come up with something, though. I mean, that's already 3, so we only need to come up with 9 more.
ask for suggestions
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Cooking time! Sesame Chicken
After Lauren posted recipe for Sesame Chicken the other day I decided I ought to try it. I've been a HUGE fan of sesame chicken since I was in middle school and my family used to go to this all you can eat Chinese buffet. Probably once a week I'd tell my mom I had a "craving" for sesame chicken, so we needed to go back to that place. It's amazing my parents still like me, considering how much I used to whine about wanting to eat it.
I was a little intimidated because the picture was just SO PRETTY but I decided to give it a shot and make it anways. Survey says? It was GOOD. So good, that Will even ate the broccoli in order to consume more sauce. Anything that gets Will to eat broccoli is pretty amazing.
I followed the recipe almost exactly, except that I used more vegetable and less sesame oil for the frying, and a dash of sesame in the sauce.
No, seriously, you need to make this. Recipe is here.
Thanks, Lauren!
I was a little intimidated because the picture was just SO PRETTY but I decided to give it a shot and make it anways. Survey says? It was GOOD. So good, that Will even ate the broccoli in order to consume more sauce. Anything that gets Will to eat broccoli is pretty amazing.
I followed the recipe almost exactly, except that I used more vegetable and less sesame oil for the frying, and a dash of sesame in the sauce.
No, seriously, you need to make this. Recipe is here.
Thanks, Lauren!
Improv Everywhere
So recently I have fallen a little bit in love with Improv Everywhere. I mean, how can you NOT fall in love with a group that does spontaneous musicals ?
Unfortunately I can't ever keep a straight face, so I'd never work as a comic actor/improv everywhere agent. But a girl can dream, can't she? And their stuff is way fun, so who wouldn't want to be a part of it?
I think my favorite thing that they did was the surprise wedding reception. And the couple that got it is just the cutest. I mean, if you're going to do the courthouse thing, this is the way to do it.
Unfortunately I can't ever keep a straight face, so I'd never work as a comic actor/improv everywhere agent. But a girl can dream, can't she? And their stuff is way fun, so who wouldn't want to be a part of it?
I think my favorite thing that they did was the surprise wedding reception. And the couple that got it is just the cutest. I mean, if you're going to do the courthouse thing, this is the way to do it.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
NaBloPoMo wears thin
So I went 10 days before I really struggled with what to write. I think that's a promising start, at least, and hopefully I'm getting my creative juices running enough that I won't have to write too many posts this about how I'm not motivated to write.
I actually have about 4 posts in my drafts with ideas of what to write about for days like this, but my main problem is that today I don't really have a desire to write, rather than not having anything to write about.
Three paragraphs counts as enough, right? I will leave you with two things:
a) I named my Droid! His name is R2D2. Will went with Bender.
b) I really enjoy the below scene from the Thomas Crowne Affair. There's some commercial that has music that reminds me of this movie, and as a result I've watched this scene like 3 times in the past week. (*SPOILERS* if you've never watched the movie. Which you should.)
I actually have about 4 posts in my drafts with ideas of what to write about for days like this, but my main problem is that today I don't really have a desire to write, rather than not having anything to write about.
Three paragraphs counts as enough, right? I will leave you with two things:
a) I named my Droid! His name is R2D2. Will went with Bender.
b) I really enjoy the below scene from the Thomas Crowne Affair. There's some commercial that has music that reminds me of this movie, and as a result I've watched this scene like 3 times in the past week. (*SPOILERS* if you've never watched the movie. Which you should.)
Monday, November 9, 2009
Queso in Cali
Yesterday I had a craving for queso and did some googling and yelping to figure out if there's a restaurant in LA that has a good one. What I discovered is that restaurants in LA lack queso in general, much less good queso. Apparently it's a uniquely Tex-Mex thing, and pretty hard to find in California. Especially now that On The Border went bankrupt.
There was one thread in yelp where someone asked (a transplanted Texan, specifically) and all the results were "um, there are lots of places in LA that have cheese." PEOPLE. QUESO DOES NOT JUST MEAN CHEESE. It is also a creamy spicy cheese dip to be eaten with chips or tortillas.
After some failed searching (the only non-Chili's place I could find was only open for brunch) I decided to find a recipe. I was specifically craving Kerbey Queso, so I went with this white queso recipe that google provided me with. It was fancy with a roux and whatnot, and ended up feeling a bit grainy, but wasn't too bad. However, next time I think I'm just going to go with the Velveeta recipe I got from twitter. Definitely easier, and I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for Velveeta so there's really nothing to lose.
There was one thread in yelp where someone asked (a transplanted Texan, specifically) and all the results were "um, there are lots of places in LA that have cheese." PEOPLE. QUESO DOES NOT JUST MEAN CHEESE. It is also a creamy spicy cheese dip to be eaten with chips or tortillas.
After some failed searching (the only non-Chili's place I could find was only open for brunch) I decided to find a recipe. I was specifically craving Kerbey Queso, so I went with this white queso recipe that google provided me with. It was fancy with a roux and whatnot, and ended up feeling a bit grainy, but wasn't too bad. However, next time I think I'm just going to go with the Velveeta recipe I got from twitter. Definitely easier, and I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for Velveeta so there's really nothing to lose.
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