December 31, 2008

I got a new camera, but I haven't named it yet

It's a Canon SD 880 IS and here's what it looks like:


It takes really great pictures, so I'm very happy about finally getting it! It's super easy to use and I'm having a lot of fun playing with all of the features (of course, this also means I have to actually figure out what they do...). Also, so I can keep track of what's what, and so you can all look at my pictures, I got a flickr account. For easy access I threw in a nice little link on the side bar of this blog (along with a few thumbnails to entice you), so feel free to look around.

December 23, 2008

a meme! about books!

These are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users (they sit on the shelf to make the owner look smart or well-rounded). Bold the ones you’ve read for your own pleasure (or enjoyed reading in school, and *might* possibly read again, or even just finished), and italicize the ones you started but didn’t finish (i.e. forced to read for school) and I also put an asterisk by ones I really, really want to read.


The Aeneid
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
American Gods
Anansi Boys
Angela’s Ashes
Angels & Demons
Anna Karenina
Atlas Shrugged
Beloved
The Blind Assassin
Brave New World
The Brothers Karamazov
The Canterbury Tales
The Catcher in the Rye
Catch-22
A Clockwork Orange
Cloud Atlas
Collapse
A Confederacy of Dunces
The Confusion
The Corrections
*The Count of Monte Cristo (I will do it, I swear. I just need to be in the mood.)
Crime and Punishment
Cryptonomicon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
David Copperfield
Don Quixote
Dracula
*Dubliners (This one's sort of been on hiatus. I really do want to read it, though. Or finish.)
Dune
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Emma
Foucault's Pendulum
The Fountainhead
Frankenstein
Freakonomics
The God of Small Things
The Grapes of Wrath
Gravity’s Rainbow
Great Expectations
Gulliver's Travels
Guns, Germs, and Steel
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
The Historian
The Hobbit
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Iliad
*In Cold Blood (So how long has Bernadette been trying to get me to read it?? I had it in my hand at B&N, too. But I'd already had my book-buying-binge for the quarter. You know, where you go to B&N once every 10 weeks or so and spend like 70 bucks. Wait... normal people don't do that?)
The Inferno
Jane Eyre
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
The Kite Runner
*Les Misérables (I know, how can I not read the book that is where my favorite musical came from?)
Life of Pi
Lolita
*Love in the Time of Cholera (I loves me some Latino drama. Why isn't "Like Water For Chocolate" on here?)
Madame Bovary
Mansfield Park
Middlemarch
*The Mists of Avalon (Okay, so Bethany has been trying to get me to read this forever. And frankly, I don't disagree. Who wouldn't want to read names like "Gwenwyfar" over and over, while trying to pronounce them mentally?)
Moby Dick
Mrs. Dalloway
The Name of the Rose
Neverwhere (I LOVE this book. LOVE)
*1984 (I really don't know why I haven't read this. Honestly.)
Northanger Abbey
The Odyssey
Oliver Twist
The Once and Future King
*On the Road (Cormac McCarthy. It's on the list.)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
*One Hundred Years of Solitude (I loves me some Latino drama.)
Oryx and Crake
A People’s History of the United States
Persuasion
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Poisonwood Bible
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Pride and Prejudice (My fav. Absolutely. In fact, I may just read it again over break. Cuz I can.)
The Prince
Quicksilver Exposition
*Reading Lolita in Tehran (Haven't been able to pick it up yet. I'll have to throw it on the library list.)
The Satanic Verses
The Scarlet Letter
Sense and Sensibility
A Short History of Nearly Everything
The Silmarillion
*Slaughterhouse-Five (I'll do it. For Kurt.)
The Sound and the Fury
*A Tale of Two Cities (You know, I really liked the end of this book - which is where I woke up in class and started paying attention - so maybe I'd like the beginning.)
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
*The Time Traveler's Wife (It is sitting on my desk, I kid you not.)
To the Lighthouse
Treasure Island
*Ulysses (I know... Joyce. But it's so BIG... I'll just start with Dubliners)
*The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Also, sitting on my desk. But I'm not feeling like much of a schauvinist right now.
Vanity Fair
War and Peace
Watership Down (Never. Again.)
White Teeth
*Wicked (I don't know. I think I might have to stick with the musical. It's on the book shelf, though, just in case.)
Wuthering Heights
Zatoichi
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

December 17, 2008

If you're about to watch a movie, don't be surprised if Paul Rudd drops by

For some reason he's been following me around lately. 3 sightings in one day! I think that happens when you're sick and are forced to watch tv for hours on end. Let's see if you can guess what movies they're from... though it's probably totally obvious. Sorry about the ghetto screen caps.

Sighting #1


Sighting #2


Sighting #3




SO... I'll give you one more chance to guess the movies by putting up a different pic.

#1 is...



"Clueless"! Betcha didn't guess that... yeah... riiight.
Isn't it weird that Turk is in this, to? And Alicia Silverstone... what ever happened to her? And Brittany Murphy. And that guy from Road Trip.


#2 is...



Yeah... you knew it the whole time. "Romeo+Juliet". When I first saw this movie (freshman year of high school?) I was totally freaked out by it. Shakespeare scared me, but Baz' interpretation of Shakespeare scared me even more. It almost felt like blasphemy. But since then we've developed a more casual relationship, Shakespeare and I, and I can appreciate this movie a lot more.

Rudd was Paris. Poor, awkward Paris. But you know what? He actually made me feel sympathy for his character - which was WAY more than anything Franco Zeffirelli could do.



#3 is...


"Friends"! Only the best show ever to watch at midnight when you can't sleep. Or ever when you can't sleep. Or when you're bored. Or drunk. Or want to laugh and then feel bad because sometimes it's so stupid it's funny. Or because it's actually funny. Yeah. He was Phoebe's boyfriend.

December 10, 2008

"The Rescue" by Dan Piraro



This cracked me up... aren't cartoonists the best!?

My 20 Favorite Actresses Right Now... (Subject to Change Approx. Every 5 Minutes)

There's a meme floating around that's kind of a fun idea, but hard to accomplish once you've actually decided to do it! The longer I thought about it, the stricter I had to make my qualifications, so these choices are made on a ton of totally bizarre qualities/performances.

In no particular order:

















































































Ingrid, Cate, Meryl, Irene, Kate, Judi, Kate, Rachel, Madeleine, Diane, Emma, Marion, Holly, Doris, Anne, Amy, America, Judy, Nicole, Gena

And I can think of TONS more!!

Oh wait a minute. I can't forget this one! So what if it's 21. What are you going to do? Spank me?



Okay so I thought of another one like 5 minutes after I posted this. But this is IT. Anymore I think of will reside in the comments section.

December 4, 2008

Jackie O.bama and the Wedding of the CENTURY

The Presidential Inauguration is right around the corner. People are flying around left and right trying to get everything set-up for the special day and it's PANDEMONIUM.

The country is getting married to the Obamas, finally.

The courtship was a little painful at times, I'll be the first to admit. We were bachelors. We didn't know what we wanted, but we liked to complain about what we had. We took what we were offered, but remained unfulfilled, incomplete. The chemistry just wasn't there with anyone. We were beginning to lose hope; we didn't think we'd ever meet the one that made our hearts race just a little faster.

And then we met them.

I remember it like it was yesterday. It looked like this:


It wasn't love at first sight (for a majority of people), but there was definitely something there. We weren't sure if we were ready for this kind of commitment yet, so the decision was tough. We were forced to go through our little black book and think about all of the good times we'd had with our ex's. Was it worth it? We almost backed out, but the thought of losing them forever was enough to makes us take the leap of faith.

So the parentals have all the basics covered - we've chosen the church (this analogy just keeps getting better...), the date, the time, and they're setting up for the reception. All we need now is to make sure we've got our tux and she's got THE dress.
But what will it look like? Which one will she choose? This isn't just any wedding - it's THE wedding. The biggest wedding to EVER take place. EVER. And we're committed and we're doing this thing right.

So, since there's so much to do, WWD has graciously offered to help out with the most exciting part of the preparations: they're taking the bride dress shopping!

I've chosen my favs to post.

Diane von Furstenberg
A little conservative for my taste, but I like the way the top folds over. The cap sleeves are cute.



Marc Jacobs
Okay, so it's yellow. But let's think outside the box for a moment. The woman looks killer in boat necks, so that's a plus. Big belt - or is it a huge cumberbund - brings it together. I like the grey inset. Very sexy.


Christian Lacroix
He actually designed several dresses for Michelle, but some of them were a little too much. I liked this one because it showed a little skin, and let's face it - we are SO ready for a hot first couple. The HUGE bow at the back and the HUGE bow at her neck are a little much.


Michael Kors
I am really feeling the one-shoulder thing. I like it. It doesn't say prom (which is a trap that a lot of designers fell into) and it doesn't say "imported" (which would probably be a mistake) or obscure fashion show in some alley in Prague (which, when you think about it, actually sounds kind of fabulous, right?)


Oscar de la Renta
Okay, so I kind of am in love this whole thing. All white says WAY too formal and gives me sort of a weird Puritan-y feeling, but this is the perfect balance. Absolutely. And the flowers are a great way of transitioning the colors. At first glance, I sort of worried that it would seem too simple to be a viable choice, but the detail on the upper bodice is phenom.

Kia Milla
So this sketch is weird, I agree. But try to look at it and really envision the dress she has in mind. Strapless (very Michelle-y), big black belt used to divide the flowing skirt with the detailed bodice, and the top itself - great flowery detail. I really like it. My only issue is that it's not going to seem formal enough. It looks too much like something she might wear normally - she looks a little like she could just throw a cardigan over the top and hop down to the mall.


Reem Acra
She gets TWO!!
Like I said earlier - the woman looks great in a wide neck. And the silhouette in the red is fantastic. I love the details at the bottom, too. But, much like the Kia Milla dress, it just doesn't seem formal enough. Love the dress, though. It has a little bit of a latin flair, right?
I really like the blue (?) one, too. It seems a little child-like when compared to the red dress, though. I totally love the knot in the middle of the top, though.




I love them all, I really do, but I'm going to have to put my vote forth for the Oscar de la Renta. It may not be the absolute sexiest dress that's being put forth, but I think says a lot about the way we feel about this occasion. It's simple, yet elegant. There's an delicateness to the design that I feel represents our (almost childish) optimism of the coming years. I wish all designers the best, and I know Michelle is going to kill it on January 20th.