Things I Never Thought I'd Say -- #2

"I slept in an antebellum mansion the other night."

I did.

For realz.

A few of the corps members are renting a legit Antebellum mansion in Eutaw (about 20 or 30 minutes away), and I spent the night there once last week when I had to be Greensboro really early in the morning (before I had moved into my home).

Just another of the many reasons I'm excited to be living in the deep South for a couple years.

The original doorbell.

Oh, the Temptations of Fluffed Sugar and Air

I'm not sure why I love this video so much, but I watched it the other day and could not stop laughing.

Just watch. It's awesome. And while you're watching, you should try substituting the little kids for adults and the marshmallow for bigger, cooler adult situations in your mind. Because basically, I think we "adults" still approach -- and react to -- temptation in pretty much the same way. 

Ha-la-rious. 

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

Also, I love the little girl who just grabs and eats the marshmallow without even thinking about it. There's no way she's waiting for another one.

But that boy who finally gets two -- I wanted to hug him.

Tulip Season

"It's super nice outside. Like maybe you could wear shorts. Or maybe that's what heaven feels like."
- Valerie

It's gorgeous today. It finally feels like spring might be here to stay. Hooray!

And of course, with spring comes one of my Top Ten favorite things about OU -- the tulip gardens.

Almost everywhere you look, people are smiling. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that those smiles are the product of about 40% sunshine and 60% tulips.

And what's not to love? The flower beds on campus are completely covered with red and yellow pieces of happy. It's impossible not to smile.

I absolutely love the fact that the gardens here on campus are all endowed. Thank you so much to whoever donated gobs of money so the university could plant giant beds of wonderful flowers every season, regardless of other budget cuts. Donors deserve a special spot in heaven with permanently beautiful weather and never-diminishing platters of chocolate truffles.

And, even though tulips only last three or four weeks (and have to be replanted every year), I will argue to the death that those tulips gardens are not an unnecessary extravagance -- which I overheard some girl saying the other day. She's wrong. These tulips are critical to the sanity of our students me.

And can beauty ever really be called an extravagance?

I say no.

Anything that uplifts your spirits and brings a smile to your face is well worth the time and energy. Because that's what life is all about. Being happy. The rest is just buttercream frosting.

Birthday Wishes

This was waiting for me when I got to work.

I love my job!

My Birthday List of Awesome

Today is my birthday. And I'm in a great mood!

And while I'm sure there's probably a direct link between my happiness and my special day (and the GORGEOUS weather), I'd like to think that it's also because of all the awesome little things that have happened to me so far.

Here is my current list of awesome -- to be updated as the day continues, since it's only 11:45 a.m. and there's a lot o' daylight left.

1. I had to wake up early to run errands this morning. First stop on my list was Walmart. I was on a mission and only there for shampoo and cereal. But then I saw the almonds. And I bought the almonds. A girl's gotta indulge on her birthday. Too bad I didn't have time to swing by to see if there were any raspberries. Next time.

2. IT'S SPRING!!!

3. The bank is usually a boring affair. But instead of the usual drive-through routine, I had to go inside to get a money order, and from the front counter I could see through to the drive-through banking area.

I watched a man in a large van drive up and roll down his window, and as he reached for his wallet, this pug jumps over from the passenger seat onto the man's lap, staring intently in the bank window. Suddenly the man in the van grins and waves his hand violently in front of his face -- between his face and the dog's arse, specifically. The man then proceeds to roll down the opposite window to relieve the car of the dog's fart. So funny.

4. Someone had already paid for the meter at one of my errand stops.

5. I have to get my fingerprints taken for a background check in order to do Teach For America, so I headed to the county sheriff's office today to get that done before I left for Spring Break. I'd never been there before, so it took me a while to find the building.

And then, once I got there, I couldn't figure out how to get in. There is a large main door on three different sides of that building, and I went into two of them (and through their little security screenings) before being told that I needed to go over to the third. This would have been a major annoyance if I wasn't on cloud nine because of my birthday and sleep deprivation. It was also really funny because at the second stop, the guys asked me if I was getting my fingerprints in order to carry a concealed weapon. If only he knew me.

6. Oh, and my roommates surprised me at midnight last night with cookie cake. They are amazing. We chatted for a while, discussing Madison's swollen eye of mysterious origin (her new nickname is Mad Eye Moody) and if men's balls sag when they get older.

And that's really about it. It's been a good day.

Love,
Now an Old Ball

Unexpected Birthday Surprise

My love extends on from Jon Stewart to the mailman today. Whom I've never met. But he brings me presents all the time, so how can I not like him? Especially after a day like today, which brought some extra awesome goodies, since my birthday is only two days away.

TWO DAYS!

I'm turning the big double-two, which, by the way, has to be the most anticlimactic birthday in the average human's lifetime.

Think about it. Most of the good birthdays are gone -- one, ten, Sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one -- and the next cool birthday doesn't come until I'm 40, and that's arguable because I don't know how many people are excited about being designated "over the hill."

And after the massive celebration/libations of my twenty-first, my twenty-second doesn't hold much anticipation. In fact, I've been hunkering down all week with papers, prep for South by Southwest with Crowdstory, and getting ready to take the PRAXIS (Saturday!!!), and I almost completely forgot that my birthday was coming.

Until this morning. I got a cute card from my Grandpa...

... a touching card from my Grandmama and Granddad...

... and...

BAHAHAAAAA!!!

I'm sorry. I know I should be weirded out by the fact that the Gecko knows my birthday, but I just can't be. Not when he sends me a card like that.

And it rhymes inside. It's some silly, poorly metered poem about saving money now that I'm a year older (at least it doesn't know my exact age -- then I might be worried), but it's still pretty awesome.

Thanks, Gecko, for caring.

Snarky Perfection

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

I'm in love with Jon Stewart. In. Love. I'd seriously consider a marriage proposal out of the blue from this man, peppered hair and all. Homeboy is funny, witty, and tends to have a good point.

And his sarcasm is the best.

Of course, my roommates will attest to the fact that I have minor difficulties detecting sarcasm in regular conversations. But that's something for another day. I always understand when Stewey is being sarcastic -- because that's practically all the time. So naturally we're still highly compatible, regardless of my ability to detect snarkiness in real life.

Anywho, watch this and tell me you don't find this incredibly awesome. So snarky. So perfect.

Thoughts?

Learning Photoshop in Art Class

I absolutely love my art class this semester. And what's not to love?

I get to paint for six hours a week on my own projects, and I have a really nice, helpful (kinda cute in a tormented hipster artist kind of way) T.A. around to answer my questions and give good suggestions about things to work on.

It's like heaven, only a bit too early in the morning.

Last week the class trekked down to the computer lab in the basement to learn how to use Photoshop. The assignment was to bring pictures to class and then use Photoshop to collage them together.

I loooooved this assignment. Not only did it force me to get out and take pictures with my camera (will post those pictures soon), but it helped me relearn Photoshop, which I was obsessed with in high school. Also strangely reminds me a lot of my nerdy gamer first boyfriend. I credit him for my Photoshop interest and the fact that I took up snowboarding. If I remember correctly, he was also my first kiss and the kid who dumped me because I wouldn't put out (though I'm pretty sure I didn't even know what that meant at the time). I had to work really hard to eek out a couple tears on the drive home.

Anyway, back to that Photoshop collage. It's below.

Can you tell what I added?

I tried to make it look as realistic as possible (instead of an obvious collage like most of the others). I'm not sure what this says about my imagination, but whatevs.

I started with this as the base...

And then added the below items.

Getting the perspective correct on that tire rack took so long. It wasn't until my (cute hipster) T.A. mentioned the words "vanishing point" that I understood what I needed to change. My mother would be proud.

The sky took for-freakin-ever to put in. Mostly because I got all OCD on the thing and had to erase ever single pixel of the old gray sky before adding in the clouds -- and I insisted on keeping the electrical wires in tact.

Let me just tell you how relaxing methodical labor like that is. You don't have to think, you just work. 

It's the best.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my brief dip into the world of photo editing. 

I need to buy me some Photoshop for my computer. Preferably before I lose my student discount. 

I'll have to add that to my list, along with Final Cut Express. So much to buy, so little time!

Crowdstory App Submitted!

I stayed up way too late last night (think 3 hours of sleep), but it was all well worth it.

The developers on my business internship team have been working hard all week (all semester really) to complete the programming on our iPhone App– Crowdstory– by last night, so I decided that I wanted to show them my support and gratitude for all their hard work.

So I made them cheese quesadillas.

And I brought apple slices and Ritz crackers with cream cheese (that I spread on while there).

I’m getting this Soccer Mom business out of my system early.

After feeding the guys at about 1:00 a.m., I decided to stick around for a while to keep them company. This mostly involved stealing my team leader’s iPhone and recording a bunch of audio “snippets” (recorded stories) on the Beta version of Crowdstory, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I barricaded myself into a room adjoining the developers, and whenever I recorded a particularly entertaining snippet (if I do say so myself), I’d run into the other room and triumphantly share it with the developers before disappearing into my soundproof cubicle again.

I told myself I was recording in a soundproof room solely for audio quality assurance purposes. In actuality, it was so they wouldn’t see how many tries it took me to get a good snippet recorded (Average = 4 restarts). I’d prefer them to think I’m normally that funny.

But seriously, y’all — the Crowdstory App is SO. MUCH. FUN.

And I’m not just saying that because I’m a part of the team (though I guess I maybe look at it in slightly rosey hues).

It’s really that great.

I mean, until last night, the Crowdstory App been just some nebulous idea to me. It was merely a concept, some abstract thing that we’d been talking about, brainstorming for, and stressing over for the last semester and a half.

But last night, holding that iPhone in my hand and recording snippets, Crowdstory became real to me. Real, tangible and sooooooo awesome.

I was beside myself. Delirious with joy, really.

In fact, I was so ecstatic about the App that I probably annoyed the bajeezees out of those poor, stressed-out, exhausted developers. Well, you know what they say… Hind-sight is 20/20.

But anyway, three hours and 21 snippets later, I was privileged to be a part of a colossal moment in Crowdstory history. To the tune of nervous looks and (probably annoying) commentary from me (recorded on a snippet!), Frank clicked the Submit button.

The Mac’s thinking rainbow wheel spun.

Tense faces all around.

No one breathed.

Except me, who couldn’t keep my mouth shut and kept spouting random things onto the snippet I was recording (titled “App Submission — Final Installment”).

Me: “This is an epic moment for Crowdstory…”

Everyone Else: “………”

And then, all the sudden, there popped up a box. It read, “The Crowdstory App has been submitted to the App store.”

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

The moment we’d been anticipating since September!

Hugs, cheers, and congratulations ensued. Epic celebrations.

And now all we have to do is wait for Apple to check out our App, see how awesome it is, and approve it for the App Store. And we’re in business.

I can’t wait to share the App with all you who own iPhones — you’re going to love it!

P.S. To give credit where credit is due, our awesome Crowdstory developers are Greg Gustafson, Frank Lezu, Zach Whaley, and Daniel Bailey. Some of the nicest, smartest guys you'll ever meet. Amen.

Today's Forecast

Cool.

Awesome.

I love me a day with plentiful sunshine.

Love! Love! Love!

Love! Love!

Love!

. . .

Madison (when looking at a friend's baby on Facebook): "It's like a little nugget baby. It's so tiny."

Tess: "It's probably a preemie or something."

Madison: "I don't want a nugget baby. I want my baby to be bigger than everyone else's boy babies."

Love

‎"Life without you is like a broken pencil. Pointless."

Ah, the simple joys in life.

The Smooch! Project

I was going to save this to post on Valentine's Day, but I can't wait. It's too good to hold in.


The other night I was lazily browsing through the interwebbs (instead of responding to emails) when I stumbled upon this website called The Smooch! Project.

What is The Smooch! Project, you ask?

It is a project started by Minnesota photographer Bonnie Fournier, who one day noticed just how much joy she felt when looking at a photo of her sister smooching her on the cheek. She decided to start a project based on the idea of mudita, or "appreciative joy," a word used to describe the feeling one experiences when witnessing another's good fortune.

And this project, she decided, would be a testing of that idea. So she take pictures of people kissing their loved ones on the cheek.

And she already has thousands of them!

According to the website, it is "intended to serve as a documentary record demonstrating that all humans, regardless of social, economic, or political barriers, share a joyful willingness to welcome love and affection into their lives. The artist's goal is to collect 10,000 exhibition-quality images."


If you ever need a reminder of the basic beauty that is love, this is the place to go.

Today I kinda needed a pick-me-up. So I opened The Smooch! Project on my browser and probably watched a solid five minutes of pictures slide by. By the end, I felt so much better.


If that was the goal of her project, then I'd say it was a huge success! 

Another Great Way to Waste Time

If you are still stuck in the snow like I am, or need a distraction from your otherwise busy life, check this out.

Just type in a film title, and it pops out a thesis statement that's way more articulate, concise, in-depth -- not to mention incredibly pompous (just what professors love) -- that I could ever be on my own.

Brilliant!

I may or may not be planning to use this on absolutely every paper I write between now and graduation.

The Best Movies Ever

When I Have to Pick, I Tell Everyone My Favorite Movie Is:

• Life is Beautiful (La vita é bella)

Other Movies that Blew My Mind: 

• Fight Club
• Memento
• Gummo

Movies that Make Me Want to Make Movies:

• Little Miss Sunshine
• Sunshine Cleaning
• Gummo (So raw and honest. And about a socioeconomic class-- intense rural poverty-- that society seems to always ignore.)
• George Washington (for the same reasons as Gummo)
• Blood Diamond (Movies have the power, on the smallest level, to change opinions and, on a bigger scale, change the direction of people's lives.) 

Movies I Love to Love (Just Because):

• Away We Go
• Forrest Gump
• Smart People
• Love Actually
• Holiday Inn
• The Royal Tenenbaums
• Ocean's Eleven
• Miss Congeniality
• Pride and Prejudice (both the new one and the six hour A&E version)

Loving Me Some Food Blogs

My newest obsession is cooking blogs. I can't get enough of 'em. I keep finding new ones, reading through them, falling in love and getting really hungry. I've taken to copying all the tasty (easier) recipes onto blank Word documents with the intent of printing them when I get to Norman.

It started out innocently enough. My first love was Pioneer Woman, though I loved her more for her wit and entertaining stories than for her cooking. But I did try a few of her recipes (one of which I have now cooked three times over the break for different people) and I love them.

After Pioneer Woman came The Menu Mama, who is actually an old friend of the family's. Heather has two little kids and focuses her blog on helping people plan for the week ahead, including a grocery list for the beginning of every week (which I think is brilliant). She's also great because her meals rely on ingredients that I could easily find in my own pantry -- no fancy-schmancy spices and impossible-to-pronounce cheeses.

These blogs I admired passively, browsing through and appreciating but not needing.

Then I went to Montana for part of Christmas break and took it upon myself to help my dad find some easy new recipes that he can make on Sundays (and in turn, find some good recipes for myself). And of course, where would you go for recipes except online?

So with that challenge in mind, I went through the links on Ree and Heather's blogs and found Bakerella, Smitten Kitchen, and a plethera of other awesome, delicious, super cool cooking (and baking) blogs.

With all these blogs to browse through, I don't think I'll ever purchase an actual cookbook now. What's the point? It's all online.

Kinda makes me feel bad for the poor publishing industry.

Until I google how to make the perfect brown rice and I immediately get a good fifty or sixty recipes.

From now on, I think I'll just grab my favorite recipes from all these great blogs and combine them in a binder or something. It's better that way anyway, because then it's personalized.