two dolla

yes, i do need a banana bunker

Hey, don’t you need a Banana Bunker?This is the funniest damn thing ever. Had I not just dropped $100 on food and food alone at the pet store tonight, I would buy some and you’d all be getting them for St. Patrick’s Day or Easter or something.

I mean, because who doesn’t want to carry their breakfast into work in some thing resembling a self-pleasuring tool?

“Hey there, co-worker, is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

Good Lord.

(Thanks a lot, Erika!)

let’s talk about your tattoos

Dear Mom and Dad, sorry you had to read it here first, but…

I really want a tattoo. Really bad. I’ve wanted one since I was maybe 20, but it never seemed to work out for one reason or another. Plus, I couldn’t decide what I wanted. And the thing is, I’m still on that whole indecisiveness trail. Only now, I know exactly where I want it and where I want to get it done. However, without an idea of what should be forever drawn onto my skin is still escaping me.

I have a couple of ideas that I’m going back and forth between, and I’m sure I’ll decide on something soon, but in the meantime, let’s talk about your tattoos.

What are they, and where are they? How did you decide on them?

riley needs accessories

Tuesdays are my work from home days, which means one 70+ pound dog that I live with gets to sleep on the couch all days, as opposed to sleeping in his kennel that’s padded with three pillows and one of my t-shirts. I don’t mind him on my couch (or the rest of my furniture for that matter), but sometimes the tiny white hairs that cover ever soft surface in my apartment can get overwhelming.

Also a problem? The backseat of my car. He likes car rides, so I take him with me a lot. But it looks like a polar bear’s been shaved in the backseat. For the first time ever, I’m strongly considering buying some type of a seat cover, so my human passengers aren’t covered with Riley hair.

A flat bed sheet was working for a while, but it kept falling off (or maybe someone kept pulling it off when I wasn’t looking), so the straps on something like this look really appealing.

I tell ya what, that dog of mine? He’s an expensive little guy, that is for sure. But you know what? Absolutely worth every last penny.

I’m just glad he’s the size that he is, or I’d probably have about 298 dog carriers filling up my spare bedroom, so I could carry him all over the place. You know, like my own personal accessory.

ai: 10 boys are back

Unfortunately, there will be no shoeless Paul Kim and no cute little Rudy Cardenas this week as the top 10 guys are on again tonight. They’re supposed to dedicate this week’s performances to people that inspire them or mean a lot to them or something to that effect. Naturally, it’s a super corny theme, because they can’t really get to in depth with the whole theme week just yet, I guess!

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straight from the relationship doctor

Are you the woman that men are looking for? I know that’s a question I constantly ask myself. Ha. Hahaha. Oh, man. It’s okay. I laughed for a good while, too.

In ANY case, if you were wondering where you might be able find out this valuable, and possibly lifelong desired information? Understanding Men can help. And of course there’s a book and a blog to go along with it, all written by “The Relationship Doctor” himself, Bob Grant. Yeah, I’ve never heard of him either, but if he’s calling himself the Relationship Doctor, he must be good at what he does.

When I see a site like this, I always think of those books like “How to Get the Man You Want To Marry in 23 Days Or Less” or “Here’s How to be the Lady of His Dreams!”. And you know what? You shouldn’t have to read a book, or in this case a website, to figure out how to land that hot piece of meat you’ve had your eye on two doors down from you. I can guarantee the main thing he’s gonna want is for you to be yourself and following someone else’s “how-to” guide is certainly not the way to go.

Maybe it’s at least good for some entertainment value. Also entertainment value? Me offering relationship advice!

lots of white*

Today might be my last day from working home on Tuesdays, so I took advantage of it over lunch. Riley and I headed across the street to run and take photos. You can guess who chose which activity, I’m sure.

In photography class, we had some composition-related homework, so with the snow all over the place, it was easy to take some shots that fit into our assignment, as well as set my white*-balance appropriately. I feel so technical. Here’s the set on Flickr.
I also wanted to take some pictures to send to my grandma. I always forget how much she likes it when I send her pictures until I talk to her on the phone.

*Why’s it gotta be white? 

kool-aid kool-aid kool-aid

My Boys At Work™ are good for very little except pure entertainment and never making a day go by where I don’t laugh until crying. I’ll share the pictures of my chewed gum collection from them at a later date. It’s very colorful. Another example? The collection of Valentine’s Day conversation hearts they gave me.

The only other thing they’ve been good for as of late is the introduction to Kool-Aid singles. KOOL-AID SINGLES.

If there’s one thing I love (how many times have I said that?), it’s being able to drink Kool-Aid all day long. Granted, it’s not sugar-free and there are products like Crystal Light singles that are better for me, but I’m giving myself just a little bit of credit.

A can of pop is 12 ounces and costs 50 cents at my work. When I drink Kool-Aid, I drink 17 ounces at a time, which involves using two of the single packs out Kool-Aid. There are 16 packets in a box, and I believe the box was something like $3.19. This makes me  Kool-Aid just under 40 cents a pop. I’m saving money by drinking Kool-Aid, and not having caffeine at the same time.

I love Kool-Aid so much and it makes my often stressful day just the slightest bit enjoyable.

free podcast hosting sound dangerous

You guys have probably figured out by now that I like to write about myself. A lot. Probably too much. And I’ll admit, the main reason I do is just to entertain myself. I’d never really thought about taking it to the next level until about five seconds ago.

What next level, you might be asking? Well, podcasting, of course. When I see the words Free Podcast, my interest is automatically piqued. It looks easy enough, especially for someone that’s only listened to about one or two podcasts in my entire life.

The thing that makes me laugh most about the idea of having my own podcast is people listening to me ramble on and on for minutes at a time. It might be worth it, though, just so I can go back and listen to myself to find out how many times I actually drop the f-bomb in a one-sided conversation.

matt buckstein, the lost idol

I’m blaming this post on the fact that the snow finally put the kibosh on my desired activities. It started by snowing in many a-vehicles to prevent a trip for brunching at Town Talk this morning, but it has made it a good day for the napping.

Do you guys remember Matt Buckstein? He’s the cowboy that tried out on American Idol last year, and ended up getting the boot right after the group performance, because he has that little cowboy kid that only sang to his turkeys – Garet Johnson. Or something like that. He tried out again this year and made it to the Top 40. He didn’t make the Top 24, because Paula told him he didn’t have that extra something that he needed to go on.

Instead of proclaiming he was screwed or complaining about the show in general, he went back home to Denver and decided to keep performing every week and let the folks on the internet vote on whether or not he should go on to the next round. It’s kinda dorky and nerdy, but it’s also kinda cute! Here’s the link to his first week’s performance, which I think he posted online last Tuesday, the same day the Final 12 Boys gave their first performance.

As it turns out, he’s been served with a cease and desist order from American Idol’s producers/legal team, telling him he can no longer use the term “Idol” now that he’s no longer on the show. You can hear him talk about it here.

So, while he may not be able to call himself “The Lost Idol”, I can, and that’s really the main reason for this post. The guy’s just having a good time, using the exposure he did get to his advantage, and the biggest show in America right now has to go and wreak havoc on his favorite hobby. Apparently they now have a copyright on the word idol. If that’s the case, I should be receiving my cease and desist order anytime now.

the ultimate gift

This is the official site of the movie “The Ultimate Gift” and the grass-roots movement its starting to help charities and give to others. Why can’t all movies do this?

I like to think that I’m pretty up to speed when it comes to movies and all that Hollywood gossipy crap that I read way too much of every day, but today is the first time I’d heard about “The Ultimate Gift”. The movie, which opens March 9th on a limited release, is giving one dollar from every ticket purchased to the charitable group of your choice. The Fox Film Fund is making this possible.

They’re referring to the first weekend the movie is open as the “Weekend of Giving”, and all movie tickets purchased for viewing from March 9 through March 11 will qualify for the donation to charity.

You guys all know how much I love charity. And you also know how much I love movies. Combining two of my favorite things together is incredible. The only thing that would make me happier is if there was an awesome way to combine brownies and bench pressing, too.

The movie is based on a book written by Jim Stovall, who has overcome blindness to achieve such goals as becoming a success investment broker and even a national champion Olympic weightlifter. The movie itself has a great list of actors – Abigail Breslin (the adorable little girl from Little Miss Sunshine), James Garner (the old guy that made you cry in The Notebook), and Brian Dennehy (Chris Farley’s dad in Tommy Boy) just to name a few.
According to the movie’s website, “more than 300 pre-screenings have already resulted in over $5 million in donations to charity.” How awesome is that? I know it’s just a grass-roots movement and I know it’s not a huge film, but how great is it to know that just by going and doing something like watching a movie in the theater, you’re going to be able to donate money to a cause you support? I hope to see more of this in the future!