I love Christmas, though this year I think I’d love it more if I wasn’t sick. But I’m getting better and hopefully will get my sense of smell (and taste) back in time for dinner at Todd’s parents’ tomorrow. Christmas was such an effort this year…between finishing what was the roughest semester of my graduate career, working, coughing, and sneezing, it was tough to put up a tree and finish all the shopping that I couldn’t do online. But yet again, I have managed to pull it off.
I love Christmas Day simply because I love presents…let’s not pretend here. Yes, I love my family and truly look forward to spending time with them, but I so look forward to exchanging gifts with Todd. We tend overdo it when it comes to each other (I have to cut myself off at a set dollar amount every year, telling myself that I need to save some gifts for his birthday in February). Every year, it’s like we’re little kids again on Christmas morning. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when we finally get around to having kids. Though I need to work on teaching him the fine art of just ripping open presents WITHOUT taking turns. Chaos is more fun!
But first there is Christmas Eve! When you’re a kid, it is the worst. You know that there is a metric assload of presents coming the next morning and the night before is pure torture! When I was little, Mumsy used to let me open one present the night before, but this is not a tradition that I have carried on. Perhaps when we have kids of our own, I’ll do that again, but not now. Instead, Todd and I have created new traditions. First, we have Christmas Eve tacos. Why? Why not? Then we watch the 24 hour marathon of “A Christmas Story”…it loops on the downstairs tv all evening and upstairs while we sleep. After dinner, we drive around town looking at Christmas decorations. This started out as a tour of luminaries, but now it’s more of a tour of inflatable, light-up crap in people’s front yards. It always amazes me…the crap people put outside in the name of holiday spirit. Last year, the big thing was computerized lights and music. Roll down your car window in 3 degree weather and you too can hear the Transiberian Orchestra playing along with synchronized lights. What won’t people spend their money on? Why don’t you buy Christmas dinner for a needy family or presents for a little kid who has nothing? Sigh. Anyway, that trend seems to prevail in those developments full of McMansions…they have the WORST decorations…so we check out those neighborhoods first. I’ll get pictures if I see anything really bad.
Enjoy your Christmas!!
One of the things that lures me, and countless others, to Apple products is the way that they look. This is second, of course, to the pure technological genius that drives Microsoft to run commercials that extol the virtues of Vista (think: the Pepsi taste-test commercials where they disguise Vista as “Mojave” and get people to try it again, with the obvious result being that Vista is not so bad after all…riiight). Anyway, I like shiny things with clean lines…minimalism is my friend. So when there is a scratch on or…GASP…a crack in one of the members of my Apple brood, I am truly upset. I try not to be one of those “freak-out cuz my car got a little ding” people, but sometimes I just am. Today, I am on like hour one million of paper writing and such, when my right wrist catches part of my MacBook’s edge…below the keyboard and to the right of the touchpad. Oh my! How did that happen?!?!?! I am very careful with this thing…it holds my academic life in its little hard drive…I am terrible about backing things up. Into the other room I march, to show Todd what happened. Like a child whose favorite toy is broken, I ask, “Can you fix it?” I don’t care how, but I want him to simply turn back time or hit the “undo” button of life. He tells me that he can glue it but he doesn’t want to do it now because I have 3 days left in my semester and my MacBook is my constant companion.
Fast forward about a half an hour and he’s been oddly quiet. I come to find out that he has researched the problem and discovered that Apple is aware that this problem is common and is making out-of-warranty exceptions to fix it. As I write this, he is on the phone with Apple and is making arrangements to have my beautiful MacBook restored to its previous condition.
Todd + Apple = A Very Happy Chelle
So the people down the street are either completely oblivious or have a killer sense of humor. Every Christmas, they decorate the outside of their house with lights and stuff…not any more obnoxious than the typical Christmas light concoctions you see on any given street. But the crowning achievement of their decorating frenzy is their light-up Abominable Snowman from “Rudolph”. By day, it’s sort of cute…stirring up childhood memories and all. But by night…well judge for yourself. It makes me laugh every time I drive by it.
The Urban Dictionary defines “Hell Week” as “The inagural week of all Greek organizations (fraternities) in which the new members (pledges) are rigorously abused and tortured as an endurance test. If the pledges make it through Hell Week, then they can become full-fledged fraternity members.” Note the use of the words “rigorously abused” and “tortured”, as this accurately describes the last week of every semester for me. As an undergrad, Hell Week was the week of back to back finals, but as a grad student, it denotes the fact that every major paper/project is due on one day. For me, this includes what Professor Jackass calls an “Interpretive Essay”…that’s all…no other clue as to what I am supposed to do here. Normally, I like the academic freedom that such a general description allows me, but this guy likes to play the “read my mind” game. He doesn’t tell you what he wants, but will not hold back in marking you down for not getting it right. BTW, this so-called interpretive essay is worth a mere 50% of my grade. OK then…
The other item I have due is for my Social Historiography class (the 1st of a 2-part class that culminates in a journal article-type piece of writing that I submit with my applications to doctoral programs..that is, if I am just insane enough to pursue this past my Masters and kiss my sanity good-bye). For this course, I am working on a research proposal…something that may actually be useful, not only for next semester, but also for later in my academic life. I am actually enjoying this project, but because of the aforementioned Professor Jackass, I have had little time to devote to this class, let alone this project. It’s ok, since it is only worth 40% of my grade.
I keep telling myself that it will all be over next Tuesday and I have roughly 3 weeks off to regain my composure and properly assess my life (that is, decide if I can/should keep my job and whether or not I should start serious investigation into doctoral programs…I am not mentally equipped to do either of these things right now). So God help me, I hope I survive this and produce work that is worth while. I’ll see you next week.
So yesterday, I spent the day at Villanova reading about the genderization of the financial industries from 1870 to 1930…really boring stuff, if you ask me. I packed it in about 3:30 and drove home, deciding on the way that I wanted to go to the Pub (I skipped lunch, as getting on and off campus during a football game can prove to be a bit of a challenge). I got home, collected Todd and off we went. As we were having dinner, I mentioned that we still hadn’t played Carnival Mini Golf on the Wii…it’s still sitting next to the tv. Todd, in his infinite brilliance, said we should go to GameStop across the street after dinner and pick up Guitar Hero on the used rack. I now hate him for this!
There is a reason I avoided this game since its release a billion years ago…it will become an addiction. I have never played it, only watched it being played. Nope, not gonna touch that little plastic guitar…not me…not a good idea. Well, last night we brought it home, hooked it up, and I schooled it….haha, not so much. I am getting better though…and I will finish “Talk Dirty to Me” all the way through…like I finished “Rock and Roll All Nite” on the first try! Cut me a break though, it was Saturday and there was Stoli involved…I was playing impaired. I dunno how those rock stars do that…drink and play on stage…I can’t even do this in my living room. And man, my arms and hands HURT this morning!
Todd says I should get points for my rock star poses.
I’ve been called a lot of things…closed-minded, a musical snob, musical purist (that’s my own), but there is one thing that is for sure…never, never EVER question my musical knowledge. If I don’t know it, then it is simply not worth knowing. So when David Lee Roth left Van Halen more than 20 years ago (yes, I know they’ve reunited, but does anyone care at this point?) and Sammy Hagar took over, it was simply not Van Halen. It was more of a case where 3 guys couldn’t let a past era go…let it die. Sure there was plenty of success, but they were never able to recapture the essence of the old Van Halen…raw, guitar-driven rock. Van Hagar was way to “produced” in my (not so) humble opinion.
There’s always talk about a Beatles reunion…with stand-ins for John and George (BLASPHEMY!). Then there’s the inevitable Led Zep reunion (Jason Bonham taking over for his father on drums. As for a lead singer…they still haven’t figured that out, though Steven Tyler flubbed the audition). What is the point? Good things end, get over it. It must be a money thing, though has anyone really been that successful in recreating a bygone era? Doubtful.
I stumbled on this article (if you can call it such): Band Wreckers and the Happy Bands They Destroy
Now, I read the article after I wrote the post, so forgive me for the repetition. But I would like to add that Queen had their heads firmly planted up their bums when they thought some jackass from Bad Company could flit and prance like Freddie Mercury!
Last Christmas, Todd bought me my iPhone. Not since my kitty Abbey have I adored a gift quite like I adore my iPhone (don’t worry Abbey, you’re still my very favorite gift!) This December, my phone will be the ultimate gadget, as
SimCity is released as an iPhone app.
This is bad, very very bad. I should not have something like this on my phone. I’ll be playing at work, at school, while watching tv, and during any free moments that could be spent doing something productive…like homework. My time management and discipline are ok now, but when that part of me that is home to the “God Complex Monster” rears its ugly head, there’s not a whole heck of a lot that I can do except give in. Sigh…thank you so much, EA.
I must start off by saying that as a Bucks County resident, I have never seen a UFO. This past summer I bought some comfy Adirondack chairs for our back porch and Todd and I would spend some late nights drinking out there, but I never saw a UFO. Would I have liked to? Sure. But the most I ever saw was the MetLife blimp fly over my house while I was eating my Cap’n Crunch one Sunday morning. UFOs? Never.
Perhaps it’s because all the sightings occur in lower Bucks and I live in upper Bucks. I guess the aliens prefer the snooty underside of the county, but I find it hard to believe that they weren’t at least a tad bit curious to see what was up top. What kinds of aliens are they without this sort of scientific curiosity?
Anyway, there was a small article about these sightings, including one of an alien standing near a clothes rack in a JC Penney’s men’s department…smiling at all the ladies. heh…quite the playa. I like how the woman describing this says she didn’t stick around because she was going to the movies. That’s something I would do.
I dunno why, but I get that weird “Greg Brady’s in the attic with a flashlight and a whistle, playing a joke on Peter and Bobby” vibe from this. Cue the Kaplutians!
So Obama won. My faith in humanity has been restored. It was a long night at school, but Todd gave me the play by play update as I drove home. I did get home in time to see Obama win it.
As I was watching the election unfold, I wondered what it must be like for the candidates to watch themselves win and lose states. CNN was updating as soon as polls closed in each state, so you gotta figure the candidates were finding out just as we were. Tonight as I was setting up my Twitter thingy on the blog (see right margin), I came across a link to some behind the scenes pictures of Obama as he learned he was elected president. Enjoy!
Obama…from Senator to President-elect
I woke up around 6 this morning (my day off) with that excited-butterflies-in-my-stomach feeling I get on Christmas morning (yes, I still get that feeling on Christmas…even at my age). For, today is election day. I am a political junkie to a fault…Todd and I discuss politics more than anything, though we tend to agree on just about every issue. So there I was, lying in bed watching CNN, trying to wake up so I could get in line to vote when the polls opened at 7. I was there at about 7:20…not too bad…and Todd was with me. We waited in line for about 20 minutes, and no, there were no polling issues. It was a rather tame ending to the build-up I had in my head.
So what did I do? I am not afraid to tell people my political beliefs, as I am as entitled to them as much as others are entitled to disagree with them. I, for the first time in my life, voted a straight Democratic ticket. As I’ve gotten older, I have become a much more liberal person, so much that I can’t stomach the Republicans at all this time around. Not even a moderate one. So there, if the country goes down the flusher in the next 4 years, it’s not my fault (the last 4 weren’t my fault either…I voted for Kerry)!
The hardest part for me will be tonight. I have class until 9:30 and then an hour drive home, so I won’t be able to glue myself to CNN until roughly 10:30. It’s gonna be a long night. Thank God for my iPhone…and CNN Radio on Sirius.
The Phils won the World Series last night. I guess not all Philly teams suck!
Now if only the Eagles could figure out how to win a championship.
Monday night and I am watching baseball…for the third night in a row?!?! Now, I despise baseball…it’s a wimpy sport. It’s slow as all heck and I can’t quite make it through a whole game. Saturday night I got bored and turned the channel. Last night I fell asleep watching it in bed. Tonight, well, the crabcakes were still frozen so I ended up at the Pub with Todd eating a cheesesteak, drinking Yuengling, and watching the Phillies in the World Series (how much more Philly can you get?). I guess the excitement is contagious, as tonight could be the night that they win it all. I pointed out to Todd that this is the third night in a row we are watching this crap. His response: “What the hell happened here?” Yeah I dunno…I am baffled too.
I still don’t like baseball…I still think they’re a bunch of pansies…I mean, someone just brought one of the players his jacket on the field as he struck out…what is that?
UPDATE: They called the game due to rain. I never saw a sport so obsessed with a weather radar in my life. In football we’ve seen the field crew clean off lines on the field just so the refs could mark a first down. Baseball players are wimps! They don’t know bad weather!
And as Joe Buck was babbling on and on about how no one can steal a base in this awful weather, some guy on the Rays stole second.
“Hello, I’m a Mac and I have wireless access in Bartley Hall.”
So I am sitting here at Villanova, working on my paper until class at 5:20, and I keep hearing murmers from other students…”do you have wireless?” “No I’ve been here for 2 hours and had it for 10 minutes.” Scanning the room I see all these people typing and clicking in little windows trying in vain to get on the internet. Giving up, many are packing up and leaving…the room is getting strangely quiet. I am rather amused by this. Perhaps it’s not a Mac vs. PC issue, but I am thinking it is. I instant messaged Todd to share this anecdote (I, a Mac user, have internet access after all), and he called me an elitist bitch. Perhaps, and I am justified.
“I’m a Mac, and I am better than you!”
Follow-up 10/22: Not that I want to bash one particular company, but Villanova automatically issues Dell laptops to all of its undergraduates (a nice gesture). These were all Dells that were having issues with the wireless. I’m not outright saying that Dell is bad, but I have a Dell laser printer that, as of late, likes to crap out whenever I have a paper due. Now, I am no techie by any stretch, but…
Ok? Ok! I’ll be back when this beast of a paper is finished! Thanks!
The Phillies are going to the World Series! I am by no means a baseball fan, as I often refer to it as “that game where all they do is scratch and spit”…and don’t get me started on how they won’t play in the rain. I am a football girl to the core. Full contact, lay ‘em out flat on their back, give ‘em a concussion…that’s the type of sport I like. But nonetheless, I am happy for the Phillies, their fans, and the city of Philadelphia. Todd is happy as well…his company is going business casual for good if the Phils win the Series. I mean, his boss has been known to let them wear shorts (even though it’s October and COLD!) and go home early when the Phillies win. This only makes me realize how much my company sucks! (Maybe I should be working for Citizens Bank) So, here’s hoping that the Phillies win it all…for Todd’s sake especially!
On a side note, the Phillie Phanatic, the Phillies’ beloved mascot, used to make appearances at the mall where I worked back in the day. He smelled like pee and was kinda an ass. Todd will corroborate my story.
