Interesting Headlines of the Day

"Dwarf galaxies gobbled by their giant neighbors"

"Church defiant over Koran burning"

"US college offers zombie studies"

Headline I'm waiting to see: "Defiant Koran-burning churchgoers disappear after being converted into living dead by overworked, fatigued college students-- hungry neighboring galaxy declines to comment"

And because I can't help myself, click here.

I Spy with My Little Eye

If you walk around your house in your underwear with the blinds open, who's the weirdo: your neighbor(s) for looking at you or you for walking around in your unmentionables? Can a Peeping Tom really be considered to be peeping if you openly prance about in your undies? Is a Peeping Tom creepy because "peeping" sort of rhymes with "creeping"? Which Tom was first caught peeping, and how did he feel about his name being attached to such ignominious behavior?

Twice the Work and Half the Fun

Today I couldn't help thinking how sometimes technology complicates things way more than it simplifies them. Between converting Word documents to PDF files, checking if all the hyperlinks work in each document type, realizing they don't all function properly, discovering that they work on my colleague's computer but not on mine, trying to edit said document and finding that the same options don't even appear on my Adobe Acrobat toolbar because I wasn't the document's original creator (who must have been either my colleague or Satan), trying to delete images from the pre-formatted PDF document without the page numbers and footers disappearing--well, by golly there must be an easier way to do the simple task of making sure all the hyperlinks work in a document. It's no surprise that a handful of hours got sucked into doing a measly assignment that should really only take 30-60 minutes max.

Unfortunately I can't blame all of this on my computer. After all, I can be admittedly inept at times and not realize there's a handy shortcut until after the fact. But still, links that work on one computer but not another? That's just spooky--or at least a pain in the ass. There are days that I jump for joy for having a computer to do all my dirty work, and then there are days where I curse this hunk of metal, silicone and plastic for making my job twice as hard as it needs to be.

What's in the Air?

Certain types of weather and scenes outside my window are like an open invitation to take a stroll down memory lane. Today it was the bright blue sky, cool breeze filtering through the apartment windows, the bright green leaves dappled by the sun's rays, and the comfort of looking out my window at the idyllic images and knowing it was the weekend. Whatever was in the air today, like certain other days, summoned a nostalgia and remembrance of things past. I'm still not sure why this happens every once in awhile, but it usually has to do with clear days, a certain type of crisp, fresh air, and looking out the window.

A Laugh a Minute (at least!)

Someone who consistently cracks me up: Joel McHale from the E Channel's The Soup. I'm sure many people could take or leave the E Channel, including most, if not all, of its programming. But I have to say, Joel McHale consistently cracks me up with the delivery of his lines and his off-the-cuff quips, not to mention the nonverbals he weaves in like his silly facial expressions. His timing is also always on the money. That, combined with his sarcasm and quick comedic reflexes, is reminiscent of talents such as Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report. McHale might not quite have reached Colbert's level yet, or it may be that his personality lends itself to a slightly different style of comedy, but either way he delivers a good laugh--and that's what it's all about!

The "Bee-Stung" Look Gone Bad

Quick question: is there anyone whose look has exponentially benefited from lip injections? From what I can tell it never looks natural, nor does it improve one's physical appeal at all. Breast implants I can understand. Tummy tucks and lipo, okay, I can see why someone would undergo those procedures. Even botox, as damning as the trail of evidence it leaves behind is, can be rationalized. But lip injections? Better get a veil ready because you're going to want to hide those babies until kingdom come!

Chew on this

What does it mean if you can chomp practically a whole pack of gum in the course of an evening? Most likely that your gum loses flavor too fast and that if you keep those kinds of rates up you'll be paying a visit to the dentist in no time with holes in your molars. At least chewing a pack a day is less damaging to your health than smoking a pack a day, so if you're going to do one or the other, chew away!