Silly Saturday

After finishing up my Popular Marathon, - I watched every episode of Popular I could find online - I found myself searching for other entertaining tidbits online. First of all, I was left unsatisfied by Popular as it ended strangely and got progressively worse with each episode I watched... yet I continued watching - just imagine how bad the last episode was.

So, Popular ended and I began my search for whatever silly, funny stuff I could find online. The following is a recount of the different stops along my online entertainment journey:

I enjoy stand - up comedy so I began looking for a few of my favorites on their own websites and on YouTube:

1. Lavell Crawford - My brother pointed him out to me a little while ago and there is a very funny skit available on YouTube. Chingle, Chingle Chingle. The graphic to the left was provoked by this skit. I was practicing my Photoshop skills. "Why you breathing so hard?" "So I can live". Hilarious

2. Jim Gaffigan - An actor and stand up comedian who I find funny most of the time. There are some skits of his available on YouTube as well. HotPocket.
In my search for funny Jim Gaffigan stuff, I found this interesting piece, Hogwarts does Jim Gaffigan, where someone must have spent a lot of time matching a Jim Gaffigan comedy routine to Harry Potter Clips - It's a bit long but good and funny. It's definitely worth taking a look at.

3. Lewis Black - I use to be more into Lewis Black, but he is still funny. I saw a special on tv about how he didn't become popular until he started acting angry.

4. Lastly, I watched an episode of This American Life. The first TV episode can be found on the Showtime site. 1st episode. This American Life is sort of a similar theme to my blog - all life is interesting and this show helps prove it. I only wish all the episodes were available online.

Hope these stops on my entertainment journey can provide others with some laughs. Have a good weekend!

Lesson #8: It's important to laugh. Laughing is not just enjoyable it's good for you! It can help boost your immune system, lower stress, improve brain function and foster relaxation - see here. So come on, laugh a little.

Fastbreak

In honor of the delicious candy bar I just consumed, I shall take a Fastbreak to post. The peanut-butter and chocolate combo is one of my favorite pairs to ever melt together. Give me a peanut butter cup, a reese's pieces or a fastbreak and we are sure to be fast friends. Give me most any candy and I'll take notice. Chocolate, sour, gummy, fruity, hard, chewy... candy candy candy.

I can understand why parents would want to regulate a child's candy intake. Of course, there's the sugar factor, but perhaps candy can also be addicting in a crave it, gotta have it kind of way. ah ha in comes candyaddict.com and according to them and scientific study - candy is addicting!

TGIF

Thank Goodness It's Friday! That's what many a working man or woman may be thinking today. My sad unemployed self however, does not get the luxury of appreciating TGIF. Now everyone with a job maybe thinking luxury?, my job isn't that great - what is c. molls smoking and how can I get some? Well, I'm not smoking anything and I think it would actually be pretty nice having a job - unemployment isn't all it's cracked up to be - perhaps if I was getting paid unemployment by the government this may change things a bit - but I doubt it. I would honestly like to be working. I went from going to college full-time and working about 20 hours a week to not working and not going to school - big difference.

I hope everyone who reads this has a job they enjoy. Finding a job that you can enjoy is an amazing accomplishment in my opinion. You should like something you do for 40 hours a week or more. A job you can smile at and be proud of is a luxury. That is the luxury I would like to have - and the TGIF feeling. Remember TGIF - Boy Meets World, Family Matters? Anyway, TGIF really is a feeling - it can be exciting, relaxing, or maybe a tad stressful - what am I going to wear out tonight? Is it warm enough to wear flip flops cause God knows I struggle in heels. Let me see that thooong (no not that kind) Flip flops are sweet.

But wait - is there any downside to wearing flip flops all day, everyday? I recently saw a "news" story on the local news that looked down right terrifying. The danger behind flip flops?! Not wanting to know what deadly disease I may have being a chronic flip flop offender, I changed the channel. But, now I am kind of curious and I haven't died yet, so let's investigate.

The Investigation unfolds... looking for some quick feedback on the flip flop issue I went to none other than Wikipedia. There I discovered a condition called pronation (From what I can gather this means your foot is rolling inward (more so than normal) when it hits the ground). Basically, flip flops provide little to no support for your feetsies - not a good thing. This information is quite devastating as I love flip flops. One article I found from Forbes goes so far to say Skip the flip flops! No not my flip flops. (Should be said like the ginger bread man in Shrek - "Not my gumdrop buttons") Skip them - I'll skip with them on! Oh well - at least I have educated myself on one of the dangers of flip flops (could be more dangers, but one is enough for me). Now how about the dangers of those other thongs?... no, I don't know and won't go there.

Trivia: What year did the Movie Thank God It's Friday (Yes, there is a TGIF movie) come out? - take a stab at it. Donna Summers was in it. Check out the Trivia part of the wikipedia article on TGIF

Lesson #7: I am sad and dismayed to announce wearing flip flops all day long may not be best for your precious soles. Will this new found information change my habits? Perhaps I'll just walk barefoot...everywhere... talk about dangers

Winding Down

It is now "late" and time for bed - depending on where in the world one is located. Since my last post was about getting energized, I thought I'd do a quick post on winding down at the end of the day. Alright well ironically, as I was thinking (and writing) about winding down, the appearance of a bug half a foot from my person has woken me up a bit. To squash or not to squash that is the question...

Anyway, back to trying to wind down. Personally, I find the Internet and sometimes tv to be too stimulating for winding down purposes. I feel reading and talking help ease my brain into sleep mode. Curling into the fetal position and closing my eyes will soon follow and if all goes well I'm asleep shortly after. In my hopes of finding a visual for the fetal position I came across this interesting (strange maybe a better fitting adjective) website.

As winding down can also refer to relaxing in general how do you relax or get ready for bed?

Lesson #6: Although, one may hate nature (nature and I do not always get along), one should try and be nice to the creatures we share this earth with. So when presented with the choice to squash - try to exert the effort to save and release outdoors. I am a frequent violator of save over squash, but it's a nice thought.

Does anyone know how to get a toilet to stop making noise - like a flushing sound? I think our toilet is possessed!? Someone help please!

High Energy

After "overdosing" on coffee yesterday, I figured I would write an entry on the different concoctions people use to jump start their day. By "overdosing", I am referring to the tummy ache and headache I received after adding a soda to the 2 large cups of coffee I had - bad choice considering I don't normally drink half that much caffeine a day. With the number of energy drinks, coffee products, sodas, teas and caffeinated crazy products on the rise in recent times, don't you want to know a bit more? I did.

Is having too much caffeine bad for you? What about mixing alcohol and caffeinated drinks - such as red bull and vodka? Should you drink caffeine while working out? And what sort of drinks are out there - what's in them, how do they taste? These are questions I found to be interesting, with some having myths attached. So, I did a little research.

Interesting and educational info. on energy drinks from Brown University. Tidbits from the source: energy drinks can contain as much caffeine as a cup of coffee - around 80 mg. compared to the 23mg in coca cola classic (Wikipedia puts the amount of caffeine in a serving of coca cola a bit higher - 34mg). Everyone will react differently to energy drinks. Some possible results from drinking up the ccps (caffeinated crazy products) include: increasing one's heart rate and blood pressure, dehydrating the body and preventing sleep. I'm not saying you shouldn't drink caffeine - just providing a little info.

A bit about caffeine myths. An article about caffeine myths from the Asian food information center.

Other quick facts: Mixing exercise with caffeine - not such a good idea - drinking water to rehydrate yourself is best. Mixing alcohol and energy drinks may seem like a good idea in theory - but in actuality can leave you in rough shape.

For some more exciting info. check out this list of energy drinks on Wikipedia to see more about your favorite energy drinks.

Fun Quiz I made - please take this I wasted more time than I should have on this - meaning it's actually worth taking: What energy drink are you?

Lesson #5: Caffeine may give you a quick boost, but it's important to know the facts about anything you consume.

P.S. How about the energy drink Cocaine? What were marketers thinking with this one? I got a lot on my plate today, let me grab some cocaine...

Independence Day

I figured in the spirit of Independence Day I would in someway discuss what the day means to me - corny? yes. Now I wouldn't normally take the 4th of July to be anything too out of the ordinary except last night around midnight a song suddenly popped into my head and not just any song. A patriotic tune from my past. I kept singing along with the lyrics going through my head - "should all the quantence be forgot, keep your eye on the grand ole flag" The actual lyrics (just the chorus) to this song are:

" You're a grand old flag,

You're a high flying flag

And forever in peace may you wave.

You're the emblem of

The land I love.

The Home of the Free and The Brave.

Ev'ry heart beats true

'neath the Red, White and Blue,

Where there's never a boast or brag.

But should auld acquaintance be forgot,

Keep your eye on the grand old flag."

- written by George M. Cohan

Underlined is the part which I didn't quite know. Anyway, I know I must have learned this song sometime in Elementary school and for some reason it popped into my head last night.

This lyric thing reminds me of the commercials I have seen for the new gameshow that will test contestants knowledge of song lyrics. An interesting idea, yet not something I will mark on my calendar to ensure my viewage.

Lesson #4: Patriotism may creep up without warning, at any time. For we were all taught some ounce of patriotism along the way - in our young impressionable days no doubt.

PS Most of us were most likely taught the pledge of allegiance in our early days - how many of us can remember it all now? How about the scene from Supersize Me where people standing in front of the White House try to recall the pledge of allegiance - turns out its easy to remember the big mac jingle - how American

The Art of Grilling

Summer is upon us and with the 4th of July right around the corner what could be more American than GRILLING! Grilling is fun and easy (really it's easy). This Independence Day break out the charcoal (or gas) and grill up some hotdogs, veggies, hamburgers, whatever your palate craves. I know I'll be out in the yard grilling up some dogs before the fireworks. If steak is your meat, may I suggest a A1 Chicago marinade and perhaps a Chicago steak rub if you prefer - or why not go all out and do both.

The weather has been great around here. After a hot streak a week ago, I'm now living in the 70s... now if I could just get a job to squash my guilt about living an almost carefree life. Although, if I could hold off getting a job til August that would be sweet, as I would then be able to live the great life at the shore with my family for the last 2 weeks of July. Perhaps my subconscious has secretly been denying me the full effort I could exert towards acquiring employment because, as my subconscious, it is watching out for me - ensuring that I get my well-deserved vacation! Hey, just like the saying inside of the Father's Day card I got my Dad this year - "I'm worth it".

Envisioning the shoreline, of in this case NJ (trust me for anyone who disses NJ, you have never been to the southern shoreline), I wish I were living near the ocean all year long. That would be the life - cross my fingers - someday this shall be the case. Being able to walk to the beach, lay out in the sun, take in the ocean breeze... mmm just picture it - beautiful.


Lesson #3: Northern New Jersey maybe the armpit of American, but Southern New Jersey - bliss.

Music of the Internet

I have recently been playing around with finetune.com, a site that let's you create playlists out a an amazing database of songs, the only catch is that you have to put together a playlist of at least 45 songs and only 3 can be of the same artist. So you cannot play the song you want all the time, just a song randomly selected on by the playlist. Really not a bad deal.

All this playing with music online got me thinking of the history of music on the Internet. My first thought - Napster - I can still remember my days of downloading songs off Napster - when it was "legal". I have curbed my copyrighting infringing habits now that there are other efficient options for my online music needs. Before I veer off on the interesting topic of pirating, I shall mention a few other music websites that I have made contact with over the years.

Pandora.com is a cool site which can help develop your music library by showing you songs you may like based on songs and artists you select. Like finetune, you cannot always play the song you want, but it is definitely worth checking out. Sites like Pandora and FineTunes are currently battling legislation brought on by the CRB (Copyright Royalty Board). I currently don't know a whole lot about this issue, so I won't comment too much, but making these companies pay outrages fees is wrong in my opinion. I think these services are preventing some people from resorting to illegally obtaining music and should be respected by the government, not destroyed.

Another interesting online music tool for those in large networks - such as on a college campus as yours truly was not so long ago.... mytunes redux. A tool that let you take songs other people have on their iTunes playlists and download them - questionably legal... actually probably very illegal - so I recommend not using this tool. Of course there is iTunes which I have only bought a few songs from. There are truly an unlimited number of music sites out there - music can be found all over the web - from people putting songs on their Myspace pages to parodies of songs on YouTube.

As pirating can be a complex issue, I will save it for another time.

Lesson #2: Don't pirate. (Not trying to be Miss Morals, but in the end it's not worth it. I believe a lot of people don't think they would ever get caught - but it can happen, just ask the growing number of people who have been sent notices that they are to be prosecuted/fined) There are other good options out there.

Time Wasted, Lesson Learned

So after wasting 2 hours on mechanical turk - a website that Amazon has where people can offer other people small sums of money for doing different tasks. These task range from writing a post for someone on their blog to trying to find upcs for different products. Now at first this website may appear to be a cool idea. However, spend some of your valuable time on this site and you will see that it is clearly evil. After spending about 2 hours on the site - which is now hard to admit - the most money I could make if all of my hit submissions are accepted - a whopping 30 cents. That's 30 cents well earned, yet 30 cents I wish I didn't bother to earn. I could have been looking for a real job instead - which would have made a lot more sense. But since I am in denial about getting a real job, this website managed to keep me occupied for 2 hours that I spent thinking I was making money and doing something with my life. Want to be task doer beware - DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON MECHANICAL TURK! Look at the website and admire (and be jealous) of those who are making real money off the tasks you are doing for mere pennies. When I think about it now it almost seems illegal working for this little money...

The one good thing that came out of my experience - I was able to vent some anger out on one of the people who pay people about 2 cents to write a blog entry for them. Is that guy smart - yes - because he is getting people to do his work for him while he reaps the benefits. People are brought to his website even if they don't choose to write for him - increasing his hits so he can then increase his ad revenue. And if one is stupid enough to write for this reject while then it merely keeps his blog going. Makes me angry because to me it seems so unethical and cruel - just my business ethics minor getting the better of me? Although, recognizing that this guy can pay people pennies literally while probably make a decent profit (considering he is doing nothing seems like he has to be profiting pretty well) makes me almost wish I were doing a the same thing. Key word - almost - I have a conscience and even though people may be willing to write for pennies - I'd rather see them doing it for free - getting paid pennies is kind of like a slap in the face in my opinion.


Lesson #1: When you think something may be a waste of time and you should be looking for a real job - trust your instincts...

P.S. Speaking of slaps, how about a high five?

Popular

Today, I decided to change the title of my blogs to something more original than Day 1, Day 2... I figured I might as well expend the effort.

I recently discovered a show I use to watch in high school on alluc.org. Popular, a one tree hill like teen show from 1999-2000, used to be on my TV watchlist. For the past 2 days I have been watching probably pirated episodes on YouTube. It's been addicting... The only think I could really remember was Mary Cherry - an interesting character. Although, I feel like I'm mostly just wasting my time watching the show, I wish there were other old shows available online - like the old Nickelodeon shows. Everyone who can remember the old Nick knows it has gone down the tubes. Remember Salute Your Shorts? How about Are You Afraid of the Dark? (This one happens to be available on alluc.org as well) This last one Are You Afraid of the Dark? still creeps me out. I maybe one scaredy cat of a 21 year old, but that show can still make me afraid of the dark. How about the non-nickelodeon show Ghostwriter! Another classic show (that also creeped me out once of twice) I used to prance around with a notepad and a pen hanging around my neck hoping some mystery would come about that I could solve.

A part of me even wants to see the new Nancy Drew movie. Reminiscing of the days when I use to read every Nancy Drew mystery book I could get my hands on. Mysteries were my anti-drug.

P.S. Someone find my blog and slap me high five

Day 3

The iPhone... worth waiting in line for?

I can't really understand why people would wait in line for an iPhone, but if someone offered me money to stand in line for them - I'd do it. This happened to be the case of 2 girls who were waiting in line for friends... iPhone article.

I wonder how many people in line for an iPhone can even truly afford it - purchasing it and getting the plan to go with it. If you could afford everything materialistic when it first came out and such - why would you waste your time waiting in line for it... seems you would have better things to do... and if you were truly the hippest - wouldn't you have gotten your hands on one before it even came out? It seems to me some of these people are just hoping to look cool - such as the girl with her mom in the article who just wants everything newest and coolest... please... but hey if all you need is material goods to truly make you happy more power to you.

It's interesting to think back to a time when there were no cell phones, no Internet - it's hard for me to even remember - mostly because I am still fairly young - but even still - technology has become such a part of our lives. What did people do before the radio, TV, phones, dvds, xbox, iPhones? What are the major differences between those times and now? Have people changed? Are we evolving? Are we all getting smarter? Or is it perhaps the opposite?

I recently wasted about 2 hours of my life watching Idiocracy - quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen - yet was there some truth to it? I think they could have done a lot better job with the movie - they could have just inserted in a bunch of George Bush quotes to make it more realistic and intriguing.

Day 2

Yesterday was my first "real world/professional" job interview. It lasted all of 15 minutes... shortest interview I've ever had... but then I guess part of it was just how preliminary of an interview it was. Although, it went ok, it seemed like a waste of my suit considering it was 90+ degrees out, but oh well - gotta do what ya gotta do. At least I am trying to get a job right?

On a more interesting note... here is a video of a strange, yet entertaining comedian who recently came to the balloonfest around here. I didn't take this particular video, just happened to stumble upon it on YouTube. I wasn't in the audience this particular day, but certainly got a kick out of it. Listen to him yell "shut up" and say to children "I almost died". Link to the video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=qOFm6VI1hO0

If anyone knows who this guy is - let me know - I know he has a website, but I was unable to remember his name.

Another funny find on YouTube - comedian Lavell Crawford - check him out.

I hope to keep this blog as interesting as possible while continuing to write everyday. Have to utilize my creativity!

Day 1

I decided to begin this blog after coming to the realization that finding a job out of college is no piece of cake. I'm in the process of finding a job, preferably something to do with marketing, my major. I figured I have some extra time on my hands and guess what - writing a blog is free (- internet service provider costs) unlike a variety of other activities I could entertain myself with. With college loans to start paying back, money is precious.

I know through past work experience that there are 1000s probably 100,000s (+) blogger moms and I figure if all them are blogging about why shouldn't I? Part of my job consisted of looking over mom blogs - some entertaining others dull to down right scary - why would someone put their ultra sound photos online for all to see?

Join me on my adventure to find a job and keep my life interesting after college.