Pop Culture

Does a knowledge of pop culture make a person smarter than everyone else, or is the pop culture challenged person stupider?

Not only are my co-workers grammatically challeged, conservative rednecks, they also lack a knowledge of pop culture.

Have you recently asked yourself if there is a person left who hasn't heard of "Snakes on a motherfucking Plane"?! Tee-shirts were made, blogs were created and previews were well, previewed...yet somehow the rejects I work with had never heard of this movie!!

Not that I am saying everyone should understand the complexities of Man-Bear-Pig...but when a group full of nerds is using it in a sentence and you knowingly laugh along with them, then you foolishly try to join in on the conversation, you are only making a fool of yourself, and they are not laughing with you, they are laughing at you! It was only after the laughing at them part, that I did share that Man-Bear-Pig, while a funny image, was actually part of a South Park episode...the hilarity of the situation was of course lost on my co-workers.

So, does my knowledge of pop culture make me a better person? I think yes that it does. So much of society is about this random knowledge...really what the hell would I spend my day reading about if Lindsay, Paris, Nicole and Jessica weren't flaunting their shit all over the media! Besides that there are so many good jokes that would mean nothing if it weren't for my random, useless knowledge of this crap!

Once again, it would seem that my co-workers are truly dumb people...seriously, these people find no humor in The Office! None, they thought it was stupid, and they didn't even know the original was British! Arugh...no wonder my days are spent reading about celebrities while wearing headphones avoiding any social contact.

Cursive: Dead or Alive Writing Style

In a previous post I made mention about my new hobby at work, learning to write with my left hand. My writing has really improved in the past few days, so to challenge myself I decided to try cursive...

Then it hit me, I have no idea how to write cursive...I have completely forgotten how they letters are formed! All those days sitting in writing class in elementary school, carefully writing cursive on thick green dotted lined paper...gone...

It also occurred to me that it has probably been 15 years (or more) since I have even written cursive.

So for all of you out there reading this, I am curious...do you write cursive? Do you remember how to write cursive?

And a better question is, do we even need cursive anymore? What is the point?
Print writing is just as good, and isn't it now a days more important to learn how to type than to write? Don't get me wrong, writing is very important, but what is the point of cursive, does anyone really care if your writing flows beautifully across the page? Sure it was fine when all correspondence was hand written, but really can any of you remember the last time you wrote a letter? A real letter, the type you write on paper which is sent to someone via the mail (the kind where a person hand delievers it to your house?!). I can't remember that last time I wrote a letter...and even when I did, it was done in regular print. So again, what is the point of cursive?

On a completely different note, last night while having dinner at my parents house, my mother startled my brother, Grande and I by joining our discussion about Alan Moore the comic book writer...she informed us of his latest novel and told us she thought it sounded interesting! None of us knew what to say, we just sat there silent and motionless hoping that the creepiness would fade away...it didn't...
(for those of you who aren't going to click the novel or just don't care for whatever reason, the newest novel by Alan Moore is a porno book about alice in wonderland, dorthy from the wizard of oz and wendy from peter pan -- yes i said porn!)
My mom then proceeds to tell us that the entire novel (it is in three parts) sells together for $75.00 and would be a great Christmas gift...the ick factor passed creepy to disturbing...we quickly nodded and changed the subject.

Just call me Invisible Girl!

Yesterday there were meetings for the project I am the lead of in my department, that again, I wasn't invited to. As I was being told about the meeting, only 5 minutes late this time, which is good compared to usually hear about it a day later, I expressed my complete annoyance at this situation.

Of course those around me to hear my annoyance are of no significance and can't fix this problem. So, I go up to the meeting, toting along my brekkie and coffee, notebook and pencil in hand. As usual everyone was late to the meeting, but unlike me they came armed with documents and a meeting agenda...so I was left there to sit sipping my coffee.

After the meeting I actually approached my boss, asking her if she had time for a quick chat. Immediatly she seemed concerned about the situation...we went into her office and I told her that it was a concern to me that I was being excluded from meetings concerning my project. She laughed and said it was her fault, that she often forgets me! What?! Great my boss of 6 years forgets that I work here...how nice. It was nice of her to take the blame, but still?! Come on...six years and she forgets me. I see what kind of impression I make! My response was that it seems to happen a lot...and that it really bothered me. She seemed unaffected by this and told me that I should wander around more often to see if there are meetings going on...or I could interrupt people when they are congregating to see if they are talking about my project! Great, so now I am going to have to be that person in the office, the one who lurks around listening to conversations...crashing meetings to see if there is anything of importance going on. ARUGH! Unreal. Hopefully just by talking to her she will remember who I am (I didn't even get into that she spells my name wrong almost every time she emails me...clearly that is way too much, first she needs to remember me!)

Later that day...
I had an insider let me know if any meetings were being scheduled, he thankfully did send me one that of course didn't include my name! After that meeting, I asked the meeting organizer (who happens to be my bosses husband) if he could invite me to any meetings he organizes...I was met with a blank stare...it seemed as though he was trying to figure out who the hell I was! After a few awkward moments of silence, he managed to stutter out that he would in fact include me, but that there was a distribution list...okay, what the hell does that have to do with anything, add me to the fucking list! I asked him if he could and received another blank stare...at that point I realized that my effort was useless, carefully I backed out of the room...leaving him there looking very puzzled, clearly my questions were confusing...

Today...
My boss comes down to ask my department a question...she calls out everyones name, but mine to ask them the question...after receiving her answers she leaves, never having called my name...so once again I have become "Invisible Girl"...

Takeback...

Yesterday my statement may have been too bold about putting in my two weeks on the 28. Due to scheduling conflicts and some concerns about insurance, this date may have to be postponed until the beginning of September. But none-the-less it will happen! Sooner rather than later...

Fun Facts: Things I dislike

I was stuck in some very dull meetings all day, there was a lot of extra time for my mind to wander...and I was thinking how much I dislike being stuck in dull meetings...and it made me think of all the other things I really dislike...

Dislikes:

1. Rabbits
They are creepy. There is something distrubing about their beady little eyes...I feel like they are plotting to take over the human race, turning us into their pets, luring us into cages with big bacon cheese burgers...(or something equivalent). Regardless of how they lure us, they still give me the creeps. And they have unnatural tails...all puffy and fluffy...gives me the chills just thinking about them.

2. Steely Dan
The soothing jazz styles of Donald Fagen and that other freak sound like finger nails on a chalk board to me. Actually no it is worse than that, it is more the sound of a fork scraping across a plate, words cannot convey how horrific that sound is to me...it gives me more than chills, it actually hurts. It is also kind of like when you accidentally hit a tooth with a fork or some other kind of metal object, wow, that is a freaky sensation!
So anyway, back to Steely Dan...that freak Donald, had to go and make a solo album this year (or last, whatever...it is played on the radio all the freaking time!)...just when I thought I had heard the last of them! What is the point of making a solo album anyway, if it is just going to sound the same as the crap you made as a band?! I don't get that...isn't the point of the solo album to let your individual shit shine?! Not to make the same craptastic music you made as part of a band!

3. The Red Hot Chili Peppers
They freak me out. I once had a dream that they (the band) held me hostage on a ship to outerspace. Flea stood near me, in a diaper, and pet my head during the entire flight.
Oh, and their music sucks.

4. Man sandals
Men shouldn't wear sandals, it just looks weird, their feet are too big and hairy! My bosses husband (he also works for the company) was in the meetings where I was trapped today, wearing man sandals, and I just kept thinking how strange it is for men to wear sandals. How do they even decide to shop for them? Flip-flops, sure. That is different, anyone can wear a f-f...they are so easy to get away with...hell I wear them all the time. But man sandals are just plain strange.

5. My job
Sure, I know I say this all the time, but this time I really mean it. I don't like my job, but it isn't even so much my job...it is the work that I do. I don't like it. Never have. I have just been sticking it out waiting for something better to come along. Well, damnit, it is going on 6 years of waiting it out...and so far, nothing better has come along. And seriously I am down to less than a year before I turn 30! My butt needs to get into gear and get the hell out of here. Wish me luck. If my plan goes according to plan (huh?!), I am hoping to (fingers crossed!), put my two weeks in on Monday, the 28th. And by plan, I mean, if I don't chicken out. :-)

The Nothing Post.

I have nothing to say today...blogger has been acting like an arse for the past few days, at least at work.

Everytime I tried to use it to post something witty that had happened it would freak out and crash my browser...eventually I gave up and forgot all the witty things I had to say...

Now I am left with nothing...except this crappy post.

It is Wednesday, I still hate my job...and I was too lazy to shower this morning. I am wearing workout clothes to work in an effort to mask my laziness.

In my spare time (which is pretty much always) I have been writing the alphabet with my left hand.

Grande took off today, so I have no one to talk too...the girls in my department all went out to lunch (with big boy -- big gay bosses brother) but didn't invite me, not sure how to feel about that.

My stomach from nerves and just life feels like I drank 'magma' at some point...now it is just pooling in my intestines, slowly burning through my organs...fun stuff.

The batteries in my iPod died this morning...I have to remember to recharge it later tonight.

In a strange turn, the office is warm today...I actually feel kind of hot and slightly uncomfortable, it is a strange feeling, normally I am bundled up with a blanket wrapped around my legs...

So I guess this post wasn't really nothing, just me complaining...in a pathetic attempt to feel better about my day...

These were too priceless not to post...

Earlier this week President Bush visited central PA...while here he took a tour through the Harley Davidson plant in York. A local newspaper had the following photos on the web...
As I said they were too priceless not to post...scary to think he is the leader of our country when you look at the goofey expression on his face in these pictures!

This can't be a good sign...

On my third trip to the bathroom this morning I realized that my underwear was on inside out...not sure how I missed it on the first two trips, lack of caffeine is the only explanation. I was left with two options:
1. Leave them that way
2. Change them
After a close inspection of the office bathroom floor, I choose number 1...I have on flip flops today and the idea of my bare feet touching the floor of that bathroom was enough to give me nightmares, not to mention I would have to go home and cut my feet off for fear of infection!
So, here I sit...wearing my inside out underware...I can't really notice it much, only when I stand up, things ride up in places where they shouldn't...oh well, the day is almost over, I can go home and fix my silly situation in a place where my feet are safe touching the floors...

(a side note about the bathroom floor in the office, about 4 months ago, a random bug wandered into the bathroom and at some point was squished on the floor...the remanents of said bug are still evident on the floor...a greasy looking red smear across one of the tiles...yeah 4 months old! hell no my feet are not touching that floor, ever!)

template change

i have to apologize for that pink color...i have no idea what i was on the day i picked that, but everytime i opened my blog i wanted to gouge my eyes out having to look at that color.

today i feel very blah, so the only appealing template was grey...at least it is not as obnoxious as the pink.

snow!

 

Single greatest fast food item EVER!

The Crunchwrap Supreme from TacoBell!

Now as many of you know, I am not a big fan of fast food...I do however love french fries...but that is not what I am here to talk about, what I am here to talk about, is how freaking yummy the crunchwrap supreme is!

It has everything you could ever want from food...it is wrap, spicy and just yummy!

I love my food with some texture, just not soggy, I can't even look at soggy food...the crunchwrap supreme with its 'crunchy' (get it!) inner layer and soft tortilla outer layer, it has the best of both textures.

Chicken or Beef? I am not a huge fan of fast food beef, most of the time it is that which scares me away from these chains...low grade, mystery beef...so I ordered mine with spicy chicken...again with the yum! So good...

In addition to soft outside, crunchy inside and spicy chicken, the crunchwrap supreme is filled with other tasty things that just add to the wonder of this fast food treat...there is lettuce and tomatos (which normally i don't eat, but they seemed to complement the spicy chicken really well), and all kinds of gooey cheese, and of course sour cream, again something else I don't normally eat, but it added a nice cooling flavor to the spicy chicken.

So all in all, this was truly a good fast food experience. Of course now I am hooked on the crunchwrap supreme and will probably be hitting "the bell" (wow that sounds really pervy!)every day this week...woo-hoo there is one not too far from work!!

What is next: Please show up a day in advance, naked?!

This morning I read this article...so wasn't the point of having our shoes scanned to look for explosive devices?! At least every time I have flown since Septebmer 11, that is what I had been told...so what is the point, if this is true?

Now I know that the scanners can detect other things, you know, nail files, tweezers, all those other scary things that could be used as weapons, but really aren't explosives the real issue...? And if we are subject to all of these searches, shouldn't this be an issue that the scanners aren't able to id explosives?

I am that person when traveling that gets pulled to the side, having the pleasure of the extented search, usually in a country where I don't speak the language, and have to resort to a series of hand gestures and facial expressions to get me through security...

It is rare that when traveling I don't get that extra, special search...one time when I was at the Peoria airport in Illinois, they actually emptied and opened my tampons...paying little attention to my pleas that I would need them on the flight! In France I was pulled into a separate room to be searched, the underwire in my bra was suspecious...and here all this time I really thought they were looking for things more sinister than just metal objects that I could weild as a weapon...but no all this time they couldn't see any of that! Seriously how much confidence do you have in the airlines knowing this? I had very little to begin with and even less now...

I don't understand it...well there are a lot of things I don't understand...but I really don't understand how, so they use this ETD thing, um...no, in my experience as the person who needs extra scanning, I have never been wiped with anything to see if my ions are positively charged for explosion! And besides that, why should I be confident that the minimum wage person doing this even cares or understands what they are looking for?! These are people who make less than I do, and we know how bitter I am! What should I feel confident that someone with little more than a high school diploma is equipped to check my ions?

And don't even get me started on all the wonderful things I can no longer fly with...the day they take my chapstick from me is the day I stop flying! ;-)

have you ever been...

so bored that you actually create busy work for yourself to pass the time?

Add Copy Maker to my Resume...

On Friday, during a meeting with some rather important people in my company, I was asked to make copies for the whole group...it has been a long time since I have been that humiliated at work.

I didn't hestitate at all showing my complete utter annoyance at having to make copies, and actually when further copies were needed later in the meeting, I was not asked, so it was a minor victory!

The thing that I have been trying to figure out is why out of an entire conference room full of peopple was I picked as the copy maker, was it:
1) I was the only female in the room
2) I am seen as having a lower position within the company therefore making my need to be in the meeting that much more trivial than everyone elses (even though I am a senior and above many of the other people in the meeting!)
3) Or was it just that 'big boy' hates me and likes to embarrass me!
4) Or all of the above! (this is my pick!)

I am still not happy about how I am treated here...so in protest I am slacking off and not doing as much work as I should be doing...sure this is wrong, but really what else do I have?!

It was really hard to come back into that meeting and not ask for a drink order or if there was anything else the room needed! I hate being treated that way. I have been here for 6 years and I am treated like the goddamn secretary! I give up...

grey day...

 

Charles Bridge - Prague, Czech Republic

 

And now for today...something I have never done!

This morning something happened to me, or rather I did something that I have never done before...

I spilled coffee, nope that is not new, the new part is where the coffee spilled...down my shirt! Some how while drinking coffee this morning, I managed to miss my mouth spilling coffee down the front of my shirt, and since my shirt is lower cut than some, it missed most of my shirt and found its way down my shirt into my cleavage and onto my bra! (when I move around I can smell coffee coming out of my cleavage - not a sentence I ever thought I would type!) The only thing I can say is the part of my shirt where some coffee did land is brown, however, my pink bra now has some decent sized coffee stains!

I am not new to spilling things in odd places...once when opening a container of yogurt, I used to much force and sprayed yogurt all over my glasses and in my hair!

Years ago I accidentally spit coffee (oh yes, spit as in out of my mouth!) on a soon to be in-law at a dinner table, then proceeded to have an asthma attack from all the laughter.

As a kid (about age 9 or so), I tripped walking through a sliding glass door, unfortunantly I was carrying a big bowl of salad. Salad parts were thrown all across my grandparents porch...the family still likes to bring this up at parties!

At girl scout camp when I was about 7 I spilled an entire gallon of iced tea...wouldn't have been so bad, except it was summer, and it attracted bees. We had to pack up camp and end our picnic.

Before being asked to not come back to church, I spilled an entire cup of hot chocolate on a stack of bibles. I think they took that as a sign, a few weeks later they told my parents I was a distraction to the other children and said it would be best if I didn't come back.

As you can see I am pretty messy...or clumsy...which ever, but regardless, I am usually a disaster to be around. But until today, my boobs (or should I say mumbles!) had been safe from this chaos, now they too have discovered the wrath of C the Clumsy! (I am tired and not creative enough to come up with anything else!)

I want your skull...I need your skull...

A human skull from inside the Bone Church in the town of Kutna Hora, Czech Republic 

It smells like puke in here and other stories...

I learned a valuable drinking lesson this weekend, it was really one I should have known before, but it is always good to reaffirm that I am not a super hero who is immune to the stupifying affects of alcohol!

The lesson:
Do not mix various flavors of margaritas with various types of beers, a couple of cigarettes and a cohiba cigar!

The result:
Re-enactment of the Exorcist in my bathroom at 2 in the morning...and the announcement from me (of course) that the bathroom smells like puke! It was as if I had missed the events that had been occuring 5 minutes earlier...I blame the margarita demons! ;-)

The next day:
I woke up Grande at 10 in the morning to get me some kind of pain killer, and continued to sleep until sometime after noon. I laid on the couch in varying degrees of pain for the rest of the day...not a pretty site!


Other Stories:
Word of the Day!!
I learned last night that there is a town in Wales called Mumbles...the town was named after boobs! Oh yes I said boobs! Apparently there are two mountains around that town that the original settlers thought looked like boobs, so they named the town Mumbles, there slang word for boobs.

Work complaint of the day:
In this bizarro world of my life, the dumb grammatically incorrect co-worker has moved into the position of leader of the team I am a part of at work...I am not sure how this happened, or what the future holds, but it scares me that the person who once said that she "hated foreign people who didn't speak english good" could now be my boss...this definitely goes on the list of reason why I need to find a new job!!

And last but not least...
Driving complaint for the day:
People who don't turn right on red!! In PA we don't have a law against this unless there is a sign posted. Yesterday I was behind two different people who refused to turn right on red, no signs were posted!!! AURGH!

spicy in the window...

 

blue sunday...

picture of the Jewish graveyard in Prague 

this is what happens when i have free time...

So I have been thinking...

This site has been brought to my attention a couple of times while reading other blogs, and I felt that it was time that I comment on it...first of all, it is hilarious but on that sick but funny hilarious side of things.

It got me to thinking that I don't think I could own a cat that looks like hitler, or a kitler as the site calls them! And not for the obvious reason of having a cat that looks like hilter is kind of creepy, they just aren't cute.

I like cute, cuddly cats, kitlers look like they have shit on their face all the time! It would drive me nuts! I would want to constantly be wiping their faces clean...I don't think the borderline OCD that I have been harboring would allow for me to handle that type of situation.

Being a cat love this is a disturbing realization about myself. I have never discriminated against a cat of any kind, except for the one eared cat I found at the beach with the gaping wound on his head lumbering around much like the cat from Pet Cemetary, that was one cat I wasn't going anywhere near!

I have had a cat for all but 9 months out of my 29 years! When I was born my parents had a cat named Liz, she was hit by a car when I was in second grade. About a month or so later we got Dickens...then we got Donuts...then we got Muffin (notice the bakery theme! not sure but it fit!). We moved when I was 12 to a new house and my parents only allowed me to keep one of the cats, Dickens had been with me longer, so he was clearly the obvious choice. Donuts and Muffin went to homes of family friends and both lived long happy cat lives! Dickens was with us until my senior year of high school. It was 9 months until we got another cat, that would be Pookie...yep she is going to be 11 this year! About 6 years later I got Spicy as a companion for Pookie...this however didn't work and they still 5 years later can't stand one another! But at least they aren't cooped up alone in the house all day.

My cats have all been different shapes, sizes and colors...some have been FAT! Spicy is a huge, chubby girl, while Dickens was a thin, muscular cat. But I have never had a cat that looked like hilter...maybe if I found the right cat I could grow to love it as a kitler...but I just don't see that happening...that might be wrong...but it just seems wrong!

the intern can't leave soon enough...

the day has finally arrived...the last day of the intern...there are not enough woo-hoos in the world to show my excitement.

he really wasn't that bad...but he borderlined on annoyingly creepy...i always felt that he was looking at my chest, or my arse, or something...so that was the creepy part. the annoying part is that he taps on his desk constantly...that combined with the periodic slurping of drinks and soups, it was about all i could stand from another human. amazingly enough i never once went off on him, i must be growing more patient with my age!

i fear however, this is not the last we will see of dear intern...it seems that he has secured a part time position some time in september. hopefully with any luck (and some motivation from grande!) we will no longer be working or living here by that time!

normally the leaving of interns is sad, as it does mark the end of summer, but after this craptastic summer of blazing heat, it is good to see both the interns go and the summer go...i look forward to fall with its cooler weather (today is 90 and it actually feels cool outside! scary!) and with interns safely back in school, no longer annoying or creeping me out...

picture

picture of a lake, more colorful thanks to photoshop. 

why?

why is it everytime some one comes to my desk with a work related issue my browser window always freezes up?! then i have to sit there like and idiot and quickly try to fix the situation without accidentally opening the minimized window of imdb.com's coming soon movies...
meanwhile my face has turned bright red and i can feel sweat forming in places it shouldn't form...

why is it everytime the community water at work tastes like it has come out of a hose i am the only person who notices?! i took a big drink this morning to try and swallow down my two day old expired allegra and gagged on the most horrid tasting water i have expierenced in a long time...
in between my gags i asked if anyone else had had the water, the responses were all the same and basically implied that i am dillusional, the water is fine...

it shouldn't be 83 at 6:30 in the morning...

the bedroom actually felt cool this morning a big contrast to the heat that was sucking the life out of me last night...
of course the bathroom felt like a sauna...i swear there was steam coming out of the toilet.

oh yes at 6:30 this morning it was already a balmy 83 degress...which doesn't bode well for the rest of the day...considering the high is 102 with a heat index around 112...and we complained about 110 yesterday...bah, that was nothing. of course on thursday it is only to be 98...break out the parkas...it is a cold front!

i did however remember to put on deodorant this morning...

but i had to do my makeup in the bedroom with out a mirror...using a mirror would have involved opening my closet door, which pretty much felt like what i imagine standing at the gates of hell must feel like...

the downstairs didn't get much better...the cats looked wiped out and hot...no wonder with all the big fur...spicy actually looks as though she is sweating...not even really sure if cats sweat, but if they don't those poor little fur balls have to be horribly uncomfortable...

of course on the flip side of all this heat it is so cold in the office, i have a cardi on and wrapped my legs in a blanket to ward off the chills...a few minutes ago i made myself some tea just so i could hold the steamy in the hopes of warming my hands...so far it has worked.

nothing much else is going on today...and i may take a page from the big girls book in the office and stay in for lunch today...

move details for j-dub

recently grande and i have been in discussions about moving to ithaca...(yes the vortex would be sucking him back in!!!) i hate my job and am really looking forward to a change, where as he doesn't hate his job (yet!), so he is a little more reluctant to move...
so far it is only been talk...except i did apply to two jobs at cornell yesterday (badger did you hear that...two jobs!!!!! woo-hoo, keep your fingers crossed for me). also in my spare time (of which i have a lot since i have decided to boycott doing work at work) i have been looking for places to live...so i have done more than talk about moving...now we all just have to 'talk' grande into this!! :-)

pic of the day

this is a tweaked pic of the back yard at the house my parents lived in until about a month ago... 

random observations

1) we still have no forks...okay i have been off work for over a week now...when i left we were forkless and when i returned we are still forkless...

2) my job still sucks. i thought going away for a week would improve my overall outlook on my job, but no it only has made me more bitter (as if that is even possible!)

3) vacation was good, too short as always, but good, and being back here really sort of blows...

4) my fingers are so crossed right now to move to NY that i am having trouble typing...

5) it is so fucking hot here right now (110 with the heat index!) even the big girls in my office are skipping lunch to stay out of the heat.

6) 110 degrees is really an unacceptable temperature for central PA!

7) i have a meeting at 1...a meeting time that is almost as unacceptable as 12.

8) the intern has been tapping on his desk for about 3 hours straight now...not sure how or why i haven't freaked out on him yet.

9) the grammatically challenged co-worker put in her two weeks resignation about two weeks ago, but while i was gone she was given an offer she couldn't refuse and decided to stay here...from here on out she will be referred to as the dumb ass grammtically challenged co-worker!

10) i forgot to put on deodorant this morning (really i am not sure sometimes how i manage to get around somedays!)...thankfully i carry a spare in my work bag! ;-)