My Heart is Like a Wheel 2009

2009 is over and this blog has been going strong for (almost) all of it. A lot of great things happened for me and for the blog in 2009.

One of the highlights of the year for me was the event that actually sparked the beginning of this blog - Coachella 2009. It was right after I bought my tickets at the end of January that I decided to become a vegetarian! I have Paul (and Linda) to thank, in large part, for that. Seeing Paul perform "Something" live also started my love for playing the ukulele, which, in turn, finally got me to take guitar lessons (something I've wanted to do since high school).

I also did pretty well on my new year's resolution, which was to save money. If I could give you one tip it would be to call some of the companies you pay bills to every month and just tell them to lower your payments! It worked for my cable bill.

I started getting in a little better shape, too, thanks to Wii Fit. I didn't reach my fitness goal for the year, but I'm still just a beginner. 2010 is looking to shape up pretty well.

Here is a list of all of the tags/labels that I have used three or more times for this blog. You can see that some patterns showed up this year. We'll just have to wait and see what surprises the 10's will bring!

#1: Music: Music related tags account for 42% of the 3-and-over tags used this year. They include:

Paul McCartney (7)/The Beatles (3)

Records (3)

Depeche Mode (3)

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (3)

MGMT (3)

Music (12)

The Lonely Island (3)/Andy Samburg (2)

#2: Book/Film Clubs: 2009 saw me going out more and being a joiner! I joined (among other things) a book club and a film club. Not surprisingly, book/film club related tags were the second most popular kind to turn up this year:

Book club (5)

Books (6)

Death with Interruptions (3)

Film club (5)

#3: Shopping: Even though I did manage to ditch the credit card and start saving more money this year, two of my favorite places to shop did pop up in the blog from time to time:

Target (3)

Urban Outfitters (8)

#4: Miscellaneous: Non-music/film club/book club/shopping labels accounted for just 25% of the mentioned-three-or-more-times tags:

Halloween (3)

iPhone (6)

Japan (3)

Mad Men (4)

Vegetarian (4)

YouTube (3)

Rolling it to you in 2009...

This Blog: A Year in Review.

Here are a few updates on some of the topics I've blogged about

in my 100 posts this year!

• Coachella was awesome.
• I still love my iPhone.
• Records are still cool. I bought some in April that I still haven't listened to yet (I'm saving them).
• I still like this pink blog template.
• Navy blue nail polish – still cute.
• Springfield Punx website? Well, I haven’t been back since I posted about it. Let me go now. Ah, now they are featuring Inspector Gadget, Link from The Legend of Zelda, and Edward Scissorhands.
• Things I want to buy from Urban Outfitters? I actually ended up getting one of these – twice!
• The Sims 3? I got kinda burned out on it.
• Kitchen Appliances? Did I actually blog about kitchen appliances?
• Disneyland. Yeah, I went there.
• Twilight? Yeah, I read those.
• Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre? I read those, too. Jane Eyre rocks.
• RIP Geocities: I never did anything to save my website. RIP “Lori Was Here”
• "Lucy in the Sky": RIP Lucy Vodden
• French Veggies. Did I blog about French veggies?
• Guy in the shirt who is not impressed by the Paul McCartney concert: still sucks.
• Slurpees? I never had one all year.
• Torchwood: Still sucks!! Totally sucks! Ianto!!!!
• Eric Bana: Still sucks, too.
• Hipsters: I’m still not really one.
• Dibs: I only ate them once. They are not that good, but they are honest.
• Mr. Donut: still the world’s greatest pink donut.
• Organic apples: I never actually bought any – they are clean, but expensive.
• Bento: I never really made one.
• Phoenix: I still don’t really like them as much as I would like to, in large part due to the fact that my record was defective.
• Wear Sunscreen: Still good advice.
• Book clubs: I only went to two. They were good.
• MGMT: AWESOME.
• The Emmys: my first live blog!
• Film Club: I went to two.
• Best Andy Samburg quote of the year: “Happy Birthday to the Ground!”
• Bridesmaid’s Speech: I thought this made make me an Internet sensation. Still waiting for that to happen.
• A painting of your personality: Sometimes finding something to blog about was a little difficult.
• Meetup.com: is pretty cool.
• "Flume": Still a great song.
• Random pictures: Still random
• Paranormal Activity: Still not scary.
• MASH: Still a game I used to play on the bus in 6^th grade.
• Jim Carrey: Still ruining Christmas.
• Netflix: I now have 181 movies in my queue.
• Halloween Costume 2009: Thanks for the help with costume ideas, but I went as Joan from Mad Men (my hero).
• Haircut: I got bangs!
• Glee: Next to Mad Men, the best show of the year!
• Calorie Counter: I didn’t stick with it, though.
• Garfield Websites: Better than Garfield. That’s not saying much.
• Blue Bag: Still using it.
• Iexpensit: I’m not using this anymore either.
• Neopolitan Dynamite: I only ate this once, but it is still the best ice cream flavor.
• Eat No Animal: Still a good idea, and too big of a T-shirt.
• This Week in Pop: I only did this once – I don’t know how Whit does it!
• Literary Tattoo: I decided not to get one.
• Pumpkin Soup: I made it twice! So easy!
• Christmas presents: I gave some, I got some.
• Pandora: good radio.
• Etsy: still sells ugly craft stuff.
• Random band names and album/book covers: a fun waste of time.
• Pancakes: are good.
• iPod speakers: are cheap.
• Show Choir: Glee is about one - I was in one – SNL did a funny skit about one.
• Jersey Shore: The Situation kind of looks like Dave Gahan.
• Album Covers with Trees: More of this in 2010!
• Scarves: Still warm.
• Festivus: It really was bad news about James and Bethany. Now I feel bad about it. Stupid Festivus.
• Movies I want to see this holiday season: Still haven't seen any of them.
• Meat Free Monday: Make your new year's resolution one that will save animals AND the Earth!

Best picture from my blog this year:

It's a tie between me deciding not to get a tattoo and Plastic Jesus.

Words from this post the spellchecker said were spelled wrong: Coachella, Punx, Scissorhands, Wuthering, Geocities, Vodden, Slurpees, Torchwood, Ianto, Bana, Bento, MGMT, Emmys, Samburg, Meetup, 6th, Carrey, Netflix, didn't, Iexpensit, Neoploitan, Etsy, ipod, SNL, Gahan, Festivus.

Meat Free Monday 2010

2010 is almost here and most people are thinking about making New Years Resolutions. May I make a suggestion? If you don't want to go all out and become a vegetarian this year - why not make 2010 the start of your Meat Free Mondays?

Did you know that livestock production is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions? That's more pollution than is caused by transportation! By lowering (or stopping) your meat consumption, not only can you help to reduce the suffering of animals, but you can also help save the Earth!

All you have to do is to choose at least one day a week (it doesn't have to be Monday) to eat meals without meat! Afraid you won't have very many options? Well, a lot of the food you eat each week is already meatless. Think about it, you might have toast in the morning, or cereal. For lunch you might have an egg salad or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, for dinner - how about spaghetti with marinara sauce, garlic bread, and a green salad? Miss the meatballs? Vegetarian meatballs are one of the most delicious meat-alternative foods available!

If you are interested in making a difference in 2010, please give MFM a try. Visit the website here:

http://www.supportmfm.org/

And the Facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Meat-Free-Monday/85068389629

Want to give vegetarianism a try? Check out this website for helpful starter tips and make the 30-Day Pledge to be Veg!

http://www.goveg.com/

Happy New Year!

By the way, this is my 100th post! Thanks for sticking with me this year, faithful readers (and welcome new ones)! Here's to a healthy and happy new year!

あけましておめでとうございます!

Omamori

In Japan, New Years is a bigger holiday than Christmas (which is mostly just a time when you eat fried chicken and white cake with strawberries on it). At midnight on December 31st, or within the next couple of days, you do something called hatsumode. This is a shrine visit. You head over to the local shrine and climb the steps, which are usually lined with stalls (like at a carnival) selling toys and treats like yakisoba or candy-covered strawberries! When you get to the shrine, you wait in line to pull on a rope and ring a bell, then you go to get your fortune by shaking a box to make a stick come out. Your fortune is on a piece of paper and, if you are me, is really hard to read - so you get someone to read it for you. Then you tie it to a tree branch or a fence or something. (Oh, you also throw a little money into the shrine, and sometimes there is a little sake to drink - for good luck).

Anyway, what I'm getting at is, after all of this, you go to a little stall run by the shrine and you buy a little good luck charm called an omamori. These are usually good for one year, then (if you live where I did) you go to burn them a few weeks later at the Naked Festival!

Doesn't all of that sound more fun than wearing stupid hats, watching a ball drop on TV, drinking champagne, and kissing somebody?

Anyway, as a New Year's gift, I got omamori for me and my friends! I ordered them from J-List. Because they come from Japan, the shipping is a little expensive and it takes a little longer, but it's worth it for a happy, healthy, lucky new year! Go check it out.

Here's a website where you can read about New Years in Japan, though it doesn't include everything. Here's another one.

65 Hollywood Hits and Misses of 2009

It's the end of the year and the end of the decade, so it's time for lists. The other day the L.A. Times put out a list of 65 (why 65?) Hollywood hits and misses. Read it here. And here is my list of the only things on the list I know about:

#1: Miley Cyrus does poll dancing on some awards show: I only know about this because of The Soup and Kathy Griffin.

#11: Perez Hilton gets punched in the face by some guy: I didn't really know about this, I just thought it was awesome.

#28: Watchmen: Who watched the Watchmen? Me, but only on DVD.

#41: LOST: I still watch, but I'm about half a season behind. I think you can watch instantly on Netflix now... I've gotta check into that...

#52: Deadwood: No, it wasn't really on this year. I guess the "miss" is that they never made another season. I still love Timmy O.

#53: Project Runway: I used to call this, without a doubt, my favorite show. Not so much after last season - there wasn't even one designer I could really route for (or hate). Mad Men and Glee were much more exciting.

What were your hits and misses of the year? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

What I Got for Christmas

Here is a list of what I got for Christmas:

• Two books.
• A Stylograph (I got my brother something else).
• A pocket Buddha from U.O. - I got the blueish-greenish one, which is "Love" (I couldn't find a picture of it; that's "Harmony" above). See the website (here).
• Binoculars (for some reason).
• A cool Indian wall tapestry from U.O.
• A silver initial necklace, also from U.O.
• A Bamboo (which I guess is a pen thing you can use to write on your computer).
• Farkle, a game with dice.
• and a mini bonsai tree kit, also from U.O. (I hope I don't kill it)!

What did you get?

Gifts I Want

I really kind of want this Kate Spade bow ring, but it's sold out.

I also want a Stylophone. They are cool. I can't afford to get one for myself, so I got it for my brother - maybe he'll let me try it!

Movies I Wouldn't Mind Seeing This Holiday Season

My family usually goes to the movies over the holiday. Here are some movies I wouldn't mind seeing.

The Princess and the Frog: It looks cute.

The Young Victoria: British Costume Dramas - Hooray!

Sherlock Holmes: I am so excited!!

What else? Um... maybe that Twilight movie?

Sorry, I thought this list would be longer.

Anyway, I'm really excited about Sherlock Holmes.

Festivus

Today is Festivus. In honor of this sacred holiday, I would like to air some grievances.

• Attention Avatar fans: What is with all this Avatar hype? That movie looks stupid. Stop talking about how "visually stunning" it is. I just saw something on CNN.com that said, "Avatar:" Bigger than "Star Wars"? Yuck.
• Attention Trader Joe's: Why don't you sell Tofurky? Where am I supposed to get my Tofurky? I can't afford to go to Whole Foods. Thanks for nothing, Trader Joe's.
• Attention my brother: There is something called empathy. Not everything is about you.
• Attention those two women at work who always hit reply all to every e-mail ON PURPOSE because you want to make sure that everyone knows that you got the e-mail that we all got and that you said "Thank you" to the person who sent it: I don't care! Stop sending me your e-mails!!
• Attention people who post things like, "Praying for James and Bethany today" on Facebook prompting hundreds of people to worry about/wonder what is wrong with James and Bethany and then making us wait around forever until you feel like explaining what they need praying for, if you ever do explain it: Cut this out! What is wrong with James and Bethany?? Are they sick? Are they getting a divorce? Is it the baby? What is it? Either tell us or don't say anything!

And now... on to the feats of strength. Happy Festivus everyone!

Scarves

'Tis the season for scarves. They are warm, they make great gifts, and you can buy them with those gift cards you get for the Holidays. I got these three scares at Target - they are all three really cute and look great with several different outfits. They cost about $12 each.

This is my signature color.

This pink and purple one goes with A LOT of my clothes.

I bought this for gay rights week, and I'm still wearing it!

Mark Wahlberg Talks to Christmas Animals

I love James Franco, but the best sketch of last night's SNL has to be Mark Wahlberg talks to Christmas Animals. Say hi to your mother for me.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Album Covers with Trees

Today I was at my local antique store shopping for records. I was there to get the copy of John Lennon/The Plastic Ono Band that I knew they had (gotta love "Hold On") and I did. But while I was there I noticed how many album covers have trees on them. By that I mean a picture of the band in an outdoor setting with trees (and often a river) and no words or people on the top 1/3 or so of the cover (the top is usually the only part you can see when you are flipping through a box of albums - thus many covers have the name of the band at the top so you can easily spot them).

Not only does JL/TPOB (released in 1970) feature this kind of cover, but so does Wings' first album, Wild Life (released in 1971)! Here they are:

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Wild Life

Notice how these two also have no names or titles (this plan kind of backfired, at least when it came to Wild Life sales). Not to be outdone, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass cover also features an outdoor scene with trees, but it has his name and the album title at the top. Plus it's not really in color, so it doesn't count.

Here are some of the other tree covers I discovered, I'm sure there are MANY more:

The Rolling Stones: Between the Buttons (1967)

Though not a perfect example, it does have no title/names.

I guess Caravan was a band.

CCR's Green River has the band name/title at the top, but it's really hard to read, so it's OK.

Also, one of them is holding a guitar, which is kind of cheating.

If Guitars are OK, then I might consider Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline.

I did a little research and found this website which features album covers with JUST trees (no people) which is not the same thing. It does feature on of my favorite albums, though, For Emma...

I also found this forum that has a post about outdoor covers, though not strictly of the variety I am talking about. It has pictures for a lot of them.

More covers to come!

Jersey Shore Nickname Generator

They talk about this horrible MTV reality show on my morning radio program (that just made it sound like I host a morning radio program, which I do not) and then I caught a few minutes of it the other night. A girl with a fake tan wearing a trucker hat was sucking the juice out of a pickle and then "complaining" because all of these guys were staring at her like "perverts or something." It is an awful show.

The best(?) part is that all of the characters, I mean, people on the show have stupid nicknames. The girls are called things like "Snooky" and there is a guy called "The Situation!" Awesome!

So, here is a Jersey Shore Nickname generator that you can use to find out what your nickname would be if you worked at a T-Shirt shop in New Jersey!

This one is kind of mild (My nickname is "Sunny").

And this one is a bit friskier (Mine is "Connie Mortadella").

More Covers

See my previous post (here).

Is Rules of Good Grooming the name of the band or is it Writing on the Wall?

The Ice Weasels Come is the first new album by Long Meg and Her Daughters in a while!

And, finally, from Gods of Aberdeen we have Everything You Can Lose.

Trust by Dawn Clark

Treat by Heather Tarver

and Bounce by Charles J. West

Show Choir

The funniest skit from last night's SNL.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Chanukah Elvis Rocks!

iPod Speakers

Apparently someone in my family is getting me something off of my Urban Outfitters wishlist for Christmas. Maybe it will be the Air Curve iPod Speaker that is just a block of plastic with airways in it.

If not, then I guess I could make my own DIY paper cup speakers! I found this article on NoiseAddicts. I haven't made these yet, but it looks simple enough.

Pancakes

Now that it is winter, you can make pancakes on the weekend and eat them in your slippers and flannel pajamas with a hot cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate!

While on a recent trip to the grocery store, I discovered Bruce's Sweet Potato Pancake Mix. I always thought you could only get sweet potato pancakes by going to a diner or to IHOP during the holidays. (Remember when IHOP used to have those Country Griddle Cakes which were pancakes made with Cream of Wheat? Now they just have a bunch of things that make me want to gag like pancakes with bits of cheesecake in them - yuck).

Anyway, these sweet potato pancakes are great and so easy to make!! I topped them with Cool Whip leftover from the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Yummy!

My friend Tami writes the most interesting Facebook posts, mostly about political issues. Reently she posted about how much she loves a breakfast of Nutella pancakes and coffee with Bailey's. Right on, Tami!

I like Nutella, but I have never actually bought any to keep in my house, let alone put it on pancakes. I'll have to try it.

What are your favorite pancakes? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Not Guilty

This is the seventh in a series of blog entries about songs picked at random from my itunes library. For the post on the last song, "Flume" go (here). For "Ras Trent" go (here). For "Hole to Feed" go (here). For "Every Little Thing" go (here). For "No Surprises" go (here). For "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Love Version)" go (here).

"Not Guilty" is a George Harrison song from his 1979 self-titled album, but actually written years earlier in 1968 while The Beatles were in Rishikesh.

As Wikipedia notes, the original version (featured on The Anthology 3) is "harsher, driven by electric guitar and harpsichord." That is the version that popped up on my itunes. I don't think I've ever actually heard the 1979 version. The only George Harrison albums I have are Living in the Material World, the Concert for Bangaladesh, and, of course, All Things Must Pass (My favorite album)! I haven't listened to the first two yet.

So, I decided to go on itunes and get the George Harrison version and write a comparison here! The thing is, once I listened to the free 30 second demo I could see I didn't need to buy it. The '79 version is all mellow and has none of what I love about the original. The '68 version is angry and heartfelt - why don't you guys let George have more than a couple of songs on the album!? The '79 version is a little too 1979. The soft keyboards (or whatever that bell-like sound is) in the background make it seem more like (gasp) elevator music. I don't want to hear dentist-office soft strains played to lyrics like, "Not Guilty of looking like a freak, making friends with every Sikh" (which, by the way, I always thought until now was "making friends you didn't seek").

For my money (which would be 99 cents if you could buy Beatles music on itunes) the 1968 version is the best. Go listen to it. Somehow.

Random Band Names

I love sites like this one: Random Band Name, Album Cover, and Album Title. It shows you how to make your very own album cover! Above is mine.

Palace of Culture's Debut album The Thing Itself, coming soon!

Here's how you do it:

First, go to Wikipedia and hit "random": The first article you get is the name of your band!

Next, go to The Random Quotations Page. Your album title is the last three or four words from the very last quote on the page.

Finally, go to Flickr's "Explore the Last Seven Days": The third picture is your cover photo!

Next, edit it all together with photo editing software. Don't have any? Try FotoFlexer, the free online picture editor!

You'll have so much fun, you'll want to make your own random Young Adult Novel cover, too!

Swirl, the latest Young Adult novel from Francesca Dean, author of Darken.

I'd love to see your covers - post them in the comments!

Etsy

Etsy is an online store where people sell crafty things they have made. I've never bought anything there, but when I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding (see my previous post here) she got us all these cute bags as a bridesmaids' gift.

Anyway, you don't have to buy anything from this site to enjoy it. The best part is the browse by "color" section! It's so cool! There is a colorful grid of circles and when you click on a color, they show you a bunch of cute crafts that are that color!

I don't know why I think that is so fun, but I do. These are pictures of three things I found when I looked at the color of this blog: A scotty dog zipper pull, a bunny patch, and gummy bear earrings.

Pandora

I have cable and there is a section of music stations on my TV. I used to put it on a lot (before I got a radio for my living room) while I was cleaning the house or at parties, etc. Today I discovered that they have replaced the musicals station with something called "Stage and Screen." When I went there it was playing Jessica Simpsons' "These Boots are Made for Walking" from the soundtrack of The Dukes of Hazzard. Not exactly what I was looking for. So I changed to a station called "Retro Rock" thinking it was going to be music from the 50's and 60's. It plays music from 1991.

And so, I went to Pandora. If you don't already know about Pandora, it is an online radio station made just for you. You create stations based on bands, songs, or genres you enjoy and it plays just that music and music like it! You can even set it to "Quickmix" and it will play random selections from all of your stations.

Pandora also has a free iPhone app! I wrote about it a few months ago (here). It's a must-have.

Here is a list of songs that played on my Quickmix this afternoon:

1) HooDoo: Muse

2) Beware of Darkness: George Harrison

3) Rain: The Beatles

4) A Must to Avoid: Herman's Hermits

5) Eleanor Rigby (Live): Paul McCartney

6) Drive: Incubus

7) Come Together: The Beatles

8) Never Let You Go: Third Eye Blind

• I don't actually like this song, but OK.

9) Get it On: T. Rex

• Ditto this one. Still better than Jessica Simpson.

10) Yellow (Live): Coldplay

• "If you stand up we'll buy you all ice cream."

11) I Want You Back: The Kooks

• I've never heard this before, part of the fun of Pandora radio.

12) Revolution (Love Version): The Beatles

• "ALL RIGHT!"

13) Can't Explain (Live at Leeds): The Who

14) Float On: Modest Mouse

• So THAT is what this song is called...

15) Superhero (Live): Stephen Lynch

16) I'm On a Boat: The Lonely Island

17) The Wind Cries Mary (Live): Jimi Hendrix

18) Trouble: Coldplay

• Why so much Coldplay today? I don't even have a Coldplay station.

19) The Song that Goes Like This: Spamalot

• I don't care about Spamalot, but I do think this song is cute.

20) Loro: Pinback

• I've also never heard this before. It came up on my MGMT station.

To be honest, I did use all six of my skips. :)

A couple of my friends have a beef with Pandora that it almost never plays female artists unless you are on a female artist themed station. They have a point - except for half of "The Song that Goes Like This" none of those songs were sung by women. The twenty-first song was "Over and Over" by Rachel Yamagata care of my "This Never Happened Before" station, though. (It's my only station inspired by a song instead of a band). That is a pretty good song, too. I think I'll add a Rachel Yamagata station. Go women!

Christmas Presents

I have finished my Christmas shopping (except for one last gift, which I will describe below). Since I doubt any of my friends or family read this blog and in the hope that detailing my choices might help some of you who have not yet been able to check everyone off your list, here is what I got.

Gift cards. Brothers and husbands of relatives be prepared. You are boys and you always say things like, "You shouldn't have wasted your money on this" so gift cards it is. I realize the irony of the fact that you also do not like shopping, but oh well.

Online shopping! Almost all of my gifts were ordered online. For relatives who live far away, I opted to have the gifts wrapped at the store and sent directly to their homes so I don't have to go to the post office!

Old Navy.com: While the store only carries certain sizes, the online store has all sizes, including Plus Size. You can sometimes get free shipping, too. I ordered this faux fur hoodie which is the perfect compromise for Southern California life: a little fancier than a hoodie but not as heavy as a real jacket! Plus, it has snaps instead of a zipper. Really cute and warm!

Amazon.com: I ordered the DVD box set of The Flintstones for my mom. She loves The Flintstones, plus I know someone is getting her a new Blueray Player. I thought about ordering the Beatles Rock Band game for the Wii, but opted instead for the slightly more affordable Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Urban Outfitters.com: You know I love UO. They have tons of totally cute gifts for young and old male and female alike! if you have totally skinny friends and relatives you can get cute clothes, but for everyone else there are tons of fun gifts, accessories, books, music, toys, and items for the home/apartment. Plus, there are a lot of cute things that are cheap! I got this scarf and this throw for my sisters and they were each only $10, which made the shipping and gift wrapping affordable. They are not labeled, though, so the girls will just have to decide amongst themselves who gets what. My Dad gets this Where's Waldo? puzzle.

A Wacky gift: Gift exchanges are fun and they allow you to cover a lot of your friends without having to spend a lot of money. My friends and co-workers are hosting a wacky tacky gift exchange party. Apparently, we are supposed to get things like a singing plastic fish, etc. I haven't bought anything yet. Ideas?