SNL: Boombox

Listen, you've gotta know your limits with a boombox. A boombox is not a toy.

Don't forget - Andy Samburg is going to be on Parks and Recreation this week.

Update 3/22/10: He was. He played a guy who talks really loud. Really.

Coachella 2010

So today was the big day, they announced the line-up for the 2010 Caochella Valley Music and Arts Festival. You can check out the site here.

Last year was the best Coachella ever! This year a lot of great bands are playing, but there doesn't seem to be any really big act or a surprise or anything. I would go if MGMT and Phoenix were playing on the same night, but they are not. Also, I hear Jay-Z is amazing live, but I'm not really into the other acts on Friday night. Them Crooked Vultures has Dave Grohl, but I don't even know what LCD Soundsystem is. Tiesto? Pavement?? By the way, why are there so many question marks after Thom Yorke???? Does that mean it might be Radiohead? If so, will they play BEFORE Pavement?

Can you go? Do you want to? What night would you choose? I think I would pick Saturday. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Update: I just learned that Pavement is reuniting for this. I didn't know they had split up because I don't know who they are. Um... maybe they were famous in 2002-2005 when I was living in Japan?

Update 1/20/10: Here is an article about the question marks behing Thom Yorke's name.

Fast Food

I wrote about this article before, in this post on how to save money, but today I actually tried out their advice.

The basic premise is to make fast food at home, specifically breakfast. We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Did you know that your metabolism is higher in the morning (within 30 minutes of waking up)? That means you can eat more calories. People who try to lose weight by skipping breakfast are really doing themselves a disservice. Not only does a good breakfast give you the energy to last until lunch, but it also keeps you from snacking, or eating a big lunch you don't need. You can even save money by eating breakfast! Most people who skip breakfast end up going out to lunch, spending more money.

The website suggests making your breakfast in advance (say, on Sunday morning), putting it in the freezer, and then heating it up in the microwave for a few minutes right before you leave in the morning! Here are some recipes:

Breakfast burritos:

Make up some scrambled eggs (I like to put chopped up peppers and veggie sausage in mine), sprinkled some shredded cheese on top, then wrap them up in a tortilla. Wrap the tortilla in saran wrap (or put it n a freezer-proof ziplock bag) and put it in the freezer. When you're ready to eat, take off the plastic wrap, wrap the burrito in a towel, and put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Then you can even take it out the door with you if you are in a hurry. At my work, there is a microwave and a freezer, so I can even leave some at work in case I am in a real hurry, or forget.

Croissant sandwich:

I found some mini croissants in the bakery section of the grocery store. I took two and put the rest in the freezer. Then, I made up two little omelettes and put one on each of the croissants to make a little sandwich. I sprinkled some cheese on before putting each sandwich in a freezer bag.

Update: I have been eating these things for breakfast for three days. My review so far? In an emergency, this would be OK. I guess it's better than not eating any breakfast at all, but really these are kind of gross. The top of the tortilla gets all hard and dry and the cheese gets way too hot. I think it would be better to just heat the eggs and then put them on a tortilla with some cheese, but then, if you're going to do that, just make some eggs!

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.

Eat No Animal

I bought this shirt (here).

This ad says, "Many years ago, I was fishing, and as I was reeling in the poor fish, I realized, 'I am killing him - all for the passing pleasure it brings me.' And something inside me clicked. I realized as I watched him fight for breath, that his life was as important to him as mine is to me."

Update 11/15/09: My shirt came in the mail and it is VERY large. I just noticed on the site that it says this particular shirt runs one size too large for women, but it is about two or three sizes too large. I'm going to keep it to sleep in and order another to wear.

Labels Used More Than Once in this Blog so Far

I just finished updating the labels for all my old posts. Here is a list of all the labels I have used more than once, followed by the number of posts I used them in. FYI.

books (3)

Depeche Mode (2)

Disneyland (2)

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (2) - though, to be fair, the second use was in reference to the older post

music (4)

Paul McCartney (2)

Radiohead (2) - both times I made the same comment about only knowing three of their songs

updates (4) including this entry

Urban Outfitters (2)

zipper pull (2)

If you have been reading my blog recently, you might want to go and take a look at a few of the older posts, I have updated some of them, too. I don't think bloggers are supposed to do that, but oh well.

More U.O.

As I have posted before (here), I love Urban Outfitters, specifically the website (here). For the most part, I have have kept my obession to just looking and adding things to my wishlist, but recently I decided to treat myself to a few accessories. I've been wanting a headband (maybe something with feathers - they are probably not cruelty-free, though) a scarf, new sunglasses, and maybe a new necklace or two - so I ordered them!

My new sunglasses came today and are totally sheik - they are big and like half blue/half zebra print. Super cute! Above is a picture of me wearing them (though you can only see half of them, I assure you the other half looks the same)! You also check them out (here). They are on sale for only $10.

Here are a few of the other items I ordered so I can be fashionable on my vacation (the best time to try out, say, a headwrap - where no one you know will see you):

Double Braided Headwrap
Asymmetrical Free Bird Necklace
Urban Renewal Scarf Necklace

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did finally order one of those blind box zipper pulls - you know, where you never know if you're going to get a corn cob, logs on fire, a lemon in a sidecar, etc.? Well, I got mine and it turned out to be drugs. Drugs. Here's a picture:

It's cute, I guess.

UPDATE (7/18/09): Since I ordered my sunglasses/zipper pull in the mail, U.O. just sent me a cool catalogue with a naked chick on the front of it. It's very classy.

Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre

This is my second book-related post in as many weeks. Next week I will have to write about some music, I think.

Yes, though I dislike their undeserved hatred of Jane Austen, I am reading or re-reading the Brontes - the above two novels at least. I re-read WH (which I know I read on my own while in college because I remember leaving it to entertain a friend of mine who was going to spend the afternoon in my room recovering from a visit to the dentist while I was in class and not because it made any impression on me. All I remembered was that there was a bed or a wall or something that had "Catherine Heathcliff" scratched all over it). JE, however, though I am familiar with numerous faithful film and television adaptations, I haven't read until now. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I do think that it would have been much more interesting if I hadn't already known what was going to happen. If you have any interest in the tale of an orphaned girl-turned-governess, I suggest you read the book before seeing any of the movie versions.

WH, though a good book, almost works better for me as a film. I can't say that for most movies adapted from novels, but WH lends itself to film. The tragic love story of Catherine, Heathcliff, and their offspring is told in the novel through the eyes of a servant and an annoying man trying to get some peace and solitude away from what must be a very trying existence as a landed gentleman in the 1800's who is rich off of not having to do anything. Movie versions are not likely to show an old lady sitting by a fire telling a story to a man with a cold, and so they often seem a bit more exciting.

Next up on my reading list, Anne Bronte gets her chance to out-do her sisters if she can with The Tennant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey.

UPDATE (7/18/09): I finished Agnes Grey and it was not good at all. It's probably the most boring version of a governess tale I can imagine and is filled with far too much churchy stuff to boot. The only reason you might want to read it is so that you can truly appreciate how great Jane Eyre is in comparison.

The Sims 3

Sorry about the late post, but I wanted to wait for Tuesday - the release day of The Sims 3.

As a kid, I have fond memories of playing computer games like Sword of the Samurai (which I preferred to my father's favorite - Pirates) and Zak McCracken (here's a tip, get the egg out of the fridge before you leave the house - you can put it in the microwave on the plane to distract the flight attendant) but I don't play many computer games on the ol' macbook today. The only computer game I have been known to play is The Sims. I played the original game, The Sims 2, and now The Sims 3.

The new game is not that different from The Sims 2, but some of the things that made that game annoying are gone. You no longer have to go to the bathroom so often, and you can even earn a reward called the "golden bladder" or something where you don't have to go at all. Now when your Sim children grow up their friends grow up, too, instead of staying little kids. Your Sims can also handle things by themselves if you leave them alone for a while, instead of ending up crying on the floor and peeing their pants, talking to a bag of flour like it's a baby as they did in the old game.

There is one problem, though. It looks like you can only have one family per game. You used to be able to populate your city with all your own characters, but now it seems like you can only have one family of your own who has to interact with the computer generated characters.

UPDATE (6/10/09): I have been playing a family whose oldest child finally grew into an adult - but it seems she can't move out of the house! Poor Kipper must live at home with her parents and little brother forever or get married or ditch the family so I can't play them anymore. Are these really the only options?!

It's pretty fun, though like the other Sims games it gets old kind of quickly.

UPDATE (7/18/09): I figured out how to change the family I'm playing and how to populate the city with all of my own characters - you need to go to "Edit Town" (or whatever) in the menu and then you can add more families or switch the one you are playing. Be careful, though, because it looks like when you switch from one family to another and then back, the first family loses the deeds to any businesses they own or are partners in! That's a drag.