Mettle me this, Batman

Okay, I give. Sending this back to the date from whence it came...

A lert, A lert: I'm putting this at the top until it's solved. All 10. So, unless you wanna keep seeing this post at the top... :)

Okay, let's try this out. I'm going to post 10 books, TV shows, and movies that I absolutely love or did love at some point in my life and you comment on who is my favorite character. If you guess correctly then I cross out the line and give up my answer to the world.

1. Cowboy Bebop - Ein (Bdogg's guess)
2. Confederacy of Dunces - Ignatius (ACW's guess)
3. Clockwatchers - Margaret (DLil's second guess)
4. Beetlejuice - Barbara (Mel's guess, DLil's second guess) and Juno, your case worker (Bdogg's guess)
5. The Office (UK version) - Dawn (Avi's second guess)
6. The Office (US version) - Pam (Avi's guess)
7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Gertie (ACW's guess)
8. Pancakes for Breakfast (slightly a trick question)
9. Bubba Ho-Tep - Jack/JFK (Avi's guess)
10. Shaun of the Dead*

I stole this from B. I'm looking very much forward to your guesses.

*Update: Four months later, Avi has asked me to post my answer to #10. It's Dianne. I love Lucy Davis. Who doesn't?

Lying low.

Shhhhh, I'm hiding in my office. Ducking, with the light off, trying to keep the evil work gods away. So far today has been the lowest key day I've had since May. I'm definitely knocking on wood and pretending I didn't just tell you this so that I don't suddenly get a ton of work dumped on me.

In my hushed state, I will return comment on one subject: I believe that Bree and Daniel are real kids just making videos. I occasionally correspond with Bree via YouTube email, or someone who says she's Bree. To those who doubt Bree's realness: How do I know any of you are real? And, how do you know I'm real? I could be some dude with a Harley and a six-pack o' Bud hanging out online to score me some tasty babes. ... ... And, how would you know? It's about trust. You either trust or you don't. Some people trust in a god; I choose to trust in Bree. To each one's own.

Okay, and now I'm all jumpy excited because I got quoted about the whole LG15 thing! W00t! :)

Away message

Let's just cut to the chase, shall we? I'll be unavailable until at least Thursday. I might post random entries, but I really shouldn't be doing that. I won't be visiting the old blog haunts in the sidebar until at least Saturday. I am corporate's bitch until then, and there is nothing (short of quitting) that I can do about it. But, you all have fun in blogland! At least I defiantly wore my LURKER shirt underneath my striped button-down shirt. :D Oh, but then I banged my knee. Really hard. And then banged exactly the same spot again. Ice pack. Yup.

Okay, so, let's not make this any more awkward than it needs to be. I hate goodbyes, even if they're brief. So, see ya!

Oh, one more thing. As you may have figured out by a few of my postings, I have a special place in my heart for lonelygirl15 (real name “Bree” who, by the way, is authentic) so I'll leave you with my favorite video of her which likely makes no sense unless you watch all of her videos (start with the bottom/oldest). It's a bit soap opera-ish, but light-hearted at the same time. (Hi, Bree! (: :) (: :) (: :)

Shopping!

Hay and I went proper grocery shopping today! I love it when we do that! So much junk food in the house! Including, but not limited to: peanut butter Twix, Gifford's cake batter ice cream, Nestlé Toll House chocolate chunk cookies (ready-to-bake variety), Pinwheels, Ritz toasted cheese chips, Austin peanut butter crackers, extra sharp cheddar, swiss cheese, maple smoked cheddar, frou-frou cracker variety for the cheese, Snickers ice cream bars, chocolate chip muffins, Ciabatta bread (for the sole purpose of slathering it with 3 T of butter, which I've done already today), Pepperidge Farms garlic bread, potato and cheddar pierogies, whipped cream cheese for sesame bagels, and peach iced tea. The receipt is in Hay's pocket and he's doing a bit of napping right now, or I'd give you the complete list. I think that's probably long enough to drive a few of you a little wild, though. ;)

Update: Got to look at the receipt, and I only left out one item. (How could I forget?) Bacon!

Update update: Oops, oh yah. And a marble cake with white frosting and red piping frosting and confetti candies.

Update update update: Crap! Okay, last one. Reese's peanut butter cups with caramel! Sooooooo tasty.

When cats rule the earth (which would be today)

Allie got out of the house tonight. I was pretty much certain she was gone forever, with either wild animals eating her or the call of the wild attracting her too strongly.* She came home. I've chewed her out, explained that she made a poor life decision. She doesn't see things my way, and has turned an icy shoulder toward me.

Let me back up. Allie was a 5-month-old stray living in a shelter when I met her. I fell in love with her. I brought her home and kept her inside all to myself for 3 years.

Then my parents moved out of state and left my childhood cat, Little Kitty, to stay with me. LK was an outdoor cat. Allie learned quickly. One day Hay and I came home from work to find that our second story bedroom window's screen was on the ground. ... ... *sigh* *deep breath* Allie was so anxious to be outdoors with her big sister that she shoved the screen out and jumped. When we came home it was raining and she was mewing from underneath the neighbor's car. She didn't understand what to do outside (yet), she just knew she wanted to be there.

For the next 3 years, against Hay's and my wishes, Allie was an outdoor kitty. Unfortunately, she began bringing home more and more trophies, many of which she didn't bother to kill so that there were mice, chipmunks, moles, and varying sizes of birds running around our apartment partly chewed and very scared. Allie's attitude became progressively worse as well. She would hiss, bite, scratch, and growl at us. She never wanted any attention, and acted almost cavecattish, coming inside only to drink clean water and have uninterrupted sleep.

Then we moved to the country, and both Allie and Little Kitty got a “do over”. Under the guise of concern that wild animals would eat them or cars would run them over, we told the kittos they could not under any circumstances go outside. It was a tough fight, but Hay and I stood our ground for the next 3 years. Allie's personality began to mellow again. She would tolerate us giving her affection, and would even come lie down in our laps to purr and drool as we patted her head and stroked the fur along her back.

Along the way LK lost her battle with various ailments a 19-year-old cat just can't win, but Allie has never forgotten her days of freedom. So, tonight when I saw that the screen door and the glass door to the deck were both open my heart didn't even bother to sink because I just knew Allie was outside and wasn't coming back. She is happiest outdoors, that's where she can romp around, eat animals and grass, beat up neighbor kitties, and soak up the sunshine.

For whatever reason, Allie did come home. She hissed and scratched and kicked at me when I tried to check her for bugs and wounds. She threw up gigantic strands of grass all over the dining room floor. She may have a disease from rubbing noses with a neighbor kitty.** But, she's my girl and she is always welcome in this house until she's done with this life.



---
*She does not wear a collar. She used to. I even have a tag that says her name and our phone number on it, but I challenge you to get a collar on her and keep it on.

**This is the part that scares me the most, that she now has feline leukemia or something else communicable and will share it with the other girls. I would be devastated if all of my kitties became sick and died within a short time.

A deserved spot in the que la freakando f?! files

Mr. Britney Spears will star in a future episode of CSI as a menacing teen.

For the Super Mario Brothers fans

Just(in) tell me which way you like that

Okay, I lied. I quickly visited Perez and found another song from Justin Timberlake. I am swooning. My knees are weak. I totally want to MAKE OUT WITH JT RIGHT. NOW. !.

I am so glad I pre-ordered the album.

Reruns

Busy day today. Have a donut, read some archives, enjoy your day. BBL. :)

“There are nine eight planets in our solar system”

Pluto is no longer a planet. :(

In my inbox

I didn't get a chance to check work email yesterday, so just read ZDNet UK's newsletter from yesterday which states:

Microsoft probes Gervais video leak
In 2003, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant produced two training videos for Microsoft UK on the condition that they would not be released to the public. Now they have leaked, and Gervais wants to know why

http://newsletters.zdnetuk.cneteu.net/t/133260/1882716/206052/0/

Oops. Here are the videos from Google for your viewing pleasure. And, in case those go away, here are a bunch of the YouTube versions.

Success!

Guess whaaaaaaaaat? Got my braces off today. I did! You wanna see photos, don't you. Okay, okay okay. I'll do that whole before and after thing. Except I seem to have lost my before picture. When I do find it I will post it. For now, here goes...

With braces:


This afternoon:



my teeth

I had a hard time getting a photo of my “permanent” (two-year) retainer on my lower teeth, but I'm not sure I can get a better one, so here's a photo I am borrowing from a Danish website that better illustrates the retainer affixed to my bottom teeth:


not my teeth

For two years I will need to use threaded floss on the bottom six front teeth.

I have to wear a clear retainer over my top teeth all the time for eight weeks:



I cannot for the life of me pronounce S's or soft C's with it in. My real first name has one of those in it. It thucks. I'm all lithpy again. I had to record a phone message for my work phone today and I had to remove the retainer or else it sounded like I was 6 years old without my two front teeth and with my thumb thuck in my mouth. Anyway, real point of telling you about the retainer: I won't be doing teeth whitening until I only have to wear the retainer at nighttime.

I don't know the terminology to differ between the clear retainer that covers all of my teeth (my co-worker said her orthodontist called it a splint) but in 8 weeks I will begin wearing a retainer that sits on the roof of my mouth:



Like this one, only in
fuchsia instead of the scary
patriotism color palette

Since I will only wear that at night for sleeping my co-worker and the ortho assistant suggested choosing a fun color, so I went with fuchsia. Don't have that retainer yet, but when I do I'll post about it.

Two things I can now eat with reckless abandon -- gum and peanuts:



Yippy!

Highlight of my day

Although there were many, it had to be saving three spiders from certain peril, including this little man:



(Yes, TJ, that link on my bookmarks bar is to the Orisinal of fun. :)

Did I mention it's the busy season at work? It's been the busy season since May, but it's now THE BUSY SEASON *alert alert alert*.

I did not win $1 million via my Butterfinger bar today. That makes me sad.

I did something yesterday that I ashamed about, and Hay found out about it in the middle of the night. When he woke me up out of a dead sleep I lied to him. This morning I told him I lied and apologized for doing so, and for doing what I did in the first place. It's too private to say more than that. I'm just feeling detached from the whole situation. It's over with, it's just disappointing. I know that I did what I did because I am feeling too much pressure to succeed at too many things. I prefer a Lazlo Hollyfeld-type of lifestyle, but instead I have a Martha Stewart life. Minus the jail time and house arrest.

I moderated a meeting this morning at which I attempted to joke around, and it fell pretty flat so I said something like, “ohhhkay, too early in the morning for joking around about [insert whatever I was talking about]” then after that everyone woke up and laughed at all my jokes. I'm funny! Laugh at me, dammit! :)

I share a phone with one of my co-workers, so every time it rings we have to get up and see which one of us it's for. I hate that. Neither of us wants to use the phone, so how's about we unplug the damn thing and leave it at that?

Je suis une potty-mouthe. :) Fuck fuck fuck.

Okay, have a great Tuesday! I will blog at you later, mes ami(e)s de blogville.

All Your Snakes Are Belong To Us

The movie may not have been as successful as the hype, but once you're spoofed by AYBABTU you are a cult classic. I present to you AYSABTU:




Oh, right right right, almost forgot: There are a lot of snakes in this video.

LURKER

You know what never gets old? Finding out there are bloggers out there who link to me who I've never heard/read of before. It's exhilarating to think others care. And, I enjoy the reciprocation the most. :)


This neatly fits into my next segue: I bought a shirt that Stacy designed which simply says:



I shall be wearing it once Hay finds it on top of the dryer and adds it to a load of dirties, or when I can't stand it anymore and must wash it myself. :)

Nothin' wrong with a little lovin'

Avi tagged me again, so I'm at least going to steal something “Kirktastic” from him this time:


Click for the larger version

And now, the meme (which I think I've done before, but my answers have inevitably changed over the year and a half I've been blogging):

4 jobs I’ve had:
1. IT professional
2. Some iteration of IT professional
3. Doctor's office check-out person for a predominantly homeless population (I was trying to save the world)
4. Manager* of a team of IT professionals
*in name only because they were too cheap to give me the raise that was supposed to with it!

4 movies I could watch over and over:
1. Shaun of the Dead
2. Kill Bill: Vol 1/2
3. Clerks I/II
4. 9 to 5

4 places I have lived:
1. Down the street
2. Up the street
3. Next state over
4. Back home

TV shows I love to watch:
1. Dead Like Me
2. So You Think You Can Dance / American Idol (seasonally)
3. The Office (UK/US, it's all good)
4. My Name Is Earl

4 places I have been on vacation:
1. 33982
2. 4000
3. W1C 1AP
4. 44°29'34"N, 63°55'03"W

4 websites I visit daily:
1. The blogroll
2. The celeblogroll
3. Various pages within my employer's site (Monday-Friday only)
4. digg (this isn't true, but I don't have a specific fourth, and it's the one I visit most frequently)

4 fave foods:
1. Cheese cheese cheese cheese
2. Tacos!
3. A nice, juicy, unbloody-looking steak, perhaps au poivre
4. Flourless chocolate cake with chocolate shavings on the top

4 places I’d like to be right now:
1. At B's house
2. At Stacy's house
3. NYC with Jules
4. Europe
4b. Toronto, Quebec, or Nova Scotia

4 people I am tagging:
1. You
2. You
3. You
4. ...and, you there! In the corner!

My weekend

I didn't try the fried raviolis. Yet.

I did have an awesome weekend.

I did go to bed early Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night! Never happens!

I did watch Brick and Slipstream (1989) and have decided that they are both weird. I also watched Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story which wasn't weird, but rather was sad.

I did wonder how things between Bree/lonelygirl15 and Daniel/Danielbeast were going. (Today's video says Bree is trying a peace offering; no word yet if Daniel accepts.)

I did spend a lot of time with the kitties.

I did take photos of the largest cucumber I've ever seen, which we grew in our own garden.


The cucumber, measuring in at 14”
(yes, that's Hay's thumb)


The inside of said cucumber

I did try to get a perfect photo of a very beautiful moth who was on the outside of the patio door while it was dark outside. Try, of course, being the operative word.


Yes, I gave the poor little guy red eye
I'm going to moth Hell

I love the boys

This morning, while my husband slept fitfully beside me, I had a dream that I tried to cuddle with Perez Hilton but he pushed me away in repulsion. I'm cute! I'm so offended. I know he lets other girls cuddle with him, why not me?? I'm such a whore. Hey, maybe Kristin Cavallari⁶ and I can be BFF!

Anyway, he posted a new video for Jessica Simpson's A Public Affair as done by Back Dorm Boys whose videos are all over YouTube now that it exists, but who I first mentioned back in January. I am so psyched to see they're doing oodles of videos because the one who always sits on my right (his left) is such a friggin' hottie that I want to make out with him. But, I digress. Go watch them! And, I'll add back in my very favoritest, As Long As You Love Me by BSB:

fried green tomatoes (or, not)

Has anyone had fried ravioli (cheese version)? Can you tell me what it's like before I venture into that culinary adventure? The idea of bread crumbs and pasta seems so odd to me. And then you fry it!! I bet it's delicious, it's just weird sounding.