randomness at work

random silly stuff at work:


"This Door is Shocking" so someone put a mustache on it to help. Why this mustache was originally on the fridge door is beyond me.


This is our team mascot, affectionately named "Call Rex" (which is also the name of our call recording software).


Jim added the word "Key" to the "Takeaway" menu to create my least favorite InsideTrack coachy-coach phrase "Key Takeaways". The mockery brings a smile to my face whenever I look at it.


The mug I got from being on the DeVry E-mail Reminder Committee. On the back it says "Ann, witty and wise". It was a very thoughtful gift.


Daily sustenance: Kobos coffee (in my RightTrack mug, of course, so I'm good to the environment) and water in my Nalgene


A little artwork from Bryan to brighten the day

thinking

so my little brother turns 29 tomorrow. it's his golden birthday (turning 29 on the 29th).

when mark turns milestone ages, i feel old. i know, i'm really not. i was talking with a coworker today who was signing on a house and we were noting that we are doing these "adult things" but we don't feel like we're old enough to be doing them--specifically buying homes and getting gray hair. but we're doing them and it's our reality.

i'm thinking again (like i do every january) about what i want to do when i grow up. i am not really sure what that looks like. long ago, i thought by now i'd be back in school again and maybe working on a campus and doing some teaching. i don't know why it has always felt like my "place" but it is my image of the Ann that is working into retirement. so i'm thinking this january about exploring phd programs. i know, i know. it's a lot of work and big "real adult" stuff. and i'd have to figure out how to do it while working since i have to pay my bills. but i'm just exploring, and i may find it will be easier than i think. so i may take the GRE to get that out of the way (studying first, of course).

k, i'm off to bed. i'm weary this week and need to find some energy through sleep so i can turn that around. blessings, friends!

New stuff

I was browsing with Brad at Target this weekend and happened upon some nice dishes that were a) screaming out to me and b) on sale. I've been wanting to replace my cheap Shopko dishes for a while and I also had some cash from my grandparents from Christmas, so Brad was quickly able to talk me into buying them. Now I'll have to have people over who can enjoy them. :)

Nods

Check the official list and do your homework. We have 1 month. I recommend starting with my new favorite movie Juno, which got 4 nods. It's the Little Miss Sunshine of the 2008 race.

OSCAR.com - 80th Annual Academy Awards - Nominee List

ahhhhhhhhhhh

i cannot stop coughing. it is annoying. seriously: NON-STOP. but at least i'm not in the midwest where is is negative 20 degrees.

1 month of movies + 2 others worth noting

I have watched a LOT of movies in the last month. It started when I got home and learned that my parents had HBO and DVR. It's like Disneyland for someone like me who doesn't even have cable. Here are the movies I watched while in Sioux Falls (and yes, I did actually leave the house quite a bit):
1. The Departed: though this is a movie I've seen and it's very bloody, it's a GREAT STORY about a dirty cop and another secretly infiltrating a mob group. I've wanted to see it again, knowing how it ends, so it was nice to not have to pay to re-watch it.
2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: Mark and I keep saying we want to watch this with the fam at Christmas, and this year we finally did. It is STILL so funny.
3. The Princess Bride: I wasn't obsessed with this movie like my college friends, but when my Dad and I had a night at home and I learned he hadn't seen it, I told him we had to watch it. I think he got a laugh or two from it.
4. A Prairie Home Companion: I wanted to see this even though I hadn't ever listened to the show on NPR. My parents and I watched it and I'm hoping it got them excited about going to a recording in Minneapolis (they have tickets!). Note: I AM listening to the radio show on NPR as I type this. :)
5. Dan in Real Life: I went to see this with my friends Tami and Danyelle at the cheap theater in Sioux Falls. It was VERY GOOD. I LOVE Steve Carrell. I'd recommend it and will likely buy it.

When I got back to Portland, the Urban Family New Year's weekend started. Here are the movies from that weekend (we packed a lot in):
1. Once: this is an indie/european movie about 2 people who meet randomly and record music together. It's a musical, lots of music and very slow moving. I really liked it but the others did not.
2. Juno: this is my favorite movie I've seen in months, maybe all year. Sure, it is about teenage pregnancy and a couple dealing with infertility, but it is FUNNY and witty and sharp and sweet. The soundtrack is great (with a lot of music by Kimya Dawson, who I hadn't heard of before). Highly recommended movie, if you like quirky stuff like The Royal Tennenbaums or Napoleon Dynamite.
3. Stardust: this was the hit of the weekend for us. It's a fairytale in the vein (vain) of The Princess Bride about a fallen star, a prince, and a witch with an all-star cast.
4. The Namesake: I had heard lots about this on NPR's Fresh Air (see Terry Gross link to the right) and looked forward to the meaningful story. It's exactly what you'd expect in a story about a young man dealing with his family heritage v. US culture. P.S. His girlfriend is played by Jacinda from The Real World London.

All this movie watching made me realize I don't go out to movies a lot and I never rent them (expensive!) but I LOVE movies. So I joined Blockbuster Online. :) I have already caught 3 and have many more on the way:
1. Waitress: this is about a waitress in an abusive marriage who gets pregnant and has an affair. It's quite funny. It's also tragic--the woman who wrote and co-starred in the movie was tragically and randomly killed before it got to theaters.
2. A Mighty Heart: This is the movie about the wife of a reporter who is held hostage. Good Oscar-type movie. It's exactly what you expect from the previews and it's not a "must see" but it's good.
3. Hairspray: It just felt like a movie to see since I saw the original one years back. Very campy, light, funny. I was laughing and cheesing through most of it.

A couple of other really good movies I saw earlier this year are worth noting. These are strong recommendations:
1. Enchanted: I think EVERYONE should see this. It, like Hairspray, is very campy but it is the most feel-good movie I've seen in a while. It's about an animated princess who falls into the non-animated world and is searching for her prince. Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey are great.
2. Into the Wild: Quite the opposite of a feel-good movie, this is a movie about a college grad who takes off to find meaning in the world having grown up with a materialistic family. His aim is to live alone in Alaska in the wilderness. This is a true story, very interesting.

That's the end of my long post on movies. :)

commentary on life (as in, my so-called)

so,if you haven't ever watched DVD commentaries,you may want to.i am not sure i'd recommend doing it on EVERY DVD(read:could be a waste of time),but the ones you're a true fan of can be super educational.for me,that would involve the office and freaks and geeks...i think i've watched them all...and now my so-called life.i am not sure i'd ever make it through a whole movie commentary.maybe reality bites or juno or the royal tennenbaums (depending if there are wilson brothers and benny-ben stiller on that last one;they crack me up).

anywho,i learned something interesting on "so-called angels" last night.wilson cruz's story line in that episode(the christmas episode if you're stuck on the title going"huh?")basically happened to him a year earlier(minus the guardian angel played by juliana hatfield...man,that would be cool to have j.h.as your guardian angel though)but the writers didn't know that when they wrote the episode.he said it was a pretty surreal and difficult experience for him to relive getting kicked out of his house for being gay.

man,watching DVD commentaries makes me feel smarter,like npr.i also think this activity makes me more attractive.

also,erika christensen is on law&order right now.how long have i stopped watching this show?wait,maybe she's a guest star.i'm not actually watching it.

in conclusion,this blog or my computer is pissing me off because it takes my words like 10 seconds to catch up with my 60 wpm typing.LAAAAA-AAME!still,i press on.

too much of a good thing

I fixed it! I think I had too many sections of links, so I have a simpler version. You'll notice I have updated my links with a few additions and several deletions (they weren't that important anyway).

p.s. I still don't understand HTML.

Actors refuse to cross Golden Globe picket line - Yahoo! News

Just give them their money so we all can wet our pants laughing at new shenanigans with Steve Carrell and Rainn Wilson! You sneeze and make more money than I see in 5 years. Please! We need our entertainment and our awards shows that we look forward to all year!

Actors refuse to cross Golden Globe picket line - Yahoo! News

eek!

i effed up my blog layout yesterday while adding a link to my friend's music blog. i will fix it when i have patience to learn html via some online cliff's notes "help" of some sort. maybe wikipedia can help (it is, apparently, awesome, according to michael scott).

also, apparently i have posted 197 times since starting this blog. that is some crazy stuff.

also, it is like a hurricane here. i am hoping the power stays on...the streets were off-and-on blacked out on my drive home (yes, i had to work in the office this week...also i get to next friday...)

in conclusion, if you see the Box Man (ups) trying to deliver the package my dad mailed me last friday w/ all my xmas gifts, please let me know. i'm eager to remember what i got for gifts besides my "my so-called life" dvd set and ugg boots.