To Florida for Spring Break

I've got an interview in Palm Beach, Florida, the week after next so I get to go to Florida in mid-March! I think it is actually during my spring break, although I'm sure I won't have time to hit the beach. Or to go to a spring training baseball game. I'll be there Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. And, the best part, the company is paying for it all. I'm really psyched!

American Idol Tuesday

Did anyone else think it was weird that in a show where they were supposed to "dedicate" a song to someone, Jared Cotter chose to dedicate "Let's Get it On" to his parents? I was highly amused by that.

Overall, I think the guys obviously did better than last week. I think that Nick Pedro, Jared or AJ Tabaldo will probably be the two guys going home - not necessarily because they were the worst singers last night, but because they are lacking personality and storylines. I mean, come on, did we even see Jared before last week? Or AJ, even though he's apparently tried out five times! Personally, though, I'd like to see Sanjaya and Sundance heading home. I guess we'll find out tomorrow!

Bob Woodruff special

Last night, ABC aired the first report from journalist Bob Woodruff, who was the victim of a bomb attack when he was in Iraq last year. He had severe brain injuries, was unconscious for 36 days but has made a major recovery. His special told of his recovery as well as served to show how many wounded soldiers there are, what kind of care they are getting (or not getting) and basically how the government is covering up all of the injuries. It was a really interesting piece. You can watch it here.

Create a Dollhouse out of Your Home

FAO Schwarz will miniaturize your home and turn it into a dollhouse for your child - with a starting price of $10,000! My dad did this exact thing for me one Christmas when I was little. It was ultra cool and an excellent replica - the only problem was that he never really finished it (although that actually makes it more realistic, since there are many elements of our home that are still not finished) so I never used it. I don't even know what became of it. I also know that it took him some time and effort but nowhere near $10,000! (via)

I'm not the only one who loves Minesweeper

As a former Minesweeper addict (with the 'former' easily turning into a 'current' again should I ever have a job where I'm restricted to a cubicle again) not to mention a Minesweeper expert, I enjoyed skimming this history of Minesweeper and am glad to see it is included in the new Microsoft Vista software. I did not know there were competitive Minesweeper sites, though, and might have to check them out. My scores on Minesweeper always kicked ass. More than one person has been impressed by my best times! (via)

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

The new game show that is debuting on FOX this week pits fifth graders against, well, older people. This article lists some sample questions. I got 9 out of 10 right, so I was pleased with myself. (via)

I Want One: Heat-Emitting Mouse

No joke, this is probably one of the best inventions ever. This mouse emits heat so your hands (well, one hand anyway) stay warm while you're using the computer. Seriously, way cool for someone who always has cold hands. It's only $23, too!

In a funk

I don't know what it is but I've been in kind of a funk the last couple of days. Not even going out shopping this afternoon really cheered me up! Macy's had a pretty good sale, with all marked down items an extra 50% off and even if I don't buy anything, seeing and trying on pretty new things usually makes me feel a little better but not really today.

I did have an enjoyable visit to Half Price Books, though. Y'all can make fun of me but I bought the Britney Spears Greatest Hits CD and Pink's debut CD. Both cost $1.00. What a deal, right? I love Half Price Books.

Free Mammograms

I know I've seen this site before and have participated but it is important to remember to do so more often. Click on the 'Fund Free Mammograms' block to help provide a free mammogram to women in need. It can be done every single day! I think I'll add a link on my sidebar.

Studio 60 likely never coming back

NBC show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was pulled from the schedule early - it was supposed to stop airing next week but instead aired its last episode yesterday - and the rumors are that it will likely not come back, not even for the final six episodes it was guaranteed. I watched the show and didn't mind it (primarily because I'll watch Matthew Perry do anything!) but this article does a really good job at hitting at what the show's problems were. (via)

Ah, sweet Colby

My all-time favorite Survivor contestant, Colby Donaldson, from Season 2: The Australian Outback (yes, the same season that brought us The View's Elisabeth and Reality TV's "queen" Amber Brkich Mariano) has apparently lined up a gig on The Rachael Ray Show. Ugh. I detest Rachael Ray. She is so annoying. I actually saw that he was supposed to be on today and debated about whether seeing him was higher on my 'to do' list than 'Avoid Rachael Ray.' In fact, the latter was higher and I did not tune in (plus, I forgot) but now that I see he is going to be on regularly, well, I'm just not sure what to do. He's so cute!

Science vs. Faith flowcharts

I saw these flowcharts online and they really made me laugh, especially the step "Ignore contradicting evidence" in the faith one. Also, they totally made me think of some of my very agnostic friends. (via)

Cool site? Healthline Symptom Search

I've actually tried to find something like this before and had no luck so I'm happy to find this site that allows you to put in symptoms that you are feeling and it makes some suggestions as to what your illness could be. For instance, I put in 'headache' and got 129 possible illnesses, including, of course, just a simple pain in the head. Identifying a health disorder based on symptoms seems the best way to go about finding out what might be wrong. (via)

Out of Town the last few days

So in case anyone was wondering where I was for the last few days, I was out of town for job interviews! I went to Washington DC for an interview with a law firm and also to attend a job fair at a public library.

I think the interview at the law firm went pretty well and I really would like the job so it's kind of exciting. I think he liked me but well, for one thing, I'm trying to prevent getting too excited about anything job-related nowadays. And, also, you never know even if they like you, it doesn't mean they don't like someone else better. But it would be a great learning opportunity for a few years that could lead to me going elsewhere as a real skilled law librarian. It's an awesome location too, directly across the street from a Metro stop in downtown DC, in a beautiful, gorgeous office.

The job fair, however, was kind of a waste of my time. I knew that they were also accepting applications by mail and could have just called to have an application sent to me but I really felt showing up in person would be beneficial. However, they barely wanted to speak to me and seemed not impressed at all that I had traveled from Ohio to see them. But, who knows? Maybe it did help and I will get a call for an interview in a few weeks.

Aggravated with a capital 'A'

My first assignment for my one class was given back to me graded today. And, umm, I'm aggravated because even though I got an okay grade on it (95/100), she made ALL these grammatical "corrections" on it and they weren't even correct! I think pretty much the first rule of grammar that we all learned as youngsters was to match the subject to the verb; in other words, if your subject is plural, so should your verb be plural. Maybe I've been wrong all these years... but in my experience, "Options are: a, b, c and d." is more correct than "Options is: a, b, c and d." She made these kinds of "corrections" at least three times in my two-page paper! I just don't understand... am I supposed to point out to her that she is an idiot? Probaby not, right? I also might be more accommodating of her corrections if her lectures each week weren't chock-full of typos and grammatical inaccuracies. Like, how dare she even feel she has the right to comment on my grammar with the way she butchers it every week in her lectures. Also, I don't think she is a native English speaker so maybe she might want to refrain from correcting those who are native English speakers... UGH!

American Idol in Hollywood

Did anyone watch tonight's American Idol who also watched the Grammy Awards and noticed that the girl who won that 'My Grammy Moment' American Idol ripoff and got to sing with Justin Timberlake also had made it to the Hollywood round... but got sent home tonight. But she got about two seconds of air time, in the group round, she was in the group with Sundance Head. It was two girls and Sundance; Sundance got to stay but the two girls were both sent home.

I had read this article earlier today and figured that because of her evasiveness, she had clearly made it to Hollywood. Obviously if she was still in the running for Idol, she probably wouldn't have even been able to try for the Grammy contest. So I imagined she would get sent home. A lot of people get sent home without us ever seeing them on camera, though. Anyway, I think she'd probably agree that things worked out well for her, at least so far. She sounded pretty good with Justin. You can see them perform from here. (You have to click on the link that says Justin Duet Video). She also cleans up nice!

Day Ten of 10 days of Valentine's Day-themed quizzes:

Two for Tuesday. Two quizzes, two very similar responses!!

Your Candy Heart Says "Get Real"




You're a bit of a cynic when it comes to love.
You don't lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart.
Your ideal Valentine's Day date: is all about the person you're seeing (with no mentions of v-day!)
Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic
What turns you off: romantic expectations and "greeting card" holidays
Why you're hot: you don't just play hard to get - you are hard to get

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Your Candy Heart Is "WHAT EVA"

Valentine's Day makes you a little sick And not just from eating too much candy You're opposed to the commercial celebration of couple-dom It's not all about love - and love is not all about overpriced flowers!

What Candy Conversation Heart Are You?

Speaking of soaps...

Starting this summer, SoapNet has announced it is going to offer its first original, scripted program - a spin-off of General Hospital called General Hospital: Night Shift. It will follow some of the characters on General Hospital as they work the night shift. The ones who actually work at the hospital, I presume.

Yeah, just what I need. Like I haven't been addicted to General Hospital for twenty years already, now you have to add another show with some of the same characters? You KNOW I'm going to tune in, at least at first. But if it really is the same characters, won't their storylines in the daily serial conflict with their storylines in the once-a-week 13-episode series?(via)

ABC TV Online

Always one to share the latest news on the online television front with you, I read today that ABC is going to be adding to their broadband player over the next few months. Already the best one out there (in my opinion), they announced last week that they are going to offer two more size options for viewing (including a full-screen view - yay!). Now they've announced they are also going to offer local and national news, as well as local entertainment. Whatever "local entertainment" means. If only they added their soaps to it...(via)

3D HD?

Apparently, according to this article, this year's NBA All-Star Game (which airs this Sunday) will be shown not just in High Definition but in 3-D HD. So, if you have a pair of 3-D glasses, it will be an extra special experience for you. Now, I am kind of confused if this special 3-D airing will only be to a select audience or if I would be able to see it in 3-D if I find a pair of 3-D glasses by this weekend (and where would I do that?), but the whole concept is kind of cool. I mean, already with HDTV, I watched the Cavs-Lakers game on Sunday and felt like Lebron actually might pass the ball to me, it was so close and clear. (via)