"Netflix to offer 'Heroes' online"

Umm, I hate to break it to Variety for what they think is breaking news, but you've been able to watch Heroes episodes online via Netflix for months now... pretty much as soon as the second season started. I'm not sure that they've been available the day after they air on NBC but definitely within the week. (via)

Cool digital library

I feel like I'm back in class where I had to post about digital libraries ten times during the semester, but this one is cool and I might actually watch some of the footage in greater detail when I have time. It's an online JFK Video Archive! Not only does it have interesting video from the time of JFK's assassination with authentic footage from a Dallas television station, but I also love how the display looks like an old TV set.

Free Rice: Charitable time-waster

I seriously have found the new game I'll be playing incessantly. Free Rice quizzes you on your vocabulary and for every word you get right, ten grains of rice are donated through the United Nations to help end world hunger. I've been remarkably good at it so far, which is shocking because I always do awful on the vocabulary part of standardized tests. (via)

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a good Turkey Day! I had a really quiet Thanksgiving Day and Weekend. I stayed in DC, away from the family, and since no one I know here was willing to invite me to come celebrate Thanksgiving with them, I ended up being all alone. But it was fine! I made many of the traditional Thanksgiving foods (mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn, cranberries, pumpkin pie) and mostly just sat around and watched movies. I did go for a walk to enjoy the nearly 80 degree weather. Which is way better than the snow my family experienced in Ohio! My roommate was out of town from Weds. until Sat. morning so that was a rarity because she never goes anywhere. I enjoyed actually pretending to live alone again.

For a few hours on Friday and maybe 30 minutes on Saturday, I went shopping. Not for Christmas presents but for myself since I could really use more winter clothes. I was surprised by how unbusy it was in DC on the Day After Thanksgiving, particularly since DC is tax free on apparel and accessories for the week following Thanksgiving. Not that I'm complaining... I prefer unbusy.

Leave my teams alone

So I read two books recently that take place in the world of sports and both are about Cleveland teams and both make use of Cleveland's endless bad luck and ability to lose even when the game is in hand!

The Entitled is about an Indians player and an Indians manager and how they deal with the player being charged with rape. It's pretty good, but some of the plot points are aggravating. Like, the Indians were poised to win the ALCS against the Yankees and head into the World Series, when the manager takes out the star player because he isn't 100% and then the Indians lose. Was that really necessary for the book?

Playing for Pizza starts off with a quarterback for the Browns single-handedly losing a 21-point lead in about 8 minutes due to his incompetence. And it wasn't just any game, it was the AFC Championship so thanks to him the Browns don't make it to the Super Bowl. So now our awful quarterback hero is seeking work and avoiding extremely angry Cleveland fans who want to kill him and so ends up in Italy, playing American football over there. This story was not that enjoyable, even taking out the Browns aspect. John Grisham might write a good legal thriller but his other stories are really fluffy and not that good. See: Skipping Christmas.

It's bad enough that the real teams make us fans suffer. I don't really need it fictionalized too! It might not be so bad if these were longtime fans using Cleveland sports misery as a backdrop to tell a story but they aren't.

Get rid of unwanted catalogs

Catalog Choice is a Web service that lets you get rid of all those catalogs that you receive in the mail but don't really want to receive. You just sign up on the site, pick out the catalogs you no longer want to receive, and Catalog Choice does all the work contacting the company. They promise that you will get off the subscription list in about ten weeks. It seems useful but I have to say, I can't think of any unwanted catalogs that I get. Unwanted credit card offers, sure. (via)

My first holiday card

The Syracuse University Office of Alumni Relations sent out its holiday e-card today and it's the lamest thing ever! It's actually an advertisement for pavers that they are trying to sell under the guise of holiday well-wishings. That is not a way to get my money!

Buckeyes 14, Wolverines 3

Another Rivalry Week ends with Ohio State kicking butt!! Yay!

I started the day off watching HBO' s documentary: Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry, which was pretty enjoyable. At first I thought it was a little Michigan-centric but then at the end I realized that it was probably a little too Ohio State-centric. Which, when you think about it, is kind of how the rivalry has played out. Michigan dominated in the beginning and lately, Ohio State has been dominating. I also enjoyed the segment on all the great Ohio talent that went to Michigan to play, including John Kolesar, from my high school! Who I barely even remember even going to Michigan...

Writers Strike

TV Guide has a nice "chart" (their words) that tells you how many new episodes of your favorite shows are produced and ready to air while no new episodes will be produced as the writers' strike continues.

Back from Chicago

I got back from Chicago a couple days ago (Tuesday night about 9pm) and am still so exhausted. Something about getting only about 5 hours of sleep each night there combined with standing on your feet for about 13 hours straight makes a person very very tired. It doesn't help that this has been a six-day workweek for me (had to work Sunday in Chicago) so I haven't exactly had time to catch up on sleep or even relax much.

Chicago was fun, though! I didn't get out to see much of the city but the hotel was pretty nice. I even had a corner room! I did catch up with a friend for dinner and also got to meet some of the members of our organization who I usually only hear on the phone or through email. I also like most of my coworkers who were also in Chicago. I went to dinner here one night and here another.

I Want One: Nap Sac Travel Blanket

I'm pretty sure I put something like this on my blog once before but since I haven't started tagging, it's not that easy to find. Plus, this one is only $28, which seems like a real bargain. A travel blanket with pillow, how perfect for me who is always freezing to death on airplanes! It seems like along with making you pay for food, most airlines have severely limited the amount of blankets and pillows on board also. I think I'm going to seek out one of the nearby stores that sell it and purchase it before I head to Chicago this weekend. (via)

I'm not the messy roommate

So I had this totally ironic dream last night. My roommate came knocking on my door to talk. She said that she wanted to talk to me about the closet and how disorganized my section of the closet was and that if I didn't clean it up, she was going to start throwing some stuff out. Heh. The irony is that there is barely any room for any of my stuff in any of the closets because she has so much crap everywhere! And her crap is the messy stuff!! Not sure why she would be telling me to clean...

Day After Thanksgiving Wake-Up Call

The title (and URL to sign up) about says it all. Express is offering to call its customers so they don't miss its early bird specials on the day after Thanksgiving. Receive the call at the time you select. Not a bad idea, I guess.

Travel plans made

Today, I finally booked a flight to Chicago for our work "Annual Meeting" in a couple weeks. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride as to whether or not I was going at all and how long I would be going for if I did go. I'm only going from Sunday to Tuesday, which means I'll miss the big dinner at The Field Museum on Tuesday night, which kinda pisses me off because I was looking forward to that. Oh well, what can I do? I'm not paying and at least it's a short trip out of the office. Traveling for work is fun! Also, I might be able to catch up with one of my friends who lives there!

Stolen Web site

Well, it wasn't exactly stolen but this article tells how the Ocean County (NJ) Library System did not renew their domain name membership and someone bought it out from under them before they realized the mistake. This is their old domain name and this is the one they are currently using while they furiously try to get the old one back. Anyway, why it caught my attention is because I know someone who works at that library and it would make me laugh really hard if she had somehow been to blame.

Cool electrical plug

And speaking of electricity, how cool is this electrical outlet? It rotates so you can plug in, say, your cell phone charger and your iPod charger at the same time in the same outlet. I will say that the directions to install it seem a little scary to me, but I do think I could manage!

Blackout

The power at my apartment building - and all the surrounding buildings - went out last night for about an hour and a half. It sucks not having electricity! You can't watch TV, you can't go on the computer (well, I guess if I had a battery-operated laptop I could but I don't), you can't do your laundry, you can't do anything that requires light and most things seem to require light I noticed. I thought I could read by candlelight but I lit about six candles around me and still couldn't see! So I took a bit of a nap, until all the lights came back on and woke me up. Seriously, I could never have lived in another century before there was electric lights.

Halloween Party!

A friend invited me to a Halloween party at a bar she likes this Saturday night. Costume required. And a cover of at least $10. They say they will charge more as the night goes on, to get people there early, I guess. I REALLY hate Halloween and hate dressing up but I guess if I think of a decent and easy costume, I will go. Any ideas anyone?

Maintenance in my apartment building sucks

I was standing outside the shower yesterday morning and realized that I was getting wet, that drops of water were hitting my back. Seemed unusual but the water in the shower was running, so I don't know, it's possible to get wet outside of the shower. Well, later, after the water was turned off, I realized that I was still getting wet and I soon realized that the ceiling was leaking! The ceiling is all puckered like it's been dripping for some time. Plus, the light fixture (aka heat lamp) seemed to be full of water. And the bath mat was drenched. Seemed like a good time to call emergency maintenance!

I called at 8am, then again at lunch to make sure something had been done about it (didn't really get an answer) and then at about 4pm when I had a moment in the afternoon. I was told it had definitely already been fixed. Turns out my roommate had called at some point and gotten the same answer. When I got home, the water was still dripping!! Ugh. So I called AGAIN and someone finally came up, investigated, fixed something and told me the problem was corrected. He seemed to be right. Until this morning, when I AGAIN noticed that the water was dripping. Guess Mr. Fixit is more like Mr. Temporary Fixit. So I called yet again (yes, that makes it SIX times) and we'll just see what has happened when I get home. I really doubt the problem is fixed.

Monday meme: Last but not least

When was the last time you...

1.Cleaned out your closet? I don't know, but I tend to do that on a regular basis.
2.Went to a concert? A really long time ago, although I have found myself in clubs that happen to have a band playing, which the last time was about six weeks ago... not sure if that counts
3.Had a milkshake? I almost had a milkshake about a month ago but the milkshake machine was broken so I ended up not having one. It's probably been about 8 months since I had one.
4.Got all dressed up? Hmm, tough call because I'm not sure what "all dressed up" means. But let's say at Christmas was the last time when I got dressed up for church and dinner with the family.
5.Went grocery shopping? Last week on Tuesday night after a Happy Hour. And, I'll probably go tomorrow since I buy very little each time I go grocery shopping.

(via)