Ok just a few rants before I go out of my skin. So hubby and I purchased a new laptop for me awhile back. I love it; however, I hate that it has a web cam. I have never been a known narcissus. I can not tell you the number of times in one session at the keyboard I accidentally turn the flickin' thing on and catch a glimpse of myself typing away. It freaks me out every time. Thank God it is not hooked up to anyone or site where I might be seen in my semi clad glory. I do my best think typing at the crack of dawn or the deepest darkest part of the day like-ish 8 pm or so. Sometimes I am dressed sometimes, well use that talented imagination of yours. ;)
Onto my next rant. I am a collector. I like giraffes and dragons and cute stuffed crap. I am a chick and I like shit that sparkles, OK? Deal. I recently bought a penguin at the Disney store dressed in a dragon costume. Mad cool except to join their little club online cost a body almost $60/year. Oh you can join for $6/mo and play as you go. Mind you this is supposed to be a kid site but it is rife with grownups, me being on of them :) So I am Peter Pan incarnate, again Deal. What makes me angry? You can get an account for free but all the cool things that you want access to costs $$ and not small change either.
Not very family friendly if you ask me, just do the math. If a family has 4 kiddles times $60/yr for each kid = a whole lotta beans! I like Webkinz better. Easier to use, more things to do. Better assortment of animals and games to play. I also like the fact that you can own a lot of webbies and interchange them at will. Not so at Club Penguin. If you own more than one penguin you need a membership for each one at $6/mo for each= broke in no time flat. Long live Webkinz :)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
[Fiona] Angst
Angst is one of my favorite all time words. This describes me to a tee.
"Angst is a German word for fear or anxiety. It is used in English to describe a more intense feeling of internal emotional strife. Angst, in contemporary connotative use, most often describes the intense frustration and other related emotions of teenagers and the mood of the music with which they identify. Punk rock, grunge, rock and roll, and virtually any Alternative Rock dramatically combining elements of discord, melancholy and excitement may be said to assert angst"
That would be me. Intense internal emotional strife or in plain English I am a hot mess. I don't mean to be that way it just sort of happens. I am prone to worry and indecision. I drive myself crazy. I enrage Shrek with it.
"Angst is a German word for fear or anxiety. It is used in English to describe a more intense feeling of internal emotional strife. Angst, in contemporary connotative use, most often describes the intense frustration and other related emotions of teenagers and the mood of the music with which they identify. Punk rock, grunge, rock and roll, and virtually any Alternative Rock dramatically combining elements of discord, melancholy and excitement may be said to assert angst"
That would be me. Intense internal emotional strife or in plain English I am a hot mess. I don't mean to be that way it just sort of happens. I am prone to worry and indecision. I drive myself crazy. I enrage Shrek with it.
I stepped away from my weight loss journey. Not very smart on my part. I want to be able to live my life without belonging to the cult known as WW. The sad truth; however, is that I am a food addict so I need that support. It is just part of what makes me who I am. I am trying to let go of my demons. I do not know how to relax. I can be so intense over life that I scare myself.
I am fortunate. I have a hubby who loves me even though I am certifiable. We have a pretty great life together just being us. I need to learn to vocalize my frustrations with myself and situations in a better way. I want to be the best version of me that I can. Seems I need to do more work on myself and spend less time analyzing what is wrong in my life or with me or my job or a million other things I obsess over.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
[Shrek] Just Some Random Thoughts
While I'm sitting here as the temperature races past 90°F, I figured this is a good a time as any to post some stuff that's been ringing through my head since my last update.
I don't usually post book reviews, mostly because I read for the enjoyment of it and don't want to add the burden of keeping notes for stuff I read. I think that takes away from the pleasure I get from reading a good story. But the last two books I read are worthy of a quick mention--although for the exact opposite reasons.
The next to last book I've read was The Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenberg. His first two fiction books were fun reads, jumping right into action sequences that kept you hooked throughout the book. Rosenberg isn't a great writer, but he was a good story teller that kept the plot moving. In The Ezekiel Option, Rosenberg again comes up with a great plot and starts the book off like his first two. But in this book it appears Rosenberg went insane at some point in the novel, and basically ruined what was the start of a great story with an ending that was, putting it as nicely as I can, pure bullshit. I've crossed him off my list of authors to pay attention to.
Luckily it didn't take long to find a replacement. The Sculptor, the debut novel by Rhode Island native Gregory Funaro, is an incredibly well written "formula" story that pits an FBI agent and a college professor against a serial killer. But unlike many authors, Funaro stretches that formula to its breaking point without having his characters turn into caricatures. I sent off a quick e-mail to Funaro (the first time I've ever sent an e-mail off to an author) mentioning how much I liked the book, and I got a nice "folksy" reply.
I give The Sculptor five stars, and I highly recommend it. Just make sure you leave a light on afterward--trust me on that. You can read more about the book on Funaro's website, gregoryfunaro.com.
Being on vacation this week I get to listen to a little more sports talk radio than I usually get to. Unfortunately Dale and Holley, who have the 10am-2pm slot on WEEI and are my favorites on the station, are on vacation this week. Fortunately, so are Dennis and Callahan, the morning show blowhards that I count myself lucky to miss most mornings. Filling in for the blowhards this week is Bob Neumeier, a former WEEI personality. Every time he's on the radio I wonder why Neumy doesn't have a regular gig in this market. He's 100% better than most of the on air talent on either of the big sports radio stations.
Every time we go past a BP gas station I wonder why anyone buys gas there. And here's the funny thing: the Gulf oil debacle plays no role in why I wonder that. No matter where we go, BP is the most expensive gas station around. Why would anyone choose to go there? It makes no sense that people would literally just throw money away by picking an expensive gas station.
Fiona's birthday was a few days ago and we decided to celebrate at our favorite restaunt, Joey's Bar & Grill on Mill St. in Worcester. Saturdays have prime rib as one of the specials, and as that's one of my favorites I didn't have to hear the rest of the specials to know that's what I wanted. Fiona also ordered it, and both of our dinners were cooked to perfection. For desert we had a slice of something called "Tuxedo cake", that was so super rich I'm glad we decided to split a piece. A couple of the girls there added a candle and sang Birthday by the Beatles to her.
We can't say enough great things about Joey's, and if you haven't been there you should check it out. You won't be disappointed. If you're a veal parmesan fan, go on Thursday. Just sayin'...
I don't usually post book reviews, mostly because I read for the enjoyment of it and don't want to add the burden of keeping notes for stuff I read. I think that takes away from the pleasure I get from reading a good story. But the last two books I read are worthy of a quick mention--although for the exact opposite reasons.
The next to last book I've read was The Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenberg. His first two fiction books were fun reads, jumping right into action sequences that kept you hooked throughout the book. Rosenberg isn't a great writer, but he was a good story teller that kept the plot moving. In The Ezekiel Option, Rosenberg again comes up with a great plot and starts the book off like his first two. But in this book it appears Rosenberg went insane at some point in the novel, and basically ruined what was the start of a great story with an ending that was, putting it as nicely as I can, pure bullshit. I've crossed him off my list of authors to pay attention to.
Luckily it didn't take long to find a replacement. The Sculptor, the debut novel by Rhode Island native Gregory Funaro, is an incredibly well written "formula" story that pits an FBI agent and a college professor against a serial killer. But unlike many authors, Funaro stretches that formula to its breaking point without having his characters turn into caricatures. I sent off a quick e-mail to Funaro (the first time I've ever sent an e-mail off to an author) mentioning how much I liked the book, and I got a nice "folksy" reply.
I give The Sculptor five stars, and I highly recommend it. Just make sure you leave a light on afterward--trust me on that. You can read more about the book on Funaro's website, gregoryfunaro.com.
Being on vacation this week I get to listen to a little more sports talk radio than I usually get to. Unfortunately Dale and Holley, who have the 10am-2pm slot on WEEI and are my favorites on the station, are on vacation this week. Fortunately, so are Dennis and Callahan, the morning show blowhards that I count myself lucky to miss most mornings. Filling in for the blowhards this week is Bob Neumeier, a former WEEI personality. Every time he's on the radio I wonder why Neumy doesn't have a regular gig in this market. He's 100% better than most of the on air talent on either of the big sports radio stations.
Every time we go past a BP gas station I wonder why anyone buys gas there. And here's the funny thing: the Gulf oil debacle plays no role in why I wonder that. No matter where we go, BP is the most expensive gas station around. Why would anyone choose to go there? It makes no sense that people would literally just throw money away by picking an expensive gas station.
Fiona's birthday was a few days ago and we decided to celebrate at our favorite restaunt, Joey's Bar & Grill on Mill St. in Worcester. Saturdays have prime rib as one of the specials, and as that's one of my favorites I didn't have to hear the rest of the specials to know that's what I wanted. Fiona also ordered it, and both of our dinners were cooked to perfection. For desert we had a slice of something called "Tuxedo cake", that was so super rich I'm glad we decided to split a piece. A couple of the girls there added a candle and sang Birthday by the Beatles to her.
We can't say enough great things about Joey's, and if you haven't been there you should check it out. You won't be disappointed. If you're a veal parmesan fan, go on Thursday. Just sayin'...
Saturday, June 12, 2010
[Shrek] Out With The Old...
After years of great service, my computer finally needed to be replaced. It caught some sort of trojan/virus/badthing that I couldn't get rid of. Now I freely admit to not putting up much of a fight at the end, and even though Fiona and I were looking at new computers for a while now I was really wanting to buy one "on my terms" and not because I was forced to.
My trouble started when I caught one of those fake anti-virus trojans a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't the first time that happened, and I knew how to take care of it so excepting for the couple of hours it took to vanquish the beast it wasn't a real big deal. Or so I thought.
Turns out this latest version isn't as easy as clicking a few boxes and running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware in safe mode because it makes changes MAM can't find. So soon after, despite thinking I was safe, odd things like my Google searches were redirected to other sites and getting pop-ups for fake news sites was happening. Plus my already very slow machine was running at a snail's pace.
After reading about what was wrong on my machine I attempted to ask for assistance on a couple of computer help forums because the fix was beyond what I thought my capabilities are, but because of the infection I was unable to connect to either of the two help sites I use. Suggestions from posters on some other forums unfortunately didn't work either. When reformatting my "as close to obsolete as you can be without actually being obsolete" computer became the best option, I pretty much decided enough was enough and killed the computer myself.
So we have a brand new Windows 7 computer--which I absolutely love. Of course, my ten year old printer/scanner/copier doesn't work with my new computer, so I had to buy a new one of those too. And since Fiona and I decided on a wireless printer, our six year old router also needed to be replaced. To go another step, I gave Fiona the wireless mouse from my old computer only to find the mouse that came with my new computer wasn't very comfortable to use, so I had to buy Fiona a new wireless mouse so I could take back the one I gave her.
Oh, yeah...and my favorite game (Diablo 2) doesn't run well on Windows 7 because it was designed for much earlier operating systems. So I've gone out and bought a new game that I can play to death (Dragon Age). And I needed to replace all my old Hoyles card/board/casino games because those didn't run either.
All in all, a pretty expensive week.
BTW, you can find Malwarebytes Anti-Malware right here, and if you don't have the program on your computer you most certainly should. It's free, and very easy to install and use.
My trouble started when I caught one of those fake anti-virus trojans a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't the first time that happened, and I knew how to take care of it so excepting for the couple of hours it took to vanquish the beast it wasn't a real big deal. Or so I thought.
Turns out this latest version isn't as easy as clicking a few boxes and running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware in safe mode because it makes changes MAM can't find. So soon after, despite thinking I was safe, odd things like my Google searches were redirected to other sites and getting pop-ups for fake news sites was happening. Plus my already very slow machine was running at a snail's pace.
After reading about what was wrong on my machine I attempted to ask for assistance on a couple of computer help forums because the fix was beyond what I thought my capabilities are, but because of the infection I was unable to connect to either of the two help sites I use. Suggestions from posters on some other forums unfortunately didn't work either. When reformatting my "as close to obsolete as you can be without actually being obsolete" computer became the best option, I pretty much decided enough was enough and killed the computer myself.
So we have a brand new Windows 7 computer--which I absolutely love. Of course, my ten year old printer/scanner/copier doesn't work with my new computer, so I had to buy a new one of those too. And since Fiona and I decided on a wireless printer, our six year old router also needed to be replaced. To go another step, I gave Fiona the wireless mouse from my old computer only to find the mouse that came with my new computer wasn't very comfortable to use, so I had to buy Fiona a new wireless mouse so I could take back the one I gave her.
Oh, yeah...and my favorite game (Diablo 2) doesn't run well on Windows 7 because it was designed for much earlier operating systems. So I've gone out and bought a new game that I can play to death (Dragon Age). And I needed to replace all my old Hoyles card/board/casino games because those didn't run either.
All in all, a pretty expensive week.
BTW, you can find Malwarebytes Anti-Malware right here, and if you don't have the program on your computer you most certainly should. It's free, and very easy to install and use.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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