Project Runway

If you don't care about Project Runway, you can skip this post... or just start watching the show, because you'll be all caught up after reading the blogs!

Well, it was yet another great episode, and I couldn't love Nick more, but Santino just pissed off. I mean, it's obvious he's a great designer, but he needed to take some ownership for his bad designs. Seriously, what is this crazy frilly Bulgarian deer crap? Shannon is one of my favorite models and she looks ridiculous. Bad, Santino. BAD!!!

I miss Daniel Franco already.

Project Runway - A
Santino - D

Red Hawk Bar and Grill

I ate lunch at Red Hawk Bar and Grill today, with my friends Erika, Christine and Erin. It's Christine's favorite lunch spot. It was busy, but we got a table right away, and our waitress was perfectly attentive - not annoying, but she jumped in our conversation when she heard us talking about a bad movie, and she always kept our drinks filled. I had a grilled tuna sandwich with cheddar, and it was superb, and the accompanying fries were also outstanding. The only bad thing about the meal was that a huge bug crawled on Erin. We don't know where it came from, or where it went after Erin flung it off her arm.

Red Hawk Bar and Grill - A-

... And A Little Marshmallow Shall Lead Them

There are no words.


s'mores nativity scene - A? F? Who can say?

Murderball

This movie was sweet. Quadriplegic rugby? Yes, please! These guys are total studs. They may have limited limb function, but they are hosses. Look at Zupan, on the right. He's all tattooed and muscle-y and stuff. And Hogsett, all the way to the left, has broken fingers, his elbow, and his nose playing murderball... and he's in a wheelchair! Full contact sports with wheelchairs - it can't get any better.

Even without the hot guys in wheelchairs, this movie was pretty awesome. It's pretty uplifting, seeing what amazing athletes these guys are, and how they joke around about their disabilities (there's a scene involving an amputee and a cardboard box that is hilarious). I love that the filmmakers paint the Canadians as the bad guys, because there always has to be a rivalry in a sports movie, and the Canadian coach is the baddest of all bad guys. And we meet the families and girlfriends of these guys, and see them drinking beer and wrestling each other... really, it was great. I've been wanting to see this movie for months, and now I did and it was great. It's out on DVD, so rent it as soon as you can. It might not be suitable for your young kids, but I hear there's a PG version out there that is... but I would just get the R version, 'cause it's super funny and you get to watch part of a video on quadriplegic sex. Intrigued? Get the movie!

Murderball - A

Aim Toothpaste

When I was a kid, my family only used Aim toothpaste for our dental care needs. As I got older, I switched to Colgate Total Plus Whitening, and loved it, but on my last shopping trip I decided to try Aim again, mostly owing to its low low price. Well, I'm not fully satisfied. Aim is really foamy. Too foamy. Also, since it's a gel and has no paste-like qualities, there's no paste grit, and I feel like my teeth aren't getting as clean as they did with Colgate. I'll stick with it until the tube runs out, but after that, back to Colgate I go.

Aim toothpaste - C

A Pain in the...

You know what I hate? I hate when the underwire in your bra breaks through the fabric and the wire starts poking you right in the boob. That has to be one of the least pleasant things to happen to a full-figured girl. It happened to me today, and I had to tough it out because I was at work and couldn't do the ol' bra switcheroo. Looks like I'll be purchasing some new lingerie with this week's earnings.

Broken bra - C-

Sex and the City Season 2

I am really loving the second season of Sex and the City. I love seeing Miranda and Steve start their relationship, since I know how it ends. Well, I know how the whole thing ends, since I've already seen season six, but it's really cool to fill in some of the holes. I'm still waiting to meet Aidan, though.

Seriously, TV on DVD is awesome! I've watched about seven hours of SATC in the last two days, and I have a couple more episodes to go before I move on to season two volume three. It's just too bad that I have to rent from Blockbuster - I need Netflix for these babies.

Sex and the City season 2 - A-

200th Post

Break out the champagne and Oreos - it's my 200th post! If I were a TV show, there would be a big cake and the entire cast would be gathered around while I took the first slice.

Mmmm, cake.

200th post - B+ (an exciting number to achieve, but really, this post is pretty boring)

Happy Holidays from the Undead

This right here is why I love Ann Arbor - a Zombie Claus attack on Liberty, right in front of the enormous windows at work, where I could watch the Santa and elf (and for some reason, an Easter bunny) zombies lurching down the street. It was really, really great.

Mad props to the Zombie Claus people - I'm sure there will be pictures from the actual event in the next few days, and I'll post one up.

Zombie Claus - A- (most of the zombies moved too fast, and one guy was just way too damn slow)

Project Runway

I'm gonna have to stop reading blogs on Thursday morning if I haven't watched Project Runway on Wednesday night... well, it was another great episode. I think Nick's design was just fabulous, and he is quickly becoming my favorite designer. My new least favorite is Santino. Scratch what I said about Lupe - Santino is the new Wendy. They're nothing alike, but he's going to be the guy that everyone hates at the end. Yes, his design was very good, but not winning is no reason to sit in a corner and pout. I expect big things from Santino is the next episode, having to work in a team. I bet he flips his shit!
My condolences to the Raymundo fans - I liked him, too. Too bad he used that burlap stuff for the jacket, or it might have been cute.

Project Runway - A, as usual

It's A Finals Week Miracle!

MY PAPER WAS RESCUED!!! I am so happy. So so happy.

I have to give some props to my dad, who came through for me by connecting me to one of his IT people, but the extra special thanks goes to Jennie H. in IT... Jennie, you are my new hero. Dad, buy that woman a box of chocolate covered cherries!

Getting my paper back - A+
Not knowing what the hell happened to it in the first place - C-

My First Big Computer Casualty

I came home from work tonight expecting to write the final paragraph of a paper I had to submit online sometime today, then do some studying for the two finals I have tomorrow. Well, somehow, the computer turned my four-page paper into a 107-page paper with one line of text per four or five pages, and I can only see about five lines of my paper. Did I mention I have finals tomorrow? I should really be studying but want to figure out where the hell my paper went. This sort of thing has never happened to me before, so I'm kind of distraught. I need to write the paper again, but part of me hasn't given up hope that my paper in its original form is on the computer somewhere. If this has ever happened to you, let me know how to fix it (or tell me to just give up) ASAP.

My paper giving me the finger - F

Parcel Plus

I went to my neighborhood Parcel Plus to send a package to my parents (look for it on Monday or Tuesday, folks), and the Parcel Plus guy was so nice! He asked me if I needed any stamps or anything, and then as I was leaving, he said, "Do you know that the postal rates are going up?" I said, "Yep, January 8th, right?" And he handed me a book of two-cent stamps, on the house! Now THAT is good business. You better believe I'll be going there for all of my shipping needs in the future.

What's up with the Parcel Plus mascot? Do moose really send a lot of packages?

Parcel Plus - A-

I'm Everywhere You Want To Be

Like Paris Hilton, I too am all over the Internet. I'm on Facebook, Friendster, and now MySpace (and I did match.com, but that worked out pretty well). I resisted myspace as long as I could, but I never check Friendster anymore, Facebook really only keeps me connected with Interlochen kids who are now in college, and a group of my friends are all on myspace and I wanted to reconnect with them (and most of them don't read my blog... losers). I feel kind of weird having so many memberships in online groups, especially since all of them were supposed to be THE group to join. Now I'm in three, and I promise you and myself that that's my limit. If the next big Internet "stay in touch with people and have a web page" thing comes along next year and I'm tempted to join, remind me of this, OK?

Internet groups - C+

Dear Mr. Jesus

Child abuse is bad. I would never say anything otherwise. There are probably more children getting abused than we might think, so to use a catchphrase, "raising awareness" is probably a good thing.
But then there's "Dear Mr. Jesus." Oh, sweet heaven, is there "Dear Mr. Jesus." I'm going to include a link for this song, so that if you've never heard it, you too can experience the magnitude of just how bad ths song really is.
The interesting thing about this song is that it flips the standard children's-chorus-coming-in-at-the-end cliche right on end - a kid sings through the whole thing, but then a ROCK STAR GROWN-UP joins in for the final chorus. One of my best and fondest memories of my big brother his him mocking this guy. He was really, really good at it.

http://forevertears.com/DearMrJesus.html

I don't know what else to say about "Dear Mr. Jesus," other than that it has haunted me for the past twenty years. I'll let the song speak for itself.

"Dear Mr. Jesus" - F

The Christmas Shoes

Okay, I totally have the Christmas spirit - I have gifts and wrapping paper and I'm thinking about putting on my mix CD of holiday music while I do some laundry - but there is nothing that takes me OUT of the Christmas spirit more than "The Christmas Shoes" by New Song. This has to be one of the worst songs ever written. A dirty little kid buying shoes for his sick mother on Christmas Eve? Bogus! There's also the mean-spirited shop owner and the kindly stranger, narrating the song, who gives the kid the money he needs to afford said shoes. And then, of course, there's the children's chorus. Now, in such holiday favorites as "The Night Before Christmas" by Amy Grant and "Merry Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon, a children's chorus is used to great effect, but in "The Christmas Shoes," it's just overkill... and the song is too low for the kids. They all just sort of growl the low notes. Bad, bad songwriters. Bad.

In my book, there's only one song worse than this one: "Dear Mr. Jesus." I may write more about this gem another day.

The Christmas Shoes - D (it doesn't fail because it's so damn catchy - I guess you're not so bad after all, songwriters)

Raja Rani

Nate got a raise - yay! Partly to celebrate our new-found monetary growth, but mostly becuse we were both feeling too lazy to cook anything, we ate at Raja Rani, an Indian restaurant downtown.
Raja Rani is... an Ann Arbor institution. Just kidding! It's probably the best known of Ann Arbor's many Indian restaurants. It's located in this big old house, and while it is downtown, it's not on a very busy street, so you don't have to fight throngs of people to get there. The atmosphere falls somewhere between nice and dumpy - you have the juxtaposition of cool Indian art and crazy tacky flower paintings. Also, the layout is sort of weird. We ate at this back table that was at the end of a narrow aisle. But we weren't really there for the atmosphere... we went for the food! I'm not an Indian food connoisseur, but I love a good vegetable samosa, and the ones at Raja Rani were outstanding - spicy and mushy, just the way I like 'em. I also had paneer tikka masala, which is cheese cubes in a spicy tomato-based sauce, on rice. The cheese sort of had a tofu consistency, which was unexpected but very very good. I'd probably order something different the next time I went, just to experiment. Nate got a non-vegetarian dinner for one, which had all sorts of deliciousness, but it came on a silver cafeteria tray. No joke. It looked like something you'd see in prison.

In all, a delicious (though not incredibly aesthetic) dining experience - I plan on eating there again!

Raja Rani - B+

Nicole Kidman's Chanel Commerical

Have you seen the new Chanel commercial starring Nicole Kidman? It's fantastic, and yet thoroughly bizarre all at the same time. Baz Luhrmann directed this commercial and you can totally tell - before I knew that he directed it, I thought "Wow, this looks so much like Moulin Rouge!" Nicole looks fabulous, as does her super hot co-star, but it's just so weird. It's more of a mini-movie with a lot of product placement than an actual commercial. There's a three-minute version, but I've only seen the 1-minute cut. Look for it - it's visually spectacular (spectacular!) but a little too avant garde for me.

Chanel, starring Nicole Kidman - B-

Snow Day

Since every school in Wayne, Oakland and Washtenaw counties has a snow day today, I had high hopes that I would, too. No such luck. Apparently college snow days are a little harder to come by.
U of M no longer has so snow days - EVER. A few years ago, some law student sued the school for cancelling due to snow - something about paying for class. What a bitch! Get out of the library and go play in the snow - it might do you some good.

No snow day - C+ ( I actually want to go to one of my classes, as I have a project due Monday and still am confused on what I need to turn in)

Project Runway Premiere

I didn't rewind my tape from ABC Sunday night, so I missed the first hour (I got home from work in time to watch the second hour!). It was good, but I'm not feeling it yet. I need a little time to get to know the designers, and I kind of thought the challenge was lame. I'm sure that deconstructing your clothes and turning them into something new is difficult - y'all know I couldn't do it - but it didn't seem as though it was a challenge that really showed the designers' strengths and weaknesses.
So far, I like Nick, Emmett and Santino. Their clothes were great. Surprisingly, I also like Daniel, who was the first one out on season one, before I watched it. His design was surprisingly good, and you can tell he really wants to do well. I'll be rooting for him, but I bet he won't make it to the final three. I think I don't like Andrae - he's too crazy - and Lupe - too up in everybody's business, but her clothes are good. She'll be this season's Wendy, mark my words.
I think Heidi Klum looked amazing when she was pregnant - a little chubby in the face works for her!

Project Runway season 2 premiere - B+