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This week’s unicorn award goes to…

27 Jul

Commenter john_burke100! Here is the illustrious award in all its glittery, resplendent glory:

How did this mystery commenter win this amazing, shiny, and priceless award, you may wonder! Well dear readers, john_burke100, aka rootlesscosmo, was particularly awesome in last weekend’s open comment thread, wherein I said one lucky commenter would win the illustrious award. Weren’t paying attention? That’s OK, you’ll get your chance next week. If I remember. You never know with me, I can be kind of flaky. Anyway, back to extolling this week’s winning commenter’s many virtues!

JB100 took the time, in the comment box, to provide a long list of carefully-selected movie recommendations, which I thought was pretty darn thoughtful. Also? He knew the Medford, Oregon line from Double Indemnity! JB100 also one time put an entire chocolate cake recipe in a comment! I love me some cake, so you can’t go wrong with that.

Honorable mentions go to Lydia, who is doing a really cool series on her blog, and DZDZ, who came to my defense when some crazy person from 4chan or wherever dropped in to spew hate speech. Oh how I love the internets!

Weekend Open Thread: X-Files Edition

23 Jul

Super-late Friday post due to me being pooped earlier. That’s what happens when you get up at 4 a.m., but can’t tear yourself away from the X-Files at night early enough to get a decent night’s sleep.

Yes, that’s right. The X-Files. I never watched the full series before so I’m watching them now in the name of pop culture edumucation. And hoooooboy is there some serious stuff wrong with that show. For one, why does Mulder always drive? But I use my magic patriarchy-filtering, laser-beam shooting eye shields to screen all that out, because Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny are both smokin’.

Ahem. Anyway, to distract you from that disturbing little overshare, here’s some Friday adorableness!

You know the drill, folks! Talk amongst yourselves in the comments, and feel free to scold me on any number of items, including but not limited to how I haven’t gotten to your reader request yet. (Refer to above “pooped” excuse.)

Today’s questions-to-get-you-started are X-Files related:

  • What’s your guilty pop-culture pleasure? I have too many to list. It’s truly horrifying. I’ll make a list soon so you can feel superior, I promise.
  • What’s your guilty “harm-reduction/patriarchy-indulgence” thing? You know what I mean – like wearing makeup/shaving your legs/walking around in stilettos or getting strapping young men to help you move heavy things. Or if you’re a straight man, do you do anything that goes against your nature to conform to society’s expectation of dudeliness?

Expound in the comments, dearies. Dooo eeet! The unicorn award goes to the bestest comment of the weekend. What’s the unicorn award, you ask? There’s only one way to find out.

Weekend open thread: Google Plus! and other news

15 Jul
Just because Rebecca Black is a fan of Friday doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be, too. Everyone loves a good Friday (even if Friday isn’t your Friday, and you don’t celebrate Good Friday). And in this new tradition of copping out of having to write a real post by opening the floor up to y’all, it’s time for a weekend open thread!
Today’s topic is Google+! Mostly ‘cuz I want you to be my pal on there. It’s boring without interesting people to talk to. You can find me by looking up adventuresinmediocrity@gmail.com. I think. I’m still a little fuzzy on the details. If you need an invitation I’ll give you one. Oh yeah, and here’s a Google Plus-themed picture to replace the usual adorable animal one (adorable animals to return next week):

From someecards.com

ANYway. If you’re stuck for things to talk about, here are some starter questions:
  • Are you a social networking junkie? Why/why not? If you are, feel free to expound about the Google+ thing. If not, you’re probably not going to comment anyway, amiright?
  • Does your online community differ significantly from your real-world community? (my answer is below!) How? Why do you think that is?
  • Why won’t Google+ make it so we can merge accounts? (rhetorical, although feel free to answer if you’re a Google developer)
  • Do you ever worry that Google is going to one day grow spindly little arms with spikes on the ends and then implant itself in your brain, controlling your every move and thought, turning you and millions of others into little Google-borg-bots?
  • Are some social networks more “safe spaces” (by this I mean prejudice/patriarchy/violent threat-free, or at least as much as possible) than others? Which ones?
I know that my online social network differs a whole lot from the real-world one, mainly because I know for a fact that most of you reader-types are feminists and “get” the feminist-y (and sociologicalish) stuff I write about on here (the rest of it is just drek. I mean really.). In the real world, I may not find out a friend’s thoughts on feminism – or any other ism – until the friendship is well-developed – which is fine. Just different. Both realms serve their purposes quite well – without real world interaction I’d go bonkers. But without an online community of whip-smart people like you, I’d probably think the whole world was out to get me and never leave the house.

Five Things I Learned in Vegas

8 Jul

Since it’s almost the weekend, how about some life lessons from the partyingest city in the Western US? Yes, I went there. Of my own free will. It’s true! I have proof. Since I’m a paragon of virtue and all, I thought you could benefit from some Tips For Vegas (from me):

5. Bingo and Blackjack are fun.
4. Slot machines are boring
3. $20 drinks are worth it…
2. …but free jagerbombs are better
1. Hookers and blow are harder to get than you’d think.

That’s all folks! What are y’all doing this weekend?

Rainbows and Sweets and Weekend Open Thread

1 Jul

Happy long weekend! Since it’s Friday, it’s time for pretty pictures and open threads! Don’t worry, I’ll get to the rest of your wonderful reader requests soon, but for now I have sweets for you, the sweet. D’awww!

This week, my main accomplishment outside of work was making the world’s most colorful rainbow cake. I found a photo of a pretty rainbow layer cake online and immediately determined that I must find a reason to make it – and what better reason that Pride season and the passage of the NY equal marriage law?

I started with a little Technicolor mise en place action:

… and then through bloggie magic, turned bowls full of goo into a neatly stacked Leaning Tower of Pisa:

which became the lovely camouflaged masterpiece you see here (what are those bottles, you ask? Why, Skittles vodka, of course! What could be more appropriate for a rainbow theme?):

… and then waited stealthily for the guests to arrive. Oh! Look! It’s a peekaboo cake! How naughty:

…before dazzling them with BRIGHTLY COLORED CAKE-A-PALOOZA!

It’s the gayest cake ever! OM NOM NOM!

Through the endeavor of making this cake, I have learned but one Very Important Fact about myself, and that is this: If ever I am ever to get a tattoo, it surely must be a Very Colorful Tattoo. None of this stark black tribal stuff for me, oh no. Nor will I be sporting any pencil sketches or stippling. It’s the Care Bears and children’s breakfast cereal color palette for me, please.

Which leads us into today’s Weekend Open Thread. To get you started, today’s question is:

Do you have a tattoo? If so, where and of what, and how many? Why did you get it? What’s the story behind it? How much did it cost, and did you have to save up for it?

Weekend Open Thread

17 Jun

Since I’m too lazy to write anything today, it’s open thread and animal pictures time! In honor of spring FINALLY getting off the ground here in the Pacific Northwest (just in time for the official start of summer), here’s a delightful picture of an adorable turtle eating a delicious strawberry:

On a related note, check out this old dude:

There’s a story on this tortoise, who is called Lonesome George, here. He’s the last of his kind, the poor bugger. I want to cuddle him to pieces. But not literally, that would be wrong. And am I the only person who can’t hear anything about the Galapagos without thinking of the eponymous Vonnegut novel?

So to all of you out there with or without turtle shells, happy Friday! Here’s an open thread for you for the weekend! Discuss whatever you want, so long as it’s not, you know, mean. Here are some topics and random questions to get you started:

-          Self-promotion: What have you written/sung/eaten/podcasted/flashmobbed about lately? Put a link in the comments and reap the glorious rewards of droves (read: 20!) people flooding your web site with unmitigated adoration. Try your hand at using the a href tag to make it pretty!

-          You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire.  They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing s/he is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified.  What do you do?

-          What’s something you know you do differently than most people?

-          Pitches: Want me to write about something, or answer a question, or interview your grandma in order to make her internet-famous? Leave a comment and I’ll probably do it. Unless it’s, you know, mean. Or creepy. Or costs money. If there are cookies involved, all the better.

-         What are you doing this weekend?

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