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Marrieds beware!

It's finally come to this. The other night a friend mentioned that she heard a very funny radio ad for a dating Web site that screens for marrieds and felons. Because we're exactly the same thing - married person=person convicted of a felony.

Anyway, I found the Web site and on the sign up page there's a big warning saying that if you're married and sign up for this service you'll be prosecuted for fraud. It's come to this has it - the online dating world is so heinous that you have to screen for the marrieds and the felons.

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By: Alyssa | Friday, July 30, 2004 at Friday, July 30, 2004 | |


I don't know who these people are, but they sang their hearts out with a rousing duet of George Michael's "Faith".  Posted by Hello

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By: Alyssa | Thursday, July 29, 2004 at Thursday, July 29, 2004 | |

Friends don't let friends karaoke

I don't have much more to add than that. But it happens, especially after rounds of drinks and failed celebrity sightings (we were this close to Bill Clinton - but we just missed him).

We did enjoy a lovely evening of rousing renditions of Faith, California Dreamin' and later - Nothing Compares 2 U. Good God, that one cleared the room. I've never seen anything quite like it. No one expect karaoke to be good - but for it to be that bad was almost art. Almost.

So while the night was successful for catching up with friends, it was less successful for my pants which sported many beer stains from my table compatriots. It's one thing to spill beer on yourself - it's another to have someone do it for you. Thankfully, my pedicure made it through unscathed. The lesson here: if you friends can't spill drinks on you, who can?




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By: Alyssa | Wednesday, July 28, 2004 at Wednesday, July 28, 2004 | |

Banding the children
My friend KT has joined the auntie club, MG alerted me today. It’s the first grandchild and KT’s first niece. MG is also auntie so a solo kid (niece) and whilst we were chatting about it I started counting up the kids who call me Aunt (no one calls me Aunt – they call me Abba. Don’t laugh – it’s approximately what Alyssa sounds like when you’re a peanut who poops his pants.).

By Thanksgiving (and more importantly Christmas) I’m going to have 6 nieces and nephews (2 girls and 4 boys for those playing the home game). As we’re crossing the half-dozen mark I must now implement the banding process.

It works like this, children under 5 get gifts of X value because of a) seniority and b) the kid is not amused by a $5 bear from Target. Children under 5 get gifts of the value of Y (lesser than X) because otherwise, what will they have to look forward to? And they’ll get books because I work for a big publishing company and by God those kids will read. Plus I get 50% off books. And now that there’ll be six (and really – I know Cuddles has another couple more in her down the line) I’ve got to start figuring out how I’m going to pay for this.

I’m the cool Aunt who teaches them funny faces, how to spit, and the number of men who should be on the ice at any give time. I figure I might stand a chance of being the one who’ll take them to an exotic restaurant, instill my love of art and books, and encourage them to pursue their creative instincts.

I do it now, but sometimes I get the bad face from my sisters. Like when I bought my nephew a small drum set for Christmas. He was delighted. His parents were PO’d and I thought I was encouraging his musical talents and interests.

And I bought my niece a hockey stick because I didn’t want her to get too caught up in gender roles and stereotypes. How was I to know that she’d be thrown into the penalty box (okay – time out, whatever) for high sticking (clubbing) her classmates at daycare?

I’m learning just like everyone else.

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By: Alyssa | Tuesday, July 27, 2004 at Tuesday, July 27, 2004 | |

Be sure to thank your mother

My sister, Peepers, is in her second trimester with twins. She just found out that they’re boys. So now the naming game has started in earnest.

Naming a kid is hard. I’ve been successful in naming other peoples kids (or helping to name them) a few times. Deeps and I spend a lot of time in the car chatting about it and then stringing the full name together. Because not all names work together. We have criteria for our names: you need to be able to yell it, sound good with a professional job, not get your butt kicked on the playground, have a decent nickname or at least not encourage a horrible one, and not have a cute spelling (no Mykyaels for us).

Names for the twins are being floated on a daily basis. For example, my mother is enamored of Jason and Jeremy. Peepers wants something more unusual. The babies’ father (a.k.a. BD) has suggested naming them after basketball players – including Kobe.

Here’s the thing…. He may or may not be a criminal. But if the odds are 50/50 (he did it or he didn’t) then why take the chance naming your kid that? Plus, it’s not like there’s another famous Kobe that you can be like, I named him after the explorer or the 17th century poet. Plus, Kobe is a nice piece of meat – which I pointed out to Peepers. She didn’t know that Kobe, in addition to being a basketball player and a region in Japan is also a fine steak.

Then I told her if she named them something asinine that I would just call them some other name for their entire lives.

It’s like a stand-off now. I hate all the names but I don’t have anything better – yet. So let the naming begin!

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By: Alyssa | Monday, July 26, 2004 at Monday, July 26, 2004 | |

Celebrities wanted
Things might be a little tense. There are protests and security stuff and politicians and now The Boston Globe wants you to send in your celeb sightings. And I thought the Globe was the legit paper..... yeesh.

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By: Alyssa | Sunday, July 25, 2004 at Sunday, July 25, 2004 | |

The Democrats are coming, part deux
So there's all kinds of intense, visible security in Boston for the convention which (officially starts tomorrow) but functionally started yesterday. I know this is supposed to be reassuring: the searching, the visible snipers, the boats patrolling, the F16s flying overhead.

I figured in the leafy confines of Cambridge I wouldn't really be bothered too much. Except that well - the security perimeter is bigger than I thought. Lots of the roads are closing or are closed. We went to the mall yesterday to run errands. Deeps got his haircut and got the lowdown from our stylist, Miss Stephanie (I'll see you Saturday!).

Deeps: She said that there were snipers posted all around the Fleet center.
Me: Good God.
Deeps: And that they're looking for hairstylists to work at the shop down near the center but that you have to get special security clearance.
Me: Too bad you can't cut hair....
Deeps: And they're closing down Memorial Drive and Storrow and....

I stopped him before he continued. I figured out that if I work at home I don't need to take any public transportation for the week - I can walk anywhere necessary. Stephanie didn't mention the increased security at the mall (across the river from some major Demo wingdings) but it's pretty visible. I haven't seen that many zooming golf carts since that one night out at the country club when I was in high school.

So they're closing a few roads, those are all the way over on the other side of town... at least a mile away....right?
Deeps: I heard the Clintons are staying in Cambridge. And so's Affleck.
Me: So am I going to get frisked when I go to get coffee in the morning?
Deeps: I'm just saying, carry your ID. And keep you hands visible at all times.

I can say this, the city doesn't seem to smell so much - thank goodness that low moved in when it did. And again, I welcome you to Boston.

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By: Alyssa | at Sunday, July 25, 2004 | |

Tron at home
I found a link to this guy's incredibly detailed and conceived Tron costume at the Universal Donor site (beware Cuddles, UD sometimes uses naughty words).

Here's the thing, I'm not sure what my reaction should be to this site. It's incredibly informative and comprehensive. There's the level of detail for execution that's missing from most project plans I've seen. So on that front - wow. Good on you. Look, it's easy to mock - but can you admire it? Dig deep grasshopper.

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By: Alyssa | Friday, July 23, 2004 at Friday, July 23, 2004 | |

It's not you, it's me

Look - I'd like to apologize. I'm really sorry if you came here looking for something funny or interesting or entertaining, even if just for a few seconds.

I just skimmed over the last several entries and all I can say is - What the...? I'm an entry away from writing about coffee cups or my cat or weather. It's the summer doldrums - they’ve come early this year. I'm not sure why but everywhere I go it seems to have attacked.

Two nights ago I read this crappy Oprah-like book that I got in the office book swap and found myself skimming and weeping. What is that about? You may not know this from the blog (unless you're one of my sisters: Cuddles, Bangles or Peepers) but I'm not a crier. I mean, I cry - I am a human being. But I'm not prone to breakdowns. I blamed it on lack of sleep, humidity, frizzy hair and the oppressive stare of the cat as my time spent reading in bed clearly infringed on her opportunity to sprawl out and sleep.

So what does this all mean? I have no idea but it happens every damn year. I think it's leftover from schooldays. Eventually, summer got a little boring and you were ready for something else - at least, that's how it worked for me.

Maybe I need a vacation or an intervention or something. Maybe Celebrity Poker will help to snap me out of it because August looms ahead and that month hasn't gotten any shorter.

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By: Alyssa | Thursday, July 22, 2004 at Thursday, July 22, 2004 | |

The Democrats are coming!

It's the cry of the TV news around the city. However, if you were to look around the city you'd see that a good portion of it has reacted to this news with a resounding - Blah.

Things are hopping around the Fleet Center - where the convention takes place - but a bit further away the streets smell of rotting garbage and the trains are late and when the arrive, quite hot.

I'll be hiding out in the relative comfort of my home-office next week as I am lucky enough to telecommute. But if any celebs or politicos venture west of Harvard Square, I'm all over it.

So welcome to Boston folks.

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By: Alyssa | at Thursday, July 22, 2004 | |

Bonfire

More summer reading! I finished reading The Devil's Playground , a book about the making of the Bonfire of the Vanities - a film that briefly replaced Ishtar as an overpriced flop and example of what happens when egos go unchecked.

The thing that's interesting about the book is that it could have been any movie. Nothing sounded too nuts or over-the-top. I think that tapped into my inner stress monkey - the idea that anything could get that blown out of proportion.

I finished the book late in the evening. So I had stress dreams about Brian DePalma all night. I think the funniest part was that I was dreaming about Bruce Willis' hair which is a source of contention for the head of production, the director, the lighting guy and the wardrobe supervisor. That's a lot of people to worry about hair.

Regardless of the bizarre dreams it caused, the book is a weirdly compelling read and fascinating.

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By: Alyssa | Monday, July 19, 2004 at Monday, July 19, 2004 | |

You're Number 2 in New Mexico!

Deeps loves the Interweb - he spends hours searching and visiting and exploring. So today he told me that I'm #2 in New Mexico and that it looks like I peaked in 1999 (the year Alyssa was the 11th most popular name for baby girls born in the US).

Oh what a difference 5 years makes.

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By: Alyssa | at Monday, July 19, 2004 | |

I killed the house

So we very casually ordered a few moving boxes many, many weeks ago. It was almost like a superstitious thing - if we have moving boxes, we won't actually have to move. At one point we almost considered offering them to our neighbors who were moving.

But then the mojo wore off and we realized we had to move. Last week we ordered more boxes, since the little set of "book boxes" wasn't really going to cut it. We spent some time thinking it over, planning and ordering. On Friday the boxes arrived. Good God - what an order. First, I'll give a shout out to Uline.com - if you are on the East coast and order, you'll probably get your boxes the next day. And the shipping is relatively cheap - especially when you see all the stuff you get.

Deeps is enamoured of the tape gun. Just like the pros use.

But it became clear on Saturday morning as we broke into the multi-package shipment that we've killed the house. It's no longer going to be easy to hide the fact we're moving. We're now living in a disaster. There are boxes and piles and labels and tape rolls and markers and stuff everywhere. Deeps is blindly packing while I'm arguing for the opportunity to sort and toss. And more tantalizingly - sell. We're going to do a garage sale (I'm midwestern - out in Beantown they call it a tag sale) to unload many precious treasures that we don't want or need any longer.

After 2 very large rounds of donations, I think a tag sale is a good option - maybe we can finance the purchase of a new computer desk. Dare to dream.

But the house - she is no longer tidy and clean. I've unearthed stuff locked away for several months (or years) and there's no looking back. We've been watching Clean Sweep for motivation - what would Peter Bonsey do? His name is invoked almost daily.

I think the biggest challenge will be in keeping track of the cat. And not killing each other. Thankfully, there's not been any unusual attachments to stuff on either side - as long as I don't bring up the topic of his 600+ CD collection. God help us all.

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By: Alyssa | Sunday, July 18, 2004 at Sunday, July 18, 2004 | |

Good deed for the day
I've got the big link over on the right, but figure it's worth reminding everyone (even Cuddles) to give a little something this year. Donate a library book for the book drive in San Diego that Pamie is sponsoring/organizing. You'll be glad you did.

Or give books to your local library. Here's the thing I've learned, libraries always need more books - so give! It's a nice Friday thing to do.

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By: Alyssa | Friday, July 16, 2004 at Friday, July 16, 2004 | |

I am different

I'm suffering through an especially annoying round of insomnia. As I write this, I have been awake for about 5 hours. I slept for like...4 so it's going to be a good day. Over the past 5 days I've slept approximately 18 hours, so this should be a real lulu of a weekend.

One of the things I do when I can't sleep is just stay in bed. I try not to get up or read or watch TV - it doesn't help. Any clinician will tell you that staying in bed, in the dark is more likely to help you fall asleep than anything else. This is true most of the time.

So I think.

I've determined that I'm a little different now. I have opinions about things that I would never have thought about a decade ago. Not political or literary or film-related. Nope, I have opinions about cosmetics, skin-care, and cleaning products.

I've finally embraced all the joys and sorrows of being a modern woman which means I bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and then clean up afterwards. Deeps is a huge help - better than most husbands I've heard about. He's on laundry detail and I'm on latrine duty. We've got a good division of labor.

So that's what I thought about in the wee hours of the morning. I have a great love and admiration of the Swiffer products. I would actually advocate the purchase of a Wet Jet and those long, extendy Swiffer duster arm do-dads. Your cleaning life will improve greatly. And a Dirtbuster. I was thinking about that too - that was a good purchase. It's much easier than sweeping the hardwood floors.

Then I spent some time thinking about my own mortality. And my job. And about kids. And about my future. And about packing. And about what color I might paint a kitchen if I ever own my own home. And then I started to doze off. My alarm sounded a few minutes later.

Let's hope that the insomnia goes away soon - not just for me, but for the sake of the blog.

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By: Alyssa | at Friday, July 16, 2004 | |

Anchorman

I realize I forgot to write about Anchorman. We saw the movie on Friday night and despite some dude behind me planting his huge foot next to my head, thought the movie was pretty funny. Now it was incredibly predictable and the laughs were on the easy side... but still, there's a dearth of enjoyable comedy in the world so I say take it where you can find it.

I don't advocate spending $9.50 on it - I think $7 or less is a better deal (see the matinee).

And I think Steve Carrell's performance as the weatherman with an IQ of 47 makes the film a must-see for any fans that miss him from the Daily Show. (like me) His line delivery is both hilarious and alarming - don't be afraid to stick around for the outtakes at the end. You'll be glad you did.

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By: Alyssa | Thursday, July 15, 2004 at Thursday, July 15, 2004 | |

He is an artist

So there's a Subway in my building. You'd think that the dudes there made free money sandwiches or crack or something the way that people line up outside of the place.

Yesterday I felt a real pain for the "sandwich artist" when a weird office zombie wandered in.

I was waiting for him to ring up my order and I was filling up a cup with some Diet Coke. The following events transpired in aabout 40 seconds.

"I'll have a 6" veggie delight," she practically yelled at the dude.

So the dude starts making her sandwich and then he asks her the questions.

"Do you mustard?" he asks very clearly.

She replies in the affirmative. He starts to put the mustard on the sandwich and then she yells at him.

"NO MUSTARD!"

Okay, maybe she's a little spacey.

Then he asks what she wants on the sandwich. Does she want everything?

Yes. She'll take everything veggie.

He starts to put cheese and lettuce and olives and jalapenos.

"Everything except jalapenos!" she screeches.

He takes the jalapenos off. He continues with other stuff. I start to wander out of the store just as I hear her say.

"No onions!"

"No green peppers!"

That man is an artist - and sometimes one must suffer for one's art.

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By: Alyssa | Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at Wednesday, July 14, 2004 | |

I love the ... what? Already?

VH1 sucks me into a dark swirly pit of nothingness that deprives me of hours of my life on a semi-regular basis. Behind the music was where it started. Now there are a lot of clip shows that keep people that Hal Sparks and Mo Rocca on the air.

I'm pretty sure Hal Sparks was like, let's do the 90s - it's not to early. Come on!

He doesn't even ask to be paid.

What I'm learning from these instances with celebrities doing their non-celebrity things (be it not singing, not acting, not playing a sport) is that I really prefer them to be doing their celebrity thing.

HAL SPARKS SHUT UP. I am not interested in anything you have to say or do on any topic.

I thought the 70s and 80s clip shows were okay. But somehow the 90s show felt too light on content and too heavy on singing. There were at least 9 different singing interludes. I don't know who half of these no-names are and I do not want to hear them badly singing Wilson-Philips songs.

But the clip show lives on - as VH1 has now employed a bunch of obsessive list-makers to keep the channel programmed. It's a good way to waste time or stay awake or even go to sleep. I watched a marathon of the 70s when I came back from Paris last year. I was jetlagged and barely able to speak. But I sat in a chair for 4 hours until I could drag myself to bed. Then I dreamed about Donna Summer all night.



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By: Alyssa | Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at Tuesday, July 13, 2004 | |

Out of the woods

I think it might be over.

I've heard that our apartment has finally rented and I think that means no one will be wandering around here (aside from us and a smelly cat) until we move. This is a nice change since we've been subjected to surprise visits and random walk-throughs since early May.

Now for the fun part - the packing. Or as I like to think of it - the opportunity to throw crap away.

We have gone through three rounds of serious de-cluttering prior to this point and I think we have one more small round left. I threw away and donated and gave away hundreds of things in our relocation from Chicago to Boston. I'm not afraid to do it for a move down the street.

I don't have a specific system. But I do ask a few questions: Do I really need this? Do I really want to keep it? Have I used it? Is it in good shape or does it need to be replaced?

There's nothing like the threat of a move to get you to give things a hard look. I was looking at a chipped cereal bowl thinking - why have I lived with this for so long? I'm a woman who deserves something better than a chipped bowl.

Which leads directly into the other temptation of moving: the justification to buy new things. I'm already eyeballing new dishes, a new desk, and a new coffee table. Oh and maybe a new television unit. And some lamps. And a new rug.

This could be a problem.

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By: Alyssa | Sunday, July 11, 2004 at Sunday, July 11, 2004 | |

Mad world

Today was a day that my friend Mrs. Rama likes to call an F you kind of day. All day you just get jerked around or have bad luck or things don’t go your way.

It’s not a fiasco day – but it’s like death by a thousand paper cuts.

This was my F you day.

At 7:45 this morning I got a call from my landlord expressing surprise that I was still at home (I’d only been awake for maybe 10 minutes) because she was planning on showing our apartment. Whoops – guess she forgot to tell me. Sorry, she’ll let me get back to my cheerios.

At 8:30 I walk outside to the bus stop. The busses are running behind schedule because an electric bus got knocked off the trolley track and it’s blocking a big intersection.

At 8:45 I get to Harvard Square and discover the trains are late too. Why? God only knows.

At 9:10 I’m boarding the elevator and the door is almost closed all the way when some jackhole sticks his umbrella in the door and opens it so he can climb aboard. A new co-worker climbs in behind the jackhole so I allow the jackhole to live. (FYI – the elevator bank in the morning has about 9 running elevators and there’s very little waiting)

The day went downhill from there. I got some annoying work stuff – a vendor messed up a piece of my project and I spent way too much time trying to figure out what exactly they were thinking.

Then I started getting angry phone calls from my husband. He wasn’t angry at me, but he was very annoyed at the ‘lords. Apparently they were “fixing the front door” which hasn’t been unlocking as of late. Oh and they want to show the apartment again, like in 3 hours.

So much for our repeated requests for at least 24 hours notice. I relay the story of 7:45 – Deeps is angrier. In general, I’m the angry one in the relationship. He’s the math guy, I’m the redhead, he’s the quiet one, and I’m the angry one – that’s just kind of how it goes. So when he gets angry things are serious. He is serious. I am weary – it’s an F you day.

I worked a little late to take care of some small problems so that my Friday might be a touch less stressful. Deeps starts calling, asking when I’m coming home. Then he alerts me that the front door that was “fixed” now has a permanently spinning doorknob. Oh and someone (not us) has said it’s okay to view our apartment.

I leave the office and fight my way past a smelly guy who pokes my toes with his pointy umbrella and make my way home. Deeps picks me up and as pull up to our house I see some people on the front porch. Must be possible renters.

We let the women in to look around. They touch nothing and call my cat fat. I figure it’s over. We settle in to discuss the evening and the day and who’ll win Celebrity Poker and what we should have for dinner. About 10 minutes later the doorbell rings and three men are on my front porch.

“He said it was okay to come because someone else was seeing the place,” the broker guy said of the ‘lord. Our faces must have said F you because the dudes were like – oh we’re sorry, was there a mix up.

I am a good Hoosier – I can’t help myself. I plaster on a disingenuous smile and let them in – sure, look around. Deeps sits quietly at the sofa, even the cat seems annoyed. The dudes breeze through the semi-dark apartment. They say nice things out of earshot. We loiter on the porch to give them privacy. The broker is kind and makes amends – he didn’t want to step on toes, sorry for the inconvenience etc.

“By the way, this place is decorated beautifully. It shows really well,” he gushes.

I just think – of course it does because it’s an F you kind of day.

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By: Alyssa | Thursday, July 08, 2004 at Thursday, July 08, 2004 | |

Do what?

Do what is a favorite response to an odd statement - I think it's more popular in the South than in the Midwest. Rather, it's popular in the part of the country where those two places intersect for my family, Southern Indiana.

For example:
There's a banana stuck in my tail pipe, like on the tee vee.
Do what?

See - simple. Anyway, I haven't actually heard anyone say "Do What?" in a long time. But "Do What?" was the first thing I thought when I read this piece about parents naming their child ESPN.

The priceless quote: "I didn't like it until he was born," she said, adding that by then, she couldn't think of calling her son anything else.

Seriously - there are better names on my Baby Name list and half of those are joke names I wanted to give to my self-described Hillbilly friends.

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By: Alyssa | Wednesday, July 07, 2004 at Wednesday, July 07, 2004 | |

You don't bring me flowers

I've never heard back from Rex - my Best Buy Boyfriend.

I have to assume that my husband is pleased.

Anyway, I have a habit of creating letters that I never send. I think Zander does the same thing - although, I have a suspicion he sent the Stop and Shop letter.

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By: Alyssa | Tuesday, July 06, 2004 at Tuesday, July 06, 2004 | |

For love or killers

For the record, I never watched either of the For Love or Money series. I did flip over last night because the folks at TeeVee told me to and I always do what I'm told. (Okay - it was a passing mention in the "Watch Me" section - but still...)

Deeps: Are you watching the end of For Love or Money?

Me: Yes.

Deeps: What happened?

Me: He picked the blonde one. And they picked the love over the money - which was smart because the money was crap. I think.

Deeps: Was there another one?

Me: Maybe. I was flipping over to For Worse to see what ugly dress they picked for the bride.

Dramatic music swells - and there's something about a new girl joining the ranks of For Love or Money 27.

Deeps: So they must pick the loser. Or the evil one - it's NBC.

But there's someone else she doesn't know about...

Me: OH MY GOD - IT'S A KILLER!

Deeps: That would be awesome - I'd totally watch that show.

Me: Please let it be a killer, please let it be a killer.

Deeps: Crap - it's another blonde girl.

Me: Damn.

Deeps: I know. They should really bring a killer into the show - I think it would be a lot better.

Me: Well, they need some options for next year. Maybe I'll write them a letter.

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By: Alyssa | at Tuesday, July 06, 2004 | |

The cookie crumbles

My husband has packed about 20 boxes for our move - ON SEPTEMBER 1. He's a man with a mission. My mission has been to take naps.

Yesterday the phone rang and I didn't answer it. It was kind of early and I was too busy laying about to bother with the phone. I can't tell you how often I have that affliction.

Anyway, I eventually checked the messages. Our landlords called to see if we'd like to renew our lease since they decided to take the house off of the market because it hasn't yet sold. My jaw made fast friends with the floor when they met.

I asked Deeps if he'd informed the landlords that we'd signed a lease for a new place several weeks ago. He confirmed he had - our landlords were just hoping that maybe it hadn't happened yet.

So now our apartment is on the rental market again and so is the one upstairs. What I've learned from this is that a) we need to buy a place as soon as humanly possible and b) I never want to be a landlord.

These are important life lessons. Tell your friends!

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By: Alyssa | Sunday, July 04, 2004 at Sunday, July 04, 2004 | |

Adventures in Marriage #1672: Date night

My office closed early, I hit the gym and then cruised home to enjoy a little pre-weekend nap. Naps during the week are the greatest thing on this green Earth.

A few minutes after I got home, my husband called.

"Hey, I'm leaving soon. Do you want to do something tonight? We could go to the movies."

I am preparing for my nap - the pillow is fluffed and the AC is on. "Yeah, that's good."

"Okay, well there's a couple of things out that we could see like..." my husband trails off.

"Spiderman. We'll see Spiderman. I bought tickets to the 8 o'clock show online."

"Oh...."

"Try not to wake me up when you get home. I'm taking a nap."

"Of course you are."

And that's what it's like to be married to me.

Spiderman!
I love the Spiderman. I never read the books but II loved his work on the Electric Company and I watched the cartoons when I was a kid. I wasn't crazy about the first movie. It was kinda... meh.

I had relatively low expectations for Spiderman 2. But then the reviews started pouring in - lovefest for the Spider. All of America (except a couple of dudes) loved the movie.

We also really liked the movie. Afterwards, we picked up crap-alicious meal from a drive-up place because God help you if you want to have dinner in this town after 10 PM. Anyway, we drove home and discussed the movie.

We both liked the Franco hair. Tobey Maguire is almost growing on me. We liked the cameos. We liked the Raimi-cam which was put to good use during a spirited surgery scene. We liked the Molina and agreed the CGI had made huge leaps and bounds in the quality department. I only wanted to give Kirsten Dunst a hairbush like three times. So the marrieds give it two thumbs up.

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By: Alyssa | Saturday, July 03, 2004 at Saturday, July 03, 2004 | |

Whole new view

"We need to talk about your browser," my husband said. We share the same computer but he's all Netscape 7 and I'm IE 6.

I knew this talk was long overdue. And with the latest security problems with IE, I knew I had to face the music.

"I know...It's just, I'm lazy," I replied. "Plus Opera weirds me out and some of these other browsers are so lame. Can't I just use Netscape?"

My husband and I have shared everything - except browsers. Apparently he wasn't interested in sharing (he's an only child). Our bookmarks can never touch.

Then he mentioned Mozilla which made me eek a bit because it's like the redheaded step-child of browsers (and I know from redheaded step-children). But I relented and looked at Firefox. I quickly fell in love.

No more pop-ups which isn't unusual if you're using a browser that 95% of the computer using population is not using (IE has a strangle-hold on the market). It's free, it's light, and I don't use anything except the actual browser - I don't need email or listservs or anything. I just need my bookmarks. Plus - there's tabbed browsing, oh glorious day.

So I'm a convert. I've had it for about 4 days and I can't go back. And then today I read about someone else doing the same thing.

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By: Alyssa | Friday, July 02, 2004 at Friday, July 02, 2004 | |


Sometimes a day out with the kids tires everyone out. Posted by Hello

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By: Alyssa | Thursday, July 01, 2004 at Thursday, July 01, 2004 | |


A series of remarkable pictures - don't try this at home! My friend EK's dad took a few pictures of his Alaskan neighbors - a mother moose and her twins.  Posted by Hello

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By: Alyssa | at Thursday, July 01, 2004 | |


In general, it's not advised to get too close to a wild animal that's bigger than a horse. Luckily, my friend's father can use his zoom lens. Posted by Hello

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By: Alyssa | at Thursday, July 01, 2004 | |

 
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