Seven.Caged.Tigers

Because I’m slighly ADD, a completist, and a writer I enjoy reviewing mostly music (and sometimes books and movies) at Epinions.com. I republish my crap at RockReviews.net trying to net more hits and therefore make a bit more money. In any case, over the years I’ve received death threats for disliking Tears for Fears, attacks from Donnas fans, and a myriad of other freaks who attack with no provocation aside from them being illogical, unintelligent fanboys(girls). It’s to the point that you can only get humor out of it.

Last night I got an e-mail from one such freak. This time the object of their affection was Tonic. Apparently Tonic is the shiznit and I suck because I think they, well, suck. I reviewed the album Lemon Parade some time ago and gave it one star (the rarest rating I give out). Somebody didn’t like what I had to say and instead of e-mailing me civilly tossed me this run-on pile of garbage:

i’d just like to start off by saying, your opinions about tonic SUCK and so do you, you ugly piece of poop, you need to get YOUR head on straight you fool, you also need a makeover IMMEDIATELY, get a life you worthless waste of space

I don’t think I’ve been called a piece of poop since elementary school. The whole thing about what I look like is of no matter either–I mean, can’t this basement dweller come up with better insults? I’m no beauty queen, but I’m not ugly either. In any case, I just wanted to share. This is the joy of my life. Insults from stupid people–how much better can it get?

Hubby is enjoying the PSP. He’s well into playing Need for Speed Underground. He loves racing games. It was hilarious to watch him last night because he’d get (these are his own words) too excited and would bring the PSP too close to his face. Ha! At least he likes it.

Tonight is the big America’s Next Top Model. I love that show. To recap last week, we saw all the semifinalists (36 of them) whittled down to 20 and then finally 13. I can’t figure out why only 13 as other seasons have been round numbers and usually more. In any case, from there the finalists moved into a crazy fashion-themed house in Malibu or LA or somewhere else warm and with palm trees. The poor darlings. They went out, had a good time, two made out, and that was that. Their photoshoot was superhero themed. The two nominated for eviction were Ashley and Sarah. Ashley was annoying, uncooperative, and generally not as gorgeous as the other girls. Oh yeah, and there was the thing about the “pretty gene” she told Tyra. It seems to me that all these girls have pretty genes. In any case, Sarah was on the block because she lacked confidence after she repeatedly tripped on the runway. Sarah is gorgeous, and thusly Ashley got the boot. Poor little girl.

Ashley (who got the boot):

Ebony (who had an awful picture):

Lisa (whose picture kicked ass):

This week the girls are supposed to get makeovers. From previews I can only tell a few things. Sarah’s hair is cut into a bob. Kim’s is dyed reddish. Kyle’s may be dyed brown. Finally, it looks as if beauty queen Cassandra is getting hers all cut off. She cries, hilarity ensues.

And because I just uploaded them, here’s a pic I took in my back yard of asters:

I was lazy this weekend. I like being lazy. Of course “lazy” in Shellyland means that I still did laundry, dishes, and spiffed up a bit. Still, I can’t help but feel a bit stagnant.

Ever since Brighton got a Best Buy JT and I have been spending a bit of time there. It’s a lovely store full of lovely things I want. We were there on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday–and bought something each of the three days. Though of those purchases less than $100 was actually out of our account. On Friday, I picked up the new X-Men Legends 2 game for the PS2. On Saturday, I spent my Epinions check on a PSP, an accessory kit (case, USB cable, etc…), and five games (yes, I did have that much moolah saved up). On Sunday, JT bought two hard drives for Turtlehut testing purposes. That place is making a serious mint off of folks like us. At least earlier this year (when we bought the dishwasher) we signed up for the Reward Zone and we’re getting cash back on all our purchases. It’s so worth it.

I can’t help but be pleased with the cash I make at Epinions. It’s not huge, but $$$$ a year or so works nicely in buying things I otherwise wouldn’t. I get lots of goodies that way. I’ve bought a LCD monitor, PSP, MP3 Player, Portable CD Player, and much else. I’m a freak for gadgets. I’m sure that folks that don’t know how I get them think I’m going broke doing it. Little do they know my secret source of income mwahahahaha!

One last thing–thanks to John and Tracy (”real world” folks) who thought of us while in Italy. They brought us a bottle of a fancy lemon liquor that is intended for desert as some sort of digestive aid. We’ve not tried it yet, but apparently it’s pretty scrumptious. I think it’s called “Limone di Sorrento” or some such thing or maybe simply a limoncello. It’s actually a liquor distilled from lemons and not a liquor flavored by them.

Hmph. And that’s about it. My life is boring. But I have a PSP now, so all is well.

Mother Nature is on a rampage. Ya’ll know what I’m talking about. It seems that we’ve finally pissed her off enough for her to seek revenge. I’m so happy to live in a place where hurricanes are impossible. Tornados, thunderstorms, and the like are pretty common unfortunately and there is the likelihood someday that the melting of the polar caps will lead my whole state to flood but that’s another matter entirely. I wish luck and happiness to everybody in Rita’s line of fire. I’m crossing my fingers that we don’t have another Katrina (or for that matter Galveston) on our hands…but things aren’t looking too good.

In more exciting news, television has gotten a lot more entertaining. The shows are ridiculous. There are umpteen new “supernatural thrillers” of which we’re probably only going to watch one or two (Threshold and Surface come to mind immediately). House has returned (which makes me giddy with joy), Survivor is on, and America’s Next Top Model 5 has axed their first girl. All is well and good in the world. I am however slightly annoyed that ANTM would dress these chicks up as superheroes. The pics turned out well but it was a hackneyed idea.

I won’t start to really go off on ANTM yet but someday you’ll once again feel my addiction. My hubby is already painfully aware of it. At least I don’t collect stupid things like magazine clippings and autographs. I just like watching.

It is absolutely NEVER too early to start shopping for Christmas. I usually begin in about August with the hope that by December I’ll have most if not all of it finished. I’ve already bought for about 7 people, though only 2 are completely finished. Yes. I do completely realize I’m out of the norm. However the reason I do it so early is that if you begin well prior to the holiday, you can buy things on sale. You can also shop carefully and for that matter not have to stress over it last minute. Finally, the price of things isn’t so overwhelming if you spread it across a few months. I can’t be alone–there’s gotta be a few other pre-planners like myself out there.

Christmas is in 96 days!

Funny thing about Christmas. When I was a kid, I had a huge list of things I wanted. Mostly my suggestions were crap, but my mother and father had an uncanny ability to sift through and figure out what was actually useful. I ended up with really pretty decent stuff. I remember sitting down with the Wish Books from JcPenney’s, Sears, and Best and figuring out what I wanted. It was a magical time.

As an adult, my list has shrunk. I don’t even know what I want. I have the tendancy to buy things I want when I want them and to discount things I deem too expensive or too useless. This leaves very little on the “want” list. It’s a sick, sad state of affairs. My mothers still manages to buy things that are very nice and very appropriate and often things I don’t even think of. Like last year I ended up with a Sonicare toothbrush (a nice one) and a Hepa Ionic Air Filter. I always tell her that crystal works as a present too. However, now that there is a Waterford outlet in Birch Run I usually get it for my birthday (which also works and is also in December).

Hubby definitely makes out the best. As I’m one of two girls in my family, my father hasn’t ever had a son. Hubby is rewarded for his “son status” by getting tons o’ tools every year. He is infinitely grateful especially considering that my ‘rents have great taste in tools and the know-how to buy the proper things without cheaping out.

Did I mention that Christmas is only 96 days away? You better get shopping!

OK. Not really. I’m actually pleased as puddin’ to have rain falling. It’s been a good month since Michigan got any good precipitation and our grass, trees, and flowers are definitely feeling the wrath of the drought. With that said, I am still too much in a hurry to grab my umbrella to shield my coif as I dash from the car to my building. I guess the old hair-do really isn’t that important.

Speaking of rain and storms and floods, did everybody see Bush’s speech last night? I think he did a fine enough job and it was nice that he was in New Orleans to actually talk to the nation. However, whilst giving a somber speech thou shalt not smile. Bush was choking back a grin the whole time. People have died, houses have been washed away, and livelihoods are shattered. The ape-man somehow couldn’t help but crack a smile over and over again. I had problems watching him.

Then again, I ALWAYS have issues watching Bush. He screwed up so massively that he has no choice but to accept blame. He tried to pretend that all was well and good in New Orleans and Biloxi and everywhere else until there was no denying the truth. Bravo to the media for showing the world that people were hungry, thirsty, sick, and dying before even our own government would admit it.

It’s been a while since I drooled over any celeb. I’ve had my dealings with Jake Gyllenhaa, Tom Welling (Clark Kent on Smallville), and Brad Pitt (since my teen years). There is little of a common denominator between the three. I suppose all of the are tall and thin-ish. All look vagulely athletic. Oh yes–and all three have very lovely eyes. If any of you are unsure of what any of the three looks like and why I might think they are hot, pause for a moment to Google their names, go to “images” and gaze upon their man-beauty.

However there is a new fellow who has captured my attention. I do have vague memories of his as the Man-azon on Popular, but to be honest I didn’t really notice him that much. However on the new FOX show Prison Break I can’t help but tear up a little at the gorgeous-ness of Wentworth Miller. Oh, indeed, if you haven’t yet seen him you won’t understand. Take my word, he is one hunk-a-hunk-a-burnin’-man-beauty. He’s the lead on the show and possesses an ability to be both intensely intelligent and vulnerable at the same time. Once again, he’s a tall athletic fellow with striking eyes. I think there’s a pattern here. Oh yes–and for once (outside of Braaaaad) he’s actually an “older man” at now 33 years old.

Damn. He’s hot.

Proof positive I’m not insane:

Apologies for sounding like a fangirl, but a girl’s gotta be honest with herself occasionally.

I must be boring. Nobody is leaving comments. Stroke my ego occasionally, why don’t you?

The other morning, Jeremy and I woke up and noticed blood on our windowsill and on the headboard and on the blanket chest in our bedroom. We hadn’t heard any massive cat brawls in the night so we couldn’t figure out what happened. We then tried to find more blood only to discover a good smear or three across the tile at the back of our house. A little detective work turned up that it was our dear, stupid Max. He didn’t have any bumps, scrapes, or bruises. It was his cat-talon which had been split in three ways. Poor kitty. He’s now very meek and mild and cautious. Until, of course, his paw feels better. Cats are stupid like that.

All three have been fighting like mad. Sara had a massive scab (probably seven inches long) on her side. Max had a big ol’ deep scab on his side. Dewey looks like he probably was to blame for it all as he sits back confidently and without any real care in the world. That’s one sturdy animal. Nothing hurts him. We’ve, in fact, given up on trying to comb mats off his ass (he apparently can’t reach past his mid-section). Why? Well…you can grab them and pull them out and he barely flinches. One would think he’d care. He does not.

And because I haven’t shared a gratuitous cat picture in a while, here are three!

First things first–I am not impressed by nearly 30-year-old women who wear Abercrombie & Fitch clothes. They are not cool nor are they intended for anybody over the age of 21. Oh yes, they are too expensive also. It’s been a while since I actually even perused the store (okay, it’s been about 8 years) and I haven’t received a catalogue in even longer. But, for shits and giggles I just stopped by their online presence.

I can’t figure out why in the hell I would want anything to do with the following (overprived items):

‘I’d Look Great on You’ $39.95

‘Ezra Fitch Jeans’ $148.00

There is so much crap at that site I can’t even begin to make fun of it properly. What I can say is that their clothes are badly constructed, overpriced, and sold by little girlies and boys who refuse to talk to anybody that’s over a size 6. It’s sick. I’m still confused about the store’s draw.

Outside of my AF bitching, I gotta say that this weekend once again flew by. I wish my inner clock would stall at about Saturday 3pm. That would be nice. I mean, why does Monday ever really have to come? I really don’t like it so why should I have to deal with it? The world may never know…

I’m on a med right now that makes me HOT. Not like as in looking good but as in body temperature. I’ve had some challenges sleeping because of it. Between that, the emotional pulling, the surgeries (sometimes emergency), the procedures, and the tests this whole infertility thing is really pretty awful. I’m not going to go into it any more, but it continues to be a long and winding road with no certainty on the horizon.

There are but a few things that take my mind off of all the stress. Books have always eased whatever pain I’ve felt. I’m currently on a post-apocalyptic and horror kick. My PA collection is up to about 100 titles and I’ve got another 65 on a list waiting for purchase/discovery in a used bookstore. As far as horror goes, I’ve just finished The Rising by Brian Keene which is a PA zombie book. I’m currently embarking on its sequel City of the Dead. I’m a sucker for blood n’ guts n’ gore (if you can believe that).

One other outlet I have is shopping, but since I don’t have unlimited cash resources I steer clear of malls and outlets and Kohls because otherwise I’d be making purchases. Instead I just order the bare minimum of what I need/want from J. Crew or Gap online instead. That way I can’t be wooed by the sale racks and new items.

The last real outlet I have is the Playstation 2. I’m a girl, I know that, but I do love games. Heck, I’ve ALWAYS loved games from my early childhood appreciation of pinball machines through the ColecoVision, Sega Genesis, and Playstation 1. My first love was for platform games followed by first-person shooters and puzzles. The last few years since I bought the hubby the PS2 I’ve become addicted to RPG titles. I’ve of course enjoyed Final Fantasy x and X-2. I’ve also enjoyed Suikoden III and Suikoden IV. Oh yes, and Kingdom hearts–that was a really good one. X-Men Legends also was very enjoyable Unfortunately, I got bored of Star Ocean and Wild Arms. Right now, though, I’m on the third title of the .hack series. I beat the first two and this one is just a continuation of those. There is one more which I will need to also finish ASAP so I can get started on X-Men Legends 2 when it arrives in my post office box.

Infertility is worse than even I could imagine. It’s a nightmare. I find that I must escape into fantasy lands to forget.

America’s Next Top Model 5 (aka ANTM) is heading to a UPN affiliate near you
on September 21 at 8pm. It’s going to run two hours and will (as always) show
some of the rejected girls in addition to introducing the thirteen real gals
who will move into the digs in Los Angeles.

I am indeed addicted to ANTM and have been since the second cycle. I like
watching it and realize it’s completely stupid and incredibly vain television.
With that said, the catty girls are always good entertainment and I do enjoy
the whole fashion aspect of the show. Tyra irks the living hell out of me as
she is incredibly domineering and may as well be called the queen of the show.
Janice is gone this year (she’s been replaced by Twiggy), so that entertainment
is absent. I’m still going to like it–even if Tyra insists on calling the
show very “bling” this year. Oh how I hate slang.

Without any further stalling, I bring to you the thirteen princesses who will
vie for the title of America’s Next Top Model 5 and follow in the footsteps
of Adrianne, Yoanna, Eva, and Naima.

Ashley hails from Ft. Lauderdale (Florida) and was once a fat girl at least by her standards and fashion requirements. She’s now slimmed down and at 5′8″ thinks she will be ANTM. I’m personally unsold on her beauty. She’s got a strong jaw and nice skin tone, but I feel she’s a bit generic. I am curious what ANTM will decide to do with her looks during makeover (if she makes it that far).

Bre looks like a tiny little china doll. Her smile is refreshing and her features are lovely. However, once again I’m struck that she’s nothing special. Plus, at just 5′8″ she falls well short of fashion requirements. I guess ANTM doesn’t care about such matters. The Harlem, New York native lists the crappy film Thirteen as her favorite. We’ll see if she tries to hard to be cool on the show too.

I always find the combination of dark hair, fair skin, and light eyes to be striking. Cassandra (from Houston, Texas) fits that bill. She’s a student who is proud of her home state (does that mean she is also a raging republican?) and who lists cookies as one of her favorite foods. While Cassandra is gorgeous, I don’t think she’ll go far. The girl is short (5′7″).

Could Coryn be a wild card? Her looks are clearly unconventional. Her face is long, her eyebrows are awful, her lips are disproportionate. With that said, some of the strangest looking girls take some of the most incredible photos in the long run. Coryn is a retail clerk from Minneapolis. She’s 5′9″ which is slightly more appropriate than the short girls as far as competition goes.

After Tyra said specifically she wasn’t going to have any more plus sized girls alone on a show, she goes and gets Diane. Okay. Whatever. She is the tallest of the girls at 5′11″ which is a good thing. The bad thing is that the Orlando native is obviously “plus sized” but probably actually falls between the two poles. Her limbo status will easily stop her from going far. Even more troubling is that her face is not nice to look at. Her jaw is too thin and her forehead too low.

Ebony is a baby of the group. She’s just 18 years old and hails from California. Physically, I can see why she was chosen. Unfortunately, her poloroid was tragic and the fact that she apparently “looks best in profile” is troublesome. I also am slightly pained to see that flower she wears in her hair. At least Tatiana was from Hawaii. I’m ambivalently turned off by Ebony.

Jayla, least by looks, is the wild child of this bunch. She’s got tattoos and wears expanders in her ears. However, she is also gorgeous with the dark hair and light eyes again. I’m pleased to see Ghost in the Shell listed as her favorite movie (girl is obviously somewhat a nerd) but am slightly turned off by her height (5′8″). She is from Tuscon, Arizona.

Her pouty lips, expressive eyes, and fabulous legs will get this short-haired gal from New York City far in this competition. She is rockin’ the faux-hawk (for better or worse). Kim thinks that she’s smarter than the other girls which will work to her advantage. However, I still question her height. This season the girls are short–Kim fits right in.

The blonde haired, brown eyed Kyle hails from Dexter, Michigan which is roughly 20 miles from where I’m currently sitting. Her videos portray her as something as a spoiled little rich girl . With that said, she is pretty and at 5′10″ one of the better suited girls. I’m curious how far she will get–probably far enough to see the shores of London (where the group will go toward the end of the show).

While Lisa’s look is by no means usual, I like her. She’s got a spark in her eyes and a unique style which should work well for her in the long run. She looks like the all-American girl–something which I think the show needs to embrace because of its connection to Cover Girl. Unfortunately she’s 24 years old and only 5′8.” She lists Ladies’ Home Journal as her favorite mag and chick flick Corrina, Corrina as her favorite movie. Bah.

Along-side Bre, Nicole is the second china doll of the group. She is so delicate and angelic–could she be too young (18) and innocent to hold up to the rigors of competition? That remains to be seen, but the 5′9″ North Dakota native should bring the Amanda-factor to the competition. We’ll see. Lastly, she lists shrimp as her favorite food. I like shrimp.

I actually like Nik a great deal more than many of the other girls based solely on looks. Her hair will be changed (because that’s what makeovers are for) but her eyes are what really draw me in. She is also short (like soooo many of the girls) But I think based on her somewhat unique face she will go further than a good handful of the rest of the forgettable blobs.

Firmly in the “why the HELL did they pick her” camp, Sarah is awful. Sure she has the whole blonde-hair, blue-eye thing down but her pictures also portray her as having bad posture and way too broad shoulders. I suspect she will be kicked aside early in the competition. The judges won’t stand for her lack of emotion or creativity.

Hubby is doing an informal interview thing today. It’s kind of freaky for both of us, I think. He enjoys working where he’s at right now and truth be told it makes no sense with a Master’s degree to jump jobs to be a tech. Again. He knows that, I know that. However, I somehow doubt that the vast majority of companies can pay techs as well as his current one.

I fully expect that JT’s next jump will be into project management to use his newly acquired degree. Of course he has to first tell his current employer he has it (he’s yet to) and he needs to also inquire about how raises work (which he hasn’t yet). I think this whole work thing is jarring to the both of us. We like things to be calm and normal. Disruption is BAD!

My weekend in Mackinaw City flew by. I always want vacations to be about 10x longer than they are if only because they seem so short. For this particular vacation, it is an annual event of camping, shopping (at “fudgie” or “troll” stores depending on who you talk to), and walking the Mackinac Bridge.

As always, it was nice. The weather was better than usual, though the wind and clear skies made beach-going impossible. Swimming that far north is always a challenge, but even moreso when it’s not 90 degrees (which is very, very rare).

For people who don’t know, the Mackinac Bridge is the third longest suspension bridge in the world. It is about five miles long and connects the lower and upper peninsula’s of Michigan. Prior to it opening, you had to take a ferry from one side of the Straits to the other. This year was the 48th for the annual Labor Day bridge walk. I think it’s about my fifth time doing it with the hubby’s family. It’s a really incredible piece of construction and is particularly impressive when you are walking across it. You can see through the grates in the road all the way to the water below. You can look up and see fabulously tall support structure/stanchions.

I went to college north of the Bridge (it’s where I met JT). In the UP we made fun of fudgies who flocked to the northern parts of the great lakes state. They bought ridiculous trinkets, ugly t-shirts, and paid actual MONEY to go on tours of the area. Even better? There was “train” (actually, an open bus of some kind) that would go around Sault Ste. Marie. They would tell visitors about the area and history. It actually went right down the main campus drag. The fudgies stared at the students as though they were caged zoo animals. It was bizarre. Oddly enough, I’ve for the first time become a fudgie. I grew up south of the bridge but not south enough to qualify. It took until I got married and moved to South East Michigan for my title to change.

I’ll upload a pic or three of the bridge some time in the future. For those of you who haven’t ever seen it, believe me when I saw that the Mackinac Bridge is quite a sight.

(by the way, right now I feel like a big ol’ nerd even mentioning this bridge–I’ve been across it hundreds of times)

It seems clear that one thing is true of Michigan–our gas prices are inflated. As far as I can tell they are among the highest right now. Prices seem to range at the low end from $3.20 a gallon to $3.50 or so at the high end. It is ridiculous. Every time I am down by just 3-4 gallons I fill up. There’s no telling HOW high it will get over the holiday weekend.

JT and I are headed to Mackinaw City for Labor Day weekend. I’m curious to see how many people bail just because of the price of gas. I figure it will cost us somewhere around $150 total to travel there and back. That’s fine–we haven’t taken a vacation this year, not that I want this annual camping trip to qualify. It will be interesting I’m sure, and I’m particularly worried that when we get there because of its remote location and “fudgie” status it’s going to already be hovering around $4.00 a gallon. Wow. Boy does Michigan like gouging during these times…