Why Can't Weekends Last Longer???

So this was the end to another wonderful weekend. The weather is finally nice, and I hope it stays this way for a while so all of the snow melts! We enjoyed a nice lunch today at a tasty Mexican place by our house- can we say Margaritas!!! Yum. I just wish the weekend was one day longer. It would make life less stressful! Think about it... 3 day weekends, every weekend. Boy that would be nice.

So I've noticed that some people deem it necessary to drive like assholes down the street in front of our house, now mind you our street is one block long. I bet some go 60 mph. So today's rant is about idiot drivers. Driving wayyyyy too fast is not going to get you places a whole lot faster, it is dangerous, and it is just plain stupid. There's no reason for you to go 60 down a side street, only to come to a stop sign. Hello dumbass, there's 2 schools nearby and a university all within 1/4 mile of each other!! People will be walking. This goes with driving like an idiot in the snow, texting on your cell while driving, and running stop lights intentionally. You know who you are. You need to have your licenses taken away!

So chew on that thought. I'm off to bed, to get a good night's sleep and be ready for another work week. I hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend.

Super Bowl, Obesity, and Reading.

Hey kids- I slacked all weekend and didn't even post anything. Lame, I know. But I'm back. I'm sure that many people watched the Super Bowl over the weekend. And this is where my rant begins.

Daily RANT:
OK, if you're going to have the Super Bowl on your channel, you might want to make sure that the picture quality isn't crap!!! NBC had a weird feedback from sound and a picture that was like watching TV in the 80's. Way to blow it NBC. It was like this for the entire game. You'd think they'd try their hardest to fix this problem, but nooooo we had to watch the entire Super Bowl in the crappiest picture quality out of any channels on TV. NBC you suck. Along with CNN, who on inauguration day completely underestimated how many people would be utilizing their site to see the inauguration (because most of us were at work) and I couldn't even get on to see it, thankfully the BBC had a feed that worked (funny since they are WORLDWIDE and NOT EVEN AN AMERICAN CHANNEL).
I pretty much think NBC blew it this year. I also thought the commercials were disappointing. I mean, you'd think they would have just been amazing since they are supposed to be attracting people to their products in this horrible economy. You know who didn't advertise during the Super Bowl? McDonalds. I didn't see them. I also didn't see any banks, or other restaurants in general. I know it's expensive, but seriously? Not even one ad? I was shocked.
Speaking of McDonalds, we ate there yesterday while running errands. I was incredibly disappointed. The fries were super salty. My bf's quarter pounder had a splash of mustard and a lone slice of pickle. Weak. I don't even know what I'm complaining for, it's not like you ever feel good after eating there. I always feel like a big pile of dog crap afterwards, which is why it is a rare occurrence (maybe once a month at most).
My other rant is that when you go to Walmart, do you not find it annoying that people who weigh about 400 pounds ride around on scooters in there and then you watch them stand up off of the Scooter to reach the chocolates or chips on the top shelf?? WTF!!!! I mean, my ass could stand to lose a few (which is why I am starting back at the gym and going to stick to it) but I do not need to ride around on a scooter because it's so big I can't walk. I just think that America has a serious situation when this is happening. And they take up the whole aisle!!! I mean, I have absolutely no sympathy for them. At all. I get angry when you see someone who is grossly obese on TV talking about how rough life is for them and the discrimination they face then you watch them consume more in one meal at a fast food joint than you would in a week. Seriously? I wonder why people think you're a disgusting pig. You obviously brought it on yourself if you think a meal at McDonald's is 5 cheeseburgers, 2 large fries, a large soda, and 20 Chicken McNuggets. Sick. Now I know why I'm a little chubby. I drink too much beer, I eat junk, and I don't work out nearly enough. I am hoping that eating better and working out will do the trick. If it doesn't seem to be doing a whole hell of a lot, then I need to cut out some beer (I know what you're thinking- ha, Dee cutting beer from her diet, that's a good one). At least I sit and try to figure out how to get myself into shape. So today's thought is, put down the ho ho, pick up the banana, and get yourself to the nearest treadmill. Sidewalks, escalators, and airplane seats will thank you.

RAVE
Today's rave of the day is actually (and quite ironically) about food. The first food item is the Chicken Pizziola sub from Subway! Yummy. And it's a 5 dollar footlong. 2nd... Mac and Cheese!! My favorite comfort food, and I had some this weekend. What a yummy meal. I only eat it once and a while, since we tend to cook good hearty homemade meals daily. I also made homemade beef stew this weekend. It turned out great... I love my crockpot!!!
Funny how my rave is much shorter than my rant....

So on to book reading.....

I'm still working on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which is becoming really really intense and I am mad that work is interfering with my reading time. It is one of the better books I've read in a long time. The mystery is a pretty dark story involving murder and some gruesome connections to other horrific murders. I will give the full review hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday on it. I'm hopefully going to start The Yiddish Policemen's Union soon or The Other Queen, which both are at home and haven't yet been touched. So I've got lots of reading ahead of me.

I am almost done with my first sweater (crocheting that is). I have one sleeve left!!! I'm excited, this is my first sweater and it turned out pretty good thus far. I am working on a sweater for my goddaughter as well, it's a cute pink one... it's about halfway done. I'm using a pattern from one of my new crochet books: Positively Crochet!

I made a pretty sweet hat this weekend too that will be for sale on Etsy. So keep your eyes peeled.

Until next time,

~D.

Books, Rants, Raves, and Going to Hell!

Book Review....
The book I'm presently reading, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, is translated from Swedish (yes Swedish!) and has been an international bestseller. I thought I'd give it a shot since everyone is talking about this book. The story is centered around a man named Mikael Blomkvist who is disgraced in his profession as a financial journalist after his article of a powerful businessman ends up in court. He takes on a job of writing the autobiography of an elderly man who at one time was quite powerful in business and more importantly, solving the unsolved mystery of the disappearance of the elderly man's niece many years ago. It has been pretty good so far, but I am only halfway into the book, so it's hard to say how it's going to go!

Todays Rant....
People who think they walk on water. This week, a person didn't get the assignment they wanted for their senior projects and proceeded to stand in the middle of the classroom and cry for 40 minutes straight while I lecture. We are talking about someone who is 21, maybe older. They cried because they were human bio and they got stuck in an ecology project. If this person handled this differently, perhaps I'd feel sympathy but since they acted like a child, I feel nothing but irritation for them now. How childish!! Instead of crying, which is solving nothing, go talk to faculty about it, I'm just the messenger and not their permanent mentor. It seems to me that too many wealthy kids go to small private schools and expect preferential treatment, and I'm already getting tired of it. Don't tell me how hard your life is when you're carrying around a Coach bag that I know costs at least $450 big ones and wearing a Juicy Couture Hoodie. I mean come on, what do you take me for, a complete idiot? So many students are like that and I just don't understand why. Being a spoiled brat will not get you very far in life.

Rave of the Day....

So even though I went to Madison this past weekend, I have to say there are few things that make me love that town. So here's a list of wonderfulness of Madison-
1. Potbelly (which is a chain but I love eating there, and much to my surprise, there's one not far from my house, which makes me happy!!) A delicious little sandwich shop- pizza sandwich= yummy!!
2. State Street as a whole- makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
3. Urban Outfitters- one of the better Urban Outfitter stores I think that I've been to, and they had huge sales.
4. Bop- Gotta love designer, even though for the moment I'm really too broke to buy much...
5. Madison Sole- Earthy shoes, such as Keens, which I bought there weekend and LOVE. Keens are wonderful.
6. The Capital Building at night. Even though it was -15 with windchill Saturday night my honey and walked downtown and took in the amazing view of the capital building with the lights on it. Pretty nice to look at I think.
7. The Old-Fashioned- A place that makes good actual old-fashioneds, their classic brandy one using Korbel. They were delicious.
8. UW- Sigh, the campus is so awesome, it just made me itch for my Ph.D. even more.

Crafting
As you may or may not know, I've gotten into crocheting over the past couple of years, and I've been crocheting like crazy. I made a scarflette last night and I'm going to make some other things this weekend. It's a great way to relax!!!! And have fun. You can see my etsy page here.
I think my big project is going to be making a blanket. We need a new bedspread anyhow!!

I also write articles every so often, and this was one I wrote on Helium.com (it's more a of a recreational activity than anything) for a humor piece. The category was "Things I'll Go To Hell For". Feel free to leave comments on things you just might go to hell for.

Things I'll Go To Hell For
I once told someone "I'm going to hell, who's coming with me!?" in response to them telling me that because I believed in evolution I was going to hell. Now I really never thought that believing evolution over creation was a one way ticket to hell, I mean realistically, does that really rank up there with all of the other reasons why I probably will end up in hell?
People tell me that I'm nice and fun to be around. Little do they know that the smile on my face is there because of something idiotic they did or how they look. I don't look like a supermodel by any means, and I'm sure people have gotten a few good laughs at my expense, but honestly, if you have to buy a tube top in the plus size section, you shouldn't wear it unless you want me secretly making up nicknames that relate to large aquatic mammals about you. Step away from the tube tops and pick up the t-shirt. Do it for the children.
I toss out most charity info I get. United Way? Trash it. Save the Ocean fund? Recycle bin. Why do I need to donate the little money I have to something else? I should have a fund set up that people can donate to. I'm sorry but when I can barely afford to pay the bills and pay for food, I shouldn't be expected to donate money to anyone. My favorite is the Universities I went to sending me solicitations for donations to the "Alumni fund". I'm sorry, the $50,000 you milked me for in graduate school wasn't enough? Or the $10,000 in student fees I paid as an undergraduate? I could have bought a damn nice car by now, or a yacht, that I could have taken to hell, or at least to somewhere warm. Take your alumni fund and join me in hell, money grubbers.
I really don't care for most people's children. Unless you are a friend of mine or a family member, your snotty nosed kid needs to stop staring at me and get a bath. I hate being in a grocery store, and some stranger's kid is screaming. Shut it up already! I'm sure when I have children it'll be different, but I like to think that I will not allow my child to escalate to that point. Now my friends and family who have children, I love every one of them. I just don't give a flying rip about some stranger's kid. Most of them are ugly. Somehow all of my friends ended up with beautiful babies. I'm sure mine will be beautiful someday too, and the combination of my vainness of these said children and my annoyance of stranger's kids probably is sending me to hell.
I'm going to hell, who's coming with me? At least in hell, I can toast marshmallows. See you there!

Until next time-

~D.