GeekFest

Turns out the event to which I've been referring for years as "The South By Southwest (SXSW) Computer Geek Festival" is actually called "SXSW Interactive." Who knew.

And no, Jeff isn't going. You know he wants to.

Okay, it's me!! I want to. :D

I'm listening to iTunes on ear-splitting volume, and the phone just rang five times while I thought it was part of the song I was listening to. Damn Europop.

We watched the TV show "Rules of Engagement" for the first time this week. It's really good! There was a whole bit with Adam and Jennifer saying they sleep in the nude. The married guy, Jeff, goes on and on about it. Watch here at 2:45 in...

Jeff: So there's no barrier between your business and your bed.
Jennifer: Correct.
Jeff: So your sheets become a giant pair of underpants.

Bwahaha! Later he calls them "filthy naked hippies." So funny.

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Hello Tuesday!

On IM--

Scotty: Have you seen the movie All About My Mother?
Me: No, what is it about?
Scotty: My mother... duh.

Buh-dum-kssshhh.

Those of you who talk to me on Messenger know my part was more "e.e. cummings-style," but yeah.

Tracy and I are getting a group together for a Segway tour around downtown Austin. Fun!! Girlfriends, if you want in, just let me know. We have a special rate (cuz we're so special).

Okay, I'm definitely seeing more dumb application notifications on my Facebook news feed than ever. Pointless messages about drinks and farms and quizzes and astrology and everything else under the sun. I keep hiding them, and more keep showing up. They're supposed to have completely disappeared. It's really weirding me out.

Big guard event this weekend. Two days of volunteering, in-laws coming into town, etc. Thank goodness it's at the beginning of Spring Break and not at the end. We're all going to be zonked!

Song Lyrics o' the Day

...I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all.
It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now.
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now.

"Need You Now" Lady Antebellum

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2010 Oscars

Congrats to my daughter, who is now a member of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica! *wild applause*

Best Oscars ever last night! Seriously! I loved Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. So funny. Also liked the written banter of the presenters, which wasn't awkward and silly like it can be. LOVED the constant references to and teasing of Gorgeous George, but his date was very fidgety and looked like she just wanted to get out of there. The introduction of the nominees of Best Actor and Best Actress by their friends and co-stars was amusing and touching, even though they took a hundred years. Loved that. The dance number was nothing short of amazing. I just thought the whole thing was entertaining and I was never bored.

NINE was nominated for art direction and costume design (along with best song and supporting actress), two things that bowled me over watching the film. I hated that everyone who won for Avatar went on and on about James Cameron's genius. I like James Cameron as much as the next person, but yeesh! Annoying! So I was all the more thrilled when Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director and Best Picture for The Hurt Locker.

I still need to see A Single Man, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds and Precious.

We just watched UP for the first time on Saturday night. It was great.

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Chi Before You Curl

While I was doing my hair this morning I remembered Jack teasing Diane about straightening her hair before she curls it. I had said, "Oh yeah. You have to straighten it first to get all the waves out or you just get frizzy curls." At which point he probably thought all women are crazy... or maybe that crazy just runs in the family. Ha!

Governmental stupidity abounds-- AISD eliminated the high school requirement of one technology class, to retain 3 semesters of PE. PE?? Give me a break. If there has to be a choice, would it not be logical to default school requirements to academics?


Sunday Stealing: Another Meme About Me

1. Are you currently in a serious relationship?
It's pretty serious, yeah. I have a ring and everything.

2. What was your dream growing up?
to be a Broadway singer or Erik Estrada's love interest on CHiPs

3. What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could play guitar. I've tried a few times, but it hurts my fingers after about two minutes.

4. If I bought you a drink, what would it be?
today--- Long Island Iced Tea. Thanks!

5. What was the last book you read?
Before The Politician (currently in progress), I read the first four chapters of Anderson Cooper's Dispatches From the Edge. Laura is gritting her teeth now. I'll give it back! I still like perusing the pictures.

6. What zodiac sign are you?
Aries, baby.

7. Any tattoos and/or piercings? Explain where.
Ears are pierced. 

8. Worst habit?
Filling out these surveys

9. What is your favorite sport?
Football!!!

10. Do you have a pessimistic or optimistic attitude?
Optimistic

11. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
Three words. Bone marrow biopsy.

12. Tell me one weird fact about you.
I played Magenta in a Rocky Horror Picture Show live cast once.

13. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
I read this as "...cute or sexy?" Eek. I think they are cute.

14. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
I would reduce my butt by one size.

15. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
Typically your conscience. Not always! I would always be your conscience in matters of actual crime though. So call me before you break any laws.

16. Ever been arrested?
Heck no.

17. If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
stick it in a college fund

18. What's your favorite place to hang out?
My back porch. There's a table and chairs and also a hot tub. A lot of great conversations take place out there. It's a screened-in area, and easy to forget you're outside, so my neighbors have probably overheard some interesting things.

19. Do you believe in ghosts?
Nah

20. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
play games. Cards, board games, video games, online games, whatever.

21. Do you swear a lot?
No, dammit

22. Biggest pet peeve?
Leaders of parent groups who quite mistakenly think they're the leaders of the free world.

23. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Fun

24. Do you believe/appreciate romance?
I'm all about the romance.

25. Do you believe in God?
Yes

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Painting... with a Twist

Last night Tracy, Tana, KathyL and I went to Painting With a Twist. It is SO FUN! You bring your own wine (or beer or whatever you like) and snacks, and paint a 16x20 picture with acrylics on canvas, under the direction of an artist. They provide glasses, openers, ice buckets, aprons and all painting supplies. They told us our piece was about an 8 on a difficulty scale of 1 to 10, and I would have preferred a 5, but it was superfun anyway. For the price, I wouldn't care if my painting turned out or not. It's just a bonus if it does.

I am very creative in many ways, but drawing and painting are not my strong suits. KathyL's was AMAZING. Yeah, I don't have a photo of hers, so you'll just have to look at mine. :p

 

Mmmmmmmmkay. It looks like a floating pink artichoke, but it's my artichoke, and by golly, I like it.

The whole class had a great time. At one point the teacher wanted us to paint the lily pads "in the shape of a chubby Frisbee." The group behind us said it sounded like a great band. Chubby Frisbee. LOL. You know you'd see them at ACL Fest. Come on now.

Saturday 9: Your Smiling Face

1. No matter what's going on in your life, what always makes you smile?
Music. Although I sometimes like to drown myself in sad music when I'm feeling down.

2. What's the biggest lie you've ever told?
I told Mrs. Walker in 3rd grade that I said "cap" and NOT "crap" as stupid Brian Cummings had accused.

3. Do you hold a grudge?
I can hold a pretty good grudge. I'm also a huge sucker for an apology. It balances out.

4. What is the worst job you've ever had?
I briefly did telephone sales for the Houston Post newspaper when I was 16. I did well and exceeded my quotas, but I hated sales, selling people something they didn't really want or need. Hated it! Also hated people hanging up on me.

5. What would be your dream job?
George Clooney's wardrobe assistant

6. What is the happiest event you've experienced?
Having Lauren. We were just SO excited! It was a truly joyous day and life has never been the same since. :D

7. What is the saddest thing you've experienced?
In 2001, I was pregnant with a son who died in utero at six months. He was completely normal, so they don't know why it happened.

8. Do you tend to exaggerate or underestimate?
I'm pretty accurate in quantifying things, although sometimes I exaggerate when I'm being sarcastic.

9. List the cars that you have owned. Give us just a few words about each one.
Mazda GLC- maroon. paid half ($600) towards it when I was a sophomore in college. It was the one the deer crashed into.
Mitsubishi Galant- also maroon. got it when I got my first real job.
Honda Accord- white. Great, reliable, suburbanite car.
Toyota Sienna- sage green. I loooooved that minivan. Almost shut Lauren in the automatic door once though. *snort* What. She's fine.
Hyundai Santa Fe- baby blue. Had tons of trouble with our particular dealer the first few weeks we owned it. The car made a funny noise when it first drove forward. They had it in a few times and replaced the transmission (on a brand new car), which also didn't fix it. Finally they told me of all the days they worked on it they had never even heard the noise I was talking about. It still makes the noise, which turned out to be a "normal sound" of the anti-lock brakes. I like the car a lot though.

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Girls Night!

On next Wednesday's episode of "Modern Family," Phil meets up with an old high school girlfriend via Facebook. Ahaha! I can't wait.

A night out with the girls tonight. There is wine and cheese and paint involved. I'll give you the review tomorrow, but we are so excited!

Friday Five: Staples

1. Of all the hundreds of sizes and shapes bread seems to come in, what is your favorite?
long and skinny??

2. What’s your favorite thing to eat with rice?
any sort of Mexican food with cilantro-lime rice. Yum.

3. What are your feelings about milk?
I only really like it on cereal, with PB&J, waffles/pancakes or cookies/cake. When I see someone just drink a glass of milk, I wanna gag.

4. What was wrapped in the tortilla you most recently ate?
beef fajita meat, grilled onions, guacamole, and pico de gallo

5. How many staplers are there in your house and where are they?
Three. One on Jeff's desk, one in a drawer next to my desk and one tiny purple one in a drawer by Lauren's desk.


Song Lyrics of the Day

He's falling in love with Jill Kotowski
And things are getting better everyday
She's blowing away the competition
She knows exactly what to say
When she walks by
Stars sing the sky
She says his name, well he's never the same again...

Bob Schneider, "Falling in Love with Jill Kotowski"

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8 Days 'Til Spring Break

This is Zachry (in honor of the Zachry Engineering Center at A&M). He's the baby I made with George Clooney at makemebabies.com. (They supposedly morph your photos together.) Cute, ain't he? I dunno. He looks like trouble.

So Ali is the new "Bachelorette." I'll watch that. I liked her.

Big hubbub at Facebook over the turning off of app notifications last Monday at 10am PST. (Thank God. It's long overdue, in my opinion.) There is even an article about how developers' traffic has dropped off significantly. But I still see the notifications! Most people don't. How is that? I should stop trying to figure out Facebook issues.

CJ had a second interview yesterday for the job she really really wants! She thinks she did well! WOOHOO!!

We watched part of this week's men's episode of AI. I still like Big Mike. Most viewers are complaining that American Idol is sucking this year. I always think the contestants suck during Top 24. To me, there are a maximum of 5 that are worthy of serious attention during each season. There's also always that one person of mediocre talent but who has another hook of some sort, like he's hot or she's got a great "story," who keeps staying on week after week. Right when you're about to stop watching because it's so ridiculous, that person gets voted off. As usual, I say, wake me when it's Top 10.

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Public Bathroom Photos

Angel started this thing a while back, when she sent a picture of herself in the mirror of the Applebee's bathroom to me on my cellphone. Too funny. Totally made my day. A few days later I got another photo message from another restaurant bathroom. Then I started sending her photos from bathrooms, and now we send them back and forth all the time. The more interesting or pretty the bathroom decor, the better of course.

Well Sunday night, Lauren, JeffC, Jeff and I went to Austin Land and Cattle for dinner. I told Lauren I was going to their most awesome bathroom to take a bathroom pic, and she came with me. We took a bunch of pictures in there. When we came out, instead of walking through the other door into the restaurant, I walked straight through the wrong door into the men's bathroom. My child did say "Hey Mom, WTH?" ...after I was standing in the bathroom! LOL. Luckily, no one was in there.

So when we got back to the table and told "the Jeffs" what had happened, they suggested that I should kick the Public Bathroom Photo Project up a notch and take photos of myself in MEN'S bathrooms.

Why, that sounds like a dare, doesn't it?

Best blog idea EVER. "Kathy in the Men's Room" with daily photos. The first one I'd want to hit would be at Mighty Fine, with the one-way mirror facing into the restaurant.

Song Lyrics o' the Day

...I survived the crash
Survived the burn
Survived the worst, yeah baby, but I learned
Survived the lies
Survived the blues
It almost killed me, but I survived the truth
...I survived you...

Clay Aiken, "I Survived You"

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More of The Politician

I'm still reading The Politician. There is one funny part with Senator Ted Kennedy. Other than that, I am just making mental tick marks of all the things John Edwards did, that had I known about them, I would never have supported the guy back in the day. I did remember the moment I noticed him and decided he was a reach-across-the-aisle sort of senator. It was the Edwards-McCain Patients' Bill of Rights (that never passed).

Again, choices that affect his personal life aside, it is his engagement in an intricate cover-up that I think affects his credibility as President. The man looked ABC reporter Bob Woodruff in the eye and without an iota of guilt or hint of dishonesty, told him his own baby daughter was not his child. A better liar there never was. Cokie Roberts says she wants people to know politicians aren't all like that, but I don't know. Most of them have the power to do what they want to.

Eh. I won't go on. I hate to start my day delving into my political disillusion.

I wish something interesting had happened yesterday. Alas! I was at home all day, doing laundry and working on websites. I did have a "small world" moment, when I found out one of the guard moms is friends with one of my friends, an old coworker from 1993. Their daughters are in the same grade in middle school.

You know you want this song in your head all morning---
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small small world.

You're welcome.

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Happy Monday

Bite me, Windows Vista. When I tell you to close an unresponsive program, and go through your 65 ridiculous popups asking if I'm sure I want to close it, you need to close it. JUST CLOSE IT. Yeesh! I don't have time for your shenanigans.

Awesome hockey game with Canada yesterday! Very exciting. Well-matched teams. Miller is a beast and totally deserves hockey tournament MVP.

Sorry to see the Olympics come to a close. It's been a fun diversion from the norm. As amazing as the opening ceremonies were, what was up with the closing ceremonies??? The show was positively hideous! "...And the always enjoyable giant inflatable beaver." Thank you, Bob Costas.

Lauren's old cheer team borrowed her cheer uniform top for competition this weekend. Too funny. It's been two years since she last competed! Same uniforms. I don't usually miss the all-day, raucous mania of all-star cheer competitions, but it was certainly fun while we were doing it. You just have to go to one to see the crazy energy I'm talking about. Lauren occasionally talks about going back, but we're much closer to getting Jaxon to join guard than for her to return to cheer.

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