What Entertains Me

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

UNREGISTEREd

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

The Ultimate Couch Potato

ESPN had a contest this year for the Ultimate Couch Potato. Now, it's not as easy as it sounds. You have to sit in your seat and watch nothing but sports, with one bathroom break every 8 hours, a 5 minute stretching break every hour, and absolutely no sleeping. Guess who won? A woman. So I guess we have a newly crowned Queen of the Couch Potatoes, after sitting in a recliner for 70 hours and 22 seconds...watching nothing but sports...that is my definition of hell.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Wile E Coyote's Legacy

More political goodness from The Daily Show:

Sooo...tired...

Going off of Mirapex has been hell. Seriously...I've tried everything under the sun, and nothing works. The rebound effect of going off of Mirapex AND Clonazepam is torture. RLS isn't life threatening, but the lack of sleep may be. The only way I've gotten any sleep is by taking some left over pain medication I have for gall bladder attacks. I've just put in a call to my doctor asking if he could prescribe something like Ultram so that I can get some sleep on a regular basis, until the worst is over. . Ugh.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Multitasking: You're Not Getting As Much Done As You Think

This morning on NPR, I heard a story about multitasking, and it seems that it's not all it's cracked up to be. According to the story,

"doing several things at once can feel so productive. But scientists say switching rapidly between tasks can actually slow us down."

I know I'm totally guilty of multitasking. Right now, I have my work e-mail open, am writing this blog entry, and am trying to look at some sample pages. Part of me knows that I'm not devoting 100% to any of these tasks. But, I've always been like this...I can't just do one thing at a time (no, I don't drive and talk on my cell...that's where I draw the line). And now I know why. Apparently, the brain gets addicted to multitasking! Great. That totally scares me, especially after reading,

"Multitasking causes a kind of brownout in the brain. [...] the lights go dim because there just isn't enough power to go around. ... So, the brain starts shutting things down — things like neural connections to important information."

There's a process called "spreading activation" that goes on when we're learning about a particular topic. So, when we multitask, the connections we were creating for, say, understanding what's being said in a complicated e-mail, get interrupted when we try to do something else in the midst of understanding that e-mail (say, read another e-mail, take a call, etc.). Thus, we have to recreate those connections in our brain when we try to go back to what we were originally doing. Efficiency goes down as a result. In short, that's making us work slower.

But, taken in small doses, multitasking isn't something we should totally discard. Like, listening to music, and doing work at the same time isn't a distraction. However, that's because it's not interrupting our consciousness, like seeing an e-mail notification might. We just have to learn to prioritize, not let those sorts of interruptions take over, and learn to say, "no, I'm not going to answer that right now."

Okay...I'll try that. Maybe my brain will thank me for it. :)

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

The Second Presidential Debate

All I have to say is...glad I didn't hear the word "maverick" come out of McCain's mouth last night. Then again, I couldn't have a drinking game like I wanted to do with the veep debate...between "maverick" and "nukyular" that night, I could have had some fun...if I'd had any alcohol present in the house, heh. But, I did hear, "change" come out of Obama's mouth a lot...but it's something I don't mind hearing. :)

RLS Update

It's been two weeks since I've tapered off of Mirapex for Restless Legs Syndrome, and I have to say it's been sheer hell. Why did I go off of it? Well, my doctor and I have reason to believe it caused me to sleepwalk during REM sleep, which is very dangerous not only for me but for my boyfriend. I was taking 2 mg of Clonazepam to keep the sleepwalking under control, but it was making me feel terrible the next day. So, I'm tapering off of that as well. I've turned to vitamin and mineral supplements. Apparently, a lack of folic acid, magnesium, and iron can cause RLS. While you can take magnesium and folic acid without any adverse effects, iron is a different story. Taking too much can cause major health problems...yikes! With that said, I've gone and had my iron tested. The results haven't come in yet, but I'm hoping it shows that I have low iron. If it does, my doctor tells me iron supplementation can help a great deal. Keep your fingers crossed!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Cause I'm the Tax Man

So...I got my tax refund, but it was wiped out by the local taxes I owed for 2007, and 1/4 of 1.5% of my estimated taxes for 2008. No fair! I have to send in quarterly taxes now, which I'm not used to. That's where one of my savings accounts comes in. I've made one into my local tax account. I'd rather make it my HDTV savings account, but oh well. Guess taxes are more important, since the tax man will get you eventually if you're not paying your taxes. Sometimes, I wish we'd have a fairer tax system (no, not the fair tax...I don't see that happening anytime soon). It'd make life easier for a lot of people, I think.

Word

I think I've met my match when it comes to word games, like Scrabble and Upwords. Yes, you guessed it...it's my new main squeeze! I was expecting to smash him, since he's more of the mathematical type of person. But he's beaten me almost every single time! And I work in publishing! I'm supposed to win, heh. Guess not, since he's beaten me by like 100 points (just one time, though). It's still fun, though, because I've never dated anyone who loved playing word games like I do. Yes, I, who am uber-competitive, do not mind losing to this guy. Hmmm...

You...Play Golf? No Way!!

I almost fell off my chair the other day when my boyfriend told me two of his bandmates were golf addicts. They do NOT look like your typical golfer...although, what does a typical golfer look like? I have no idea, really. Anyway, he mentioned he plays every now and then, which also surprised me. So who knows? Maybe I'll be buying him Titleist golf balls for his birthday or something. He's the first guy I've ever dated who's even touched a golf club...putters notwithstanding. So, we played an X-box version of golf, and you know what? I had fun! So, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe...I might try it. Now, knowing my history with sports involving hitting a ball with a racket or bat, I'm not sure how well it'll go. But I'll never know if I don't give it a shot. :)

It's Quiet...Too Quiet

Okay, so maybe I've not been watching as much TV or reading as many entertainment or gossip blogs as I used to, but doesn't it seem like it's been a long time since someone like Paris Hilton getting another DUI or Britney Spears has been out of the limelight? Isn't it about time for us to hear about Britney's latest addiction treatment? Or maybe not. I'm kinda glad that things have settled down in that respect. Of course, there will always be some celebrity scandal brewing. But for now, it seems fairly quiet in Hollywood. Must be time for something big!

Boys and Their Toys

Okay, as I may have mentioned before, I've been dating someone now for about 2 months. We met on Valentine's Day...yes, I'm not lying, it was Valentine's Day.

Anyway, so, he just bought a house in November, and he's trying to set up a home theater in his basement. He's got all of the equipment, but he doesn't have any home theater furniture. Well, he doesn't have much furniture, period. He was going to get this sofa he found "as-is" at IKEA for $110, with the slipcover. But, they sold it before he could get back with a truck to haul it in. Bummer. So, he's keeping an eye out for some cheap, decent-looking furniture for this room. Because once he does, it will be a sweet setup. I know I'll be over watching movies...that is, when he's not playing in one of his bands. :)

Click

I think I've found my hobby, finally, something that I love doing...photography. Well, I actually fell in love with it in college when I took a photography class, developing in a darkroom and all. I had my parents ancient Konica manual focus camera, when everyone else had their parents' SLRs. I felt slightly inadequate at first, until my art professor practically drooled over my camera, telling me it was a classic. That made me feel a little better. Then I started taking pictures and developing them, and I started feeling really, really good about it. Granted, I had no flash, so all of my pictures were in broad daylight. But, I found some really interesting subject matter that lent itself to great pics (black and white, mind you). When I had to display my portfolio, one of the other art professors was very taken with a lot of my work, and told me I should think about pursuing a career in photography. I would have loved to, but I didn't have access to a dark room, or any of the equipment for developing film. So, I dropped it.

Fast forward to 2008, when I started dating someone who plays in two local bands (In Ten Cities and The Smoky Basement Project). I started taking pictures of the shows with my fairly decent Kodak, which has manual settings for f-Stops, apertures, shutter speed, etc. But because the shows are all in very low-light conditions, I've been having to use flash, which takes away some of the ambience of the lighting that's used. Enter the Olympus E-Volt E-510, which I fell in love with online and bought this weekend. It's shipping next week (thank you, Dell...what, are you building it or something??). My next step is to find some classes I can take, especially using Photoshop (really interested in swapping out backgrounds).

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

It's About Time!

Next Friday, I finally...FINALLY...get to see a dermatologist. I made the appointment back in December. He's apparently one of the best in the city. He better be, after waiting this long. I'll be curious to see what sort of acne treatment he'll put me on. I'm hoping he'll try aldactone, a diuretic which is similar to the progesterone that's in Yasmin, also known to me as the "Miracle Worker" for my skin (not so much for my mood, though). A friend of mine used to go to him and said he's a big fan of Accutane...so I'm hoping he doesn't want to jump straight to that. I really, really don't want to go on it, unless nothing else works. My general practitioner has me on topical clindamycin, which I combine with benzoyl peroxide. And that works to clear up my breakouts, but not to control them, unfortunately (namely the cystic stuff which is totally hormonal). So, wish me luck!

Time after Time

The other day, I was going through my jewelry box and drawer, and I realized I have a TON of watches...a TON. But, none of them works. I've been too lazy to get the battery replaced in any of them. So now I'm wearing a cheap digital watch, which has actually lasted longer than any of the luxury watches I have (well okay, they're not luxury watches like Tag Heuer, but they are nice). How about that, sports fans? My favorite is my Anne Klein II watch, and I keep meaning to take it to a jeweler to replace the battery. But, as with most things in my life, I procrastinate...so it's just sitting there, gathering dust.

Bargain Shopping

So I've been scouring clearance racks lately (Target, I love you!), and that's always fun...especially when I accidentally rifle through racks that have maternity clothing on them! Whoopsie! Although I have to say, maternity clothes have come a long way. Some are really, really cute! If I ever do get pregnant, at least I know I'll be able to look stylish...although after 9 months, I'm sure that'll be the last thing I care about, heh. If my pregnancy is anything like my mother's...well, I'll be very, very pregnant at 9 months, so I'll be lucky if anything fits! But that's not something I have to worry about...although I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be worrying about it sometime soon. Maybe someday, I will. :)

Paris Hilton's Grade Card

Tonight I saw this little report on Paris Hilton, and how well she's done on her pledges to help create halfway housing for women, do more for MS, work with children, not drive drunk, and not party as much. Well, she's actually cut down on the partying, and she hasn't driven drunk. But the other pledges? Hasn't done a thing with them. Oh well, I guess she can only do so much with her time and money, right? Damn. At least she hasn't been in alcohol rehab or anything, but still. You'd think she might have made a little more effort on some of the causes she said she'd champion. Maybe once she gets older, she will. Or is that too much to ask, too? Who knows.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Bouncy Bounce Bounce

More exercise equipment is the last thing I need, you know? But, I'm thinking that a mini trampoline might be a good thing to have to drag out into the living room so I can jog in place and watch a little TV, now that the shows I love are going to be back on. Actually, I've gotten hooked on The Riches on FX. My boyfriend gave me his DVDs of last season, so I'm sitting here watching the first two shows. Wow, I sure missed a good first season! This is good stuff! And, there are no commercials to deal with. Woo hoo!

Free Samples!

I'm a sucker for samples, promotional products, anything that I like I can get for free, I'm all for it. One time I bought $50 worth of stuff from Beauty.com just so I could get samples of stuff from Philosophy, Stila, Kinerase, and a plethora of other things I can't even remember. Was it worth it? Oh yeah. I also got a nice little red patent leather bag for makeup that I now can't live without. I think there were a total of 12 samples of stuff, which is a lot if you think about it. Some were almost full-size. Bonus! I haven't seen anything like it since then, but if I do and I have some extra cash...I'll be sure to get it.

Mazes and Jungles

The other day, I was in one of my company's server rooms, and I was blown away. I had no idea what one really looked like...a jungle of blade servers, towers, CAT6 cables, etc. And it was freezing cold, but apparently that's the way it's supposed to be. If it gets hot, that's a bad, bad thing. Anyone who can manage a room full of these things has got to be mechanically minded, because I have no idea how they tell one thing from another. It's a maze that I have no desire to get lost in, that's for sure.