Online Dating Tips for Guys

Most single people I know have met at least one person "online" in the last few years. Most women I know have had to endure pick-up lines annoying e-mails the likes of which never graced a bar or a church mixer. With that in mind, here are a few tips for guys who honestly are looking for someone online. I know most mean well, but it's hard for us to tell the nice ones from the freaks so we have to go by limited information supplied in a personal ad or first contact e-mail. So, here you go. I hope they help. At the very least, they will help you try to date me, and really, that's all I care about. :)

• When writing an ad, do not put "Any" as acceptable for height, weight, job, etc. etc. etc. such as can be found on Match.com ads. Women read all of those "Anys" as "Looking for sex". Besides, if we aren't what you're looking for, you're really just wasting our time and yours, only put the "Anys" for those you really don't care about.
  
• When contacting a woman for the first time, do not, in any way, shape, or form refer to, or brag about your sexual prowess. Most of us have figured out that guys who brag that much are all talk anyway. Women read this type of bragging as "Looking for sex".
  
• If you wouldn't say it to a woman's face in a bar, don't e-mail or IM it. It won't get you anywhere.
  
• Don't post a picture of your penis on your profile. We read that sort of thing as "Looking for sex".
  
• Don't sob about your ex in your first e-mail. We're not stupid. We know that you're looking for sympathy, and looking for sympathy might as well be "Looking for sex".
  
• OK, even if you're not looking for sex by trying to get us to feel sorry for you, don't sob about your ex, it's just not becoming of a human and we certainly don't want to be picking up the pieces for someone we just met, we've got girlfriends to do that for.
  
• If you are a long-term resident of an English speaking country, (including, but not limited to: US, UK, or Canada) please learn the language. We don't ask for exactly perfect grammar and excellently formed sentences, but for crying out loud, don't make us think that you just stepped out of your first ESL class this morning. Learn the differences between "your and you're" and "they're, there, and their" oh, and "to, two, and too". Look up the meaning of "double negative" and banish it from your repertoire. Above all else; looks, personality, humor, age, and all the other things I look for in a man, I WILL NOT put up with stupidity. If you use double negatives frequently, you sounds stupid, whether or not you really are.
  
• If, by some grace of the Gods, we actually respond to your first e-mail, do not take a week to respond and explain the lapse with "Sorry, I've just responded to SO many ads, I lost yours in the shuffle..."
  
• If I say I am looking for a single, white, 26-34 y/o, male with no kids, 5'10"+, big & cuddly, in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and you are a married, 40 y/o, with 8 kids, skinny as a rail, and living outside of Poughkeepsie, do not expect a reply from me.
  
• For crying out loud, get a different e-mail address/screen name than "bigstud6969"
  
• Don't tell us you're 6', blond, blue-eyed, and well muscled if you aren't. If you are, no problem, but don't lie. Some of us don't want ripped guys. I personally like cuddly guys, so if you're cuddly but lie and tell me you've got a 6-pack, that's 2 strikes because 1. I don't like 6-pack type guys and 2. I don't like liars.
  

OK, that should be enough to get you started. I will post more as I think of them. Have fun storming the castle.

Why oh why oh why

Is it not Friday yet? Sob... I want Friday.

Oh... someone gave my roomie Grand Theft Auto III awhile back. This game - not for children. Hence, the M/Mature rating. Not for some adults even, but hey, I guess it's your right as an adult to choose your own entertainment. I swear I can't drive a car in this game for more than 100 feet without hitting something, and not that I intend to do it. (always) Despite driving around this game like a drunken monkey on Crystal Meth I have actually managed to complete a few missions... unless they are timed... can't seem to do very good with getting a car fitted with a bomb and back (in perfect condition) inside of the time given, nor can I get enough hookers over to the Policeman's ball in time. Oh thank the Gods I don't have kids and can waste time doing shit like that. Oops. Gotta go to work.

Laugh, Snort, Chortle

Making fun of stupid people is... well, fun!

See Dick. See book. Read Dick, read!

Things That Annoy Sabrina

For no particular reason, in no particular order.

• The local Jewel Food Store. These guys are morons. You couldn't find anything in this damn store because nothing was organized according to common sense or any other Jewel store or other grocery store. They have recently "remodeled" the store to update it, make it look like their newer stores, and presumably, to make stuff easier to find. They've accomplished just the opposite. It is now even HARDER to find things than it was before. And for some reason, it's only the Antioch Jewel, I have no problems with the other Jewels.
  
• People who sit stand in the middle of a grocery aisle, blocking the whole thing, reading a food label, and are oblivious to everyone else and apparently deaf as well because "Excuse me" doesn't do a damn thing
  
• People who think they can get on the elevator/bus/train before I get off
  
• People who stand at the top of an escalator (or bottom depending on which way it's headed) and take no notice of people behind them wanting to get on
  
• Drivers who use turn signals to go around a curve. What's up with that? Did they think I wasn't going to figure out which way they were headed?
  
• Double negatives
  
• People who don't understand that those in the main aisle of the grocery store have right-of-way to those turning out of a side aisle.
  

There's lots of other stuff, but it's late and I'm tired. I'll post more as the future rolls on.

Bob Hope

CNN.com - Bob Hope dead at 100 - Jul. 28, 2003

Wow. Bob Hope died last night. He had a long life, I hope he felt it was a good one. We've lost an icon.

The Matrix

This is just too funny not to share. http://www.astercity.net/~tobik/pingpong.html

More Blog Updates

BlogPatrol has decided not to work for me. I don't know why, and neither do the folks at BlogPatrol. So, I've switched to another service(s). The first one is eXTReMe Tracking which tracks pretty much everything. Another is a basic counter from Microsoft. I figure if they are giving something away for free, I better jump on it. I'm supposed to tell two people about their free service. Consider yourself told.

And now for something more light hearted. A friend of mine sent me this, it's funny.

TWENTY-FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED BY THIS POINT IN YOUR LIFE

1. If you're too open-minded, your brains will fall out.
   
2. Don't worry about what people think; they don't do it very often.
   
3. Going to church doesn't make you religious any more than standing in a garage makes you a mechanic.
   
4. It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.
   
5. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
   
6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
   
7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
   
8. It is easier to obtain forgiveness than permission.
   
9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite Government program.
   
10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.
    
11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.
    
12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.
    
13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
    
14. Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.
    
15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
    
16. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
    
17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.
    
18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
    
19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.
    
20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.
    
21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
    
22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.
    
23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.
    
24. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.
    
25. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.
    

Tomb Raider 2: A Review

OK this movie isn't going to win any awards, first off. Except maybe for visual effects, and erect nipples. Is there an erect nipples award? If there was, Angelina Jolie would win it. How can you be that cold throughout most of the movie? Put a sweater on that girl, jeez. Anyway, if you like action, adventure, nipples, and aren't too concerned with plot holes you could drive Angelina Jolie's nipples through, then go see this movie. If you want something that will be historically accurate, or even make some kind of hint as to any kind of history at any time in Earth's past (this is about an archeologist, afterall) then you will be sorely dissapointed. Rent an Indiana Jones movie if that's what you want, at least the attempt at a plot line, historical accuracy, and heat on the set was made.

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

OK, actually, I didn't get any answers to my question yet. Truth be told it's only been 20 minutes since last I posted. BUT I did find something that does exactly what I want it to do. I don't know why I couldn't find it before. Anyway, I found it on Erik Benson's All Consuming site. If you would like a similar thing for your site, go there and check it out. Also, be sure to check out my "What I'm Reading" over to the left there. Spiffy, isn' it?

All These Ideas And No Talent To Make Them Happen

I really wish I knew something about developing and API. So many weblogs I've been to have "What I'm Reading Now" links on them. Usually they go to Amazon.com's site to the book they are reading now. I wish someone would come up with some kind of thing where I don't have to go into the template itself to update this. Just some lines of Javascript, then I go to another site, update it easily, badda bing badda boom, there's the new book I'm reading on my weblog. I've tried to find out if someone else has something out there already created for this purpose, but I haven't found anything. If I had any talent for this kind of developing, I'd make one myself. Sigh... I hate being helpless. Perhaps I'll just have to figure it out.

Blogger Problems

If you visited last night you probably noticed that my blog was FUBARd. I'm still not sure why, but I'm fairly certain that Blogger changed what goes between the < Blogger > tags. I've fixed it now, so all is OK again. I know some of you panicked for awhile, not knowing where to go to get all of your Sabrinainfo, but you can relax now, all is fine.

Santa Convention

CNN.com - Santas' workshop held in Denmark - Jul. 24, 2003

Oh boy. Can you just imagine the stupid Santa jokes told at this thing? And who's the "famous" Santa? You know, the one Santa in the "field" who all the other Santas look up to. Do you suppose they have Santa networking events? Santa workshops? How do you teach Santa to "think out of the box" and to overcome "silos"? When Santa returns to the office, does he have to submit a report to the other Santas who were not able to attend on what he learned from his experience? Do they compare notes as to who's on "the list"? I wonder if there's a "toy workshop" on what's expected to be hot this Christmas. How about one on how to keep warm while delivery presents. Or supply management. Do you think they turn there noses up at that Santa that has been appearing in the UPS commercials these last few years and shipping his presents? Perhaps they have vendors for cookies, reindeer food, and the latest in sled technology. I really feel bad for Santa's Administrative Assistant, this must be a bitch and a half to schedule. Of course, I suppose airfare wouldn't need to be booked, Santa could just hitch up the reindeer and fly himself in.

The Friday Five

From The Friday Five

1. If your life were a movie, what would the title be? Uh... How about Sabrina Faire you could name it after my blog!
   
   
2. What songs would be on the soundtrack? Definately Meredith Brooks' Bitch that would be the opening song I think
   
   
3. Would it be a live-action film or animated? Why? Live action. People don't take cartoons seriously and I don't like Anime
   
   
4. Casting: who would play you, members of your family, friends, etc? Like all good movies, a break-out cast of unknowns would be best
   
   
5. Describe the movie preview/trailer. It would be one of those that hints at everything, reveals nothing, and makes you really want to see the movie. And no commercials would be played before my movie either.
   

Bumpectomy II: The Crater

I now have a crater in my mouth where my bump used to be. Oh well, it's still healing, and it doesn't hurt, so I'm OK for now. I just can't eat anything too spicy or hot, no seeds (there goes my McD's #4 runs), and no popcorn. Of course the one time I actually have popcorn in the house, I can't eat it. Oh, and I have to rinse my mouth out with this gawd-awful stuff. Now, it isn't quite as bad as Listerine, but it's not much better. Plus it leaves this horrid taste in your mouth for hours. I woke up this morning with it still there. Had to rinse again before going to work. Needless to say, my buttered toast wasn't quite as tasty this morning. I'm beginning to think that the entire medical community is in conspiracy. The doctors want you to eat healthier. This means eating nothing of substance or taste. They've got the dentists on their side too, probably paid them off. The dentists are destroying our taste buds so that it won't matter what we're eating. If you can't tell the difference between a Chicago-Style deep dish sausage pizza (with extra cheese) from Lou Malnati's and a Quaker Oat's rice cake, you'll probably go for the cheaper option. I would. If I couldn't tell the difference. Thankfully, there IS a difference, and I'll choose Lou's any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Blogs I read
Yes, I do read other people's blogs. Occasionally I find one that I like (and where the author can string together a few words to create these things I like to call sentences) and find interesting and/or amusing. That may have been a run-on sentence. May the grammar gods strike me. Anyway, I ran across another one the other day. Simply by clicking on a random blog that Blogger displayed on it's home page as recently being updated. The blog is called TV Is My Drug of Choice, and the author is quite funny. I find myself laughing out loud at many entries, and I've added it to my BlogRoll. Check her out.

Bumpectomy

I survived the Bump Extraction. I am now Sans-Bump. Let me share this experience with you. First off, the dental assistant, henceforth known as the asst, put a nice yellow dental bib around me and included a white cloth on top of it. I assumed this was to catch the blood. The Dr. comes in, chit chats for a bit, then starts. Here's something good. They wanted me to keep my eyes closed - no complaints from this end - and added a warm moist cloth to my forehead and eyes. This was very nice since I was already sweating. I made a joke about being in "first class" and asked where the Mrs. Field's Cookies are. Aren't I clever? Right. So anyway, they start off spraying what's called "Topical Anesthesia" to the roof of my mouth. That may be their word for it but I call it "The Devil's Hot and Terrible Tasting Juice". Yuck. Why don't they flavor that shit? Apparently they do, that was called "cherry". Perhaps that's what cherry tastes like to someone who's had all of their taste buds forcibly removed one by one and is still bleeding and bitter from the experience. Then comes the *real* anesthesia. The shot. I was glad they covered my eyes. I'm sure from past dental experiences that this thing was long and it was going to hurt. It pinched a little bit, but actually hurt less than when I've gotten fillings in the past. He let me numb up for a minute or two and started. I know there was some kind of contraption inserted into my mouth and somehow, the thing was removed. As I said with the cloth over my eyes, I couldn't see anything. I thought it was going to last quite awhile and figured they'd been doing their thing for no more than 15 minutes when the Dr. asked the asst for sutures. Surely, this couldn't be over this quickly, I thought! But it was. They remove the bib and then the moist cloth, and pressed the do-hickey to raise my chair. That was it. I really wanted a to tell you all a full story about how they strapped me down, blinded me with some unholy light and brought a machine into the room that resembled the one that Darth Vader tortured Princess Leia with. That would have been much more interesting, wouldn't it? Alas, it isn't. So now I'm home. It hurts a little bit, but not horrendously. I took some Tylenol and had a quick nap. There's a indentation in my mouth and I can feel the ends of the stitches hanging down, but that's the most annoying thing. My mouth was very sensitive to the cold of the water when I took the Tylenol, but other than that, I'm OK.

Now, I do have some theories as to what my bump was. I won't know for certain until the biopsy comes back in a couple of weeks but, I am willing to make some guesses:

• An alien life form sent here to study our culture from the inside of my mouth.
  
• An experimental tracking device implanted in secret by the Department of Homeland Security
  
• A second head
  
• Some kind of mutated life form as yet undiscovered on this planet, though native to it, as one might have found on the X Files
  
• Public housing for mouth bacteria
  
• The Incredible Journey gone horribly awry
  

Well, we'll see what the tests show. Feel free to share your own theories. That "Comment" link ain't just for decoration! :)

Monday, Monday

Oy. It was a Monday. Let me ask you this, why oh why oh why are people who are supposed to be MANAGERS simply unable to keep their Lotus Notes calendars up to date??? Is this so flipping hard? You get an invite. You open it. You check your calendar. Based on availability, you accept or decline. This isn't rocket science people, hell it isn't even DOS. It's not like you have to know the commands to do this, it's a GUI interface, figure it out. Oh, and if you're traveling for business, mark yourself as out of the office, unless you really want to have meetings while on the airplane.

Tomorrow Dr. Borello is going to Borello into the roof of my mouth and root this bugger out. I'm sure that will be fun. I get local anesthesia and he's going to freeze it. It'll hurt anyway. My day off will be shot but that's the whole reason why I'm taking the day off. Ugh. Hopefully I'll be conscious tomorrow afternoon to give you all an update. I know you'll all be checking my blog every two minutes to see how I'm doing. :) C'mon, let's push that BlogPatrol counter up to 200!!!

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (or at least yesterday was...)

I went to a picnic yesterday with some former work buddies. The weather was loverly. Upper 70s, sunny, and a bit of a breeze to cool things down. Great times with great friends. We went up to Lake Geneva because one of our work buddies now lives in Madison, and we figured that was about half way from where we all live. It worked out good, Lake Geneva traffic was no worse than what I've dealt with down here in Lake County. :)

However, just as I can see the positive in a bad situation, I can also see the negative in a good. The state of Wisconsin is on my list today. Specifically, their Department of Natural Resources. BTW - what do they mean by that? Cheese? Bratwurst? Bad Drivers? Who's to say. Anyway, we've been planning this picnic for quite awhile and the WI DNR has a website for all of their state parks. Fabulous. So we looked up info on this park, looks nice. However, when we get there, we find that 1. There's an entrance fee per car and 2. There's no garbage cans, if you carry it in, you have to carry it out. Now, I can partly understand the second one as I have seen people drive into a park like this specifically to rid themselves of their household trash. But considering the first point, I was a bit ticked. Their website doesn't mention a fee, neither did the gal when I called about information two days before. That's something to mention don't you think? I think this is nuts. I've been to several parks in the Lake County Forest Preserve district and Illinois State Parks and they don't charge for any of them! Wisconsin income tax is higher, you would think they could come up with a way to offset this. I also have to say that the IL parks are nicer. There. I said it. Wisconsin, you suck. Oh, and then there's something else - the address listed on their website is their mailing address. Somehow you're just supposed to know that this is not the location of the main entrance and that the main entrance is more than 2 miles away from the mailing address. Good thing a friend of mine found this out and call on my cell. That's when she told me about the entrance fee. $10. I had about $4 on me, certainly not enough to cover it. So they had to lend me money. I hate borrowing money. Wisconsin sucks. Bottom line, no getting around it, the cheeseheads suck. Unfortunately, I live quite close to them. Just below the cheese curtain you could say. Close enough to smell the cheese. I could walk there. Better, I could spit there. /evil grin/ I hope the Bears kick the hell out of the Packers this season. Please please please make it so!!!!

Happy Bloggerversary To Me!!!!

Today is the one month birthday of my blog. ::sniff:: they grow up soooo fast. Yet in that short month, so many things have changed. I've had five templates, added comments, Blogroll, Blogsnob, updated the "What I'm reading" three times, published my "100 Things About Sabrina", thinking about doing 100 More Things, and in general had a good time. Anyway, thanks to all my visitors, regular, irregular, about to run out for some Milk of Magnesia, etc. I may post something more verbose, prolific, or insert other fancy word here later. Tonight I and two friends are going to my small suburban town's "Taste of Summer" Woo. We're gonna Trip the Light Fantastic.

What kind of sword are you?

Or, per the SNL skit... what kind of S Word are you?

Results...:
You are a claymore! Large sharp, double-edged,
your very name means great. If you have one
weakness it is that you're heavy and
cumbersome.


What kind of sword are you?
brought to you by Quizilla"

Musings

Fun with Phone Mazes
Got home from work. No power. Probably due to thunderstorms in area. Call ComEd.
Thank you for calling Commonwealth Edison. /insert something in Spanish here/ To inquire about your bill, press 2, to report an outage, press 3
3
Please enter your ten digit phone number starting with the area code
8 4 7 # # # # # # #
You entered 8 4 7 # # # # # # #. If this is correct, press 1
1
Thank you. To inquire about your bill, press 2, to report an outage, press 3
3
Please enter your ten digit phone number starting with the area code
8 4 7 # # # # # # #
You entered 8 4 7 # # # # # # #. If this is correct, press 1
1
Thank you. To inquire about your bill, press 2, to report an outage, press 3
3
I kid you not, I did this little run around at least three or four times. I can't make this stuff up. Finally I get a Thank you, we are transferring you to a customer service representative. Your call is very important to us. Your approximate wait time is one minute (I hope you did the little electronic voice thing when you read "one minute")
So I talk to a rep. And I'm sure she thinks I'm a moron b/c you're supposed to be able to check on the status of an outage through the automated system. Now I have to bother her and take time away from a customer that probably has a real problem. Grrr. She was very nice though, and patient. Not at all like the reps over at SBC/Ameritech.
Obviously, the power came back on. I keep trying to save money and energy by powering this beast using a contraption that would resemble something out of a Looney Toons episode -- think rodent in a wheel, a candle, and a bowling ball. I just haven't been able to make it work for me.

Fun with Crazy World Leaders
I have to share this. De, of It's All About De fame linked to this entry, and I have to link to it too, it's just too amusing. Top Ten Ways To Diplomatically Deal with North Korea

The King of Idiots is just a Bigger Idiot
In case you're just joining us, I work for a big company. We e-mail a lot. Most communication is done electronically. The problem with this is that once in awhile it's necessary to send an e-mail out to a large group of people. Most e-mails pass without issue. Every once in awhile some moron not only replies to the e-mail but hits "Reply To All". Usually something that the 50 some odd people that the original e-mail went to didn't need to know. Like "Sure" or "Why did I get this e-mail?". Our Information Systems department has repeatedly told people not to do this. They've sent out tips on how to avoid this when you're the original sender, how to avoid replying to all by accident, etc. But today, a similar e-mail was sent out. One of the recipients was our very own Chief Information Officer, aka the head of the IS department. And what did he do, what. Yes, that's right, you guessed it, he hit reply to all to 50 some odd people, cluttering up their inboxes, wasting system resources, and just flat out being annoying. No wonder we've decided that IS actually stands for Idiot Systems.

Self Injury #472

The scene: My living room. My house is old. And perhaps when it was built 70 some odd years ago it wasn't done with the best methods. Case in point: My living room has a hard wood floor. Real hard wood, not Pergo, hard wood. Unfortunately, it was built in two halves. The first half slants upwards, and the second half slants downwards. The result is a point in the middle of the room. We deal with it as we can. Nothing can straddle the point and for the most part we've adapted. The couch is near the point. That's where I was sitting, watching Law & Order.

What happened: As I said, the house is old. So is the floor. Because of the point created, the edge of the wood is exposed. Tonight, it struck. I shifted in my seat on the couch, moving my foot backwards just a touch. The result was an inch long and quite thick splinter going straight into the back of my heel. Ouch. Yeah, that's what I said. I jumped up, hobbled over to the desk, turned on the halogen lamp, grabbed my tweezers and pull that bugger out. It came out cleanly but that didn't stop the pain. The puncture wound in my heel continued to bleed for a few minutes. It eventually stopped. And OK I'll live and I put peroxcide and Neosporin and a Band-Aid on it. No problem. But I like as much sympathy as I can get. It hurts. :( Whine. Cheese. If only I wasn't so accident prone. Doh!

Tri-State crash injures two

This is the crash that caused the tie up yesterday on I-94. It looked nastier than it really was, apparently, since no one was killed.

Tri-State crash injures two

Ah, the daily commute

Compared to my evening commute, this morning's was not so bad. I turned left out of work and crossed the interstate to the light. Traffic was backed up, but it's like that sometimes because of the interchange and then it clears up. I learned a bit too late that this was not the case. I turned onto the ramp and got in line to pay my toll. And then I stopped. And I didn't move for almost 25 minutes. It took another 20 to get onto the interstate proper. Apparently there was a nasty accident a mile or so north of my interchange. For awhile most lanes were blocked. I don't know exactly what happened, but when I got there, a Civic was off on the side of the road with skid marks that made it look like it had moved swiftly to avoid an accident. A mini-van was on it's side quite aways from the road with it's windshield cracked. It must have rolled a couple of times. The ambulences weren't there any more and I couldn't tell if any other cars had been involved. The back up was pretty nasty though, there were two or three traffic copters and several traffic reports for a stretch of road that's rarely mentioned in traffic updates.

I must share with all a new blog I found the other day. It's quite interesting. It's called Autopsy Report. If you're into CSI, Forensic Files, and that sort of show, you'll probably like this. It's written by a guy who's a medical examiner intern. Not for the squemish though.

Quick! Blog something while the boss is at lunch!

I was driving down I-94 on my way to work this morning when I noticed a very scary sight. One of the semi-trucks in front of me had a very bald back tire. Now I'm not talking bald as in the treads weren't quite there, I'm talking bald as in not only were the treads gone, but there were "strings" of tire hanging off the thing, and it wasn't quite on the wheel as it should be. Needless to say, I stayed as far away from that guy as I could. If he had a "How's My Driving..." thing on his truck I would have written it down!

Traffic lately has kind of sucked. I don't know why it's so busy. Aren't people supposed to take vacation in the summer, hence freeing up traffic space? Hello? Today was a little worse because it rained all night. Luckily none of the intersections I had to go through had lost power as I had heard happened in other suburbs. Listening to my book on tape makes it easier. Traffic is much better when you're being entertained.

I just have to share this idea with the world. Before the movie started on Friday, my friend and I went to dinner. We didn't get to the theater quite as fast as we usually would have, and didn't get premo-seats. So then I thought, What if you could eat dinner at the theater? I've seen many theaters with Cafes in them, where you can get bottled water, maybe coffee, a few other things beyond the basic popcorn and Junior Mints. But what I'm talking about is an actual restaurant in the theater, off to the side say, before they take your tickets. Maybe you could even put in your popcorn/drink order for the movie and the server would bring it to you before you leave. They could have meals set up by times - some that come out faster if you've got a movie in a 1/2 hour as opposed to having enough time to comfortably eat a full meal. If you're a corporate developer and are reading this, please don't steal my idea, instead, e-mail me and we'll talk.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Today was the first day back to work. Ugh. Always the worst. I didn't sleep well last night which just added to it all. Amazingly I wasn't falling asleep at my desk. It was a little busier than normal, but not too bad, didn't have too many e-mails to follow-up on. It did kind of feel like the first day back at school. Without the new outfits and school supplies. Maybe if everyone went back to work after a vacation with new office supplies and clothes it would be a bit easier to return. :)

Today I got an invite for a wedding. Gail and I were friends back in high school but have drifted apart since then. I knew she was getting married, but didn't know a date was set. No matter. I'm happy she found someone to spend her life with. It will be good to see her and her mother again. The wedding is in September, 10 days before her birthday. She better not expect a birthday and wedding present. ;)

100 Things About Sabrina

I keep seeing this around the blog-web and thought I'd join in. To quote Lisa from Dirty Dancing, "Oh, quite the little joiner, aren't we?"

1. I have a cat, Hobbs, whom I love very much
   
2. My roommate has a dog, Raven, who I also love
   
3. I drive about 30 miles to work
   
4. I drive a black 1997 Nissan Sentra GXE
   
5. My favorite band is Barenaked Ladies
   
6. My favorite song is Bitch by Meredith Brooks
   
7. My favorite book is Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
   
8. My favorite author is Anne Rice
   
9. My favorite TV Shows are Friends, CSI, and Enterprise
   
10. I only put one space after a period
    
11. I rarely paint my nails
    
12. I never blow-dry my hair
    
13. My favorite movie is Shrek
    
14. I have long hair
    
15. I'm addicted to Pepsi
    
16. Yes, I know I should drink water
    
17. I like sausage on my pizza
    
18. Chicago style deep dish is best
    
19. I can watch four hours of Law & Order and not blink an eye
    
20. I prefer big, cuddly men
    
21. My favorite color is blue
    
22. My favorite restaurant is Chili's
    
23. I always order the Old Timer
    
24. I'm an Administrative Assistant
    
25. Because I type so much for my job my finger nails "warp" themselves if I don't keep them really short
    
26. I have hypothyroidism
    
27. And depression
    
28. I wear a size 11 wide shoe - that's pretty large for a woman
    
29. I've never been married
    
30. I don't want kids
    
31. I would like to have another cat
    
32. Even though I don't want kids, I would name a daughter Morgaine (from Mists of Avalon)
    
33. I would like to have cats named Faile, Merrick, and Rowan, in no particular order, all because they are characters in books that I like
    
34. I'm a Cubs fan
    
35. I hope that they win the series some day
    
36. I'm also a Bears fan
    
37. I hope I get to see them go to the Super Bowl again
    
38. I have one younger brother
    
39. I have no sisters
    
40. I've known my friend Christine since I was 12, but didn't become friends with her till almost three years later
    
41. I'm a big fan of Amy Brown's fairy art
    
42. I once had my heart broken by someone I had known less than a month
    
43. I hate admitting to that
    
44. I would prefer wearing jeans and a t-shirt over anything else, except shorts in summer
    
45. I've worn glasses since I was 9
    
46. I hate contacts
    
47. The first major concert I went to was to see Dave Matthew's Band
    
48. I got a major contact buzz from it
    
49. I prefer Barenaked Ladies concerts
    
50. I have more pairs of plain white socks than any other kind
    
51. I like being creative, but I can't draw
    
52. Remember in the old Looney Tunes cartoons where Sylvester or some other character would step on a rake, the thing would pop up, hit them in the head, and they'd see stars? Yeah, I did that once
    
53. My left eye was swollen shut from that for a week and a half and I had to have seven stitches along my eye brow
    
54. I learned to play the clarinet in school, and I still have it and still can play a little
    
55. Before that I played the trombone, but it was heavy to carry and made my lips numb
    
56. I've adopted some odd food likings from my parents, such as American Cheese & Snickers from my dad, and Peanut Butter & Syrup from my mom
    
57. I prefer Pepsi out of a can or a bottle, and I really don't like Coke from either, but from a fountain, I prefer Coke, and will drink Pepsi if I have to
    
58. I prefer butter over margarine, partly because of the taste, but also because the soy in margarine isn't very good for your thyroid
    
59. Despite the fact that Mayonnaise is made from Vegetable Oil (soy) I prefer it over Miracle Whip
    
60. I would like to go back to college and get my Bachelor's Degree in either History or Medieval Studies
    
61. I'm a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism.
    
62. I play in the Shire of Ravenslake which is in the Midlands, part of the Middle Kingdom
    
63. I had an SCA name picked out, but have recently decided I don't care for it, and since I hadn't yet registered it, it'll be easier to find a new one
    
64. I got an extended package from DirecTV just so I could get all of the Discovery Channels and the History International Channel
    
65. I hate it when I find out a choice I've made is normal, mainstream, or makes me part of the majority
    
66. I'm a Yahoo! Groups addict
    
67. I am mortified when I find a spelling or grammatical error that I've made
    
68. My favorite teacher was Mr. Trout, who taught World Civ and European History at my high school
    
69. I wanted to be a Paleontologist when I was in high school, but the under funding, lack of affordable schooling, low pay, poor job outlook, and flat out cut throat bull that happens in the field turned me off
    
70. My Myers-Briggs Personality type is INTP
    
71. My birthday is December 8, the day the US declared war on Japan (1941), and the day that John Lennon died (1980)
    
72. I'm a Sagittarius
    
73. I was born in the year of the Dragon
    
74. I love Dragons, and other fantasy creatures
    
75. I collect Dragons, Fairies, and Castles
    
76. I am fat
    
77. No, I don't think that's a bad word, it's just an adjective
    
78. I'm also tall, for a woman, 5'9"
    
79. I love the smell of Play-Doh
    
80. My favorite sound is the purr of my cat
    
81. I love thunderstorms
    
82. I've lived through two tornadoes, though neither touched down, they only went over the house I was in
    
83. I've experienced one Earthquake, though I nor hardly anyone else, knew what it was, it was pretty small and as we don't get them too often in Illinois, everyone assumed it was a truck going by, until the evening news that is...
    
84. I've never been in a hurricane, and would prefer not to be
    
85. When I was a senior in High School there was a fire in an upstairs girls' bathroom, but the teachers felt that they had it under control and didn't evacuate the building
    
86. I've never been really drunk
    
87. After seeing Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me, I tripped down the steps of the stadium seating theater almost all the way to the bottom
    
88. I wasn't hurt too bad, but I landed on my pride pretty hard
    
89. It takes a lot for me to truly get upset, but when it happens, you better watch out
    
90. I hate letting other people see me cry
    
91. Caffeine has no effect on me
    
92. I've been to all four time zones in the continental U.S.
    
93. I've been to seventeen states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Georgia, and Florida
    
94. I've never been outside of the country
    
95. I love Brach's Butterscotch Discs
    
96. I was born in Libertyville, Illinois
    
97. The china for Air Force One is made in my hometown
    
98. I'm a terrible liar
    
99. I have a bad memory, I blame it on my thyroid problem
    
100. I'm constantly starting projects but never finishing them, so I'm quite proud of myself for coming to 100!
     

Movie Review

I saw Pirates of the Carribean last night. It was pretty good, funny, lots of action, good special effects. Oh, and then there is Mr. Orlando Bloom. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm. Now, I thought he was OK looking in Lord of the Rings, but I really don't go for blonds. In this movie however, he's got dark hair, and little bit of a goatee. Scrumpious! He is a vegatarian though, I guess not everyone is perfect, but hey, I wouldn't kick him out of my bed for eating crackers.

I AM THE BRAIN!

Which Animaniacs Character are You?

You have megalomaniacal impulses regularly. That's not necessarily a bad thing, however, as you have the cranial capacity of a small planet. Trying to take over the world is hard work, though, and you're not above exploiting your lessers. Even now, you have a plan that's being enacted which will pitch the world's economy into turmoil, leaving the floodgates of trade exposed for the sole owner of stock in the Pets.com © company! You are en route to taking over the world!

Oh, and you ARE pondering what I'm pondering.

Click here to see my Livejournal.

The Friday Five

Usually I would be happy that it's Friday. Last day of work for the week and a glorious weekend ahead of me. This week though, it means that I have to go back to work in two days. No more vacation for Sabrina. Sigh. Anyway, the below is courtesty of The Friday Five.

1. Do you remember your first best friend? Who was it?
   
   Yes, that would have been Salina, I met her when I was about 3.
   
   
2. Are you still in touch with this person?
   
   Only occasionally, Christmas cards and such
   
   
3. Do you have a current close friend?
   
   A few
   
   
4. How did you become friends with this person?
   
   Usually school or work
   
   
5. Is there a friend from your past that you wish you were still in contact with? Why?
   
   Not really. Anyone who's not in my life still is probably not there for a reason.
   
   

Alternate uses for crayons

Blog Idea from:

The only thing I can think of is melting them down for candles. We did that when we were in grade school. Taking notes is also a use and flat out coloring is fun too. Putting them into places they shouldn't be = bad idear.

In other news... Bravenet changes their service, now I don't get a pretty graphical counter, I get a text counter. :( I'm not happy. Oh well, what ya gonna do, it's free right? Well here's what I did. I changed my counter service to BlogPatrol. Check 'em out.

Fat Rant

Jennifer Grossman on Nutrition on National Review Online

This woman is flat out a fool and a moron. Oh yes it's SO much better to hate yourself and starve yourself to thinness than to be large. Much better to starve to death or sink into a bottomless pit of depression and self-hatred than to be fat. My Gods! Now we can't have anyone fat and actually HAPPY with themselves. Let's stop this immediately!

This idiot of a woman glosses over how dangerous it is to be anorexic and blathers on about how dangerous it is to be fat. Bullshit. Fat doesn't not equal unhealthy. Depressed is unhealthy. Self-hate is unhealthy. Bulimia is unhealthy. Hating someone because they are "overweight" is unhealthy. Ms. Grossman takes one example of a set of twins and thinks that explains away any theories on why fatness is not genetic. More Americans are more fat now than ever. Gee, maybe that's not so much because Americans really are more fat than ever, maybe it's more because the rules for what is considered fat have changed and that more fat Americans are seeing their doctors today than they were a few decades ago.

I would like to know when these foolish health "professionals" will finally get over themselves long enough to admit that perhaps they've been wrong.

At 113 Years Old, Cubs Fan Holds Out Hope

I am SO right there with ya! Go Cubbies!

At 113 Years Old, Cubs Fan Holds Out Hope

A sad day

When oh when will the celebrity deaths stop? I just learned that Buddy Epsen died. How sahd. There seem to have been a lot of celebrity deaths lately. Katharine Hepburn, Barry White, Buddy Hacket, Sir Dennis Thatcher, the list goes on. People who run death pools must be going nuts.

Oh, and a nod to BlogChalk. This is my new blogchalk:
United States, Illinois, Antioch, English, Sabrina, Female, 26-30, Paganism, SCA. :)

Phew! Now it's working

The general consensus on why Netscape wasn't showing my blog right was that Netscape Sucks. And that was from people who know. Despite this, I found a way to fix it. Woo-Hoo. I had been using percentages to define the width of the table and cells and last night as I was nodding off to sleep it occurred to me that it might be better to use pixels instead. So I changed it, and viola, it's working now in Netscape. A note to Netscape users: Netscape sucks apparently, and you should get something else. :) Don't say I never gave you anything.

Today looks like it's going to be another thunderiffic day. Not too bad I like the rain. :) I think I'll go listen to the rain and my book for awhile. (It's a book on tape, I'm not going crazy... yet)

AGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

OK so I updated the template... again. I actually like this one. Designed it myself. I'm still tweaking here and there, but overall, it suits me. However, while it looks fab in Internet Explorer, it doesn't so much in Netscape. I don't know why. I've come to the conclusion that Netscape sucks. As does Lotus Notes. Any software that begins with an N sucks. OK well Notepad works fine but there's always an exception to the rule.

I want to know why when there are Tornado Watches/Warnings why the Weather Pixie girl doesn't look like she's about to be blown away. That would be funny.

On another note... I signed up with BlogSnob today. Isn't that spiffy?

Auntie Em! Auntie Em!

Almost got swept away to Oz there for a minute. We've had thunderstorms rolling through the area all weekend and have had a series of Tornado Watches & Warnings for the last hour and a half. Looks like everything has passed though, dangerous wise, there's still thunder and lighting though. Oy!

On another note, I have decided that I don't really like this template either. The font is too big and it's just not as clean as I would like it. No fault of the designer, it's just not for me. So, On I search... If you know of any good weblog/journal templates, please send me an e-mail!

Blood Canticle

HUZZAH!!!! The new Anne Rice book is going to be out in October! Yay!!!

Blood Canticle (Rice, Anne, Vampire Chronicles.)

Aes Sedai & Squirrel Shit

I have been having the strangest dreams lately. Most of them revolve around the book series I've been reading, Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. If you've never read the books, this probably won't make any sense to you. Anyway, I keep dreaming that I'm an Accepted of the Aes Sedai, not one in the books, I'm myself, but I'm friends with Nyneave, Elayne, and Egwene. I'm a little more than half way through the books - so if they are ever raised to full Aes Sedai, I haven't gotten that far yet. Anyway, it's strange, but just a dream I suppose.

Random Thought: How come you never see Squirrel shit?

Random Thought II: Why does my dog ignore meter readers and other strangers walking through the yard but goes nuts and has to alert the entire neighborhood to the presence of a chipmunk?

Not-So-Random Thought: Why in the world would anyone go to a crowded, hot park, in the middle of Chicago, and overpay for a sample of food that would cost half as much if they went to the air conditioned restaurant and got a full meal? I went to the Taste of Chicago once, and I just don't get it.

Happy Holiday Weekend!

I hope everyone had a good Independence Day. I went with my brother and dad down to my grandma's in Chicago. We have a family BBQ on summer holidays plus the 4th is her birthday. She's 72 now, and enjoyed the wind chimes I gave her. She loves wind chimes. My dad hates them, so I may get some for myself. *evil grin*

After that, I came back home and my roomie had invited a couple of friends over for dinner. We cooked out and just hung out on the back deck. It cooled off - a bit - but I eventually came back inside because I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Yick. I think I have a bite everywhere!

As for my roommate's friend that was supposed to be visiting this weekend... he never showed. He called Jason when he was about an hour and a half south of Chicago, said he was going to stop at his uncle's in Zion, and then head over here. We know he got there because Jason has talked to his mom, but he's not answering Jason's calls to his cell and hasn't called here once. Jason was pretty pissed that this guy messed up his weekend. So, Jason decided to drive down to Champaign to spend the weekend with his uncle. Now I have the house to myself tonight! Party On!

Which Blogging Tool Are You?

You are a very conservative and introverted person. You live in your own world and you're not very easy to approach. Which Blogging Tool Are You?

First Day Of Vacation

Well it's been a great first day of vacation, let me tell you. My back is still hurting, I have a headache, I have cramps, and I just had a nose bleed. My periodontist's office called and moved my appointment to Tuesday. I'll get it done and over with sooner but just one more thing to look forward to. Oh well, at least I'm not doing all this at work. Ugh. C'est la vie.

So how do you like me know?

OK yes, yet another new template. This one doesn't have graphics and it's blue. I like blue. It took awhile to get the bugger working right though. Good thing I know a bit about HTML or I woulda never figured it out! So, how do you like it?

Pain. Agony. Despair.

OK so it's not that bad, but it does hurt. I'm talking about my shoulder. I don't know what I did to it, but it hurts. I woke up this morning like this. Two Advil have so far not done a whole lot. I can move and all but it still hurts like hell. Whine. Cheese. Crackers. Why does pain have to hurt so much? I know I'll feel better in a day or so. I better at least I really don't want to go into a holiday weekend and my vacation in debilitating pain.

In other news, I'm thinking of changing my template yet again. Seriously, how many "Tranquil Thoughts" do you honestly think I've had? Without the use of guided meditation or prescription drugs that is. Aha! A project for my vacation!

My roommate's friend is coming into town tonight, should be here around 3. I've never met the guy, but I hope he's not an idiot. I couldn't stand being around an idiot for 4 days. I guess I'm a stupidist - I hate stupid people. I see dumb people. They're everywhere. Most of them don't even know they're dumb...

I know you can't hear me throw a fit, but I am

I just told a friend of mine, you know who you are, that I would like to get my own domain for my blog. Sounds cool, right? You can get a domain for under $10/year and hosting for $4/month - for my needs that would work at least. Anyway, not too expensive, less than $58 a year total. But THEN he says "yeah, but is that necessary? in your journal you said that you were poor. would this be an unnecessary expense?". I hate it when people point out the obvious to me and are right, it totally sucks. Grrrr.