I'm ancient

So I'm a quarter century now...I was kind of depressed about it before, but I had a great weekend and I'm looking forward to the second half of my twenties. Thanks to everybody who came out or sent their birthday wishes.

I'm not really quite sure what I'm doing in this picture (thanks for playing photographer, Alana). I'm a little afraid of myself (and my brother). I'm pretty sure I'm also the worst dancer of all time. I get very Elaine Benis-y, especially when I've hit the sauce. So I apologize if I injured anyone with my insane dance floor convulsions.

On an unrelated note, was anybody at work on Friday? I apparently missed the memo that declared St. Patrick's Day a national holiday. I took the day off, and judging from the crowds at the bars at 1 p.m., I'm guessing a lot of other people did, too. Seeing everybody getting drunk on green beer in the middle of the day made me a little nostalgic for U of I's Unofficial St. Patty's Day. It's nice to know that it's still acceptable to ditch class/work in favor of turning your tongue green while boozin' it up.

Fun Friday Question #1

So to quell the boredom at work, especially on Fridays, when the whole so-close-to-the-weekend-yet-so-far-away factor comes into play, my co-workers and I sometimes give each other random topics to make lists on. Nothing too taxing, but they're usually pretty fun and usually serve their purpose. I thought I'd start spreading the wealth so you, too, can join in on the non-work work.

Here's Question #1 (offered by my co-worker Erik):
"Top 5 meals you’d choose if you’re going to die. And be specific, nothing like pizza, get down and dirty I want details like…deep dish from jake’s with corn crust and extra cheese, sausage and some motzi sticks and 3 rolling rocks to wash it down."

Here was my list:
5. All-you-can-eat sushi from House of Sushi and Noodles—specificially, lots of the Rainbow and Dragon rolls, miso soup, seaweed salad, goma ae
4. Bok choy in oyster sauce, chicken satay, pad se ew with tofu and extra hot sauce from Penny’s Noodle Shop
3. Veggie samosas, palak paneer and matar paneer from Mysoor Woodlands
2. French onion soup, gigi salad (with asparagus, roasted red peppers, hearts of palm) and a big-arse lobster (I know that’s clichéd, but I don’t care—I love lobster) from The Palm
1. My mom’s giant garden salad with Italian dressing, mushroom barley soup, twice-baked potatoes, baked tilapia, and homemade applesauce

OK, your turn.

Holy Crappy Idea, Batman!!

In today's world, there are many controversial, hot-button issues that seem to divide us rather than bring us together: abortion--pro-choice or pro-life; the death penalty--necessary or inhumane; Ryan Seacrest--irritating tool or endearing dork? But I think I've finally found something that we as an American people can agree on. Now, I've heard a lot of interesting ideas over the years about how to address the age-old--or at least 30-year-old--dilemma of how to handle the last name issue when it comes to children. If the mother is keeping her maiden name, do the kids still take the father's last name? Nine times out of 10, that's probably the case. I've also heard of giving the kids a hyphenated version of both parents' last names, or forming a combined version of both last names for everyone in the family to use. (In that case, I'd be Yvonne Pevusel. Or Yvonne Zusevitz. Yeah, I'm really glad my parents didn't attempt that one.) I think those ideas are a bit silly, but at least they keep everyone in the family on the same page.

Contrary to this idea, brought to you by a brilliant New York Times reader.

On what planet would this ever be a good plan??? I suspect that even Alien Life Forms would say this is a ludicrous idea.**

All I know is, I want some of whatever Sara Solnick is smoking if she seriously expects us to approve of this ridiculousness. Side note: her husband's last name is Nugent...any relation to Ted? Because then this whole thing would make a lot more sense...

**I apologize if your family purposely uses two different last names and I've offended you. But seriously, somebody needs to slap some sense into your parents.

Hello...Is It Me You're Looking For?

Hello, my loyal readers (all two of you). It's been awhile, no? I've just felt a bit...uninspired. That, and I've spent my normal blogging time sleeping.

But I digress. So last night was the Oscars. For those of you who don't know, I'm a bit of an Oscar freak. I don't know why; they're boring and long, and the awards are usually based more on politics than merit. But there's something about the ridiculousness of it all, how seriously Hollywood takes itself, that I find really amusing. Plus, I'm a whore for analyzing what everyone's wearing.

I was actually pretty entertained throughout the show, which is rare. Jon Stewart did such a great job...obviously, he wasn't going to be as biting as he is on The Daily Show, but he was as hilarious as he could have been under the circumstances. My favorite Stewartisms:

"For those of you keeping track at home, I just want to make something very clear: Martin Scorcese, zero Oscars. Three 6 Mafia, one." (After Three 6 Mafia won Best Original Song).

"Tonight is the night we celebrate excellence in film...with me, the fourth male lead in Death to Smoochy."

"The show has been a little routine so far, a little rote. There's been no controversy...yet. Now there's word the Itzchak Perelman has been finger-synching."

Oh Jon, how I love thee. The whole Three 6 Mafia thing was awesome...the fact that they got to perform the song was awesome enough, but the level of awesomeocity increased ten-fold when they won. I couldn't understand a damn word of their acceptance speech, but I didn't really care.
I wanted to vomit on Health Ledger and Michelle Williams. They are too much cute for one couple. It's not fair.

I was sad that Brokeback Mountain didn't win Best Picture, because I really loved it. And also because I picked it to win in my Oscar pool. But Crash was my second favorite. So I'm over it.

So, other than the cheese/ice cream/Boone's farm blockage I'm suffering from this morning due to a little too much impromptu Oscar-gathering bingeing, I'd have to say it was a pretty successful evening. Now we can all go back to using the weather as the main topic of conversation when forced to make awkward small talk with random people.