What's on my mind.

24 September 2008

23 September 2008

Hot? Y/N

So last night's Heroes premiere (don't worry, no spoilers) and Sarah's villain worship reminded me of something (which I don't think I written about before).

I saw some online "posters" for the upcoming Star Trek movie and Spock is kinda' hot. (so's Kirk) I turned the TV to 13 just before 8 last night as some of the stars were shaking hands etc, on the red carpet before the show began (BTW, is Hayden old enough to wear a jacket without a shirt? Especially when said jacket is in danger of exposing her mammaries? Hmm, 19, I guess so.) and when I saw Zachary Quinto, my heart skipped a beat. Pre-psychopathic break, mousy watch-repairman Gabriel Gray was cute, maybe he just needed some confidence. But Sylar just doesn't appeal to me.

The reason, I think, is that Sylar isn't a nice guy. I mean, really, he's a psychopathic killer - a really not nice guy. Sure he can be charming but don't forget he cuts people's heads open and pretty much kills anyone who gets in his way. His personality keeps me from identifying him as attractive. The actor is a good looking but the character isn't attractive to me.

If I don't know you then all I can judge attractiveness on is your appearance. Obviously no assessment of appearance, by me anyway, is purely based on the form of the face and/or body because how one carries oneself, one's facial expression, etc. is also factored in. But once I know someone then character and personality get added in. Personality can make or break attractiveness.

It's not like go walking down the street rating everyone's hotness. If I did, frankly, most people would end up falling into the "ok" category. Since, who he is is the biggest part of whether I find a man attractive most guys look alright, too me, to begin with at least. Some men definitely fall in to the "ooo, nice" category.* I think, oddly enough, I would discriminate among women better than men because it wouldn't be 'attractive to me' I'd be judging but rather 'attractive to the average male'.

For example: The then-VP of a company I used to work for was a jerk. He was jerk to his ex-wife (from what I was told), the employees who worked directly for him, the other division heads, other employees at the company... One day the secretary for our group was bemoaning embarrassing herself in front of him because she hated to make a fool of herself in front of a "good looking man, and [he] is a GOOD looking man." My other co-worker and I, looked at each other and did mini-eye rolls. After the the secretary left the room we both said, "good looking????" I suggested that maybe, if you don't know him at all? Neither of us thought he was all that good looking anyway. But to be honest, at that point (or now) I don't think I could separate his personality from my assessment of his looks.

So how does it work for y'all? Do you think Sylar's sexy? Or just Zachary Quinto?

*They are one of the few perks of working on a college campus while the students are here. Luckily most students don't look so young that I feel dirty admiring them, yet.

18 September 2008

Stupid

Sarah is all worried about excess navel gazing - seems like that's all I do here. That could explain some of the difference in readership. A little more navel gazing can't hurt, right?

Long story short: I'm feeling particularly pathetic today.

Long story long: A friend of mine, that I met May 2007, took a job overseas for a year. He left town the last week of September and is suppose to be back in October. Other than some texts while he was training in Houston, I haven't heard from him. All we did was hang out, eat supper (often Taco Hell), and watch movies; so it's not like this was some deep friendship full of conversations about the meaning of life or anything. But I miss having someone to hang-out with some. I don't have very many friends and I hardly see any outside of work except immediate family. (And even a few of those I don't see as much as I'd like, despite working within shouting distance.) I hang out with my dog mostly and my little sister on the weekends and that's ok, most of the time. It's just sometimes I want company more my age (and species).

So, eleven months of nothing and yet I find myself looking forward to his getting back. I think I'll be really disappointed if Veteran's Day comes passes and I haven't heard from him. How pathetic is that?

Update: Last Friday I was bored and there wasn't anything on TV, so I went surfing. I searched for my friend's MySpace page, couldn't find it at first, but found his step-mother's. (When I saw his screen name I couldn't believe I'd forgotten it.) Apparently he's now married, which is nice for him (and his bride). I mostly got up from the computer feeling really stupid. If he had time to find a wife, he had time to drop me an email or two to say hi. Once again I thought friend meant more than the other person apparently did.

And one other thing if you read this BL: You know that saying about loaning a guy a 20 and if you never see him again it was probably worth it? Don't worry about it.

17 September 2008

The cellulose in those beans, you know,

will control the traffic flow.*

Happy 221st birthday, U.S. Constitution! For a birthday gift we, the people of these United States, will elect a president who won't piss all over you for the next 4 years. (at least I hope so)

In honor of the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, I'm listening to The Best of Schoolhouse Rock today. (Hey, there is no better way to learn the preamble to the Constitution than singing it.) If you are wondering about math (specifically the numbers 3, 8, and 0), the founding of the USA, how a new federal law gets made, biology, grammar, Wall Street, economics, or astronomy, you should take a listen. Schoolhouse Rock will at least hit the high points and the tunes are catchy. There are too many links to put them all in here so go to YouTube,watch a few, and reminisce about watch Saturday morning cartoons.


*title and first line are from "Our Own Machine"

15 September 2008

500+

500 meters / 15 minutes today.

100 free
50 back
200 - 2 sets of 50back kick/50free pull
50 back
75 back kick while pinching the massive stitch in my side
25 free

PLUS an additional 100 meters of walking in the water (waist to shoulder deep) with my arms over my head trying to get rid of the stitch. It was almost on both sides. If it hadn't been for the cramp I might have tried for a 750.

I wish I had remember to bring a pair of barrettes with me. My goggle straps didn't quite hold all my hair back.

(I'm now just past Falmouth.)

hmmm...

Is it just me or is something terribly wrong with the world when my 10 year old sister spend the ride to church* putting on my make-up (and doing a good job of it, I think she even got the eyeshadow right since I didn't notice it) and I'm reaching for the Chapstick? Something besides the fact that my foundation is a shade to light for her, since she puts it on light enough that there isn't a line at her jaw or anything.

Slightly related - last week Sis was disappointed I didn't let her take communion. She was all "good bread, yummy. Can I have some???" and I was like "um, no. It's bread and yet it's not just bread." This week I let her (I wasn't expecting communion this week, big church only does it once a month). For this young adult service, we come down front take a piece of bread (it actually is really good bread - Challah bread, I think) then dip it in the "wine" (sweetened grape juice). Bread dipped in grape juice was not nearly as yummy as the bread on it's own. Sis was a little disappointed and disgusted. This might make her think twice about 'ummm, yummy bread. I want a pinch', next time.



*My church started a Sunday evening service this month. It's kind of "church-light" but we sing lots and I don't have to get up early. So I may keep going.

11 September 2008

3.5 Alarm

(I know we are all suppose to have deep thoughts today, but I don't have any, so this is what you get.)

My morning alarm system is fairly complicated. Between 5:30 and 6 the bedside light comes on*, at 6 the radio comes on, then at 6:15 the really-annoying-alarm-on-the-other-side-of-the-room goes off. This forces me to at least walk across the room and hit a button before falling back asleep.

The obnoxious alarm has a snooze button but I've had problems with "double-clicking" and getting a 30 minute snooze instead of 10 minute. I have been using the alarm on my cell for snoozing but I've screwed that up more than once with my eyes half closed. So several days this week I set the alarm on my cellphone before going to bed for my 15 minute snooze**. How pathetic am I?

There is something extra-specially sweet about those 10-15 min of snoozing. It's stolen sleep. I'm not sure I can give it up, even though it (+/- too long showers) has made me late more often than I care to mention.

Any suggestions on how to force myself out of bed in the morning? No buckets of cold water designed to pour on me if I don't get up in time, please.

*I can not wake up in the dark; my brain sees no light and says it's sleepy time. The timer (cheap mechanical kind) loses time and gets slightly later each day and can't be set exactly. I have to remember to reset the time every few weeks, unless the power's been off more recently. Can you really not use an electrical timer with CFLs?