See Ya Next Year, FACEBOOK

In the least first-worldy way I can find to say this, I took a step today and removed Facebook from my palette of available social media. I've always moderately wondered why some of my friends have bid it adieu and whether it's a statement of something or just a realization that Facebook & the rest of our social media outlets don't have to rule us.

I'll be the first to say I go through roller coaster spurts of Facebook usage. Sometimes I'm on it every day, others I won't do a thing on it for weeks. Today I decided to just cut it out for a little while. I did this originally in a moment of irritation over something unrelated to FB, but hey, it's not like I just sawed off one of my arms. It's Facebook, for pity's sake, not a limb or organ.

So yeah. Blogging it is for now, along with some Instagram if I really feel spunky over the next few weeks. Call it something of a social experiment on my part, too. I wonder what I'll miss over the next 3 weeks that I won't find out about until the new year when I've figured I'll stop boycotting. Whoooo knows....

farewell for now!

Anyway, now that I've wasted three paragraphs on the fundamentals of Facebook account deactivation, today was otherwise a day that I'll happily dismiss. Just. One of those days, ya know? I've had worse, oh yes, but today and I really just didn't me
et eye to eye and I think we're both ready for about a week's worth of space [ehhh? eehhhhh??? See what I did th-... nevermind].

Tonight = More Christmas present creation. I'm happy to report that I finished all EIGHT sets of coasters I planned to finish before the time came to gift them. I also knocked out a couple of other gift sets, and am aiming at the end of next week for some finality to the whole shebang. Woo!

AND, in the midst of my fickle mood and situational idiocracy of today, I must remind myself that this is about to be the BEST [fingers crossed] ending to a year that I've had in a LONG time. There are some very big things and changes quickly approaching that, while requiring copious amounts of preparation and work, will be new, exciting and the product of thorough planning. Once everything finds its stone mark, I'll share more... for now, I'm just idling in that pre-elation phase of prayer, gratitude and continued configuration of all the little details.

*Sigh. Tomorrow's FRIIIIIIIDAY, and buddy, I can't freakin' wait.
Maybe I'll post that status on Facebo- ... oh wait. (:

xo | cmd

FACE MASH [Inspiration]

To the internet, again I must say, Thanks.

Somehow I stumbled upon some celebrity facemashes today, and decided that at some point, I'm going to launch off into my own project of compilations. I'll keep ya'll posted, but I now have some solid ideas of how to incorporate my own spin on the concept.

I'm excited.
For now... here's [courtesy of Freaking News] some celebrity mashups for your random viewing amusement. To make it a little more interesting, the answers are at the bottom of this entry.. see if you can guess who's who? (:


#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

Answers. Ya'll ready? (:

➊ | Alice Cooper & Al Pacino
➋ | Angelina Jolie & Keira Knightley
➌ | Donald Trump & Bill Gates
➍ | Julia Roberts & Jessica Biel
➎ | Meryl Streep & Paris Hilton
➏ | Natalie Portman & Keira Knightley
➐ | Orlando Bloom & Johnny Depp
➑ | Paris Hilton & Jessica Simpson
➒ | TomKat [who needs their names, anyway, haha]
➓ | X-Men Transplant! Mystique & Magneto

So that was ... time-consuming, right?
Not the most content-flavored entry I've ever posted, but I'll be referring back to this later....

Happy almost Hump-Day!

xo | cmd

& A Bunch of Random Stuff I Find Online

Every once in a great while, I find myself saving random articles, pictures, tutorials and creative project/recipe ideas off of whatever source they originated. I discovered today that they're starting to overrun space on my desktop; not that there isn't ample room there to share, but it's looking cluttered.

So here's an entry where I use my blog as a personal remember-this-for-later type board..

First things first:
FOOD. [Don't act surprised]:
[also, click on the pictures to enlarge, if you can't see .08 font ;) ..]

1. Banana Burritos ... or, if you're in Asian mode, Sushana:

things to try with syd!

2. Jelly Worms [these look tricky.. but fun .. for Fall & Halloween!]

wiggly...

3. Casseroles. You can so rarely go wrong with giving me a casserole recipe. The fact that there is an entire stick.. of butter, makes me want to prepare this for and send it to Marianne. Haha.

"curse youuu, paula deen!!!"
[and jk, i don't think is a pd recipe...]

4. Cookies. Don't ask. Just make.

things i promise to only make once a week.. at work...

These things are gonna make me start drooling... I'm such a foodie.. not to be mistaken with critic.. just a fanatic.. of food.. more specifically, eating it. No shame. Haha (:

This one made me laugh. A random number called my cell phone while I was at work, so instead of answer it, both for the obvious reason of my being at work, but also because I didn't even recognize the area code, I let the voicemail pick up. I later Googled the number; apparently G+ thought I needed help pronouncing it... assuming I know each sound component of the English alphabet letters already.

ohhhh, so that's why english-inept speakers sound so strange to us:
"fahyv" ??

^ Really? Twenty-six letters to memorize, but you've not yet done 1 through 10? Hmm. "Fawr, fohr." I think I'll start handing out my number in that format. "Eyt,... too,... fawr..." Yikes.

And then there's this... making me appreciate cotton and satellites in ways I probably never would have before:

thank you, buzzfeed.

Yyyyup.

Lastly, for today at least, I found a shirt that I wouldn't mind owning. It makes no sense, which is part of the quirky fun about it, but it's part of a tshirt company whose claim is in the printing of fun stuff specific to various parts of the Midwest [USA]. As someone who hails [mostly] from the MW, I have to say that many of my non-MW friends certainly do this.. a lot. This made me laugh especially after having lived in Illinois, to which nearly everyone would immediately reply, "Illinois? Ah, cool! Chicago!" ....nnnnnnnnnnnnnn...o.

want.

^ Looking at that, I realized I should probably start forming my birthday and Christmas wish list... more for myself than for anyone else.. haha.

Anyway, that's enough menial stuff for today.

xo | cmd

Video Monday : Tre-T & Kosher

It was definitely a unique start to the week.

We are now one [wo]man short in the office. Our dynamic is definitely going to change, but I see nothing but greatness coming out of our team and we're not about to stop. (: It would be a Monday, though. Hello, week.

Rob showed me a video over the weekend, and today I made it a point to share that with a few of my friends. It's of Tre-T, a PB in the UK who has conquered the art of parkour... or in his case, BARKOUR. He's pretty awesome, so I'll just let y'all check it out for yourselves (: Maiko, Jed, Kashun, Noelle, Amy, Ky & the rest of you bullie owners: This one's for you!

 
The other video I wanted to share has a little bit of language in it, but I had to share it anyway. It's hilarious. For those of you who aren't familiar with the type of work I do, more importantly the type[s] of people with whom I [we] deal on a daily basis, this is even funnier. I shared this with Linda; I haven't seen her laugh that hard in a long time. Check out the creeper in the backseat at the end.. haha.


Ahhh.. Too funny.

Work? Done.
Dinner? Stir fry.

borrowed img from the food&wine blog [forgot to take my own, dang!]

What. A. Frickin' Start to the week. I'm spent.

xo | cmd

Lazy Little Larunbata

Larunbata!

Translation?
  = Saturday. 
[Kinda cool, yeah?]

Here's one of the [many] benefits of proactively using search engines like Google. This simple example today stemmed from the fact that our Saturday today was relaxing nearly to the point of laziness, which I won't protest nor resent, because it was ideal. I wanted to include the word lazy in today's title, but for the sake of alliteration, needed a corresponding synonym for Saturday. I consulted my every trustworthy Google, and found Larunbata! Not only was I excited to find a consonant-appropriate alter-ego for the first official day of a standard weekend, but I went on to read up on the origin of the word Larunbata. Here's what I found:



compliments of magellan geographix, a google affiliate
[of course ;) ]

Larunbata is the Basque word for Saturday. I wasn't entirely sure if and where that language was still spoken, so I followed a Wikipedia link and in doing so, educated myself. The Basque language is used by the Basque peoples [shocking...] whose ancestors are documented as being among Europe's earliest residents. There are 6 basic dialects of the Basque language: Biscayan, Guipuzcoan, and High Navarrese (in Spain), and Low Navarrese, Labourdin, and Souletin (in France). [*Last line copied directly from Wikipedia in order to maintain reference links!]

I've not had much experience or exposure to early European languages, but I find it fascinating just how many there are within even just one region. The world in which we live is a couldron so vast and so blended with cultures, I'm almost ashamed that I don't do more on a frequent, consistent basis to learn something new every chance I have. My sister speaks fluent Dutch, and I'm still working on that one.

Whew! :) How's that for an entry pertaining to absolutely nothing related to how my day fared? [Really though, my day was event-free, and I embraced it!]

Church tomorrow, and so far promises for a much busier day.

See ya then!

xo | cmd

Über Connected

The beauty of living in the 21st century is that we are afforded endless avenues of connectivity to anyone, anywhere, practically anytime. It alternatively can be a curse if you let it attach replace your innate ability to function; I've had plenty of conversations with friends and respected elders on how technology as a whole with its promised instant access may actually succeed in completely de-socializing us as a breed.

... But I digress. That discussion is for another time. 


connected.... x3



I found myself at work this morning with my personal cell phone, the company cell phone, and one of the phones for an assignment on which I'm working for one of the local law firms. One dinosaur cell phone, two smart phones, a computer, and a landline all within arms reach of me made me stop and think about how people had handled the day-to-day transpiring activity before all of this techno gear was available. I myself grew up tailing the recent development of cell phones; I clearly remember that Nokia brick that I called my first cell phone. I also remember the first flip cell phone that had colored blinking lights. We thought that was pretty slick. And then came the Motorola Razr: that skinny thing that, at the time, re-defined the parameters of portable telephonic body shape. Granted that I'm still a few years shy of 30, I can yet say that there was a time in my growing-up that computers all around functioned off of dial-up internet. I did not have a cell phone when I was 12, let alone one that could also serve as a laptop, GPS, stereo, weather forecast, and tracker of everything from my daily caloric intake to how many days are left until the cataclysmic event known as the end of earth. It's ridiculous. 

I'm being a hypocrite, I know. There is very little I would be able to accomplish on my job without the continuous, instant access to technology and an ability to stay connected to colleagues, clients, and employees. I find dinner recipes online to make for my family. I get directions from the TomTom in my car. My cell phone does in fact tell me what the weather looks like for the week if I were to consult it. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I know that Joe and I aren't alone among the mass of parents in our generational bracket. We now have Sydni, and she'll grow up in a world that soon won't know what a landline even is. If we're not careful, she won't know how to socialize face to face because Twitter and Facebook will eliminate the need to do so. My prayer is that we can show her the value of technology and being connected to family and friends but that she'll realize that it's an aide, not a crutch.

Guess I should get to bed. Long day tomorrow....

xo | cmd