Customer Service

Attention GM - Southwest Student Insurance Plans: I thought that by advertising a live chat with a live person, that's what would really happen. Enticing me to chat with you live was an offer I wasn't ready to pass up. But really? Live chat does not mean asking me to put my email in a little box with my question next to it, so you can email me days later.

You have failed me.

You should learn a lesson from Backcountry.com. Who knew that companies actually hire people to answer your questions right then and there, as if we were instant messaging buddies. And they even post a picture of the hot, outdoorsy guy helping me. Even if it isn't really him, it's great customer service!

Music Mondays

This past week has been all about The Weepies. Their new album was not a disappointment! And, they named their son Theo. How cute is that?

Let's Chat.

Fellow Utah dwellers!

Have you ever noticed the inexcusable, unrelenting stenchi (plural for stench) that exude from many Utah cities? Well, if you haven’t, I will now give you the best places to experience such a treat.

1. West side of Logan. I lived there for a few years and I can honestly say that I haven’t smelt anything like it. As you come to the mouth of Sardine Canyon and into Wellsville, just roll down your windows and take a few deep breaths. At this moment, you will know exactly what I mean.

2. The Saltair. I attended a concert there last night and was reminded of a few things: 1) a crappy sound system, 2) awesome people to judge and place on teams, and 3) a plethora of odors that smell anything but good. Instead of bring earplugs, I suggest you bring nose plugs if you want nothing to cling onto your little nose hairs and cuddle you after the concert is long over.

3. South of SLC. I have no specific experience to insert here, only that driving on I-15 can be somewhat unbearable the further you get from civilization. There is a reason underlying the “Cow Town” reference.

Cheers.

Music Mondays

Thanks to a special someone, I have been sharing my music listening time with Miss Prettyman and AA Bondy. He has a very soothing voice. Check him out:

Music Mondays

I can already tell you that the highlight of this week will be purchasing Tristan Prettyman's new album "Hello...x". The record hits stores tomorrow, April 15th.

Brandi Carlile will be temporarily out of service until I get my TP fill. Who's with me?

This is painful.

Teri Hatcher singing "Before He Cheats"...Need I say more?

What was American Idol thinking? I bet they lost money. Suckas.

And if you can make it to the end of the song, I promise you it will be worth it.

Music Mondays

Beautiful, sweet music.

I heart Ingrid.

Music Mondays

I like music. So I hereby dedicate every Monday to something I heart musically.



Check out other artists we like at Live from Abbey Road.

Crafts.

Sometimes, Em and I do strange things. This is no exception.



Work station.



Behold, miniature objects on a postcard.



The object of the game being to meticulously cut out those objects and glue them together to make a cool looking 3D thingy (dinosaur or scooter). It was my job to cut.



Em struggled a bit with gluing the tiny edges together.



The start of a wonderful scooter. This is the back tire.



Cute!



Finished product. It took a couple weeks, but I finished nonetheless. It will be a couple more weeks before Em (and I) finish the dinosaur.

Thank you, England.

Please take 3 minutes of your day to enjoy the beautiful voice of Adele. She is my current musical obsession and should be yours too.

My favorite line: "I like it in the city when two worlds collide." Ah geez.

Brains.

Here is proof that I actually do visit the brain lab twice a week. I have to walk through this museum of sorts before I get to the actual brains. I named him Grandpa Charlie.

I'm sure you care.

I actually came up with 99 things about myself that hopefully are interesting to someone out there on the world wide web.

1. I really dislike mushrooms.
2. My parents got divorced when I was 3.
3. I have a 13 year-old half sister.
4. I love rap music.
5. I am somewhat against young people (under 16) having cell phones.
6. I have never tasted alcohol. Ever.
7. I have never tried drugs.
8. When I was little, I pretended I smoked with my dad’s used cigarette butts. Apparently, I thought that was cool…
9. I lived with my grandparents during my preschool/kindergarten years.
10. I have a crush on Tom Petty.
11. I have an irrational fear of sharks, murky, deep water, and driving by mountains in the dark.
12. I can’t stand being scared, so watching horror movies is painful.
13. I enjoy singing and playing the guitar for myself; having people around intimidates me.
14. Being in front of crowds gives me the hives.
15. I am allergic to dogs. Big, furry dogs that smell nasty.
16. I pretty much know all the words to “What’s Your Fantasy” by Ludacris.
17. I want an afro so bad.
18. I love to get rid of things that I haven’t used in a while.
19. When I find a song or album I like, I play it over and over again to try and learn the lyrics. If that doesn’t work, I look them up. I like to know what I’m singing.
20. I’m obsessed with Macintosh.
21. I honestly don’t know what I would do without music.
22. I don’t really like pizza. I think it’s all about the hot, melted cheese. It makes me sick. But for some reason I love BBQ chicken pizza. It’s a good compromise when everyone you know loves pizza.
23. I would eat sourdough bread from California every morning, noon and night. I love it.
24. I don’t like fish.
25. Birds weird me out.
26. I didn’t talk to or see my dad for 6 years.
27. When I buy new clothes, I have to get rid of the same amount existing in my closet. Why? 1. Because my closet is so small, and 2. I like to get rid of unused things (see 18).
28. Worrying about finances stresses me out. If only I was rich and never had to worry about having enough money.
29. I like songs that have the words ‘picture’, ‘dreams’ and ‘ocean’ in them. Don’t ask me why, I just do.
30. My favorite color is green.
31. I like wearing glasses.
32. I love to build things. For example, when I bought my IKEA dresser, I was determined to put it together all by myself in one night. It was up the next morning before I went to work.
33. I judge people by the shoes they wear and how their jeans fit.
34. I hate getting application invites on Facebook.
35. The first concert I ever went to was Reba McEntire at the Oakland Colliseum. I was 8.
36. I enjoy eating raw cookie dough.
37. I have a mole positioned perfectly in the middle of my head, right between my eyebrows. It looks like an Indian bindi decoration.
38. I don’t like having long fingernails.
39. I love sweet Del Monte midget pickles. I don’t think you can buy them here.
40. I enjoy taking pictures, even if I’m not that good at it.
41. I’ve been on a real African safari. Uhhh-mazing!
42. I love Oregon chai tea latte. So yummy.
43. When I used to visit my dad every other weekend (age 2-12), he would give me 10 vocab words to work on. I hated it. Too bad I didn’t continue with that, it may have helped on the GRE.
44. My pumpkin pie will change your life.
45. I touch real brains twice a week and think it’s cool.
46. Sometimes I slip too easily into my ghetto accent.
47. I’m always competitive, but if I find someone more competitive I don’t even try because I know I’d beat them.
48. I promote peace.
49. I didn’t care for high school.
50. I can't stand people who wear bluetooth headsets.
51. The perfect Subway sandwich: tuna on honey oat with swiss cheese, lettuce, mustard, lots of banana peppers, topped with salt and pepper.
52. I finished 5 seasons of Dawson's Creek and 4 seasons of Alias in the same 2 1/2 months while working on my doctorate.
53. I have a bit of what they call the travel bug.
54. I don't like tomatoes.
55. My stepmom could be my sister.
56. I have bird-like feet, meaning I can pick objects up with my toes. For my next trick: the flip off.
57. I secretly enjoy taking emo pictures of myself.
58. I have double jointed elbows.
59. I prefer the west coast to any other coast.
60. I don't like the feeling of lotion on my hands.
61. In high school I tried soccer and cross country running before I settled with playing water polo for 3 years.
62. I used to collect stickers and stamps as a young buck.
63. I used to think all cats were girls and all dogs were boys.
64. I judge books by their cover.
65. I look better when I'm tan.
66. I got my ears pierced when I was 16.
67. I enjoy most water sports - skiing, tubing, boating, etc.
68. I have never snow skied and don't really care to.
69. I have a crazy scar from getting my appendix out when I was 8.
70. My grandma and I used to play barbies together.
71. I survived the '89 earthquake in San Francisco.
72. I was baptized by my grandpa.
73. I rock a 2000 Saturn LS.
74. I want no more than 3 kids. Maybe only 1. The whole pregnancy thing freaks me out.
75. A 16 year-old made me a true aggie. OOPS.
76. Sometimes I prance around in spandex.
77. My favorite Beatles song is Eleanor Rigby.
78. I still play M.A.S.H. during class. It never gets old.
79. I type ridiculously fast...it was a hobby as a kid. I taught myself how to type on my grandma's old typewriter, Libby.
80. I prefer to be prepared for all situations.
81. I watch ‘R’ rated movies and I’d like to think I have good movie taste.
82. I think swear words are humorous.
83. I heart avocados.
84. When I was 8, I drove to Chicago with my dad in a sparkly green Taurus.
85. My feet are chronically cold. The doctor couldn’t find a pulse in my foot…
86. I worked for the orientation staff at Utah State all four years of college. I rocked the blue and khaki.
87. I have this thing for vintage posters and postcards.
88. I have nice legs?
89. I can spend hours playing Text Twist and Mahjongg online.
90. I have small hands and chubby fingernails.
91. I work at a botanical garden.
92. I tend to not listen more than I admit. My mind likes to wander.
93. In 7th grade, a black chick told me that I was dancing too fast…I was just years ahead of my time.
94. I stay up late just so I can listen to a little more music.
95. I am a sympathy crier.
96. I clean my grandma’s condo every month.
97. My first car was a gold Saturn…I must be doomed to driving a Saturn.
98. I backpacked through Italy and Switzerland for 3 ½ weeks.
99. I love kids, but they intimidate me.
100. (you come up with something…I got to 99!)

Two years? Really?

Sheriff: Woman sat on toilet for 2 years
NBC News correspondents and producers across the U.S. shed light on the news of the day.
By ROXANA HEGEMAN

WICHITA, Kan. - Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years _ so long that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the man finally called police.

It appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman's skin had grown around the seat, said Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple. The woman initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.

"We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."

Whipple said investigators planned to present their report Wednesday to the county attorney, who will determine whether any charges should be filed against the boyfriend.

"She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body," Whipple said. "It is hard to imagine. ... I still have a hard time imagining it myself."

Police declined to release the couple's names, but the boyfriend, Kory McFarren, agreed to be interviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press. He identified his girlfriend as Pam Babcock.

McFarren, 36, told investigators he took Babcock food and water and asked her every day to come out of the bathroom.

"And her reply would be, 'Maybe tomorrow,'" Whipple said. "According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom."

McFarren told the AP that he wasn't to blame, and that it was solely Babcock's choice to remain in the bathroom.

"She is an adult; she made her own decision. It was my fault I should have gotten help for her sooner; I admit that. But after a while, you kind of get used to it," McFarren said.

"It really doesn't surprise me," Ellis said. "What surprises me is somebody wasn't called in a bit earlier." ....

(Full story)

A new obsession.

So what? I'm a little obsessed with another supposedly lesbian singer. What's the big deal? The girl can sing.



I had to throw this one in. What the hell are they wearing? I still love her, but really? Why those clothes?

A couple days ago, YourHeartOut blogged about a yogurt shop in Sandy. Em and I finally went to check it out. It's like one of those things you dream of as a little kid: pretending to be the cashier at a grocery store or meticulously folding clothes in your dresser because you work at The Gap. The Yogurt Stop actually lets you dish up your favorite fro-yo-go flavors and toppings. I mean, this place has got it all: cookie dough, sprinkles, and berries. Whatever you want, you can have it. Life just got a little sweeter.

Tonight's concoction: Chocolate and Vanilla swirl with rainbow sprinkles and cookie dough.

And the winner is...

Here are my picks. Hopefully i will do better than the Grammy's.

Best motion picture of the year
-Atonement
-Juno
-Michael Clayton
-No Country for Old Men
-There Will Be Blood

Achievement in directing
-"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
-"Juno"
-"Michael Clayton"
-"No Country for Old Men"
-"There Will Be Blood"

Performance by an actor in a leading role
-George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"
-Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
-Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
-Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah"
-Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
-Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)
-Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
-Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War" (Universal)
-Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
-Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
-Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)
-Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)
-Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
-Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)
-Ellen Page in "Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
-Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)
-Ruby Dee in "American Gangster" (Universal)
-Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement" (Focus Features)
-Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" (Miramax)
-Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

The Haircut.

Ok. Here it is. Judge away. It's an A-line cut, so the back is shorter...

Don't do drugs, kids.

Let me tell you about my day.

First of all, I think this is the first haircut I love the first time around, which is surprising because I am a hard one to please when it comes to the 'do'. It is super short (to me), but I like it. It's weird not being able to pull it back...

Secondly, I was surprised to see a healthy two-year old that was born at 25 weeks (that's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...14 weeks early) because his mom was 18, doing meth and pot. She was very open with all this information. But the saddest part was that she could not remember details about her little guy's hospital stay because she was STILL USING at the time of his birth. Luckily, she went through a rehab program and got it together after that. The kid has normal hearing. Hallelujah.

Next: a three-year-old may or may not have told me that his parents are going to kill me. Yeah, he repeated it three or four times, "My parents are going to kill you" and then proceeded to kick me. Fantastic. Now mind you, I am just trying to play a simple hearing game with the kid, not torturing him with pins and needles. His mom, sitting right next to us, didn't do anything...It makes you wonder what he will grow up to be like. I don't want to be there to find out.

Lastly, I travelled to Provo with some cool people for some great Mexican food and a little concert. I had to remind myself numerous times that I was, in fact, in Provo...the people watching was at an all-time high at Velour. I never thought I would see THOR dressed in embroidered jeans and a pink scarf. FANTASTIC.

Umm..

I may or may not have chopped my hair off today...

pictures to follow...

OBAMA for yo mama.

If I wasn't such a cheap ass, I would be wearing this today.