Follow Friday
If you use Twitter, you already know about Follow Friday (or #ff), which is when everyone on Twitter recommends people that others should follow…and they do it on…wait for it…a FRIDAY. Get it? Follow Friday? Twitter is smart.
So as I try to get myself back into the swing of writing here daily-ish, I wanted to come up with some weekly things that can give me a writing nudge when topics don’t come as freely. So here, my gentle readers, is the first Crazybananas Follow Friday, where I’ll share in more than 140 characters things I’ve tweeted or things that I just want to share with you from around the web. Let’s give it a whirl, shall we?
For your ears:
I’ve spent most of the week holed up with this insane super-cold, which has officially taken my voice, my chances for sleep and my dignity (when I was in a meeting and someone compared the sound of my voice to Darth Vader). So listening to something sweet has made me feel a bit better, and what is sweeter than Regina Spektor? Exactly, nothing.
For your heart:
Lately I’ve been pondering the whole “love” thing more than a cynic like me probably should. Those of you that know me personally and not just through the Internet, know Trent and I have had a crazy few months, with medical tests coming out of our eyeballs and medical bills arriving out of thin air. That, coupled with the heartbreak of a few friends, both close and far, has had me sitting around like a 16-year-old emo kid, sulking in history class, asking the Universe questions it surely will never answer. But today I read this, and something just clicked. When the writer asked Twitter, “How did you know you were really in love & how long did it take before you knew?” the responses spanned the entire romantic spectrum. But the one that just kicked me right in the face? Was this:
@Anyabeth: when you know that he is an asshole but he is “your” kind of asshole. And that he doesn’t mind that you are an asshole too.
This. Just. This.
For your body:
Am I the only one on the planet that didn’t know about Mod Cloth? Because seriously? I COVET IT ALL!
Ummm…vintage. $60. Whaaaaa??!!!!
Honestly, I’m amazed I even shared this site instead of greedily keeping it to myself, but since you probably all shop it anyway, it’s all good.
For your blogroll:
I’ve recommended her before, but Rebecca Wolfe is an insanely good writer, so I’m telling you once more to check her out. And she also inspired my bangs. Just, you know, in case you care.
For your opinion:
Speaking of my bangs, I’m at that stage of bang growth where I have to decide whether to stick with the blunt bangs or grow them out. What do you think?
And thus concludes my first Crazybananas Follow Friday. I think I’m gonna take a nap now.
Five Links You Probably Won’t Click On (but you should)
Most of my readers (though I love all three of you, dearly) never click on the links I post here. Nor do they leave comments (too hard), watch videos (too loud) or click through photo slideshows (too much clicking). Have I mentioned that most of you remind me of my father, who, although he can grow cells in petri dishes, does not know how to use the Favorites tab in Internet Explorer? When I was in Florida I set up my mom’s computer to make it easier for her to get to her webmail and he was all “What’s that?! How did you do that?! That is so helpful…” and I was all “You run a huge part of a state university and you have no idea how to do this?” and he was all “Suck it, Megan. I’m a super-genius and I’ve done experiements in zero gravity” and I was all “true.”
But if a few of you decide that you need to do some click-a-lickin’ this weekend, here’s some places you should go:
Auto Tuner – This may only be funny to web designer types, but I watched this thirty times, and laughed so hard each time. The Vimeo (my online video service, my account is here) headquarters office makes these every now and then, and this one is a conversation between a manager and a web designer, where the web designer only responds using an auto tuner. If you’ve ever heard a horrid T-Pain song, (minus the amazing “I’m On A Boat”) you know what I’m talking about. Best part of the video “did I get that CSSSSSSSSSSS right.” Nerd humor is the best. (via Gwen Bell’s Twitter)
Packing Light: New York City Edition – This post by Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl gave me a huge case of clothes envy. Also of style envy. And packing envy. In conclusion, I need to move to San Francisco or New York, where I can find good thrift store purchases and have an H&M within ten minutes.
NYC + KC – Have you all been checking in on our newest project here at Crazybananas? Well, we’re 79 days into this photo experiment, and things are going along quite nicely, except for the fact that Theresa is in NYC (equaling an insane amount of awesome pictures) and I’m in KC (equaling pictures of my dog, my kid and a few flowers). Eh, suburbia. What can you do, right?
Stephmodo – My newest daily dose of inspiration. This site speaks for itself. Design, beauty, Paris? Yes, please.
This Dress – Puh-leeeese someone buy this for me. Or send the link to my husband, and ask him to buy it for me. 76% off, people!!! (Seriously, would one of you send this to Trent….Mothers’ Day is coming up soon…hint)
BONUS LINK – My Birthday Party Wish – Will someone please do this for me? I’ll talk about you nicely and may even break my hug/personal space bubble and plant a big wet one on your cheek!!!!
Chock Full of Sparkly Goodness (Dazzles Cost Extra)
I’d like to tell you a story about the amazing weekend I had. How my weekend was full of art and theater and attempts at understanding astrophysics. How I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, and then spent the day doing crafts with my daughter and making homemade pizza. I would like to tell you all of that.
Trouble is, I’d be lying.
My Saturday morning was full, alright. Full of groaning when my daughter woke up at 6 a.m. Full of getting her breakfast bars and turning on movies and then rolling back over and sleeping. Why, you may ask, was I so tired? Blame Mara.
On Friday night, Mara the Fantastic and Wonderful decided to come out to my house and visit her dear friend, because she missed me so very much and couldn’t imagine going another minute without seeing my smiling face.
Just kidding, she actually came out because one week previous I had forced her to watch the amazing awfulness of Moonlight, a television series about vampires that was cancelled by CBS after one season, but for some glorious reason is shown in reruns on the SciFi network. Turns out I’m not the only one without a life, and our evening was consumed with the trials of Mick St. John, Vampire Private Investigator. Yes, really.
After Mara realized how incredibly awesome it is to watch SciFi on a Friday night instead of, you know, having a life, she decided to rent the entire season of Moonlight. Because one cannot survive without knowing if Mick St. John, Vampire Private Detective and Beth Turner, the lady he saved from his vampire wife when she was a kid, but she doesn’t know it, are going to get together. Understandable.
Turns out Moonlight was such a television flop, you can’t rent it anywhere, only buy for a hefty pricetag that Mara was unwilling to pay. Although she apparently is willing to drive 30 minutes on a bum tire to watch it on my DVR. Yeah, I’m not sure of the logic involved either.
After putting the child to bed, Mara and I retreated to the basement to watch our second (or third, there’s always Angel from Buffy) favorite vampire solve a mystery while somehow hiding the fact that he eats people. And then. THE. HORROR.
Friday’s showing of Moonlight had been cancelled. By a Battlestar Gallatica marathon.
{Who just laughed out loud? You can’t make this stuff up!}
As Mara and I held each other and cried for our dear Mick St. John, we had an epiphany. Here’s a recap:
Me: Doesn’t Twilight come out on DVD tonight?
Her: Megan, I am not waiting in line to buy Twilight tonight!
Me: Of course not! I did that with the fifth Harry Potter book and I’m never doing that again.
Her: You’re a loser.
Me: True. But what if Twilight does come out on my cable’s OnDemand at midnight?!
Her: stares at me….starts to smile….proposes marriage
We then proceeded to spend the next two hours trying to find something to entertain us until midnight. I made her watch last week’s SNL with Tracy Morgan as the host (Seriously, is there anything funnier than Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet? I mean, “I don’t even want to go to your tea party, stuck up cow!” Now that’s comedy GOLD, people) and she made me re-watch last week’s episode of How I Met Your Mother (the one with the suit-jamas and nightshirt). We found a Twilight movie drinking game online and began crafting our own rules.
Then, at midnight, it began.
AND OME! THE SPARKLY GOODNESS WAS TOO MUCH TO HANDLE!
And at 2:30 a.m. it was over.
I must admit, I felt a little dirty and ashamed. And tired. Especially when my husband found we had purchased it and chastised the fact that I’d already seen it a few times (okay, three, SHUT UP!).
But I couldn’t help it, alright! Yes, I may be one of those weird, somewhat frightening moms that has a crush on a 17-year-old fictional vampire AAANNNDDD a 16-year-old fictional werewolf, but it’s endearing, right? And who can turn away from Edward’s sweaty (I mean sparkly. Yes! Sparkles!) face? Try, I dare you.
Annndddd BOOM. I just died.
Now, for those of you that just don’t get this whole Twilight phenomenon (you’re still reading this? really?) I’d recommend you go here for the most wonderful recap of the series that I’ve ever read, ever, ever. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find:
Twilight in Fifteen Minutes –
EDWARD: SAY MY NAME, BITCH
BELLA: EDWARD
EDWARD: NO, THE OTHER ONE
BELLA: ASSHOLE
EDWARD: NO, THE OTHER ONE
BELLA: VAMPIRE, OKAY? VAMPIRE
And also, you can get buddy icons like these, which I wish I had in printed form so I could just hand them to people instead of speaking to them:
Can you imagine?
“Megan, you are needed in the conference room.”
“I don’t know, sometimes I doubt your commitment to sparkle motion…”
And if you still doubt the absolute awesomeness of Twilight, you can read interviews from the stars of the movie to convince you of its supreme fabulocity:
“When you read the book,” says Pattinson, looking appropriately pallid and interesting even without makeup, “it’s like, ‘Edward Cullen was so beautiful I creamed myself.’ I mean, every line is like that. He’s the most ridiculous person who’s so amazing at everything. I think a lot of actors tried to play that aspect. I just couldn’t do that. And the more I read the script, the more I hated this guy, so that’s how I played him, as a manic-depressive who hates himself. Plus, he’s a 108-year-old virgin so he’s obviously got some issues there.”
And for that quote alone, RPattz is now officially added to My List, replacing either the ailing Steve Jobs or Harry, Prince of the Douchebags.
So, in conclusion:
Vampires are pretty.
Sparkles are fun.
Thank God I have friends that are as idiotic as I am.
And also…..
…….I’m now a cougar. RAWR.
Bleeding Heart Post #34,876
Hi, did you miss my gratuitous political posts ala last fall?
No, huh?
Tough. My blog. My rules.
I hope no one sees this as a truly political post, although I suppose that’s inevitable. Mostly, this is a post about what we should do, as people, as Americans, to teach our generation(s) and the next what they owe to their country and fellow citizens.
I’m talking about the USA Call to Service. You can learn more about the details here, but basically it’s a call to service from President Elect Obama to do something, anything, for your community. The focus is especially on doing something on January 19th, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Now, I know there are some people who are automatically going to scoff at this.
“Help people for one day, now you’re a saint?”
“Another politcal gimmick!”
“This is another ploy to get us to forget about the economy.”
“What about world affairs? Shouldn’t we be focusing on Gaza right now?”
“Pretentious liberal assholes…”
Some of this may be true, but regardless, I fail to see how encouraging and participating in a Day of Service is a negative thing. Sure, we should make it a daily focus of our lives. Sure, we do all have much to worry about these days. Yes, some people will use the system to their advantage.
But I feel that doing something, anything, is better than nothing.
On election day, Trent said to me (quite poigniantly, I might add), “OK, Mr. President, tell me what to do. If you want me to do 20 hours of community service, I will ask when and where.”
Now we have our chance. To find out more about how to participate in your area, please click here.
On a side note, I received an overwhelming response to my Kiva post last December, and even had one wonderful couple add Kiva to their wedding registry (Go Heath and Mikayla!). I’ve had a couple of emails asking to describe what Kiva actually does, as it’s pretty hard to put in to words. An amazing Kiva volunteer put together the following video, tracking one $25 Kiva loan through the entire process. It’s really a great thing to watch, I hope you do.
A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.
Tomorrow, I’ll talk about farts and Space Camp again. I promise.
