Who Dat?!


Well, this has been a Super Bowl filled with ups and downs: touchdowns, interceptions, stand ups on the goal line, and an onside kick.

Especially that onside kick.  That, I think, is what won this game for the Saints.  The onside kick at the start of the second half was absolute genius.

In the second half, it also seemed like the Colts’ defense couldn’t make a stop.  And then Payton threw that interception, which killed all the momentum that the Colts’ offense had managed to muster.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the extent of my game summary.  Now I’d like to take a few moments to look at the real reason millions of people watch the Super Bowl: the commercials.

Likes

  • The Betty White Snickers ad.  The idea of someone tackling the hell out of Betty White is totally shocking and hysterical.  It totally worked for me.
  • All of the Budweiser commercials except the book club one.  The astronomers/end of the world commercial was fantastic.  And I love the Clydesdales.
  • Monster.com’s fiddling beaver.  I mean violinist beaver.  Whatever.  It was a beaver with a violin sawing away for all it was worth.
  • Barney Stinson and the errant phone number.  If you haven’t dialed it, it’s 877-987-6401.  Toll free and funny.
  • Most of the Doritos commercials.

Dislikes

  • The Doritos commercial where the little kid bitchslaps his mom’s date for having a chip.  Nobody’s kid gets to bitchslap me and get away with it.  If I were a guy, he wouldn’t have to worry about me touching his mom because I wouldn’t be going on a date with someone who raises a little terror like that.
  • Audi’s green police commercial.  I hate feeling preached at, and I hate smug self-righteousness.  That commercial managed to cram so much of both into thirty seconds that I thought I was going to vomit.  Plus, how is it green to pour out a bunch of water because it’s in plastic bottles?  How green is it to set up giant roadblocks that would invariably result in miles of idling cars?  Kiss my ass, Audi.  I’m in the market for a new car, but I can tell you it definitely won’t be one of yours.
  • The Letterman, Oprah, Leno commercial.  I got where they were going with it, but it just wasn’t funny.
  • Ugh, the Boost shuffle.  How many times are people going to take what was, the first time around, an amusing, interesting concept and remake it into something even more tired and stale?

There were probably some others, but I missed most of the second quarter in the kitchen making onion rings.  Next time, I’m going the baked route rather than deep-fried.

Congrats to the city of New Orleans!  Your first Super Bowl.  I hope you’re all having a great time celebrating tonight!

Sporty Indulgences


I like to think of this as my sports weekend.  My little indulgence of the part of me that thoroughly enjoys watching grown men beat the hell out of each other in organized mayhem.

It began yesterday with the UK/LSU game.  The game started out close, with LSU striking first and UK initially unable to hit the broad side of a barn.  But then LSU hit a cold streak — ice cold, frigid as a witch’s tit cold — and UK went on a 20+ point streak.  There were some serious displays of athleticism from John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and DeMarcus Cousins.  Patrick Patterson knocked down some big shots.

Watching them play was impressive.  The whole team is impressive, especially when you consider the number of freshmen on the squad.  LSU, once they hit that cold snap, didn’t stand a chance yesterday.

The question that remains, obviously, is how long can they keep this up?  The Cats have had their moment at the top of the heap, ranked number one for a week.  They got their first loss out of the way, and I think they’re going to be the better for it.  Especially the freshmen.  That first loss, I hope, will serve as a grounding force for the team for the rest of the season, reminding them that they’re not invincible and that they have to go for 40 minutes, from tipoff to the final buzzer, as hard as they can.  If they do that, I can see them going deep into the Tournament, if not all the way to the Finals at the end of the season.

I just hope that Coach Cal, who seems to be doing so well right at the moment but who has such an ominous track record, doesn’t leave a lasting legacy of violations that would take this season’s accomplishments away.  These kids — these young men — deserve much better than that.

Today the sports continue with the Super Bowl.  Indianapolis Colts versus New Orleans Saints, down in Miami.  One team coming back for a second run in four years, the other hoping for the franchise’s first title.  I think it stands to be a fantastic game, especially after watching the Saints outgun the Vikings a couple of weeks ago.

The only thing that today is missing, for me, is a large group of people coming over to watch the game.  I miss our Super Bowl parties from college, when a whole bunch of us would get together over food, drinks, and excellent company.  It’s all well and good to have an elaborate menu of yumminess planned for me and Southern Honey, but I’d honestly rather be doing it for us and five or ten good friends.  It’s just more fun to sit around and yell at the TV that way.  *grins*

What yumminess is planned, you ask?  Homemade onion rings, triple battered.  Buffalo wings (admittedly not homemade).  Roasted garlic red potatoes and asparagus.  Homemade guacamole.  Store-bought salsa and tortilla chips.  Hurricanes and red cream soda floats to drink.  Maybe some monkey bread for dessert.  Entirely too much food for two people, but it’s going to be awesome.

See why I want to have people over?  I need to share the wealth — not to mention the calories!

Five hours to kickoff, and I need to get things cleaned up in case my mom and grandmother stop by later.  Plus I have onion to slice, red potatoes to chunk, and allegiance to consider.

Tune in tomorrow for game and commercial commentary (see, I remembered the most important part of the Super Bowl!).

Sleep Deprivation


I have decided that I am not a fan of emergency rooms.  We spent six and a half hours in one last night, and it’s not an experience I’d care to repeat, especially since I had to turn around and go to work on a minimal amount of sleep this morning.

All is well in the Southern world, though.  Southern Honey’s apparent allergic reaction is under control.  He no longer looks as though he might scare small children while out and about.  And he’s not itching like crazy anymore.  Still no idea what set him off, but we know what to do now to hopefully figure it out.

I have a lot to be thankful for, despite the long night.  I just wish it hadn’t taken some really unfortunate events in a friend’s life to remind me.

I’m sitting here, next to Southern Honey, just watching television and the cats.  I think the cats are more entertaining than the show.  They like to run around like made, just chasing each other over the furniture and having a good old time.  Even when they fight, it’s play-fighting, not true fighting, at least most of the time.  And when all is said and done, and they get tired, they snuggle up together and sleep.

Southern Honey is feeling better for right at the moment.  And he’s mostly content living down here.  It’s the opposite of college: he’s the one making friends and dragging me along to have a good time.  It’s an interesting feeling.

Okay, this is rambling like mad.  I clearly need sleep.

But I have a lot to think about.  I need to work on keeping in touch with my friends so that the next time I don’t feel like I’m so far out of the loop when lousy things happen.  Plus I can be there for them.  That’s the big thing for me.  I feel like I let her down a little bit because I was so far behind.  That is a shitty feeling.

I swear the rambling is now done.  Bed beckons, and I still have to put the sheets and stuff back on.  Tomorrow or Sunday I promise a lighthearted cat picture post to make up for the sleep-deprived depression tonight.

Tax Refund? We Need That Stinkin’ Tax Refund!


Yes, it is indeed that time of year again, the time when we all  run around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to find important pieces of paper that sum up the cash flowing into and out of our lives for the past year and pray that all the math ultimately means we’re going to get some of it back.

Between the two of us, Southern Honey and I have five separate W-2s.  That means that this year is going to be filled with math joy.  Fortunately, it will be math joy for someone else, because we’re going to H&R Block or someplace like that.

This year’s goals for the tax refund:

  • A new bed and mattress — the one we’re currently using will get moved to one of the extra bedrooms to make a proper guest room.
  • A netbook for Travis — he’s been really patient about getting one since I got the laptop back in December.
  • A new savings account for emergencies.

Hopefully by next weekend we’ll have some time to get it taken care of.  And further hopefully we won’t get too taken advantage of between the move, all the jobs, and my transfer.  Filing taxes in two states after buying a house and having Uncle Same pay for some of it gets complicated.  From what I can tell — all I really know is that I don’t have the proper forms to do my state taxes yet!  Bleh.

Oh, so the point of my post: Any and all mattress brand/type recommendations would be appreciated.  The bed we’re getting is a platform, so no box spring required.  I’ve never had to shop for one before, so I’m not sure where to start.

Oh Noes!!!


Ack, I’m turning into a girly-girl!!!  *runs away screaming in horror*

What girly thing did I do today?  I bought shoes and a purse, and I willingly went clothing shopping.  To top all that off, the shoes are really cute little black ruffled peep toes and the purse is teal blue alligator print.  I would have bought pants if they’d had any in my size — buy one, get one free was just too good to pass up.  I think that hell is now freezing over.

I’d feel better about my mini-shopping spree if we’d gotten our taxes done already.  It’s not that we can’t afford it, more that I’m just perpetually cheap.  And I hate having to shop for clothes with a burning passion that was not helped by discovering while I was trying on pants that the sweater I’m wearing has a hole in it.  Awesome.

On another sarcastically awesome note, one of the cats peed on the bed this morning.  Just a little to the left and he’d have peed right on top of Southern Honey.  I guess that’s what we get for “cat proofing” the kitchen cabinets, aka using string to tie them shut so Prometheus can’t get on top of the counter.  They’re really going to be pissed when we get the real child proofing stuff and take the string off…

Unwanted Guests + Video => YouTube


I had something in mind to write tonight, but then I got distracted by the Grammys and a video that someone brought to my attention on YouTube.

It was a scary video, the kind of thing that most sane people hope they never have to see:  A group of adults old enough to be one’s grandparents caught on tape making asses of themselves, molesting perfect strangers, stripping down and replacing shirts with chair sashes, and otherwise being needlessly stupid.

Where, you might ask, would such individuals feel comfortable cutting up in such a manner?

Why, at the wedding of their friend’s son to his new wife, of course!

Yes, the mother of the groom pratted on and on about how classy the event had to be (and the venue looked quite lovely, as did the table decorations, as long as they weren’t being inappropriately used for articles of clothing) before coercing her son and future daughter-in-laaw to invite a group of her friends, who the bride and groom did not know and did not want to include.  And these friends proceeded to drive off the rest of the guests and take naked pictures of themselves in the bathroom with cameras that the happy couple had provided for each table and then paid to have developed.

Methinks that someone needs a solid thwak upside the head with a dictionary until the definition of “classy” sinks in.  And then a few more times for good measure.

This fiasco came to my attention through a site that discusses etiquette issues — the ultimate question being, “Is it rude to post videos like this to sites such as YouTube?”

I don’t really want to get into that too much because I’m not sure how I feel about it.  The bride ended up with a wedding/reception video completely free of the obscene actions; the one that was posted was an additional video that she specifically requested the videographer make for her.

I can absolutely understand the urge to post it — I would have been livid had I found out that guests at our wedding had behaved so poorly (it was awkward enough when my mother-in-law mistook my friend’s hookah for a bong and tried to kick him and several others out).  The bride is getting a lot of validation for her anger, and rightfully so.  But I worry that putting it out there for the world to see might have some adverse effects that she might not have expected.

1 – It’s out there more or less permanently at this point.  Once you let something as insane as that video out there, it takes on a life of its own.  So while now it might be giving her validation, there might come a time when its existence stops being cathartic and starts getting in the way of dealing with the emotions brought up by it.  And at that point, she might want to recall it, cause it to cease to exist, only to find that it’s not possible.

2 – If … okay, when … her mother-in-law finds out, I suspect that the proverbial shit will hit the fan.  The mother-in-law’s reaction — which I can’t in any way imagine being good, given that the woman laughed at her friends’ antics during the reception — could have some extremely negative effects among the extended family dynamics.  And the bride will at that point have gone from having righteous indignation and anger on her side to appearing as petty and classless as the offending parties at the reception.  Note that I’m not saying that she is petty or classless, just that her actions could be interpreted to give that impression.

3 – She’s wasting a powerful piece of blackmail potential and leverage with her mother-in-law.  That video could have been her go-to piece of persuasion for every half-assed suggestion or demand of her mother-in-law’s for pretty much the rest of her marriage.  But now it’s out in the public domain, which I think detracts from its usefulness here.  Not that I would have been hoarding it so that the next time someone said, “Why don’t you do X?” I could trot it out and say, “I won’t be doing X unless you want another round of this or want it to become public.”  I would never do such a thing.  Honest!

All that said, I now need brain bleach after watching it and would like those seven minutes of my life back.  If only it worked that way…

Snowmageddon 2010


93% less apocalyptic than predicted.

I really must have jinxed it!  We were supposed to get sleet starting at midnight last night, but when I got up at almost seven to get ready for work, the ground was completely dry.  The revised forecast was calling for snow just after nine, with five to nine inches of accumulation.

Nine am came and went with no snow.  The Weather Channel backpedaled once again, and now we could expect snow sometime after noon — one to three inches worth.  Wait, we went from five to nine inches to one to three inches just like that?

Yes, yes, we did.

It finally started snowing about one or 1:30, and now the snow is pretending it’s going to think about sticking.  It probably won’t really, but that’s all right.  Better no snow than lots of ice.

Amusingly enough, everything involving children has been closed since last night.  So all the kids in town missed out on a perfectly acceptable day of school and will have to make it up at the end of the year.  On top of that, several day cares are closed.  I hope those parents were able to get off work, though.

And so Snowmaggedon 2010 is something of a bust.

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Snow and Table Jewelry


Supposedly, we’re due to get a hefty dose of snow and ice tomorrow.  Six to nine inches of snow.  And now that I’ve blogged about it, I’ve jinxed it, of course.

I’m not sure what I’d like to see happen.  I love snow, and I love it when work gets canceled because of snow.  But my dad is due to visit tomorrow with his girlfriend, and I’m looking forward to seeing him.  I’m not sure about her yet; I like her well enough, I suppose, but I’m still adjusting to them being a package deal.

In preparation for the visit, I got a bit crafty today.  I read a thread about napkin rings (table jewelry versus way to identify each family member’s napkin) earlier and it got me thinking.  And feeling hyped about a project.  I enjoy projects most of the time, and this was no exception.

Next time I’m going to get some better tools and some different beads.  I like these well enough, but I wanted to do spirals of beads wrapped around the napkins.  Couldn’t manage it with the pliers I had at hand — I need some really tiny jeweler’s ones so I can wrap and knot the wire better.

But I thought they turned out pretty well for seven bucks and a first try.

Have to Love It


The first sickness of the New Year is floating through the Southern household.  Have to love it when one person comes down with something and promptly gives it to everyone else.

There’s not a lot to argue with when a fever strikes and you want nothing more than to heave your guts out.  Team that with a wisdom tooth that wants to escape from your jaw, and you’re having a fantastic time, let me tell you.

Top all that off with the lovely piece of cinematic art known as “The Spirit” and I find myself overcome with a strong desire to crawl into bed and never come out.  Seriously, watching this would be horrible on a good day.  Now it’s more like torture.  Dear Frank Miller, I want the last couple of hours of my life back.  “300″?  Good.  “Sin City”?  Good.  “Elektra”?  I don’t know, I never watched it.  The latter “Robocop” movies?  Eh, I’ve seen worse.  But “The Spirit”?  Just no.  It’s my new favorite unintentional comedy, or it would be if it didn’t leave me wanting to throw something at the sheer stupidity of it all.

Maybe by Friday I’ll feel a lot better and I’ll be able to forget that I ever watched this movie.

Dear heaven, I hope so.

Playing Travel Agent


Today’s topic: How to keep divorced parents from running into each other in a smaller town.

That will be my task this weekend, and it’s one I’m seriously looking forward to.  Or not.  You see, my dad and his girlfriend are coming to visit us for the weekend.  Most likely it won’t be a problem, but we haven’t seen my mom in a couple of weeks, and I suspect she’ll be calling soon wanting to get together.  I may have to preempt that by having lunch with her one day this week.

I had really hoped that by now I wouldn’t have to play these games.  But I can tell that hearing about him still bothers her.  Hopefully Topper Town is big enough that we won’t end up in the same place at the same time.  It helps that they’re staying at a nearby state park rather than with us or in town, so unless she drives by while they’re visiting the house, we most likely won’t run into each other.

It gets hard juggling the visits and the phone calls sometimes.  Christmas was fun, although slightly less awkward than last year.  I managed the whole “dual Christmas lists” thing much better and did not end up with tons of multiples of things like bathrobes.

My other task this week is to plan our weekend activities.  There are a lot of things to do down here and a lot of places to see, but not all of them are winter outdoor friendly.  I’m thinking a local barbeque joint on Friday night, breakfast at our place on Saturday, a local museum, a tour of the town, maybe a spin around campus, and then dinner downtown.  There are a couple of local spots that have live music later in the evening.