a little last-minute Festivus shopping

All I really wanted was a simple, casual, comfortable jersey dress. I had found ones I liked at Eddie Bauer and Ann Taylor Loft (online).



So I headed over to the Waterfront to hit the local stores in search of one. I ended up going to Kaufmann's, TJ Max, Marshall's, Filene's Basement, Old Navy, and Dress Barn, Gap, Ann Taylor Loft, Express and a few others, but alas, not a single store had casual, warm dresses! There were hoochie dresses for bars, and old lady dresses, but nothing sophisticated and comfortable :(

Once I realized my trip was turning into a waste, I appeased myself by getting a few other lovely things. These are my Festivus gifts for myself.

My first purchase was a pair of "apartment shoes" - really pretty shoes, to be worn inside the apartment only, for when I want to feel more dressed up (maybe with company around or something).


I also, finally, got myself a denim skirt. It's been pretty hard to find one that was soft and flexible yet warm and with a shape. Yay.

That silvery turtleneck sweater is also a new acquisition. For some reason, all sweaters were on sale, everywhere! I guess once Christmas arrives, winter is over?


I got a few more sweaters. I think I'm going to return/exchange the last one. The other pink one is made from that really soft, plushy material, it's sooo comfy! Although I really splurged, I honestly don't have very many decent sweaters. I mostly have Old Navy long-sleeve t-shirts, and most of those have bleach stains. And it's very cold in the office, so I need warm sweaters. So get off my back!


BTW, my head is cropped b/c I'm having a horrible hair day.

a Festivus for the rest of us!

Happy Festivus everyone!

Make time to air all your grievances. Here's a worksheet in case you need help.

If you haven't bought your festivus pole yet, it's not too late. No tinsel.

Good luck to you all in your feats of strength.

And don't forget to donate to the Human Fund. It's money for people, people!

best book ever

I'm almost done rereading The Foundation (by Isaac Asimov). This either the 3rd or 4th time I'm reading it, and each time, I'm reminded of how amazing this book is. It is definitely my favorite book. Even though my reading is limited to books of the SciFi/Fantasy genre, I've read quite a few of those, and this is by far the best one.

While it's interesting to read about a weird future utopia or dystopia, and some scientific ethical dilemma or alien invasion that occurs in a moment in that society, I much rather prefer to read books on the history of the future. How did the society get from where we are today to where they are. What choices were made that created the fantastical world the author is presenting. The Foundation is all about that. It's about the unfolding of the future.

The rest of the series goes downhill, as even Asimov doesn't like the future he's constructing, but I think he should've kept it on the original path. I was very disappointed by the ending.

I want to get Alex to read at least The Foundation. I think I'll move on to the Tripod series. I think it was the first scifi book I read, and I don't think I ever finished the entire series.

It's like I'm walking on my hands!

creepy... but fun!

bad dreams

I don't know why, but for about 20 mins last night I decided to watch Dracula 3000 starring Coolio and Heather Graham (whose name you won't find in the credits on IMDB... she probably had it removed b/c of how horrible the movie was...)

My last dream this morning (the one that woke me up) had Coolio in it! As a gangster, living with a bunch of other gangsters, who are raising a bunch of random kids together. Suddenly all these cops and helicopters came down on the large apartment building where they lived, and Coolio and his crew (and kids in tow) came out with their big guns to defend themselves. Turns out that *this time* the cops weren't after them, but after a much more dangerous convict who had escaped from prison. The cops left after not finding him. Then Coolio noticed that he had left the door to their apartment open when everyone ran out to the roof, so he suspected the escapee was hiding somewhere in their apartment.

Then the perspective changed... suddenly I was seeing things from the eyes of one of the kids in the dream... he must've been like 5 years old. And he's watching Coolio check the various rooms for the convict, and not finding anything. Then the kid opens the door to his own room, and sees the convict under his bed. That's when I woke up really scared and freaked out and glad that my bed doesn't have an "under" (the box spring is right on the floor).

best new source of wallpaper

Wikipedia:Featured pictures

Some of these are really amazing.

p.s. happy birthday to me

fantastic dinner

I just made a delicious dinner using Iron Chef's General Tso's sauce. Yum! I know it's supposed to be for chicken, but it was just as delicious with haddock. If only I could master the art of making non-soggy rice :(

Implicit Association Tests

Implicit Association Tests

Kind of interesting, although without knowing the stats behind the analysis, it seems a bit hokey.

So far, I've done 3 tests and:
1) I have a slight automatic preference for young people over old people,
2) I have a slight automatic association of women with science and males with liberal arts (which counters the general public association of women with liberal arts and men with science)
and 3) I have a slight automatic association of men with careers and women with families (yeah, yeah)