I guess it's time for the weekly check-in...

It's not that I haven't felt like blogging. Because I have.  Oh, have I.  While I'm at work, it's pretty much a constant stream of ideas and thoughts I'd like to write down somewhere--but of course, I can't since I'm at work.

Topics and/or thoughts in my head included but not limited to:

1. how i'm wasting away my life
2. the concert i went to 2 weeks ago
3. my bro's gf's bday weekend, which was all sorts of epic and amazing. with a touch of falling asleep in the middle of a Mexican restaurant at 3am.
4. stifling creativity by choice
5. the displeasure of meeting the Biggest Douchebag In The World
6. i'm constantly reminded how lucky i am to have the family i do
7. my dad's return from the Philippines
8. how my 16 year old self is kicking my ass for the direction i let my life go
9. fuck me i want a tablet for my computer but i keep going back and forth about it
10. i genuinely view my job as an annoyance that impedes my reading time.

But the fact of the matter is, I spend 9 hours a day staring at a computer screen.  I manage the accounts at work, which means working exclusively on a computer, going through electronic files and updating web records within a website. Around hour 4 I inevitably get a headache, by hour 5 I'm popping Tylenol, hour 7 I'm rubbing my eyes (I've saved a fortune by abstaining from eye make up since work started), and after hour 9 the last thing I want to do is go home and stare at one more screen.

On one hand, it's been interesting not being on a computer 24/7. Who knew there was so much life outside of this?! (I'm kidding) (Sort of) (Really) I admit my TV count has gone up a bit, but so has interacting with friends and having real conversations.

But on the downside, my poor little blog has suffered. I'm not giving up this blog, because I still enjoy it, and it's never really been about the readers and satisfying what they want (hate to burst that carefully placed bubble).  It's my little place, and it will be here for me when I can come to it.

Not that I don't feel bad, of course. My readers and blog friends are important to me, and I don't like that work - something I'm incredibly not crazy about - is taking me away from it/them/you.  My Google Reader has been upwards of the 700s for the past 2 months and it is driving me bonkers.  I'm trying, I swear--but you'll have to allow me the age-old excuse of a job getting in the way.

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A Visual Entry of My Browser

Whenever I run across a picture or a post or website that I really like, I tend to keep it open in my browser (I am the primo user of tabs, my friends).  I just can't stand to close it.  It's not like I look at the page/pic/post all the time, I just like knowing that it's there, a singular click away for when I do want to return.  The downside of this is that it slows down my computer to have so many tabs open, especially when the pages are picture heavy.

Since I've had the same browser open for 4 days now and it is turning my computer into a dinosaur, I thought I'd make a post that seems as though I'm just sharing my current interests but also doubles as a way to document the tabs without having them open.  Hooray for pictures!

I blame weheartit for this one, because I saw one of the photos and had to know where it came from--so I clicked the link.  And it brought me to a page that I understood absolutely nothing of (I think it was in Russian, but I can't be sure) except for the title saying "Sony World Photography Awards 2008".  So...I can assume it's from the Sony World Photography Awards?  I guess?  Whatever the reason, this is a sample of the pictures they have up.  Click if you'd like to see the rest (which I highly recommend), though be warned that a couple images and several of the sidebar ads are NSFW.




Cute Things Falling Asleep.  Oh yes, you know you're in trouble just by the name of the blog. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a big pet/animal person (sorry!), but even these melt my heart--especially that second video I posted; make sure to watch it all the way to the end!  I know you can scour YouTube for these and find a plethora, but an entire blog dedicated to some of the cutest animals (and sometimes people babies, too) fighting sleep and failing...agh.  ADORABLE.  Just the header on the blog wins me over.

Carlsbad, CA

I have this secret obsession with"dream" homes and estates.  I think everyone can look at some and get a feeling of want, but I love looking at the architecture and the design, too.  Which makes it incredibly dangerous when I'm on Dream Homes Magazine and Architectural Digest, because I spend hours looking and finding and inspiration-boarding.  And then I found the listings for Dream Houses in San Diego, which became responsible for 12 tabs...it's almost an addiction.  The above and the three following I love the architecture and exterior design of:

Coronado, CA

La Jolla, CA

I actually know this house, it's in the suburb I live in! (Which is why I won't write the location).  The picture doesn't do it justice, it's a gorgeous house with a beautiful location.  I trick-or-treated at it when I was in 10th grade :)

And I'm a little obsessed with the interior design of these (click to enlarge):

Rancho Santa Fe, CA

Rancho Santa Fe, CA -- and I actually think I've been in this house when it was first built.  It's even more stunning than it looks in the photos.

A friend of mine let me borrow the 1940s version of Pride & Prejudice, and despite the fact they did change some of the book, I really enjoyed it!  I have a hard time deciding between the 3 versions I've seen (2005 Keira Knightly version; BBC miniseries with Colin Firth; and now 1940s with Greer Garson).  I'll be first to admit that I, along with most other women, am in love with Mr. Darcy, so any actor will probably get a little leeway that might not normally be there.  But Laurence Olivier deeeefinitely played him well, in my opinion.  Such a classic man.

Click to see the rest of the Illustrated Cities series!

And lastly, this is an artist I've talked about before, but every time I see her work I love it even more: Blanca Gomez of Cosas Minimas.  Her recent Illustrated Cities series is so cute and fun!  According to her blog, these were done for a project, but I do hope she illustrates other cities as well! (So far she has done London, New York and Paris.)

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What I've done in my life...

via weheartit

I saw this list through Ali's blog (hello old lj friend!), and figured since I didn't get to do Ten on Tuesday, I'd stick this up as a post.

• Copy the list.
• Bold the ones you've done (w/explanations if needed).
• Share with friends.

I have:
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars (not a fan of camping, but this made it worth it)
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (I was in college, of course it was more than I could afford)
7. Been to Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (while getting over laryngitis! Note that I didn't say I sang it well.)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris 

13. Watched a thunder and lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I'm counting all my Photoshop/inDesign/graphic design since it's all self-taught)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight (with girls. in summertime pjs.  yeah, that's real.)
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (do people...not...do this?)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (I think so, at a farm in Belgium)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (I feel like I did, but it was probably partial. So, no bolding.)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (relative to the courtyard of my Parco in Italy, of course.)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (the Filipino part, anyway.)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (I'd feel weird not bolding this, because it's not like I need money to be satisfied with my life...I need passion and drive, not money.)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (art class. It counts, dammit.)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person (got lost in it, got yelled at by the guards.)
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (on the life's goals list though!)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (if I can count a not-for-profit magazine)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason (he was sweet)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (I completely crossed this off because I am not legally allowed to donate blood/platelets/plasma/body parts/anything other than money.  You may ask if you want to know.)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check (NOT my fault...she cashed it way earlier than I told her to!)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (Snowball!)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle (much to my Harley-riding father's chagrin, no.)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (I think...it's kind of unclear.  All I know is there was a dying bee on the floor next to me, and my leg fucking hurt.)

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Search terms are funny things...

Happy Tuesday⁺, everybody!  Remember in this post how I mentioned that I had a goal to watch all the Best Picture nominated movies before the award show?  And that I was super awesome since I'd had a grand total of 2 out of the 10?  Well, I got to four!  FOUR!  That's ridiculous for me.  That means I watched 2 movies in a week--I rarely watch 2 movies in a month.  Accomplishment, kids: it feels good.

(For those wondering, my four were: Up, Up in the Air, The Blind Side, and An Education.  Highly recommend all of them.  I have a slight girlycrush on Carey Mulligan now, too.)

Anyhow.  So I was recently checking out my Google Analytics--can Google do any wrong?!--and looking at the search items that have led people to my blog.  The usual Charlie Brown-related things (HI PEANUTS FANS), the few related to David Sedaris (which I apologise to those who have searched that and are led to a post that also has Twilight in it), a few about unemployment from my early blogging days...but apparently, one of the biggest hits on my site is the post about how I was severely skeeved out by a man who had freakishly long nails.

I never realized how many people Google men with nails (or any variation of terms with "man" and "nails").  Apparently there's like an underground fetish going on, or something...maybe it's a lot of drug usage, I don't know.  Whatever the reason, I pretty much owe one-third of foreign page visits to my site to that specific group of people.  So thanks, odd group of people who apparently like and/or want a man with long nails!  I hope we never, ever date the same men.

And lastly, there was one more item on the search list that caught my eye.  Apparently, someone searched the phrase "How to Not Creep Out Guys."  I laughed.  And then I started to think about the person who searched that...do you generally creep out guys?  Were you searching for a friend?  Does that friend creep out guys?  Were you researching something for an article (if so, hello fellow journalist!)?  Were you trying to find an inner source to the psyche of men?

Now, I admit to being a bit of a people-person.  I'm not a doormat, but I like to deliver when something is asked of me.  And I don't want that person who doesn't want to creep out men (whether it is the person to search it or for that "friend" they searched it for) to be disappointed!  And maybe I'm sparing some men from being creeped out by a girl.  Two birds with one stone.

Without further ado, here are a few things I think you should avoid in order to not creep out men when you meet them*:

• Drooling.  Whether its at dinner, while in a dentist chair, making baby voices at your cute puppy, or when he walks into the room.  Generally, spittle down the side of a girl's mouth isn't deemed attractive, because if you can't keep that in check...well...who knows what else you can't keep under control.  Mainly your inner psychotic.
• Calling him 7+ times in less than 24 hours since you met him.  I know, I know--that's just annoying and clingy, but let me finish.  Don't call him 7+ times and leave him a whispered message each time detailing every infinitesimal thing you love (yeah, love) about him.  Because face it, that's weird.
• Anything that may result in some sort of fluid or excess leaving your body, from any orifice.  Sure, maybe the boy laughs at farts or doesn't mind belching, but when that gas turns to a solid (or, heaven forbid, a liquid)...that changes things.
• Pick at your toenails.  While out to dinner.  At a restaurant.  Sitting at the dinner table.  If you do actually do this, please keep on walkin' past this blog post, because I can't help you here.
• Talk about any products relating to your monthly lady times.  It freaks him out enough to hear period chatter, spare him the details about what caught the results of that one time your body decided to hate you by giving you a flow that rivaled Niagara Falls.
• Staring him while he sips his coffee at his favourite coffee drink from behind your newspaper for 5 hours, then following him as he runs his errands at the grocery store next door and darting behind shelves and displays and aisles when he gets a glimpse of you.  Also, this could get you arrested.
• Profess your undying love and devotion to the brilliant musical talent of Miley Cyrus/Vanessa Hudgens/Honor Society/insert-any-tween-Disney-Channel-star-here.  Go ahead and have your opinions, like the music you want (because who hasn't caught themselves humming that fucking catchy "Party in the USA" rift?), but saying you want to move to Malibu to live next to Hannah Montana who is just like SO real to you because she just like GETS you won't get you anywhere.  And if it does, I'm not sure you want to be with him anyway.

* all suggestions are void when in sexual situations.  I can't say firsthand, but I have a hunch all bets are off in that department.**
**also, what the fuck do I really know about men and what they really like or don't like?
⁺ I will not be doing Ten on Tuesday this week; and no, I will not say why.

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