FYI!

I just ordered my first food dehydrator.  Watch out world, I'm about to start drying shit to eat. 

If I Had These Things, My Life Would Be Perfect.

I'm bored. And I've planned a long, hard day of laying around in bed. I've got a cold that I'm trying to kick before tomorrow for my husband's big day. Then we're supposed to go away for the weekend snowboarding...which won't be much fun if I'm sick.

You people aren't updating your blogs quickly enough, giving me new material to read. So, I'm making myself another list.


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This Brother sewing machine. My current machine is a Singer (1120), and while it works fine (most of the time, though it's been acting up lately) and is only about 5 years old, I could really go for an updated, fancier machine.

Also, my serger is a Brother...so I think it would only be appropriate to have a little family of sewing products.





Nintendo DSI XL. Because I'm a Nintendo fanatic. And I want to play the Mario games that are made exclusively for the DS. And I could connect it to our Wii.

My kids want it, I want it...anybody want to trade? My PSP for your DS.




Asus Eee PC. Just because they're awesome, and I really want a laptop that I can carry around in my purse. My husband doesn't get it. "You already have a Macbook!" he says. "But it's even more portable! And I can take it to the coffee shop and write in peace and quiet!" I whine. "You can do that with the Macbook." he replies. "..." I have no rebuttal. I still want one.




Cuisineart Food Processor. I've pined after this machine for years. I have a food processor, but it's by Hamilton Beach and basically, a piece of crap. I've had to replace the lid several times because it keeps breaking, and there are hardly any additional attachments to buy for it.

I do a lot of cooking. This would make my life so much happier (and simpler)!




Pasta attachments for my KitchenAid stand mixer. I love to make pasta from fresh homemade dough. There's nothing quite like pasta that's been made by hand, and cooked immediately after. However, I have a cheap, basic hand-cranked roller and cutter at the moment...I would make pasta a lot more often if my mixer could help me make it.



Natal for Xbox 360. Okay, so this one doesn't come out until November. But oh em eff gee...have you seen the demo videos for this? I don't care how much this thing costs, it's going on my Christmas shopping list. I'm going to buy it "for my husband".

Because this is just freaking awesome:

Copy Cat AKA These Are a Few of my Favorite Things

I've been doing a lot of sewing the past few days...but well, I can't show you anything yet. I made a couple things for a craft gift exchange at a forum I participate in, so for the sake of not ruining the surprise I cannot post about what I made until my partner receives her package. I know, I know, settle down people. You'll just have to wait a few more days to see pictures.

Last night I took advantage of the time since I was up until 2AM with my youngest who likes to wake up in the middle of the night and started working on another little project. But I'm not going to show you that either. Because it's not done yet. So you're going to have to wait, nucka.

So anyway, in the spirit of needing to feel that I've posted something important here, I'm going to follow Helena's lead from Life in the Pitts and post a list of some of my favorite things at the moment. Because lists are fun and everybody loves them.



Movies

Avatar in 3D - AMAZING. My daughter wanted to see this. I wasn't too excited about it, but as soon as I put on those "Real D" glasses for the previews I knew it was going to be a cool experience. It was so good that I saw it a second time when I took my husband to see it a few days later. Gooooo see it if you haven't already, and make sure you see it in Real D.

I found out recently that my closest IMAX theater is playing it as well...in 3D. I can't even imagine what it would be like to see it in 3D and IMAX. I can only hope that it will still be playing there over the next couple of weekends, because I would really love to try to get over there to see it. Even though 7.5 hours of lifetime Avatar watching seems a little nutty.

Sunshine Cleaning - (Netflix watch instantly) Very cute movie about a single mother who starts a cleaning company specializing in picking up after suicides/murders/other deaths.

Hancock - (Netflix watch instantly) I just watched this the other night after avoiding it for awhile since a Will Smith movie is kind of a gamble in my book. It was surprisingly good. Funny with a nice twist towards the middle.



TV Shows

LOST - the final season! Isn't it amazing? I thought the season was off to a slow start when it began, but I'm really starting to enjoy it now. I'm looking forward to my glass of wine (or 2 glasses, maybe 3...) and a cuddle on the couch with my husband while we watch the next episode tonight.

Nip/Tuck - another final seasoner. The series finale is tomorrow night. It'd better be good...because the past couple of episodes have sucked pretty badly IMO. For a show that is normally so shocking and full of twists and dark humor, it seems like most of the last season has been overflowing with filler episodes. The most exciting thing to happen was when a major character (who happened to be a favorite of mine) supposedly committed suicide. Which was pretty shocking. I just wish that there were more WTF moments this season, that's all.

True Blood - oh man. This is so 2009, since it's currently the off-season. But I cannot wait for the season premiere sometime this summer. I'm pretty picky about the vampire genre. I hated the Twilight books (or I should say, book, since I only read the first one to see what the hoopla was about. I wasn't impressed, and I put myself through torture finishing the book since I have a tic...I cannot start a book without seeing it through to the end). I never got into the vampire thing before then. The only vamp movies I ever saw and liked were Interview with the Vampire (though I never read the book) and From Dusk Till Dawn.

Anyway, I was browsing on Sidereel.com last spring and noticed True Blood in some of the top rated shows...and I was bored, so I gave it a shot. For the next couple of days, I could not pull myself away from the computer. I watched hour long episodes back to back until I was finished with the first season and was ready for the second by the time it was about to premiere. I told friends and family about the show and blackmailed made them promise to watch the first episode. Every person that did also became an obsessed fan. Try it out. Even if the vampire genre isn't normally your thing, you'll love it. Unless you're offended by softcore porn and a bunch of other definitely adult-themed content...then you may not love it so much.

Jericho - (Netflix watch instantly) Suchhhhhhh an amazing show. It's canceled, so I wasn't sure if I should even bother to watch it when I saw it in Netflix W.I., but I'm so incredibly glad that I did. It's about the plight of a small town surviving a post-nuclear USA.

A fun fact about this show: it was canceled after the first season due to low ratings (which is shocking, because it's an incredible show. It also had a really shitty spot in the TV line-up, I'm suspecting that had a lot to do with it). Anyway, when it was canceled after the first season, rabid fans organized a movement and ordered over 20 tons of nuts over the Internet and had them sent to CBS headquarters in NYC. The network responded to the fan enthusiasm by promising another 7 episodes of Jericho. Unfortunately, the show didn't make the cut after the second "trial season" and was canceled again. You can see crazy pics of the nuts at CBS here and here.

There are now rumors that the idea of a movie is being tossed around to finish up the story line...but for now, the writers have come up with a comic book (Jericho: Season 3) so that the show may live on (kind of, anyway). I had never read a comic book in my life, but I HAD to know what happened next. I now have a subscription to receive the comic books as they are published...while they're not nearly as satisfying as the show was, they still give me the fix I need. Bottom line: if you have Netflix, go check it out. Even though it's a dead show, it's worth watching. Fo realz.



Foods

Taco Bell's 89 cent five layer burrito - I can't get enough of these. I just wrote about them in my last post. I ate three yesterday. Lord help me, I can't stop myself. Take mercy on my ass and thighs.

De Boles Pastas - De Boles is my favorite pasta company. Why? Because they are one of the handful of pasta brands that my daughter (who is allergic to everything, remember?) can actually eat (though some varieties she cannot have). Prior to my discovery of these back in October, the only time my daughter ate pasta was when I made it by hand at home specially for her. The only ingredient in the corn pasta? Corn flour. I had first found them at my local natural foods store, though they were a bit spendy there at nearly $4 a box.

The other day I was browsing the natural foods section of my Shaw's Market and noticed that they now stock the brand! And it was on sale for $2.50 a box! And they had varieties the natural food store didn't have! I still haven't tested out the other boxes on my daughter (a spinach pasta and some other one that I don't remember and I'm feeling too lazy to get up and look)...they should be okay for her but with new foods/ingredients (it has a type of flour I haven't heard of before in it) I try to give her small amounts first and watch for any type of reaction before deeming it safe to eat. Here's a link to the De Boles Pasta website.



Games

Super Paper Mario - oh man. This game made it into my top 3 console games the first time I played it. (along with Super Mario Bros 3 and New Super Mario Bros for Wii). As most of you already know, I am a huge fan of the Mario series. I've been playing them since the days of the original Nintendo console. I've grown up with them and they've been one of the few childhood things that I never grew out of...like taking baths, Disney movies, and mac n cheese. It's an incredible game. If you like the Mario games, just get it. Trust me. My kids love it, I love it, it's wonderful.

OMGPop Games - I discovered this recently when my brother and I were looking for a way to play Tetris online together (he lives in another state, so playing online games is a way that we spend time together). All of the games are fun, colorful, and multiplayer. Most of them are new twists on old favorites, challenging, and competitive. My favorite games are: Blockles (a tetris-like game), Dinglepop (like Snood), Letterbox (anagraming game), and Draw My Thing (like Pictionary). Feel free to add me as a friend.



Books

This is always a difficult topic since I read a good 2-3 books per week. So I'm just going to list the first ones that come to mind that I've read recently:

Queen Betsy/Undead Series - I had first seen a set of these books at a used book store sometime in 2008 and almost bought them, just because I liked the illustrations on the covers and the plot sounded entertaining. It wasn't until I was going through True Blood withdrawl that I looked them up online and gave the first, (called Undead and Unwed) book a whirl. They're very quick reads, I could and did fly through two books in a day sometimes...the kind of book you just cannot put down. The series is kind of like a mixture of Clueless (the movie) and True Blood (the show). I swear I'm not a crazy vampire fanatic. But these are good books and came to mind because I just recommended them to somebody a couple days ago.

The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs decides to take the Bible literally and live by all of its rules for a year. He also explores views and interviews people from all places in the religious spectrum. Entertaining, and I learned a lot. I'm not religious (spiritual), but I love reading about religions and learning as much as I can about them.

Me Talk Pretty One Day - I love David Sedaris, writer of hilarious non-fiction essays about his life. I own all of his books, and this is my favorite.

The Lovely Bones - such an incredible, astonishing, shockingly...huge waste of time. Don't read this book, it really sucks. Seriously.



YouTube Videos

Badder Romance - a group of college students get together and remake Lady Gaga's Bad Romance video (and it's LOL funny). As an added bonus: these people live like 30 minutes away from me, which I find awesome. I wish they would be my BFFs.

I Rock Onesies - music video of a bunch of guys dancing around, rapping, and wearing adult sized footie jammies.

Policeman VS Kitty - a cop is writing out a ticket for a man in a car, and an overly friendly cat climbs up the policeman like a tree for some lovin. I have no idea how that man kept a straight face.

False Blood - a True Blood spoof. You'd have to watch the show to understand.



Links

I'm too blogged out to even begin going through my massive amount of favorites for this one, so I'm just going to link you to my Del.icio.us., where I keep most of my bookmarks. I try to tag every site/article/picture that I like as I browse. Sometimes I forget though, and it drives me absolutely crazy when I try to find a site I liked but can't find it in my Delicious because I never tagged it! Gah!

Sonic Boom (aka Satan's scream) Pt. 2

I promised a reader yesterday that I would write about my results with my new Sonic BOOM Alarm Clock but unfortunately I didn't get around to it last night. So here we go! Yesterday morning was my first true experience with the alarm, which I now like to call The Bastard on my Nightstand (and his Obnoxious Siamese Twin Under my Memory Foam Bed Topper).

The Bastard jolted me awake promptly at 7:15AM and into a state of fear and confusion. I was disoriented for several seconds, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. And then I felt the bed vibrating strongly under me, glanced at the clock, and remembered. I pressed the snooze button and got another 10 minutes of sleep before I was assaulted again, but the second time wasn't nearly as terrifying as the first. This is actually mildly concerning...if the shock of the experience is what wakes me up, will it still work once I've had weeks or months to get used to it?

The product description on ThinkGeek.com describes it to be louder than a jackhammer. While it certainly was not like being woken gently to the sound of angels singing in chorus, I' having a hard time believing that it actually is noisier than a jackhammer. Maybe I just haven't heard many jackhammers in my life.

TLDR: yes, it works well. Aside from another person physically beating me in the nose and eyes until I wake up, it's nearly impossible to get me up until I'm ready, and the Sonic Boom worked beautifully. I highly recommend it.

You don't own alarm clock, alarm clock owns you.

I just tested out my brand new Sonic BOOM Alarm Clock (while already awake) and I have to say, I'm feeling confident about this one. I'm assuming this product was originally designed to wake the dead deaf, considering that not only is it SUPER loud (the maximum volume has higher decibels than a jackhammer), but it also comes with a nifty vibrating attachment that you're supposed to place under your mattress or pillow...and it shakes the hell out of you until you wake up. (Personally I would avoid putting it under my pillow since even through a 4 inch memory foam pad the vibrations are surprisingly strong. I might worry about possible brain damage if placed too close to the head.)

You see, I am the kind of person who can literally sleep through an earthquake (true story). I've slept through smoke detectors going off (bad news for me should I ever find myself alone in the house while sleeping during a fire). My attempts to wake up earlier than normal are futile, I set several alarms to go off at different times and I sleep through them all. And not only am I nearly impossible to wake up, but I am also the definition of "not a morning person".

I bought the alarm after searching for "loudest alarm clock" and read the rave reviews from people who were also difficult to rouse. I take the alarm for my first official test run tomorrow morning. I'll keep my empty audience updated on the result.