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xoxo, M

Stuff I Like: On My Birthday Edition

1. The internet reaching out and wishing me a happy birthday just brings warmth to my heart. Thank you, Facebook, I hope you have a great day, too!

2. Jon Bon Jovi shares my date of birth.

3. Even better than that? So does Dr. Suess - Google is celebrating that fact with me.

4. My AWESOME ruby red slippers (bought with Grandma birthday money)!!!!!!!!

5. This fab jacket my mom gave me.

Stuff I Like: Christmas Movie Edition (plus, my return!)

At last, I have photo-editing software once more!  Here are my very favoritest Christmas movies:

1. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas: Nothing beats this movie - it's got humor and heart and Whos, as well as "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (if you ever need a creative insult, google the lyrics to this song).  It never fails to warm my heart when the Grinch's heart grows three sizes and he gains the strength of ten grinches, plus two!

2. White Christmas: Bing Crosby + Rosemary Clooney + "Let's put on a show" = GOLD

3.  The Muppet Christmas Carol: I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I adore the muppets.  Anything that they've ever done, I love.  There's just such a sweet, optimistic sense of humor about the muppets that completely melts my heart.  Also, this version of Tiny Tim is the sweetest take on the character ever - the mini-Kermit Tim will totally break your heart (a video of Tiny Tim's song "Bless Us One and All").

4. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: I saw this on UEN's Sci-Fi Friday a couple years ago and it's my new favorite thing.  It's exactly what you'd expect of a movie with such a title: Martian children are very sad, so their Martian parents invade the North Pole and kidnap Santa, so he will cheer up their depressed kids.  Eventually, Santa teaches the Martians the true meaning of Christmas, a goofy Martian volunteers to be the Martian Santa, and Santa Claus returns to Earth.  There's an MST3K version of this movie that's hilarious, of course, but the movie is great with or without Tom Servo.

5.  A Christmas Story: There's a reason TNT plays this movie for 24 hours straight.

Honorary Mentions: Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter - not necessarily Christmas movies, but they were released at Christmastime and are replayed in December.

Things I Like: Staring at the Gym Wall Edition

There are several things I rely on for distraction at the gym:

1. All the way from Memphis, Tennessee...Justin (oooo) Timberlake: Justified is my go-to gym playlist, what with it's being awesome and all. I have a hard time containing my desire to sing along, especially with Senorita (I don't know what I'm thinkin' 'bout, really leavin' with you!). Naturally, his other albums are great, but Justified remains my gym anthem.

2. Law and Order: Any incarnation will do. My sister and I developed a (likely unoriginal) theory wherein Law and Order plays 24 hours a day, if one is able to switch between various networks. It's dependability is great, but the format is what makes Law and Order perfect for gym-viewing: each episode begins with a crime, various detectives follow leads to solve the crime, and the (usually lovely and young female) DA tries the perp - no backstory or emotional investment required. Perfect for taking the mind off the stair-stepper thingy.

3. US Weekly: Fortunately, most gyms are willing to absorb the cost of feeding tabloid obsession. The mindless stories, fashion "oops"es, and my favorite, "Who Wore it Best"s are just distracting enough to make me forget that I'm only a mile into my three-mile run.

4. Listening to other people's conversations: is a really bad habit that I should stop, but I just can't. It's too much fun making up backstory for the lady in the all-denim tracksuit with zippers at the ankles (she was telling her friend about how much she loves some sci-fi show on BBC America and she kept reiterating that it was on the BBC America channel. I was counting down until she called it The Beeb.)

Stuff I Like: Wednesday Edition

1. Orbit Sweetmint gum: is really good.

2. Addiction Solitaire: is impossible to win. Also, addicting.

3. Jordan, Jesse, Go!: is very funny.

4. Orange Cream Slush from Sonic: is delicious and tastes like a dreamsicle.

5. Project Runway: is my favorite television program.

Stuff I Like: iTunes Play Count, part dos

I haven't done this in a year or so...this is inventory from the past three or so months:
1. "Against All Odds" - The Postal Service: Well, we all know I love Phil Collins and maybe not as ironically as I pretend. Although Su-su-sudio makes a great, hillllllllarious ringtone, Against All Odds makes a great song and The Postal Service does some cool things with it.
2. Sentimental Heart - She and Him: This song is as adorable as a sleepy golden retriever puppy. Zooey Deschanel has a lovely pop voice and again, I love Matt Ward's old-timey musical sensibility.
3. Shut Up and Let Me Go - The Ting Tings: Oh, iPod commercials, where would music be without you? The marketing worked again, as I rushed to the computer moments after seeing the commercial featuring this super-fun, dance-y song.
4. New York, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down - LCD Soundsystem: Another song reminding us that Central Park is just a parking lot when you're lonely in New York. I like the slow, mopey build to this song and the stripped-down vocals - it really gets that feeling of melancholy loneliness that I've begun to understand.
5. One (Blake's Got a New Face) - Vampire Weekend: Sometimes I feel like my music taste is a boring stereotype of a 23-year-old who shops at Urban Outfitters and reads the AV Club and Nylon. Am I a sucker for liking Vampire Weekend? Probably. Regardless, their whole album is summer-listening perfection.

Stuff I Like: Long and Winding Road Edition

**In the past few months, I've learned that commuting is for suckers. I've come to loathe the 39.9 miles I drive each morning and evening. However, there are a few things I've come to appreciate as I accelerate to freeway speed:

1. Talking Rain Twist Organic Water, mango acai flavor: as opposed to the non-organic version, which is not nearly as refreshing. Do you even understand all the chemical processing required to manufacture non-organic water? It's truly frightening...annnnnnnnd, I'm joking. This drink really is good, though.
2. Radio From Hell: in the mornings, a true Utah original.
3. Marketplace: apparently, I am interested in all things financial when the smooth-voiced Kai Ryssdal speaks of them.
4. Bikers with stuffed pigs on the back of their bikes: adorable.
5. Religiously-themed semi-trucks: exist.

Events I Like: It's Eighty Miles 'Til Tuesday Edition

It only happens every 11,111 miles.

*Un-Interesting fact: This actually happened on June 7, I've just been remiss in putting it up.

Things I Wish Weren't Familiar Enough to Like: Hospital Edition

1. Adjustable bed: It's kind of fun, before the novelty wears off. And it's certainly comfortable.
2. Heated blankets: Probably the only thing from the hospital that I wish existed in regular life. There's nothing better than a white cotton blanket that's been sitting in a heating container.
3. Unlimited Sprite: Once I'm allowed to drink things, I always go for the refreshing taste of Sprite. I must obey my thirst, after all. (I wish Coca-Cola was paying me money to say these things.)
4. Unlimited TV time: Can be a bad or a good thing. I watched a bunch of movies I would never have watched in real life (Outside Providence, The Other Sister, View From the Top, and the ABC Family Original movies The Circuit, The Cutting Edge 2: Going for the Gold, and The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream). I may or may not be a better person for it - I'll let you decide.
5. Balloons: There aren't enough times in life when balloon bouquets are appropriate; birthdays, some parties, and hospital stays are the only occasions I thought of that warrant a balloon bouquet. I guess a colorful, happy balloon bouquet is worth a little time in the hospital. Although I would rather it be my birthday.

Stuff I Like: Themeless Edition

1. Storage containers: Organization is a thumbs up for me. Magazine holders are freaking amazing. I spent an hour yesterday decorating a bunch I'd bought and now I keep looking in my closet to see how organized it looks.
2. The Gopher Pick-Up and Reach Tool: As a short, and therefore disabled person, I find it difficult to pick up things on higher shelves. For instance, I have to climb on to my counter in order to retrieve my dinosaur mug from the top shelf. If I had The Gopher Pick-Up and Reach Tool, I wouldn't have to do this. I wouldn't have to do a lot of things, actually, like move from where I'm sitting to grab the DVD remote or flip the light switch. I could pick up my clothes while laying on my bed. I could freaking turn on the ceiling fan from my bed! I think I need to invest the $9.99 and get one.
3. Seashell-covered bird statue: A decoration well-worth $2 at the TJMaxx clearance table. Although, technically it ended up being $6, because I didn't feel like we should separate the bird from its brother and sister, the seashell-covered rooster and seashell-covered swan. The rooster lives in the kitchen and the swan lives in Kristi's room.
4. Logics hair serum: It makes your hair look like a Pantene commercial or a Breck ad. Plus, it smells good.
5. Zzyzx Road: Exists. And I can't get over it, even though it's been nearly two weeks since I became aware of its existence. According to the Wikipedia, I'm not the only one who's been inspired by Zzyzx Road - several bands I've never heard of have songs or albums called Zzyzx Road, two movies have been made, several science fiction characters are based on it, and there is a Magic: The Gathering parody expansion card called Zzyzx Abyss.*

*As an addendum, I've always liked that Magic: The Gathering cards exist. True dweebs need an outlet for their dweebness and playing Magic: The Gathering in the library during lunch is an excellent way of channeling their dweebness; it seems far more original than being a D&D dork. I mean this in the nicest way possible - I have fond high school memories of listening to a bunch of dragon-shirt dweebs talk about Magic: The Gathering cards while I tried to do homework in the library. I love it when dweebs connect with other dweebs; it gives me faith in the universe or something.

Stuff I Like: That Happens at Disneyland Edition

1. Lion King characters dancing with you
2. Crazy hats are normal
3. Buying a Minnie Mouse fanny pack seems like a logical decision
4. Me peer-pressuring Kristi into asking a random fellow in a New Zealand sweatshirt if he likes to rock the party
5. Space Mountain

Stuff I Love: Pretty in Pink

This always makes me happy.

Stuff I Like: Font of Wisdom Edition

1. Bauhaus 93: This is my current favorite font because it looks like a 1970s roller-rink to me. Picture it with yellow and orange stripes behind it and you'll see what I mean.
2. Stencil: This professional yet fun font is what I use for my folders at work; it brings happiness to my day. You only thought The Office was a television program.
3. Verdana: You could probably write a paper using Verdana, depending on the professor. When I was writing a lot of papers, I used Verdana to break the monotony of 12-point Times New Roman.
4. Comic Sans MS: Truly, you know an event is worth attending when you see a flier using this font. Its sense of comical whimsy adds a light-hearted touch to any society meeting.
5. Wingdings: I include this font because I'm baffled by its existence, as well as its spin-off fonts, Wingdings 2 & 3 and Webdings. Clearly, Wingdings has been a successful font; I don't understand why, or what it's used for, but I respect success.

Events I Like: Festival of Colors Edition

Every year, the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork celebrates of Festival of Colors. The event is to welcome in springtime and "commemorate various events in Hindu mythology" (says Google). Doing so involves throwing neon color-powder on everyone around you.
Utah County's enthusiasm for commemorating various events in Hindu mythology was amazing - pretty much everyone between the ages of 18 and 30 was packed into the grounds of the temple, baggies of colored powder ready to throw.
We waited and waited until six o'clock and finally, we were given the signal to throw our colored powder. And then the cloud of sinus-destroying color burst. I couldn't see anything but pink for three solid minutes, and while this may be attributed to the fact that my glasses were coated in pink powder, I think everyone else experienced the same. When the cloud died down, I looked around and saw the Provo equivalent to the Berlin Love Parade: pink, purple, and orange people were dancing to the Hare Krishna chanting, people were trying to crowd-surf (this one dude got dropped, which was awesome), and everyone was laughing.

Everything went from normal to technicolor in three minutes and it was pretty fantastic.

Stuff I Like: Mug Shot Edition

Here are my favorites from Kristi and I's secondhand mug collection:
1. Dinosaur mug: It includes such hits as Apatosaurus, Dimetrodon, Triceratops, and the multi-platinum single, Tyrannosaurus. All of the Maryland Science Center's greatest hits, brought together in one epic mug!
2. Pig mug: Me and Hello Kitty love the pig mug. He looks like the kind of pig who is friends with a literate spider, in other words, the best kind of pig.
3. I Heart You mug: The sentiment is so sweet.
4. Friendship Warms the Heart mug: The cutesy heart handle and sweet sentiment make this mug irresistibly sappy. I love it.
5. Hearts & Flowers mug: This is my favorite mug. I love that it leaves no doubt as to the theme - hearts and flowers. The design has a cute vintage 70s charm and the cup has my favorite mug feature, the heart handle.

Stuff I Like: Today Edition

1. Marc Jacobs Daisy: I really love smelling like this perfume. Also, I think the bottle design is genius - so stinkin' adorable!

2. This American Life: Each week, they pick a theme and tell stories based on the theme. I made Kristi listen to my favorite episode, the Break-Up episode, in which a post-break-up girl decides she wants to write a love song and asks Phil Collins for advice in doing it.

3. Burt's Bees lip balm: Because it's basically the best lip balm ever.

4. Arrested Development: SO FUNNY! The "Afternoon Delight" episode made me laugh harder than I have in ages. Watch it. Love it.

5. Nutella: Mmmmmmmm. I love this stuff so much that I want to marry it (remember, remember? Pee Wee Herman loves fruit salad, so he marries fruit salad?).

Stuff I Like: Dying of Barfness Edition

1. Mary Higgins Clark novels: My favorite kind of trash - every heroine wears silk shirts and wool slacks, has some sort of reporting or interior decorating job, and has never lived anywhere but New York City. Inevitably, a relative or close friend is murdered and the heroine must solve the mystery of who did it. Along the way, she will meet an attractive young detective or reporter or rich blue-blood bachelor who falls in love with her. She solves the case, he runs to her side, and they all live richly ever after. It's fab.

2. Cambell's soup: The only time I like chicken noodle soup is when I'm sick. Otherwise, it's too salty and really disgusting.

3. HGTV: I will spend entire days watching HGTV. Divine Design, Designed to Sell, Designer's Challenge, reDesign, Design on a Dime, and my very favorite, House Hunters International. I'm so very set to buy and decorate a bungelow-style two-story in New Zealand.

4. 7-Up: my favorite uncola. It will have to become my favorite drink, since I've learned this week that Diet Coke is bad for my sickness. So, no more DC, but 7-Up is good.

5. Martha Stewart: I love her. Today, I learned how to make an easter basket out of an old doilie, using only a kitchen bowl and fabric stiffener. I also learned how to make chocolate cookies with a mint-chocolate ganache. And it was all so pleasant and easy and accessible. Martha Stewart is one of the greatest things in the world, heaven bless her.

Links I Like: Wasting My Time Edition, part deux

1. PleoWorld - I am obsessed with the adorable robotic baby dinosaur named Pleo. He's just so stinking cute! The website shows all of his movements - my favorite part is when two Pleos meet each other. It's ridiculously heartwarming, considering the fact that they're robots.
2. Top Golden Retriever Sites, Comical Photos section - I am a big, fat sap and I love pictures of golden retrievers wearing sunglasses. So comical!
3. Become an M & M - Don't judge! You get to pick which kind of M & M you are (regular), which color (blue), your facial features (girly, with purple eyeshadow), and hair (blonde librarian bun). You can also pick out accessories and hobbies, but let's not get carried away.
4. Found Magazine - A magazine/website dedicated to stuff people find, be it a note left in a library book, a photo left in a box donated to a thrift shop, or a love letter left on the wrong car. It's completely engrossing - I love making up stories about the people in the pictures and notes. Fantastic.
5. Missed Connections on Craig's List - A really strange branch of humanity post anonymous love letters to people they've met once. It's great when they wax poetic about the moment they shared with a checker at the grocery store. Here are a few examples from the Salt Lake City Missed Connections:
" You sat across me in the TRAX this evening. There were also police men checking tickets.
I, dressed in an orange winter jacket, was talking to my friend in some foreign language.
As I left, you waved at me shyly, but since I was about to leave, I had no time to return it.
So consider youself waved at ;)" -- I love picturing the other side of this story: "You, in your orange winter jacket, sounding so sophisticated talking to your friend in some foreign language. I'm totally shy, but I couldn't resist your sophistication and waved at you. You didn't wave back."
__________
A post titled 'Mark Twain quotes at Smiths': "Ok Miss K Smarty Pants, whats the quote? If I was smoother would have talked to you more, your beauty threw off my spidey senses. I was more taken aback at how you actually had things to say and were funny. I think we would make an awesome couple, or atleast great friends." -- Miss K Smarty Pants, you totally need to get with this guy. He has spidey senses! And it throws him off balance when women are funny and smart! He's totally a keeper.

Something I Like: A City Home Companion Edition

The months between posting are because I've lost the joys of Photoshop since moving to the salty city. I rather miss doing this blog, and feel the need to post something I fell in love with just today: IKEA!!!!!!!!!!!
Consider me one of the converted, because I think there is no better place in the world. I've never wanted to live in a cramped apartment more in my life. How great would it be to have a bed, couch, TV, kitchen, and bathroom, all fully equipped, in under 250 square feet? I'm completely fascinated by the concept and want to move into a wee flat to test the Ikea way of life.
Also, Ikea is great because it makes me seriously consider things I'd never thought of before. For instance, what if I decided to have a murder-mystery party one day? Surely, such a party requires ice cubes in the shape of puzzle pieces. Ikea, among many other awesome things, has my back on puzzle piece-shaped ice cube trays. Also, what if I needed to attend a mask ball? Where would I turn for such a gala event? Ikea, again, offers me all I need, providing me with all the goofy insect and animals masks required for a gala masked ball.
Ikea's final degree of awesomeness comes from the service it extends to the world's young, broke, and stylish: Ikea offers ownership in the adult world. No longer an owner of only clothing and the odd electronic device, I now own a lamp. A lamp of my very own, a lamp which symbolizes a passage into a new world full of nine-to-five jobs, tiny apartments begging to be filled with stylish, yet practical furnishing, and murder mystery parties which need planning.

Stuff I Like: Sunday Evening Edition

1. Peach cobbler: the penultimate Sunday night dessert.
2. Life With Derek: Another Canadian kids show I like - seriously, Canada, what's going on with you? First Metric and Broken Social Scene take over my music, now Degrassi and Life With Derek take over my TV. I'd be slightly weary if I didn't love it all so much.
3. Debussey: I'm trying to perfect Clair de Lune. It's so pretty, but I'm so rusty...
4. Phase 10: My family's current Sunday Night Game - it was Yahtzee, but I brought in Phase 10 a few months ago. I kind of rock at it.
5. Singin' In the Rain: My parents always put an older film in on Sundays - Singin' In the Rain is a perennial favorite. "People? I ain't people!" never gets old.

Stuff I Like: Pass the Clean and Clear Edition

1. The O.C. : There are so many things I love about this show: the soundtrack, Ryan punching people (in Season One, mostly), Taylor Townsend, Julie Cooper - Nichols - Roberts, and the zombie/ninja references that set The O.C. apart from other teen dramas.
2. Degrassi: The Next Generation : Oh, Canada, you did good by Degrassi. Not only does Degrassi feature the words "aboot" and "sore-y," but it features every single Issue Facing Today's Youth. Teen pregnancy is nothing compared to coke addiction, stripping to pay your mother's rent, school shootings, perscription drug dealing, female and male eating disorders, living in the boiler room because you're bipolar, gambling addiction, and becoming the school slut by wearing low-rise jeans and a thong. I love Degrassi.
3. The Best Years: A fab new Canadian teen melodrama about an orphaned girl who earns a full-ride scholarship to a fictional Ivy League university. It's great so far, very Degrassi-sort-of-grows-up.
4. Forever 21: Maybe one of the defining marks of our generation - a clothing store built around the same concept as faux-designer handbag kiosks. The prices are so cheap that it doesn't matter when the hem comes unstitched or the necklace tarnishes after a week. *Love*
5. High School Musical: OMG, I so loved HSM b4 every-1 else did!!!1!!1! Actually, I tried really hard to hate it and claimed I was watching it again because I loved MST3k-ing it. After my fourth viewing, I gave up that position and asked for the Remix Edition DVD for Christmas. BONUS: my Disney-Channel-extra neighbor got me a poster signed by all of the main cast members - Corbin Bleu even wrote "To Maren Love, Corbin Bleu." That's right - High School Musical loves me back.

Stuff I Like: I'm Hungry Edition

1. Gummi bears: That I love gummi bears is a point I can't emphasize enough.
2. Bruschetta with tomato and basil: It's so simple and tastes like summer.
3. Izze pear soda: A recent discovery - sparkling water and fruit juice combined into one seriously refreshing beverage. And apparently Izze is one of those do-good companies who support independent fruit growers and all of that warm-fuzzy stuff. So it's good all-round!
4. Happy Meal : double cheeseburger, no pickles, Diet Coke, and a girl toy. It's only pathetic because I worked there.
5. Top Chef: I love watching the chefs plate their food - it always looks amazing, even when it sounds disgusting (mustard-seared alligator tail and monkfish liver braised with apple hash).

Stuff I Dig: Insomniac's Theatre Edition

1. Ambien : Makes me sleeeeeeeeeeeepyyyyyy. .....
2. Hello Kitty pajamas: so comfy cute
3. Neko Case: perfect "past midnight and I'm still awake" music
4. Re-reading all those essays I wrote last semester: I was wondering if I really am smart.
5. Red toenail polish: Pedicures are a fantastic late-night activity.

Stuff I Like: When I'm Sad Edition

1. My dog: Even though she is the Replacement Dog and isn't as sensitive to tears as Toffee was, Darcy does a pretty good job of cheering me up.
2. My blanket: Linus and I share the same soul. Having a blankey is like having a ready-made hug whenever you need it.
3. Pretty in Pink: My number one, all-time favorite movie always renews my hope that a sensitive rich boy will love me if only I wear enough beautiful vintage clothing.
4. Elliott Smith: Yeah. He knew.
5. Gummi bears: Total comfort food - I'm thinking of editing a collection of triumph-over-upper-middle-class-boredom type essays and calling it Gummi Bears for the Suburbean Soul. Send me your experiences, kids!

Stuff I Like: Day Tripper Edition

1. Ciara and Maria (or Maria and Ciara) : I always have fun with them - watching Little Britain or The Life Aquatic, midnight Wal-Mart fashion shoots, crushing grapes at the Juicing Party, laughing at strange periodicals from the Writer's Market . . . always super-fun.
2. Books on Tape : Although I love music (love music!), I am beginning to prefer audio books for car trips of any considerable length. Last time I went to Salt Lake, I listened to a fabulous Julie Garwood romance novel, Prince Charming, in which a young girl must escape her opressive uncle by marrying a Western cowboy and sailing to America. It's all very wonderful. This time, I went the more intellectual route and listened to Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, which I haven't yet finished, but has been wonderful thus far.
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix : Yay for the best Harry Potter movie yet! As a freakish fan, it was all I could ask for.
4. Rupert Grint : He drives an ice cream truck when he's not being Ron Weasley. Combined with his red hair and ratty-sweater boyishness, I believe this makes him the perfect man.
5. Super Hot Tamales : A very tricky trick to staying awake while driving past ten o'clock in the evening. They don't taste good at all, but they do their job well.