Discovery of the Day: Some Goodbyes are Easier Than Others

Hard to believe I was only 25 when he took office. Who'd have thunk we'd wind up like this. So before this gets awkward let's just say goodbye.

Buh-bye!!

Discovery of the Day: Those Dancing Days

The most random video from the Swedish group Those Dancing Days. Why not start the year off on a quirky note. We need a bit o fun to mark this (hopefully) momentous year.

Good luck to you all.

Discovery of the Day: Even Monkeys Have More Coordination Than I Do

As I slip and slide my way across my sheet of ice parking lot it is humbling to realize that I am a low creature. One with no balance or coordination. As I look out my window as the snow piles up, I know it is only a matter of time before I wind up planted firmly on my butt in a mound of icy coldness. Have I mentioned it isn't even winter yet? I need to find me one of those beach librarian positions ASAP.

In the meantime, MONKEYS ICE SKATING!

Discovery of the Day: Missy Higgins

I was driving to work today and I heard this song "Where I Stood" and I thought "Great new Fiona Apple song" until I learned it wasn't Fiona Apple at all but some girl named Missy Higgins. She's got a great moody alterna chick vibe to her with just a hint of country and a little bit of blues. I highly recommend you check her out. Plus I'm loving her hair in this video. I have crazy curly hair that I can never control. A part of me wants to chop it off to try to get the look in this video but I'm afraid I'd wind up with frizzy Q'tip hair or something equally dreadful. I did color my hair darker for fall but sadly hardly anyone noticed. What's with that?! Maybe I should just dye it bright blue to see if it gets any reaction. Ah well. Karma will one day kick in so in the next life I'll have nice straight hair!

Discovery of the Day: Lee Pace

There is nothing I enjoy so much on a rainy Sunday as laying on my couch in my pajamas watching semi-pretentious movies that would make my father cringe. Today I did just that and watched "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" starring Amy Adams and Frances McDormand. Very cute 1930's era farce set in England. Lots of great costumes and killer hairstyles. For a reward I discovered a very yummy fellow by the name of Lee Pace who played the love interest, Michael. He's kind of scruffy, slightly quirky, and completely adorable. Doesn't hurt that he looks good in a suit sitting behind a piano. Oddly enough he also stars in the other movie I picked up at the library this week, The Fall. Double dose of Mr. Pace. I'm eagerly awaiting the next free night I have to dig in. Seeing as there is no end to the rain in sight for us, I'm thinking that day will be right around the bend.

Discovery of the Day: A Change Is Gonna Come

Can it be that the day of change is here?

Today for the first time in the longest time I woke up feeling truly hopeful about life in general. You don't realize sometimes how much the stresses of life can take pieces of your spirit away. But today is a good day. Life isn't easy but what can't you accomplish if you really believe. Enjoy today everybody!!!

Discovery of the Day: Colbert Hates Canton

I love this clip for two reasons. 1) It's Stephen Colbert being Stephen Colbert. Say no more. 2) I work in Canton and find it hysterical that we be found either good or bad. Being as it is a crappy cold snowy day and it isn't even November yet, I think I'd sign up to move down to Canton, Texas and deal with the monkeys! As an added bonus, I find it slightly amusing that Canton, Ohio will now be associated with Hitlers Ass Crack for a huge segment of the population. Thanks Colbert!

Discovery of the Day: Fringe

My boss has been telling me for weeks now that I should check out the new FOX show "Fringe" based on two important viewing criteria: 1) It's a cool modern "X-File" sci-fi show and 2) It stars Joshua Jackson who was oh-so-lovable on "Dawson's Creek". I put it off amid a flurry of bad reality tv (Do I really want to watch "The Real Housewives of Atlanta"?). Tonight I downloaded it off the net, Fringe on Fox , and watched the pilot as I half heartedly walked on my treadmill. I have to say, I give it a thumbs up. Though it has it's cheesey, "it could only happen on tv moments", it has some great points. Interesting paranormal plotlines, lots of government intrigue, sexy FBI agents, and crazy half mad scientists. (I'm crossing my fingers the Cigarette Man makes a surprise appearance in Season 2.)

On a related note, I also watched "The Eleventh Hour" last week starring the hotness that is Rufus Sewell. I wanted to like it but I just felt "meh" about it. I kept thinking that David Caruso could have stepped into the lead characters shoes and been just as effective. Which isn't necessarily a great thing. Maybe I should give it another try. Thoughts?

Discovery of the Day: My Unoffical Political Poll

Northeast Ohio, in my opinion, is geographically a weird place to live. Go to any "nice" neighborhood in the area and you are only a few blocks away from locking your doors and running red lights for fear of being mugged. Go to any "urban" area and you are only a few miles away from suburbia. Drive a few miles away from either of those and you are liable to run into a cornfield or a rundown papermill. You just never know who your neighbors are!

The drive from my parents middle-class neighborhood to my apartment building (once dubbed in a local newspaper as a "starter" complex for people not ready to be grown-ups...whatever!) runs through an area of very posh mini-mansions. As I was driving the stretch today I noticed that the political signs were out in full force. Local political ads were the most prevalent - some being the size of large billboards on the highway. But there were quite a fewe presidential signs as well. Normally you would expect to find this area exclusively Republican. As I drove down I saw the first batch of McCain/Palin signs. No surprise. But as I continued to drive I noticed something interesting. For every McCain sign there was an Obama sign. In fact it looked like two neighbors were duking it out as both of them had several presidential signs on display - one an Obama supporter, one a McCain supporter. Could Obama be making headway with the Republican base here in Ohio?

I honestly think it is going to come down to the wire here in Ohio as it always does. Nonetheless, this election may push people to vote across previous political alliances. What that means for the outcome we shall see soon enough. Hold on tight!

Discovery of the Day: I Still Love Palin

There is one thing that I love about the attention being paid to Sarah Palin these days. No, it isn't her amazing views on politics and science (ahem...we'll skip that). It is the attention it has brought to another Palin...Michel Palin. I have seen more than a few "Michael Palin for President" parodies on the geekier side of the internet.

I have a confession. Michael Palin was one of my very first celebrity crushes. My brother was an enormous Monty Python fan and forced me to watch countless episodes of the show before I could even begin to appreciate English humor. Somewhere between watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "The Life of Brian" I began developing a giggly preteen girl crush on Michael Palin. There was something very cute, funny, and cuddly about him and I decided that he should be my boyfriend. Several years later, my crush was firmly cemented when Michael began the first of his travel documetaries with Around the World in 80 Days. As he circles the globe front to back and Pole to Pole, Palin has a childish curiousity, a great intelligence, and (dog gone it) he just seems so NICE. Many years have passed but Michael Palin still remains high on my scale of crushworthy-ness. Sarah Palin may be popular for now but there is only room for one Palin in my heart!

Discovery of the Day: Fareed Zakaria Rocks the World

OK...so he doesn't exactly rock the world. But he does one hell of a good job at explaining the state of the world today. I just finished reading Fareed Zakaria's book "The Post-American World" and I am very glad I did. Zakaria does a great job of explaining the problems that the US faces right now using a long world lens. We have to understand that the world is changing and as it does the power shifts. Zakaria calls it "the rise of the rest". This means countries are now dominating in technological and economic fields that the US once had an iron fist over.

The reason I enjoyed this book is because Zakaria makes sure to point out this "rise of the rest" does not signify the end of the US. Instead, it merely points to a shift. In fact, the US can benefit from the advances of other countries and can still remain a major power player. It is a difficult issue to grasp but one that we all must acknowledge and try to understand.

I've embedded a video of a discussion that Zakaria gave at the Los Angles Public Library that is definitely worth watching. Not to mention it is moderated by Reza Aslan who I have a big geek girl crush on. Sigh. This is good stuff. Please dig in.

Discovery of the Day: Reese's Double Stuffed Peanut Butter Pumpkins

Let me repeat that. REESE'S DOUBLE STUFFED PEANUT BUTTER PUMPKINS!!!

God must have seen that I have been freaking out too much about the economy this week and has bestowed a delicious reward on me in the form of peanut butter and chocolate. On my lunch break today I was wandering the aisles of Walgreens stocking up on tissues for all my snotty nosed students (and one snotty nosed librarian...guilty!) when what do my eyes fall upon. Past the plastic halloween costumes. Past the economy size bags of tootsie rolls. Past the smoke machines and cheesy strobe lights. Could it be? REESE'S DOUBLE STUFFED PEANUT BUTTER PUMPKINS!

Reese's cups and I have a special connection. It is the only thing I ask for on Easter and Halloween. And I think I may be the only woman alive whose blind date showed up with a homemade Reese's cup in his hand in lieu of flowers (okay..that was a little weird. But the thought was nice.) I managed to stifle my eeks of joy as I grabbed one in my hands and hotfooted it to the register. At least I waited until I was parked back at school to open the sweet goodness. And then I think I blacked out because it somehow disappeared in the space of 5 seconds. I'm a bad girl. My treadmill tells me I have a price to pay. But some things are just worth being bad for. And Reese's are high on the list.

Long live Reese's Cups. It is a good day!

Discovery of the Day: I Have Issues With or Without Possible Solutions

At least thats the way I feel after watching the Vice Presidential debate. Apparently there are lots of issues. Apparently we are living in the best country in the world filled with dynamic fabulous people with lots of potential. But, oh yeah, we are on the brink of collapse because of greedy oil countries who we may or may not be helping out. But don't worry. Cuz people in the know understand the issues and will address them right away. Because God wants it that way. No need to talk in detail about the issues because that would be silly since we all know that issues are important and are being given the attention they deserve.

So instead of listening to the pundits on tv, I decided to listen to Brett and Jemaine talk about issues. Biden and Palin could take some lessons from their insight. I think they deserve the smiley face. :-)

Discovery of the Day: I Can't Stop Hoarding Books

I have another confession to make. I have an addiction. An addiction to books. It's pretty wicked. I find myself wandering through the aisles of Borders lusting after books I had no intention to buy when I walked through the door. I logon to bookmooch.com each day in the event a cool book is ready to be snagged before anyone else gets to it. My fingers twitch as I pass the bookshelves in the library....no...don't pick up another one!

I'd like to say that I am just hoarding all of these book because fall is here thus the approach of awful Ohio weather where all one CAN really do is read (or watch crappy tv...which I do as well!). But I'm afraid I would be lying. I hoard no matter what the weather.

I really must be stopped. I really should. If someone would please tell both authors and publishers that we don't need anymore books that would be wonderful. This may allow me to catch up on my "to be read" stack without getting further into trouble. I will work on drawing up a memo immediately after I finish the latest Paulo Coelho book I have my hands on. It is quite delicious.

Discovery of the Day: Grand Archives - Miniature Birds

This song hit the spot after a depressing day of watching more tales of economic woes. I have decided that I refuse to get freaked out. Instead, I will smile and whistle (and frolic with alpacas if the opportunity arises). If it all goes belly up then at least we had a good run.

Discovery of the Day: Selfish Jean

This is a great discovery because a) I enjoy Travis and think their music is pretty kickass and b) I love Demetri Martin and want to cuddle with him. Would you not want to hang out at a coffee shop with this guy?! Demetri reminds me a bit of a young Steve Martin. He has that same off the wall very dry sense of humor that can come out of left field. And he uses charts which are cool unto themselves.

Our computers at work just got upgraded to the latest version of Microsoft Office. From what I can gather it just seems that they have moved functions around just enough so that you have no idea how to do something as simple as setting margins. However I must say I do enjoy the new chart and graph features on Word. I made my boss a lovely 3-D colorful creation I dubbed "Super Cool Chart" complete with an attractive dead fish background (not sure why this is one of the options but why not dead fish). I made the font sparkle and the chart do a cool right tilt. Apparently my boss does not think charts as amusing as I do because her reaction was "Ummm...Theresa. You have problems." I bet Demetri would like my super cool chart. Maybe I should send it to him.

Discovery of the Day: Mixed Tapes are Still Cool

I have a confession to make. I am 33 years old and I do not own an iPod. No mp3 player in sight. In fact, if I am to be perfectly honest, I still have the stereo that I got when I was 15 that has the super cool double cassette players so that you can record your favorite New Kids song for your bff. I've never really felt the reason to get an iPod. I have a CD player in my car and my stereo in my apartment for the two times I generally listen to music: going to work and housecleaning. And yes..this does make me old and boring. Thanks for pointing it out.

However, I recently ran into a dilemma. I have started my "I'm going to conquer my treadmill and run 8 miles straight" kick. Generally I'll turn on my tv upstairs and catch up on the news or a rerun of Saved by the Bell (and yes...I know this makes me doubly boring). But do you know how motivated I am to run after hearing countless analyists telling me that my generation is screwed and that I should kiss my money goodbye? Not very. And do you know how motivated I am to run while watching another episode of "The Hills" where Heidi conveniently runs into Lauren in the grocery store and they pout at each other over melon selections? Enough to make me pull the key on the treadmill.

Only one thing will work. Mixed Tape Time!! I ransacked the internet for some great tunes and burned myself a mixed CD. Some Elbow, a little We Are Scientists, a smidge of the Mess Hall. And as the sweat poured off my forehead and I tried to breathlessly sing along to Duffy I realized that some things never go out of style. There's nothing like a good mixed tape to make you feel like you are both interesting and cool. In fact, if others heard your mixed tape you would be the envy of the group. Even if that group is now balding and taking out second mortgages. Who needs money when you have the power of a mixed tape! I'm ready for another mile (or ready to curl up on my couch and watch another episode of "John Adams").

Discovery of the Day: Maximo Park

Stumbled upon an English band called Maximo Park today. It's a fun punkish band with nice accents. I do love the English accents!

Though I am not a "girl who plays guitar" I am a girl who secretly wants to be a rock star. Today we celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday and I was very excited when my brother unveiled his new toy. It's an electronic drum kit. Woohoo!! His wife finally let him get one under the condition he always wears the headset and keeps it in the basement. Of all the instruments I have ever wanted to conquer, the drums is my #1 pick. The drummer may not get the glory of the lead singer status but they get to be the fuel that keeps the song going. And what is more rock and roll then a kickass drum solo. I can see it now! Flinging those sticks into the sky! My mission is set. Must find a way to steal my brothers drum kit. Mwahahahahaha. (You won't tell will you?)

Discovery of the Day: Californication

So being the broke gal that I am, I am reduced to watching basic cable channels. Which is generally good enough for me. As long as i have my CNN, my History Channel, and my Nick at Night I'm good. However I am a bit peeved that I miss out on first runs of some of the best shows that are hitting tv lately - Flight of the Conchords, The Tudors, Real Time with Bill Maher (I still harbor hatred towards ABC for taking him off the air!). Luckily you can get most of these shows at your lovely local library.

I just got my hands on the first season of Californication starring my one time X-Files crush David Duchovney. I was expecting sarcastic and smarmy comments from the few clips I've seen of the show. I was expecting it to be racy. Little did I know I was in for a non-stop T & A show with my pal David in some incredibly risque positions...some of which I would rather wipe from my mind (fans of the show will know exactly which scene I'm talking about). All I could think as I watched the show was "No WONDER this guy is in rehab for sex addiction!!" In fact, I think I've become a sex addict by association after watching the complete first season. My recommendation to David would be to do a few Disney movies for some detox. Maybe a Lifetime movie or two.

My critique of the show? Not bad (if you aren't easily offended). I do love me some clever sarcastic men. However I think the show teeters somewhere between cutting edge and kinda icky. If you want a more complex and entertaining anti-hero you have to go with Dennis Leary in Rescue Me.

Discovery of the Day: Thom Yorke Solo Project

OK...so obviously I was in a hole somewhere and didn't realize Thom Yorke - lead singer of Radiohead - released a solo album in 2006. For me, Thom Yorke is one of the oddest figures in music. When I look at him I want to turn the channel. He isn't what you would call attractive by any standard. He scowls like some creature out of a Tolkien novel. He flails around when he dances like a child who hasn't figured out the idea of self consciousness yet. But when Thom Yorke sings...well...when he sings it's like he is the sweetest of the sweet choir boys in church.

For some reason, I still feel a bit put off when I hear him sing because I can't marry the two visions in my head. But the older I get, the more I appreciate feeling uncomfortable. Maybe there is a side of me that wishes I could get up there in front of millions with a big scowl and a stupid dance and not care at all. Of course it would help if I had the sweet voice but I'll make my wishes in small doses so as not to anger the Gods.