Rambling Bug

H and G

2012-01-11T04:51:00.001-06:00

Hi all!

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been doing anything here for a while.

What happened? In the past couple months I have traveled quite a bit (Pocatello, Pittsburgh, Boston), I'm starting a crazy semester at my current job while trying to look for a new job, and I decided to add one more chapter of results to my thesis before calling it finished.

***I just don't have time to write blog posts***

So Rambling Bug is going on hiatus.

Fear not, friends/family... the whole point of this was to keep YOU updated on the happenings in my life. I will keep in touch via email/phone-- you know, like a normal person.

You never know, maybe someday Rambling Bug will spring back to life.

I leave you with something funny I just saw on the internets:

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

(funny/sad because it's true)

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T19:30:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year loved ones!

(This is especially for you D- I know how you love Zooey, lol)

A few thoughts from the last couple weeks:

2011-12-03T11:13:00.000-06:00

1. I have some incredible students this semester--enthusiastic, thoughtful, and dedicated.

2. My family and friends are awesome. I had a great time in Pocatello over the holidays.

3. The last few months, K-man and I have changed our diet/lifestyle and have been gradually losing weight and just getting healthier in general. Before Thanksgiving, my weight had hit a "plateau" (as they call it in the diet industry), which was really frustrating. During my visit to P-town I threw caution to the wind and indulged in everything. I LOST WEIGHT! What?!!

So I've decided this will be my diet henceforth:
--my Stepmother's delicious leftover stuffing WITH gravy
--copious amounts of wine
--Grandpa's Punch, as we call it in the Kahm family (a delicious concoction of bourbon, sprite, and maraschino cherries, amongst other things)

4. The woman next to me on the plane on my flight home made the Sky Mall catalog last close to 2 hours. She must have read every single word in the catalog, it was incredible. She didn't even touch the in-flight magazine; you could tell she had been looking forward to the catalog for weeks.

5. I appreciate all of you that read my blog despite its many typos and grammar errors :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-22T16:50:00.000-06:00

Link.

I know I've linked to Oatmeal before, but this made me laugh out loud.

I'm off to Idaho to eat some turkey. I hope you all have a good holiday.

This has been floating around my office for a couple weeks.

2011-11-13T11:44:00.002-06:00

It is a doctor's excuse a student gave me so he could make up a missed quiz. I guess my student didn't realize I would have let him take the make-up with or without the excuse, but whatevs.

Just for giggles, I googled the respectable Dr. David P. Hesse. Let's take a look at his website, shall we?

I'm all for a good forged doctor's excuse, but if you're going to go to the trouble, shouldn't it be from a doctor that treats humans?

I've had some real doozies this semester.

Ossobuco

2011-10-30T12:23:00.006-05:00

Whenever we visit K-man's family, I request that we make a trip to the Pittsburgh strip district--a great area with ethnic markets, fish markets, restaurants, etc. K-man's favorite comic book shop is located in the strip district, so we can usually make an afternoon of it. The last couple of times, we also made an evening of it by dining at the fabulous Lidia's of Pittsburgh. One of our favorite dishes is her ossobuco alla Milanese. It is so amazingly delicious. Seriously, I dream about this dish. Here is a picture of it from her cookbook:

(I hope that worked; I've never tried to embed a screen from a Google book search before.)

We have always wanted to try and make it, but it would have been too expensive to try and make as poor grad students in P-town, Idaho.

In the past year, we have slowly checked off the necessary items/things needed for making this dish off of the list:

1. Lidia's cookbook. A gift from my brother! (check)
2. A specialty Italian store.* (check)
3. A reasonably priced, specialty butcher. (check)
4. A kitchen with enough room for two people working together on a very involved recipe. (check!)

K-man did most of the work on the Ossobuco with me acting as sous-chef. Then we switched rolls for the Risotto alla Milanese (my first try at true risotto). Here is our final product:

Sweet Jesus, it was good. Totally worth the effort. I think it may have been the best thing we've cooked together.

*Yes. This is where Anthony Bourdain went for a muffelata in his last New Orleans episode.

This is your chance to come visit me :)

2011-10-24T17:11:00.000-05:00

Take a look at today's Living Social deal.

Student email of the day.

2011-10-20T12:14:00.000-05:00

"I was in your office yu wasn't there when do yu want me come to give you my doctor note"

That's it-- no name, no punctuation, and no indication of what class he/she is in.

Is it really that old-fashioned of me to expect my students to treat an email to their professor differently than a text to their friends?

I get emails like this daily.

New Apartment

2011-10-16T18:12:00.003-05:00

I'm going to show each Klimas family member's favorite part of the new apartment.

First let me show you what I hated most about the old apartment; the kitchen. This is a picture of the kitchen in the middle of me trying to cook dinner. Absolutely no counter space. It drove me bonkers.

Here is the new kitchen:

Not only does it have ample counter space, there is also an island with MORE counter space. It's the perfect kitchen for someone who loves to cook. I'm going to get spoiled.

K-man loves the walk-in shower. He calls it his quintessential 80's movie bathroom. All he needs is the soundtrack to Risky Business.

I love the bathtub. This thing is huge. All I need is a walkman, a Prince tape, and Richard Gere offering me $3000 for the week.

The kitties love the fenced in porch.

Did I mention the 12 foot ceilings?

This apartment has about four times the usable space that the old one did, which is exactly what we wanted. That being said, it is a bit of a Monet (as Cher on Clueless would say). Everything in the apartment is slightly off, for lack of a better word. For example, every single switch plate is crooked and missing at least one screw. The mirrors above the sinks in the (2 1/2!) bathrooms are slightly off center from the sinks. Random things like that.

I've decided it will be a good exercise in controlling my OCD tendencies. I'll let you know how it goes :)

The oddest thing about the apartment is the bathroom in the master bedroom doesn't have a door....something we failed to notice when we toured the apartment the first time. Now, K-man and I are comfortable with each other, but we're not THAT comfortable. We spent one night in the master bedroom and the next day moved our bed into the other bedroom. So now the master bedroom is our office and our dressing room, lol.

Even with all the quirks, we love the new apartment and we love the new neighborhood.

I hope you all had a good weekend!

The Walken Dead

2011-10-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

For my Walking Dead fans.

(via i09)

Oh Gob.

2011-10-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

(via: http://arresteddevelopmentgifs.tumblr.com/)

Btw, how excited am I about the supposed new episodes?!

We moved!

2011-10-04T16:43:00.002-05:00

That's right, we now live in New Orleans proper.

Pictures soon! (as soon as the apartment is organized)

Needless to say, I've been busy.

Without fail.

2011-09-22T17:44:00.002-05:00

When I shop I'm not a person who likes to interact with people. I know, you're shocked.

Don't try to sell me anything, I don't want anyone following me around--I'm what I'd call a "do-it-yourself" shopper. This is why I shop at places like Sephora instead of Nordstrom's cosmetic counters. I've usually done my research and I know exactly what I'm looking for. I go to stores where I can find it, buy it, and leave. I find sales-people's "suggestions" for "other products I might love" completely irritating, so I avoid those situations altogether. (Don't get me wrong, if I had the money to try random suggestions, I'm sure I would love them.)

Once in a while, however, I need help finding something. I'm using Sephora here as an example, but this has happened to me many places. Sephora has clerks milling around everywhere. They usually ask you when you first walk in if you need help and if you say no, they'll let you be.

Unfortunately, by the time I realize I need help, I've already sent every clerk to hills which leaves me in the situation of trying to hunt one down.

Every. Single. Time. I pick the ONE undercover security guard that doesn't know anything about the products or where to find them. They always have to get on the walky-talky radio thingy and ask for help. Immediately six real clerks are there to help me.

So, not only have I broken my no interaction with a clerk rule, I have now taken over every clerk's attention in the entire store.

Don't worry, the irony is not lost on me.

What's that you hear? Crickets?

2011-09-12T18:41:00.002-05:00

Hi all! It's been a while, I know.

K-man and I did something very out of character over the weekend: We ditched school on Friday (shhhh...don't tell), flew to Seattle, and went to an Ani Difranco/John Prine concert with my lovely Dad and his wife!

The concert was held outdoors at a winery and it was fabulous.

Now I am playing catch-up.

--When I was in junior high, I begged my parents for a tree frog. At the time, I don't think I realized what I'd be feeding it. They got me a really cool colorful one and I named it Cobi after my favorite US soccer player. The downside was I had to feed it live crickets. I tried not to let on how skeeved I was over the crickets (after begging for the frog), but I don't think I did a very good job at hiding it.

New Orleans' answer to Cee Dub.

2011-09-04T14:21:00.000-05:00

I was worried when I moved that there would be no replacement for Pocatello native Cee Dub's "Dutch Oven Cooking" on the local PBS.

Look, they're friends!

Fear not, I found my replacement

LOVE this guy.

I also love that I run into people around here that actually speak like that.

I've been seeing a lot of advertisements for these lately.

2011-09-03T17:06:00.000-05:00

Now, I appreciate wanting to give someone something functional and edible instead of flowers as a gift, but what do you do with this? Is it a gift for fifty people? Does it have some amazing chemical on it that keeps it looking and tasting fresh forever? Why not just give a fruit basket? There are just so many questions.

I have this mental picture of the recipients sitting down and eating their weight in fruit to try to avoid wasting it before it goes bad. I also have this mental picture that no one would be able to accomplish that and the arrangement would look like this in a couple hours:

Seriously, so many questions.

I'm turning to you, internets: Have you ever received or given one of these? Was it fabulous? Should I go get one immediately? Will it change my life?

Yes, I did photo-shop this myself. Can we say I have too much time on my hands due to being stuck indoors thanks to a tropical storm? K-man said: "My wife, ladies and gentlemen--nothing but productive."

To say it's been a bad hair day would be the understatement of the year.

2011-09-02T20:08:00.002-05:00

Tropical storm Lee has been pouring on us all day. Crazy. The wind is supposed to start tonight and major flooding tomorrow.

The one good thing about the moisture is a bunch of tiny frogs have emerged on our deck! They are so freaking cute. They range in size from smaller than a pea to about the size of a penny. They're too active to get a good pic, sorry.

I hope you all have a good Labor day!

Back to school Sangria.

2011-08-29T18:03:00.001-05:00

It is hot as hell in New Orleans. Add a marsh fire that has filled the city with smoke on top of that and it's pretty miserable. I decided a nice, refreshing alcoholic drink was in order so I made sangria. Yum!

I also wanted to tell you all about Flip-flop wines. They are a new winery that will buy a pair of shoes for someone in need (much like Tom's shoes) for the first 100,000 bottles they sell. In New Orleans a bottle sells for 5.97 and really, they aren't bad at all. They have 3 white and 3 red varieties. Give it a try!

Look at my new swag!

2011-08-27T09:53:00.002-05:00

(Yelp bike bell)

Hells bells.

2011-08-25T18:35:00.002-05:00

Normally I'm a jeans kind of gal, but the nuns that run my school expect a certain standard in dress so jeans don't really cut it. Last week I bought a new pair of khakis to teach in. Yesterday I wore them for the first time.

During my office hours I was grading some papers with a red permanent marker. Are you picturing Cameron Diaz grading papers in Bad Teacher? That's really not how I grade. Usually I use a nice friendly green pen (yeah, I'm one of those teachers). The red marker was my only option at the time so I used it.

After putting the score on the FIRST paper, the marker inexplicably fell out of my hands and landed in my lap, leaving a red line I had to teach with for the rest of the day. Are you friggin' kidding me? The first paper? The first time I've worn the pants? It was a sign--DON'T GRADE RIGHT NOW (and get yourself a drink).

I figured there was no chance in hell I could get the stain out. Well, I followed what my Google search told me to do, and it worked like a charm.

I thought I'd share the method for you:
1. Put a paper towel behind the cloth so the stain doesn't bleed through to other cloth. (This is very important. This step wasn't included in my Google search, and I ended up with a second stain on the back of my pants.)
2. Put some nail polish remover (with acetone) on the stain. Blot with a paper towel to pick up as much of the ink as possible.
3. Gently scrub with a tooth brush.
4. Rinse and immediately saturate with liquid laundry detergent.
5. I let it set overnight.
6. Wash.

The stain is completely gone!

side note: For some reason, blogger published a few draft posts this morning, sorry if it littered your readers with random, unfinished posts :( I took them down.

Saturday brunch

2011-08-21T17:50:00.001-05:00

I tagged along to K-man's haircut in the french quarter yesterday because I knew I could convince him to get brunch at a restaurant right on Jackson Square I've been wanting to try--Stanley. I'm so happy I did because brunch was amazing! I had the eggs benedict with fried oysters. SO GOOD. Look how perfectly the eggs are poached.

(crappy phone pic, sorry)

Afterward we went to the Faulkner bookstore down Pirates Alley. All-in-all it was a delightful Saturday morning.

I hope you all had a great weekend! We're back to school tomorrow. Where did the summer go?

WTF?!

2011-08-18T11:47:00.004-05:00

I just saw this on Jezebel:

According to Amazon, it's a children's book meant for kids ages 4-8. Are you fucking kidding me? Here's the blurb: "This book is about a 14 year old girl who goes on a diet and is transformed from being extremely overweight and insecure to a normal sized girl who becomes the school soccer star. Through time, exercise and hard work, Maggie becomes more and more confident and develops a positive self image."

The whole premise (as far as I can tell) is this girl wants to fit into the pretty pink dress her mother bought for her many sizes too small. When she finally fits into it, her life is perfect and she's finally pretty and liked.

Talk about promoting body issues at the age of 4. Jesus.

I admit, the second sentence of the blurb sounds good and I'm all for teaching your kids to be healthy through proper diet and exercise, but how about doing it the old fashioned way instead of relying on superficial stereotypes? You, know- teach by example?

side note: This reminds me of a stand-up routine I saw a few years ago where the comedian says before having children he used to judge parents in public with screaming children, thinking they were terrible parents with no control. The punchline was: Don't judge 'til you have kids of your own...YOU HAVE NO IDEA what it's like.

Here I am being judgey-mcjudgerson. I'm sure I'll change my tune when I have kids.

WWDDD

2011-08-12T15:01:00.002-05:00

K-man and I just watched the first four seasons of Mad Men in a (ridiculously) short amount of time. It's addicting. Here's a link to a cute comic from Oatmeal about Don Draper:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/wwddd

Happy Anniversary my Love!

2011-08-10T13:39:00.001-05:00

We're staying at the Degas House (via a Living Social deal) for two days to celebrate. It's pretty fancy.

By the way, this is as close to "scrapping" as I get.....Picasa did it for me :)

Thursday night ceviche.

2011-08-09T14:05:00.001-05:00

I'm a huge fan of ceviche, especially on hot nights because it requires no heat to cook. Many people don't know how easy it is to make. This is a shrimp and scallop Mexican-style ceviche. Here is my basic recipe for two people, keep in mind ceviche is great because you can really play jazz with it. Really, you can use any firm white fish.

Ingredients:
Juice from two limes.
Juice from one lemon.
1 lbs raw shrimp, chopped into bite-size pieces.
1 lbs scallops, chopped into bite-size pieces.
Half of a white onion, diced.
One jalapeno, sliced (add more/less depending on your heat preference).
One small tomato, diced.
Half of a cucumber, diced.
1/3 bunch cilantro, chopped.
Drizzle of olive oil.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Avocado for garnish.
Corn ships/tostadas for serving.

Directions:
Toss the scallops and shrimp with the lemon and lime juice to coat well. Combine with the rest of the ingredients, cover container and put in the fridge for two hours. If you want to leave the shrimp and scallops whole, it will take longer to cook. The ceviche is ready when the shrimp and scallops are opaque. Garnish with avocado and serve on a tostada or with chips.

Note: I stir it every half hour or so, but I think that's because I'm OCD. I don't think it's necessary.

How easy is that? It literally takes me 10 minutes to prepare.

I've made many variations of this: omitting the tomatoes and cucumbers, using strictly lemon juice, using cod, etc.--Like I said, you can play jazz!

This was more than enough for K-man and me. We had it for lunch the next day.

Hope you all are doing well!

Graffiti of the day. LOVE

2011-08-02T19:44:00.003-05:00

link

Amen

2011-08-02T16:48:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you all have seen this elsewhere, but here it is anyway. That's his mom (a teacher) next to him.

Also, if you haven't seen his full speech, watch it here.

Update!

2011-07-31T14:40:00.002-05:00

Two things:
1. I am *finally* back in nola after over two months in Idaho. We are now starting to prep for school and are looking for an apartment in nola proper.
2. I am officially out of the stone-ages! Guess where I'm posting this from? My droid :) I finally broke down-- we changed carriers (verizon refused to give me a deal on a phone) and got a free droid*, twice the minutes, unlimited data, and a phone that I can also use as a hot spot for $20 LESS than verizon. Isn't that crazy?

Anyway, I'll post something way more interesting soon (and more often) now that I'm home.

*it was pretty funny, we actually had to pay for K-man's bare-bones, no frills flip phone

For my Harry Potter fans.

2011-07-12T15:34:00.000-05:00

I'm a huge fan of comic writer Lucy Knisley. She is a big Potter fan, so she's had a lot of stuff on her blog lately celebrating the new movie.

She and her room-mate did this cute video:

Prepping for Our Wizardly Voyage! from Lucy Knisley on Vimeo.

Here is her comic summarizing Harry Potter. This link has a down-loadable high-res version.

I hope you all enjoy the movie!

First World Problems

2011-07-10T17:35:00.000-05:00

I'm sure some of you have already seen this, but it made me giggle.

I know, I know. It's been nearly two weeks.

2011-06-29T12:10:00.003-05:00

Here's why: I have banished myself to Idaho to try and finish my thesis. I've been here a month and a half and will be here another three weeks. ALL* I have been doing is working inside a cinder-block box (the office ISU has loaned me).

Anyway, I decided to take a little break and write a post I promised weeks ago.

K-man** and I went on a Banksy tour of New Orleans a while back.

Here is the map of all the places we went. Here are the pictures:

It's been so long, I don't remember the order we saw them, so I'll start with my favorite. I like it because it feels harsher than the others.

The house was abandoned after Katrina. The inside is completely gutted and full of graffiti.

The next pic is kind of crap because there was a bum sleeping directly in front of the art, so I didn't get out of the car. Notice directly to the left of the shopping cart there is a pair of shoes. There used to be more to the painting but there is a guy known as the "Grey Ghost" that went around a painted over nearly half of Banksy's art.

Here's one where Banksy is actually poking fun at the Grey Ghost.

This next one is probably considered the most famous of all the pieces he did in New Orleans. It's been covered with plexy-glass so no one can deface it.

This one was nearly impossible to get a good picture of because it was a weird angle through a fence and there was a bad reflection on the plexi-glass. It is a stick figure that Banksy has the ghost painting over with a roller. (I almost didn't post this one, the picture is so shitty)

I love this last one because the plants/environment have become part of it.

The little girl is screaming at a rat that is now covered up by the plants.

There you go! Hope you all are well and happy.

Oh! One more thing. If you like street art, you should watch Exit Through The Gift Shop . It is very interesting and you can play it instantly on Netflix.

*OK, so I've been spending time with my family too :)
**I miss you K-man! I love you.

Happy Father's day!

2011-06-16T06:36:00.000-05:00

We watched the movie Parenthood yesterday....

2011-06-04T16:40:00.000-05:00

and this:

reminded me of a post I wanted to do a while ago.

A few weeks ago K-man and I went to a "Mad Hatter" party*. The dress code was garden party attire with (of course) hats. This poses a problem for both K-man and me because we have gigantic heads. Really, think about it. Have you ever looked at our heads? They're huge.

We ended up spending an afternoon searching for hats that would fit our heads. Excuse me, hat companies? Women's heads are not "one size fits all".

It actually made for a pretty entertaining afternoon.

(That's a large, folks. Isn't K-man a good sport for letting me post this?)

My situation was identical. We did finally find some hats that worked, but it took quite a while and a lot of stores. Moral of the story: if you're going to throw a theme party and you want us to come, please don't require hats. Thank you.

*What is it with hipsters and theme parties?

on a side note:

2011-05-25T19:39:00.002-05:00

Bridesmaids was fantastic, as is Lindy West's review.

I find it strange that I can't stand most of Kristin Wiig's characters on SNL but find her completely charming in her movies. I'm probably the only one who feels that way.

Happy 34th birthday Star Wars!

2011-05-25T19:26:00.001-05:00

Oh yeah, and happy towel day.

I guess I better say goodbye.

2011-05-20T18:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts--I'm banishing myself to Idaho for over a month and am forcing myself to finish my thesis. I'll post something cool soon, I promise....oh wait, this is probably my last post, with the Rapture and all. It's been nice blogging for you all, I hope it was somewhat entertaining ;)

Have you seen what some of these crazies have done? Spent all their money, sold all their belongings, quit their jobs, pre-paying heathens to watch their animals, etc. *face-palm* for sure.

Tip: Don't send chatty social types to give a workshop to math people.

2011-05-09T18:38:00.001-05:00

I attended a workshop today that lasted 7 hours.

*

Here's the thing, for the amount of information I actually got, it could've been done (efficiently) in an hour-- scratch that, it could have been done over a one-page email. So ridiculous. Why doesn't this company realize math people are not very hands-on? We don't need to role-play every scenario, in fact role-playing is considered a form of torture. Seriously. They might as well have been sticking bamboo shoots up under my finger nails.

I have to go back tomorrow for more ~~torture~~ training.

*Something you might not know about me: I'm a huge fan of street art. My brother influenced me because he's always been into it. The above is by Banksy. Over Easter weekend, K-man and I did a Banksy tour of New Orleans and drove all over the city. K-man's a good sport. Anyway, it was a really great way to see a bunch of the neighborhoods we'd never been to. I'll post pictures soon.

I went to see Ani last night

2011-05-08T09:57:00.001-05:00

and in the encore she played my all-time favorite song, Both Hands. (the video is a little corny, but it's the best version I could find on the internets)

Also in the encore she told us she had just found out she's opening for John Prine soon so she played one of my favorite songs he's written, Angel from Montgomery.

The volume is a little low, you'll need to turn it up.

Ani played the entire show solo and acoustic. AWESOME.

I love to teach. I love to teach. I love to teach.

2011-05-03T11:04:00.000-05:00

Here's what I'm doing today:

Grading finals. boo. Lilo's even upset about it.

I miss the bugs in Idaho.

2011-04-28T17:50:00.000-05:00

This time of year, the mosquitoes come out in New Orleans.

This is my leg:

Both of my legs look like this. I won't be able to wear dresses for two weeks because I don't want to look like a friggin 30-year old who came down with the chicken pocks.

Yes, I did get bit all the time in Idaho, but at least there you can feel them bite you. You say: "hmm, I just got bit, maybe I should go inside." Not here. These bites are all from one night. K-man and I sat outside to drink some wine in the coolness. I got all of these in the amount of time it takes to drink one glass of wine. That's some messed up crazy-ass shit.

Moral of the story: I'm in the market for bug repellent. Please give me your suggestions for deet-free repellent. I know you world travelers I'm related to have to have some favorites.

Here is the other bug on my mind right now:

This is the buck moth caterpillar. These things fall on you from trees and their spines get stuck in you. Their spines are little tiny tubes filled with poison. Afterwards you get nauseated, dizzy, and a crazy rash forms.

Let's talk about the caterpillars in Idaho. They are cute, cuddly, and awesome to play with. We make songs about them, do sixth-grade projects with them, and watch them turn into butterflies.

Now I'm living in a city where it is literally impossible to avoid trees and I spend my day darting around like a crazy person to spend as little time under them as possible. Luckily their hatching season is almost over.

Thank you.

2011-04-20T17:02:00.000-05:00

Thank you, religion, for giving my university an excuse to give me a four day weekend! Hmmm...what will I do with my time? :)

Hope you all are doing great! I'll have an interesting post soon, I promise.

Apparently I'm the only one

2011-04-16T06:45:00.000-05:00

I'm the ONLY person who found "Perfect Couples" amusing. Why'd it get canceled to be replaced by Paul Reiser?

Should I be worried?

2011-04-12T09:18:00.000-05:00

I am currently eating baked doritos for breakfast...that's how little time I have these days.

On a side note, wanna know what's happening in New Orleans right now?

A little of what has been going on...

2011-04-04T00:32:00.002-05:00

This week was K-man's birthday week. I'll post about that soon, but here I'm going to talk about my first Yelp Elite event.
This week was the first Yelp Elite event I've attended. It took place at the bar at Loft 523 (a boutique hotel my brother and sister in-law stayed at when they visited us). The event was awesome. Free food, free beer, cheap cocktails, a bunch of swag, and a ton of mingling. NOLA yelpers are seriously awesome.

Guess who was the bartender? Jemmye from Real World New Orleans. Most peolple didn't notice because who cares about the Real World any more? I found my true Yelp friends by seeing who recognized her. (Yes, I AM shallow).

My friends told me later that Knight showed up after I went home and wanted to after party at a sketchy bar.

Hi everybody!

2011-03-28T19:24:00.002-05:00

Guess what? K-man and I got hired for another year!! YAY!

You know what that means? YOU still have a year to come and visit us in New Orleans.

Update (with a side of makeup).

2011-03-22T00:28:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts peeps. Here's why: I volunteered to take over a colleague's class who had to have emergency surgery. So that means I'm now teaching 18 credits. Wow, one more class has made me crazier than a chicken with it's head cut off*. The moral of the story? I no longer have time to post. Things WILL pick up after April, I swear. Don't give up on me. I'll post when I can.

Now, the side of makeup. I *lurv* the new Clinique Chubby Sticks.

I got the color "fuller fig," honestly though, I think all of them would be flattering. Here's why I love this product: it is a perfect mix of lip balm, lip gloss, and lipstick. It is moisturizing, has a sheen, and a hint of color. Very flattering and easy to use. FYI: it also works great as a cream blush (I CANNOT be the first to discover this). Seriously. Go buy this now.

*In New Orleans on fat Tuesday there are "marching clubs" (comprised entirely of men) that go out in the morning asking neighbors for gumbo ingredients (okra, sausage, etc). The key ingredient is a live chicken. The men then go to a yard/field, get drunk, and the game is to set the chicken loose. Whoever catches the chicken wins and gets to cook the gumbo. How's that for tradition?

Oh yeah!

2011-03-14T19:09:00.001-05:00

Happy Pi Day everybody!

It worked out nicely this year because this is the first day of trigonometry in 3 of my classes. I got to talk about Pi all day!

My husband's geekiness makes me laugh.

2011-03-14T19:05:00.001-05:00

He asked me to use the Googler to find the origin of the idiom "sticks out like a sore thumb." Within the info I came across another delightful idiom with the same meaning: "shows up like a mustard pot in a coal scuttle." I'm totally going to start saying it.

New Orleanians have serious stamina.

2011-03-12T11:52:00.001-06:00

Finally. Here's my Mardi Gras post.

First, let me say New Orleanians are serious about carnival season. These people party for a literal month before Ash Wednesday. 60+ parades, parties, and picnics. All events include alcohol and a lot of food. Carnival is a commitment. After the big parades, 400 city workers come out to clean the streets and prep for the next parade. I have no idea how many people it takes to clean the French Quarter. I cannot believe the city is still partying by Fat Tuesday. Here are some pictures from the Monday before Mardi Gras. Monday is called Lundi Gras.

First, we decided to be a little touristy and go to Acme Oyster house for lunch. Here's a car in the parking lot.

Then, we went down to the French Quarter to go to the Lundi Gras celebration on the river walk. The royalty for the Zulu Krewe is unveiled at this celebration. There is also a ton of crafts, food, beer, live music, and amazing fireworks. This is definitely where all the locals were.

Then we walked down to St. Charles to watch the Krewe of Proteus parade. It was such a different feeling from the parade we went to in uptown (closer to neighborhoods). Downtown was completely overtaken by tourists. There was this weird mix of people: To my right was a family with a small daughter trying to catch stuffed animals and such. To the left was a group of drunk 20 year olds wearing t-shirts with a delightful photograph of a fully nude woman with something precious in her mouth. We still had fun though. Here are some of the floats. Disclaimer: some of them kind of suck; it's really hard to get good pictures in a crowd of thousands :)

I saw my first New Orleans celebrity on Fat Tuesday.

2011-03-09T03:13:00.001-06:00

I saw him coming out of a gym in Metairie. He's here for HBO's Treme. I haven't watched it because I don't get HBO, but I hear it's good.

He's played a number of compassionate characters. Unfortunately, I will never see him as anyone but the tragic character he played in "Dancer in the Dark". This movie ripped my heart out and stomped on it. Heart-breaking.

(do not read this as "this movie was terrible," it was absolutely fantastic. If you ever decide to watch it, have tissues on hand)

Happy Mardi Gras Everybody!

2011-03-08T15:09:00.002-06:00

For now, I'll leave you with this.

We went down to the French Quarter last night for Lundi Gras. I will post fun pictures soon.

Note: This is seriously a city-wide holiday here. Everything is closed; restaurants, grocery stores, even the post office.

The Oatmeal.

2011-03-07T23:35:00.001-06:00

Here is the latest Oatmeal comic; an ode to Sriracha.

See the FULL comic here.

Update.

2011-03-05T16:11:00.001-06:00

The good:

Josh Ritter was awesome! Seriously, if you get a chance, go see him. This was his first time playing New Orleans and he was excited. Between every song he kept telling us how unreal and exciting it was to not only play New Orleans but for his first time to be at Tipitina's. The show was absolutely fantastic. During the second song he stepped back and let the crowd sing the chorus and I was completely shocked-- the majority of the crowd knew every word. I think Josh was as surprised as I was because he stepped back from the mic and (I'm pretty sure) said "F*ck me!" with a huge smile on his face. After that, his energy level sky-rocketed and the crowd felt it. It turned out the crowd knew every word to every song. Why did I think I was the only Ritter fan in New Orleans? He showed his roots with an Idaho state flag draped across the front of his keyboard :) Excellent show, it was a blast. I would post a picture of the band but I'm unsure about the legality of it.

On Thursday night (yes, a school night) we went to the parades put on by the Krewes: Babylon, Chaos, and Muses. They all ran down St. Charles. One of my Yelp friends has a condo on the route so we hung out with them and 30 other people to watch the parades. This is a picture of my friend's wine purse:

Keep'n it classy. Yes. I am jealous.

Krewe of Muses is awesome! It's the only Krewe run completely by women. This is quite a feat seeing as there are about 60 Krewes total in New Orleans. Their big throw are bedazzled high-healed shoes. It is quite rare and special to get one, so that's what everyone wanted. I didn't get one but a couple of people next to me did. Parades here are different. Instead of candy they throw stuffed animals (nice stuffed animals), balls, yoyos, frisbees, beer, and, of course, beads. The funnest thing for me is watching the kids. Most of their parents have made "parade ladders" for them to be able to see the parades better. Parade ladders are ladders with wheels so you can drag them to the route that have seats attached to the top of them for two kids to sit on. Here's a picture of the most ingenious one I saw:

The picture sort of sucks, but the ladders had dryer vent tubes attached to either side which led to a huge bin where the kids could drop their goodies. So smart.

Here's a picture of the opening float:

Now, the bad news:
Here are the weather warnings for today:
Thunderstorm advisory.
Flash flood advisory.
Tornado advisory.

Our big parade Endymion got postponed to run on Sunday with another krewe, Bacchus. That wouldn't be so bad, but the route has changed. This means our restaurant event won't work because the restaurant is no longer on the parade route. I actually feel really bad for the restaurant because they have to refund everyone's money. So now I don't know if I want to go. Here's why: Endymion and Bacchus are called the "super krewes." A million people known for getting rowdy were expected to attend each parade. Put them together, and you can expect (with overlap) 1.5 million people. Now, observing a million rowdy people from our nice, controlled, restaurant event is one thing. Being in the mix on the street with 1.5 million rowdy people trying to get a view of the parades is quite another. This year has the highest expected turnout in years because Mardi Gras is so late it falls during a lot of spring breaks. One can expect the crowds to be a big Frat party--not my idea of a good time.

We're waffling. I'll let you know if we decide to take part in any of the craziness, tomorrow or otherwise.

Jon Stewart's thoughts on teachers in Wisconsin:

2011-03-04T18:41:00.000-06:00

(in flash, so it may not show up in Reader)
Amen.

OK. Now it's official :)

2011-03-01T19:10:00.000-06:00

Now I'm officially Yelp elite. Take a look at my profile, I now have a little badge next to my picture.

Carnival season is crazy...

2011-02-28T09:47:00.001-06:00

Here's my schedule for the week+
Tomorrow: Josh Ritter at the famous Tipitinas

Thursday: krewe of Muses

Saturday: krewe of Endymion

Tuesday: Fat Tuesday, need I say more?

OMG, I'm so happy!

2011-02-27T23:26:00.001-06:00

I have officially become part of the Yelp elite! I'm so excited. What is Yelp elite? It is the cool kid's club on Yelp. I get to go to exclusive Yelp events and I'm considered an ambassador for Yelp. Tonight I went to the academy awards Yelp event and it was fabulous. I got an awesome swag bag and met a bunch of cool people. If you are in a new city trying to meet people, I definitely recommend Yelp to do so.

Update: I guess it's not *official* technically. I have to wait for the national headquarters to approve it.

Happy Friday Everyone!

2011-02-25T17:01:00.003-06:00

I normally don't go out of my way to make sure I've seen all the movies nominated for best picture before the Oscars. This year, however, I'm going to an Oscar viewing party so this week K-man and I have been trying to cram in as many of the movies as possible so we can try to sound intelligent at the party. Here is my take on the nominations:

Winter's Bone: Wow, what a bleak story--and I mean that in the best possible way. This movie was very understated and really well shot. Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job, I'm psyched she got nominated for best actress.

True Grit: I'll watch anything with El Duderino in it. I loved this movie. Everyone in it did a fantastic job. I look forward to seeing more of Hailee Steinfeld. The cinematography was beautiful.

Toy Story 3: I thought this movie was awesome. Very sweet and very funny. I'm a fan of Pixar in general. I will say I hope they end it here. They won't, but I think they should.

The Social Network: You know what I think of this movie. It was fine.

The Kids are Alright: Don't hate me for saying this, but I didn't love this as much as the critics. I think it's fantastic to show a regular, loving family with parents who happen to be gay. I just kept thinking, would the critics have liked this movie in general if it wasn't still a pretty new thing to show gay parents in a movie? I thought the story line was a little boring. Overall I liked the movie; I just wasn't in love with it.

Inception: Great movie. I saw this when it came out and the special effects blew me away.

Black Swan: I saw this last night. I guess "saw" isn't quite the right because I had my eyes closed for a lot of it. I've decided I'm just not built for Darren Aronofsky's movies. I recognize that he is very talented and does new things that have major impact on people (Black Swan is no exception) but his movies just make me too uncomfortable. I thought all of the actors did an amazing job; I can't imagine how much training was required. Out of the movies I've seen I would pick this as best picture.

I'm disappointed I didn't make it to see 127 Hours because I love James Franco. Let's be honest though, it's probably another movie I'd be uncomfortable watching. I also didn't make it to The Fighter or The King's Speech. 7 out of 10 isn't so bad though :) Word on the internets is The King's Speech should take home the statue. I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Ok you all, what are your opinions on these movies? Which do you think will win the Oscar?

Side note: It's awesome to see so many movies picked with strong female roles.

FYI

2011-02-22T11:01:00.000-06:00

For those of you who are an amazon prime member, they are now letting you stream 5,000 movies for free.

So I finally watched Social Network...

2011-02-21T23:10:00.002-06:00

This is about my generation, right? I should relate. Oh wait, I'm a female--why would I relate to a tech-driven movie unless I'm there to take my clothes off? F-you Fincher. Yes, I've read your response to women hating your movie. Your response is weak (at best).

All that aside, why is this up for best movie? Fast dialogue + acceptable soundtrack + "of the time" topic = acadamy award nominee? I don't get it, somebody explain it to this stupid chick.

Update: It was a fine movie, I don't mean to sound so bitter. Best picture though?

I just finished the series Freaks and Geeks.

2011-02-18T22:53:00.002-06:00

This is Bill, my favorite character, in my favorite scene in the whole series:

His character is so sweet, I love him. I can't believe this show got canceled after one season.
*love* the Darth Vader cup.

Funding is about to be cut for Planned Parenthood:

2011-02-18T16:13:00.001-06:00

Did you hear? The House voted to bar Planned Parenthood from federal funding. They cut funding for HIV tests, cancer screenings, birth control, and more, putting millions of women and families at risk. We can't let it go unanswered. It's time for you and me to stand with Planned Parenthood. Sign the open letter to the reps who voted for this bill — and to the senators who still have a chance to stop it.
http://www.ppaction.org/IStandWithPP

This is my favorite commercial right now.

2011-02-17T23:57:00.000-06:00

I realize I'm lucky for having this be the first time, but...

2011-02-17T15:28:00.002-06:00

I caught a student blatantly cheating for the first time today. It was heartbreaking. No me gusta :(

image via: icanhazcheezburger.com

Chewbacchus

2011-02-16T12:06:00.004-06:00

This is officially my favorite Mardi Gras Krewe:

link: http://www.razzamatazproductions.com/chewbacchus.html
Heh, their dues are $42. (Don't worry if you don't get this, but it is the answer to the question in the universe.)

On a side note, here's a conversation K-man and I had yesterday:
He was telling me something about Corvette Summer, a movie Mark Hammil did in between episode IV and V,

Me: "Was that before or after Mark's accident?"
K-man: "He had his accident during Corvette Summer."
Me: "Oh, ok"
pause
K-man: "Wait, how do you know about Mark Hammil's accident?"
Me: "Don't you know who you're married to?"
K-man: laughing--"My awesome Star Wars nerd wife."

Look at my new computer!

2011-02-15T19:02:00.000-06:00

I'm really excited. My friends out there that use Macs, expect some calls from me for tech support ;)

Happy Valentine's Day Everybody!

2011-02-14T12:52:00.000-06:00

Tonight, K-man and I are going to see Sixteen Candles on the big screen.

It's been re-released in quite a few cities, so if you need something to do tonight, this might be a fun option.

Endymion

2011-02-13T15:05:00.000-06:00

K-man and I splurged and got tickets to go to a party at one of our favorite restaurants for one of the biggest parades during Mardi Gras, Endymion. The ticket includes an open bar, sidewalk seating during the parades, lunch, and dinner (it's an ALL DAY event). I'm so glad we got our tickets because guess who the Krewe of Endymion picked as one of the Grand Marshals?

The Silver Fox!!

That's right, I'll get to see these baby blues in person!

Image via CNN.

OMG, I want this cat.

2011-02-10T14:42:00.002-06:00

Hold me closer Tony Danza.

2011-02-10T08:25:00.000-06:00

Until an embarrassing age I thought these were the lyrics to Tiny Dancer. True story. This may be due to me being raised in the "Who's the Boss" generation, but these being the lyrics totally made sense to me. "I'd be OK with Tony Danza holding me close," I thought. When I found out my mistake, I was completely embarrassed. How many people heard me sing "Hold me closer Tony Danza"?

Apparently, I'm not the only one:

Hold Me Closer Tony Danza - watch more funny videos

Another one?

2011-02-07T18:40:00.000-06:00

K-man was a saint and agreed to watch Sex and the City 2 with me (disclaimer: we got it with a free red box code--I would hate myself for spending money on it). We turned it off after 20 minutes; I didn't want to ruin the series for myself. Today I found out they are making an SATC prequel starring Blake Lively as Carrie. A prequel? WTF? Did they not learn from getting a crazy number of Razzie nominations for SATC2?

Even Carrie is face-palming this one.

It happened again.

2011-02-03T23:54:00.000-06:00

This happened again today-- with a different student. Really. (Really?)

Best pepper mills ever.

2011-01-30T11:41:00.001-06:00

For months I had to use this POS when cooking:

It is a dual grinder that you put pepper in one side and salt in the other. It's fine for table use, but for cooking it sucks the big one. To get enough pepper/salt out, it felt like I was using one of these:

For months I kept wondering why my forearms were sore. I finally realized it was the pepper mill. As soon as I realized it I bought new mills:

Oh my lord, these are awesome. It's uber easy to set the grind size (there's a dial at the top) and it is, by far, the easiest grinder to fill I've used. The grinding mechanism is also very high quality. I would recommend these to anyone.

For the record, I find all of OXO's products to be great. I don't know their (environmental or political) policies--mainly because The Googler* doesn't find anything, but I do love their products.

*My cousin in Portland told me about a professor he had that called any computer "The Googler". I liked it so much I stole it. I'm not proud. And yes, I wrote this comment in case he reads my blog, which I'm pretty positive he doesn't. I didn't want him to call me out :)

I forgot one!

2011-01-29T15:32:00.000-06:00

I forgot one of my favorite products on my previous post.

9. Nars blush in sex appeal.

After reading (on like every beauty blog and every beauty magazine) people rave about Nars blush in orgasm, I tried it. It just doesn't work on me. I feel like it's too gold and too peach. Based on what I've read, I must be the only person who doesn't like the color. Enter Nars shade sex appeal. It is a much lighter cousin to orgasm. No gold, as far as I can tell, and more pink. It's a nice light shade that you can definitely build up.

I can't believe I forgot this one!

Makeup

2011-01-29T13:21:00.004-06:00

It's been a while since I reviewed makeup. Here are some of my picks for new makeup favorites in 2011. (drum roll please, lol)

Eyes:

1. Benefit Lemon Aid Eye Primer

I got a small pot of this as a sample and I really love it. Wear it as a primer for eye shadow or alone just to brighten the eye area. I cannot stress what a miracle product makeup primer is. I've noticed a few drugstore brands have started marketing primers and I'm intrigued. Expect a review after I try them!

2. Bobbi Brown Smoldering Eye Palette

This is a versatile palette of eye makeup that can be used to create a ton of looks. The last color is a dark, shimmery purple color that can be applied wet or dry. LOVE.

3. Maybelline Falsies Mascara

My friend D turned me on to this great mascara. Truth be told, it took me a while to come around on it. It's a bit heavy so it's hard to keep your lashes curled with it. I've decided the best way to apply it is to not wiggle the wand. (Many makeup artists tell you to wiggle the wand as you apply because it deposits more mascara at the base of your lashes- emphasizing the eye more.) Once I changed my application method, I fell in love with this mascara.

Face:
4. Make Up For Ever 5 Camouflage Cream Palette (No. 1)

Every concealer/corrector you could need in one palette. It even has a darker shade for sculpting, which I have no experience with, but I'm now going to try. Make Up For Ever has 5 different palettes meant for different ethnicities.

Lips:
5. Laura Mercier Lip Glace

My brother and sister-in-law gave this to me as a gift, thanks guys! I don't know the shade because I left it at school (boo!) but I will update this post as soon as I can. The color is very nice and subtle. I love the consistency of this gloss a lot. Update: the color is Bare Beige! Thanks G.

Miscellaneous:
6. Philosophy Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash

This is an effective exfoliator, yet it's gentle enough to use everyday. I by it at Sephora so I can get the jumbo size with the pump.

7. Philosophy Microdelivery Peel

I was so impressed with the microdelivery exfoliating wash, I decided to try this. I use it about once a week and it has really helped clear up my skin. It is a little strange, you use it in two steps. First, apply what they call vitamin C crystals and massage for three minutes. Second, put the "activator" on top of the crystals. At this step you look like you have a face mask on and the crystals get really warm. After a minute, rinse off and you're done.

8. Moroccan Oil Intense Hydrating Mask

I'm trying to grow my hair long. Every time I've tried, I gave up at about shoulder-length because that's when the split-ends show up. This time I've been using this mask and my hair is as healthy as it has ever been.
I use it about three times a week on the ends of my hair. It smells great and makes my hair super soft.

(btw, these are products I've been using for months-- they are tried and true in my opinion)

There you go! My favorite products right now. What about you? Any products you love? Leave a comment!

Pet peeve of the day.

2011-01-28T15:41:00.000-06:00

File this under Bug being bitchy. Here is my annoyance of the day:

Ladies and gentlemen of Louisiana (maybe everywhere). These:

are meant to be used with your elbow, not your wet hand. They make them this way because it's more sanitary. The manufacturers know this is confusing so they usually put a diagram right in front of your face to show you how to use your elbow. Why am I constantly getting a wet sleeve when I use these?

OK, now I feel better. Sorry everybody.

P.S. Yes, I realize this is the second post I written about drying my hands in public restrooms. Yes, I know it's weird.

Anyone out there use Yelp?

2011-01-27T17:48:00.000-06:00

I am officially addicted to Yelp. It is my go-to site to find good restaurants, doctors, services, etc. Are any of you members? Be my friend! My profile name is Catie K. You'll get to see my reviews of all the yummy food I've been eating.

Usually I don't do this

2011-01-25T13:15:00.000-06:00

because I figure you all are pretty internet savvy, but Banana Republic has a great coupon today until midnight. Use coupon code BR12HOURS to get 35% off your entire order. Anybody need work clothes?

Hyperbole and a Half

2011-01-25T11:29:00.000-06:00

This : http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/10/god-of-cake.html
is my favorite post on one of my favorite blogs. It's long but it's worth it, I promise.

Now you know.

All is right with the world.

2011-01-24T16:30:00.001-06:00

My Reader link is back. Thank you Google, I knew I loved you.

I know I'm an old fogey...

2011-01-23T12:28:00.001-06:00

because I still read blogs, but I don't care. Google: PLEASE put the reader link back at the top of my Google account!

Why?

2011-01-21T07:37:00.008-06:00

Why are my facebook friends posting about their kids successfully "pooping on the potty"?
Is that really facebook material? Is that what I'll be posting if I have kids? Really?

The Art of the Slow Cooker

2011-01-19T19:11:00.007-06:00

I got this cookbook a while ago when I got my new fancy slow cooker:

I've only made one recipe, the corn chowder, but it was absolutely delicious!

(sorry guys, I haven't quite figured out this food-photography thing)

A question....

2011-01-19T08:43:00.005-06:00

What is with men quoting movies/TV?

K-man (for no apparent reason*): "Consider the lilies of the goddamn field!"
Me: blank stare
K-man: laughing hysterically with a huge grin on his face.
Me:" seriously, what the *hell* are you talking about?"
K-man:"o brother where art thou?!"
Me: "oh, of COURSE"

This happens at least once a day-- usually it's a Seinfeld quote. I'm not judging, I swear. I just don't get it.

* I'm sure there was a reason, I just don't know what it was.

For all my Portland peeps:

2011-01-16T14:46:00.001-06:00

It's a little snarky, but it did make me laugh out loud quite a few times.

Thanks beautiful girl in Wisconsin!

It is freezing...

2011-01-12T08:05:00.003-06:00

LITERALLY. NOT a fan.
Freezing with humidity? Terrible.

What have I been doing?

2011-01-08T16:25:00.005-06:00

I made 9 pairs of slippers:

look at how cute the baby slippers are!

I stayed home with a sick cat :( then went to Pittsburgh for Christmas.
I made my hubby take me to Primanti brothers. How many times do I
have to see this on Food Network til I try it?
Delicious! I could only eat a third of it though.
We had some good sushi:
Try the quail eggs, soooo good!
(I hope this doesn't gross anyone out.)

We had a great New Years!

We started at Ralph's on the Park for dinner.
Seriously, so good. I had the "scallop-wrapped bacon" which was
pork belly surrounded by four scallops.
It may be the best thing I've ever eaten.
Top Chef has not been lying to me
about the wonders of pork belly. WOW.

We then went to a famous hotel/bar called Columns
to ring in the New Year:
Tipsy Catie stole those glasses about a half-an-hour after this.
I feel pretty guilty about it now :(
I seriously might take them back.
Happy New Year everybody!
I hope you have a good one.

Today (Thursday) is twelfth night, the first day
of carnival season here in
New Orleans. I'll eat a King Cake in your
honor!

hey y'all!

2011-01-05T01:30:00.002-06:00

Sorry it's been so long....I've had a crazy couple of weeks.
Update SOON, I promise you.

I'm so cutting edge.

2010-12-23T16:02:00.003-06:00

I just had my plane tickets sent to my phone.
Whoah.

I'm sure this is not a new thing,
but I haven't flown in a while :)

Am I a bad person?

2010-12-22T07:02:00.003-06:00

Am I a bad person for thinking thank god I'm not them when
I see "19 kids and counting," "sister wives," or "kate plus 8?"
Please tell me.

Celebration of the Oaks

2010-12-20T13:34:00.003-06:00

Before K-man left for Pittsburgh, he and I went on a double-date to the
Celebration of the Oaks at City Park where we got married. There were
snow machines making snow, ice skating, old-school carnival rides,
and funnel cake.

In the Oaks they had a very charming light display with the Cajun version of
The Night Before Christmas. Play this to listen to the story, the video isn't
that great.

My favorite ride was the lady-bug roller coaster:

(it had an old-school hand break that the worker had to put all his weight into
to stop the coaster)

I also liked the fun slide. I had never seen one before. You slide down on a
burlap sack:

I think I'm so smart.

2010-12-19T19:05:00.003-06:00

I had this "genius" idea to do some last-minute holiday shopping during the Saints game. Nobody misses a Saints game, right? 6 hours later, I'm finally home.
That's right, 6 HOURS of basically waiting in lines. It was amusing to see radio
shack stuffed to the brim with men trying to watch the game while their
significant others were doing all the holiday shopping alone.

This is what I did all day.

Finally!

2010-12-18T23:43:00.000-06:00

Good news everybody! Bobbi Brown must have come to some kind of agreement with Sephora because Sephora *finally* carries her line. Yay!

sh*t K-man says--

2010-12-14T01:41:00.002-06:00

So my husband and I gave a department-wide final today in which we weren't supposed to let students leave during the exam.

Student: Mr. Prof, can I go to the bathroom?
K-man: sure, go ahead.

an hour later in the parking lot on the way home....

Me: why'd you let him go?
K-man: Dude could have called Stephen Hawking for answers, nothing would have helped him.

I was seriously rolling on the ground laughing.

For my (maybe closeted) math nerds:

2010-12-09T00:18:00.002-06:00

For you out there with long(ish) hair.

2010-12-07T17:14:00.004-06:00

You have to try the new Goody Spin Pins.

Here's a quick tutorial:
update: damn you flash fail on google reader! AGAIN, click the title of this post to see the video :(

My hair's not quite long enough to look as good in the 'messy' up do, but I did manage to pull off a pretty good french twist with these things. I highly recommend them.

File this under me being judgey mcjudgerson...

2010-12-04T15:24:00.003-06:00

There are these creepy twins on my campus. They are in the pharmacy department. I'm strangely obsessed with them. They are always dressed nearly identical......creepy. I saw them walking across campus yesterday, so I sprint-walked to get behind them. It turns out they're German. So not only are they creepy twins, they are creepy German twins.

I'm fine, I assure you.

2010-11-23T00:31:00.005-06:00

Whenever I get a string of phone-calls from my friends and family expressing concern I realize my blog has been particularly negative in the last few posts. Seriously, folks I'm doing great. I'm happier than I have ever been. My next post will be funny, at least to me, I promise.

Now, an ode to my geekiness:

Hilarious.

2010-11-18T13:51:00.001-06:00

Update: For some reason this video doesn't show up in reader--click the title of this post to go directly to my site. This is a must-see for star wars fans.

(yes, I know I'm a geek)

The math department meetings are a little intense-

2010-11-16T13:29:00.002-06:00

While discussing the future of my and K-man's jobs, this sentence was spoken:

"I don't want to share my dark vision of the future [for this department] because I don't want to scare the young people."

whoah. I guess I'll be job searching again-- don't worry, I'm not too upset; it'll be another adventure =)