An icon for Mom

Mom needs an icon for her new twitter profile, but how to capture such essence in only a few pixels? Do you choose a nice photo? A funny one? Maybe just a symbol? I couldn't really decide, so it's time for a vote...pretty icon or viking icon? Is there an even better picture or idea I missed? Let me know in the comments.

Friday Vids

So it's Friday, the most unproductive of all days. Tantalizing dreams of sleeping in & playing hours of Mario Kart make it awfully hard to concentrate on the spreadsheet before me. Today this problem is only compounded by the fact I have a righteous St. Patty's Day party to go to tonight where I will defend my limerick champion title. Anyway, this is my round-a-bout way for saying here are a couple vids of remixed Disney classics to help you have an unproductive Friday too. :)

(Btw - I picked both of these up @ Laughing Squid)

Sunday Art

Having spent most of my youth in a Catholic school, I feel like I've developed a refined palette for enjoying religious art (as it were). I thoroughly enjoyed "Buddy Christ" from Dogma, and there's this gem of the Last Supper, but now I feel like some serious contenders for best Jesus-art have arisen.

Over at planetdan (very funny blog of I guy whose company I work with), he discovered a poster that captures the cool, modern side of Jesus. He's not just a guy who can rock sandals & long hair while still commanding authority. No, He's ready to take on the 21st century by donning a necktie, some pleated slacks, and a seriously old-school PC. Based on this image, I bet Jesus is still using AIM and has a handle like SONUVGOD3 or maybe J*STAR13.

UPDATE: It has been brought to my attention that Jesus is on twitter. Being omnipotent, He maintains several handles...@kingofthejews, @jesus_de_christ, @Jesus_Christ and @Jesus_.

Today, my sleep-deprived-while-working-at-a-nuclear-power-plant brother found a series of paintings by Joseph Griffith that I can only describe as hysterically (but thoughtfully) ludicrous.

Entitled "Happy Flight", this pretty much sums up what I'd like to do with an eternity in Heaven. "Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!" So now the question is, which is your favorite?

(Be sure to check out the other Joseph Griffith paintings too. My favorite, though not Jesus-related, is The Surrender).

Fizzizzle - That's With Two Z's

Upon my co-worker's recommendation I checked out urbandictionary.com...specifically his entry on the word "fizzizzle." I know the suburban white dude mentioned in the listing, and many more white dudes (for that matter) that all make poor use of words ending in "izzle."

I made my own entry...boshuda, but it was turned down by UD's editors 3x's. So for your enjoyment here's what the entry would have read.

boshuda

An exclamation of complete satiety that usually follows a large meal of American food high in fat and calories eg., Big Mac & fries.

Note: The deeper your vocal tone and the longer the u-sound is held, the more satiated you are indicating yourself to be.

Origin: Boshuda was the name of a bolstyngar from Star Wars, who was beaten in the Mid Rim Domesticated Sub-Sentient Show by a wilwog and subsequently ate the creature, thus stealing the award for Best in Show.

Leah: Omg, that cheeseburger was huge! I am so full!

Nick: Boshuda!

Raeann: Yeah, boshuuuuuuuda!

To show I'm not holding a grudge (for too long), here are a few other entries I found to be a bit magical:

Hulk Out: To become enraged; to lose one's temper, clothing and power of coherent speech before embarking on a spree of violence and wanton destruction. After the comic book character who turned from an unregarded geek into a thundering green mass of unstoppable fury. Note: I use this way too often now.

Make it Rain: When you're in da club with a stack, and you throw the money up in the air at the strippers. The effect is that it seems to be raining money.

Q.E.D: A Mathematician's way of saying "I win."

I love you too Liberian Girl

The other night I spent most of the evening watching Michael Jackson music videos on YouTube and lamenting the fall of the King of Pop. Thriller, Beat It, Smooth Criminal...masterful songs & videos that we're all familiar with. Yet during those productive years, even MJ was not immune to a complete video fail...enter Liberian Girl. While the video has absolutely nothing to do with the song, the cavalcade of 80's celebrities in this mugfest did inspire me to create some play-along action...LIBERIAN GIRL BINGO! Every time you spot a celebrity, cross them out. If you manage to spot them all you've done much better than I. Who the hell is Amy Irving anyway?


Watch the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ethtD4R1kk (because some overprotective dork disabled embedding).

Btw - I pulled this list from wikipedia which I figure is as good a source as any for something like this. :)

Me on LinkedIn profile = tool.

Like a good little web gnome, awhile ago I wrote up a summary for my LinkedIn profile. I was aiming for a pithy paragraph that was equal parts self-effacing & confident and wouldn't leave my co-workers/boss wondering if I was delusional. With that in mind, here's what happened:

I'm a detail-oriented analyst with excellent technical skills ranging from writing Excel formulas to Photoshop to HTML. I enjoy innovation and managing projects that require versatility and a diverse skill set. Strengths include research, working in teams, project strategy and the ability to learn new skills or technologies quickly.

I apologize for leaving it posted to my profile as long as I did. The summary really is a vague corporate-jargon-dominated-inhuman representation of a cubicle-drone. No one reading it would have any idea why I'm different or more interesting than your average office jockey. Perhaps I'm not different or interesting, but I should be able to write like I'm one of the cool kids. Roughly...

Self-admitted, not-so-quiet geek who likes to use new technologies to solve old corporate problems: from aggregating business intelligence in a wiki to creating web animations for educating the masses on what happens to garbage. I'm passionate about using the web to investigate and understand markets I'm working in and as a tool to disseminate that information to a greater corporate audience. I'm addicted to problem-solving, be it technical or theoretical. Can't figure out which formula to use in Excel? Should we create a corporate blog? Which competitors matter to us? What do you mean my countertop isn't granite? I love it all. My favorite part is working for a company that has a mission to improve the world with it's existence. Car insurance companies need not apply.

Yeah, it needs some work.

Delinquent Blogger

Top 5 Reasons I don't blog more often:

1. Twitter: Microblogging perfectly delivers the whirling sense of accomplishment that accompanies online publishing without committing to an ENTIRE blog post. We millennials hardly have time for more than 140 characters...too busy going to yoga and uploading photos to flickr you know.
2. Mario Kart: I bought my husband MK for his birthday and have subsequently hogged all available Wii time to further my quest for a 3-star rating. If I could blog & play MK at the same time, I totally would.
3. OCD: I'm obsessed with putting together "perfect" posts. If a friend has a great photo of an event then I'll delay blogging just to include the perfect image. Months later, my drafted post has no relevance...Labor Day was really fun btw.
4. West Wing: I borrowed all 7 seasons from my parents and subsequently became an obsessive President Bartlett devotee. You'd be surprised how much time it takes to watch 7 seasons of the greatest presidency ever, even without commercials.
   
5. Computer avoidance/reality check: 8-10hrs every day in front of a dragging Windows machine can make hopping on a computer after hours abhorrent. I also feel it's important to check in with the offline world every so often. And by offline, I mean I pick up my latest fantasy novel and delve into a world of wizards & dragons. My nerdiness knows no bounds.

On the path out of blogging-neverdom, I will try to do away with at least a few of these obstacles...even if it means I have to play Mario Kart in all my waking hours to get that pesky 3-star rank out of the way.

(After) Christmas Card

Because I didn't want to spoil it for the lucky people getting one in the mail, I haven't posted anything about this year's Christmas card. This design was a last minute substitution. I had a whole other vibe going...green with a list of reasons why my husband & I live like we're in our 40's. It was funny, but not all that upbeat. So I went instead with the Polaroid look & some hot photos of my husband. Hands off ladies...the man in the straw hat is all mine. :o)


I also worked up a last minute photo for my parents card. For the 1st time ever, all 5 siblings & I went out for sushi in Excelsior. A few sake-bombs later we decided to try a sleigh ride in a big metal thing on the sidewalk. The photo was cute, but it required photoshopping to meet parental standards...removed 1 lip ring, 2 male earrings, 1 cigarette & replaced 1 face entirely. Not to bad on short notice.

Chicken Dinner & Recipe

One of the many reasons vacation is magic is that it affords me the time to cook something healthier & more delicious than tacos or PB&J. I took this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa & cut it in half to accommodate 1 wife & 1 excessively hungry husband.

One 3 lb-ish roasting whole (without giblets...eeew)
Kosher salt
ground black pepper
1/2 bunch of fresh thyme
1/2 lemon
1/2 head of garlic (cut head in half crosswise)
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 c chicken stock
2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Pat the outside dry and place the chicken in a roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, lemon, & garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Note - I looked around and couldn't find anywhere to buy kitchen string so I hit up the guy at the Byerly's meat counter who hooked me up.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you make the gravy.

Remove all the fat from the bottom of the pan saving 2 tbsp in a small cup. Pour the chicken stock into a small saucepan. Scrape the bottom of the roasting pan gathering up the tasty little bits of brunt chicken and fat. Add the scrapings to the saucepan. Cook the stock and scrapings on high heat for about 5 minutes, until reduced. Strain out the scraping bits leaving the stock in the saucepan. Combine the 2 tbsp of chicken fat with the flour and add to the saucepan. Boil for a few minutes to cook the flour. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Now you can simply roast some asparagus or potatoes to serve on the side. I prefer asparagus as opposed to nasty-carbohydrate filled potatoes. :o) This recipe is generally way cheaper than buying a pre-made roast chicken and generally pretty easy. Now I just need to convince my husband that he can make it too.

Proposition 8: The Musical

This one goes out the musical-loving, right-wing supporting men in my life. Jesus clearly supports the separation of church and state, so let's keep your moral strictures out of my government.

PS. As a West Wing junky I'm thrilled to see Allison Janney...yeah CJ!