Your not alone!!!

Are you having a bad day? Feel like it can't possibly get any worse? If so take a look at this website. I can guarantee that you'll feel better..or at least you'll realize that other people's lives suck too.

http://www.fmylife.com/

Scared Panda!

This poor panda is so scared by it's little baby! I even jumped when I first saw it!

Tell the World Your Secrets

I originally heard of PostSecret last year.  My roommate and her boyfriend were obsessed with the idea of reading other people's secrets and general gossip.  My roommate, being a genuine      "gossip queen", took me to the PostSecret website.  We spent hours reading strangers' confessions, laughing at both the humorous and somewhat disturbing.  

The idea of Post Secret is ingenious.  Giving people a specific place to send their written confessions and secrets is evidently exactly what modern society needed.  For those who are unaware of Post Secret's premise, PostSecret is a blog composed of people's deepest, darkest secrets.  According to their website,  "PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard."   

What I find interesting is society's love for this kind of thing.  Not only do we love reading other people's business, we love knowing everything about everyone.  My roommate was the perfect example of people who want to know more about everyone else.  Granted, not every individual has this obsession with other people's business.  Yet a large majority live for this kind of stuff, clearly.  Just look at Post Secret's success over the last couple of years.  

I admit, sometimes I don't want to email my boss back.  Sometimes I will have an exam at 7:45 a.m. the next day and do not want to study.  It is in these situations I find myself turning to PostSecret.  So give in to the urge; give in to your inner gossip queen/king and check out Post Secret if you have not already.   

OMG! This Internet Shorthand is OOC!

OMG! Personally I try to stay away from using internet/texting lingo whenever possible, but in today's IM and text crazed society it's hard to stay away from it. While I knew that the degree to which people actually made acronyms and used this "language" is ridiculous, it was not until I came across an actual list, or translator if you will, of internet shorthand acronyms, that I truly realized the level the phenomenon had reached! I wouldn't be surprised if one day children will be reading textbooks written in this shorthand; I mean shoot, in theory it would cut back on paper usage and help the environment!

Once I started receiving text messages from my mom that used shorthand slang, I knew I needed to become more familiar with the terminology; this shorthand sensation is here to stay. So, if you're like me, and have trouble translating this foreign-looking internet/texting shorthand, I recommend studying this very lengthy list of acronyms. After mastering this list you will undoubtedly become an incredibly efficient communicator, cutting conversation time in half, giving you more free time to stay up-to-date on all the new acronyms created daily!

Moskau!

Wow, so I love this video! Not only will the dancing blow your mind, but the catchy German dance song will be stuck in your head all day- if not all week! In this version of the video someone has taken the liberty of adding the English "translation" in subtitles. The translation is really just what someone thought the foreign lyrics sounded like in English, some of which are hilarious but actually do sound like what is being sung. I think it is important to remember that the English translation is simply a joke and is in no way meant to be offensive. If you want a good laugh and to hear an upbeat song that will put a smile on your face, definitely check out this video!

I Want to Live HERE!

Architects and architecture amaze me.  

As a Communication major, I lack the 3-D brain it requires to build structures.  I love walking on campus and watching the new science building go through its stages of progression on Stadium Way.  Carpenter is one of my favorite buildings on campus;I could spend hours walking through and looking at the building blueprints and models.  I find the whole process intriguing.  So, when I stumbled upon (using the Stumble Upon toolbar, of course) The 80+ Strange and Fantastic Buildings Architecture, it is needless to say I was fascinated.  

The site showcases innovative building after innovative building.  These structures pepper the globe, from Spain to the Nethelands, from Belarus to the United States.  Each building is unique and exquisite, pushing the limits of what is possible.  I hope you find it as interesting as I did.  And if you do not, then you just wasted time looking at buildings.  

 

Getting distracted is a fact of life

http://cbruffey.webng.com/audiocast.mp3

Jamie and Val find ways to fight distractions!

I Love Jesus, but I do drink a little...

I hope I'm like Gladys when I'm old!

They Dance the Night Away

The Hamster Dance.  I was surfing the internet yesterday, and ran across this 1997 favorite.  What can I say, I am just trying to bring back a classic.  

Kittens of the Sea!

The United State is a country full of activist issues.  For every controversial topic, there is an activist group ready to tackle it.  In a country full of people who love to hunt and fish, there are thousands of other people who want to protect animals from such harm.

I learned a whole new element of the animal rights issue the other day when I came across PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Web site.  At the time I found this site, I was supposed to be studying for a test, but what I saw was so much more interesting.  

Apparently, PETA has launched a campaign in hopes of renaming fish "sea kittens."  Yes, sea kittens.  One part of me was slightly embarrassed I had never before heard of these underwater kittens.  Another part of me was embarrassed for the public relations folk working on this campaign.  The third part of me fell in love with adorable depictions of mammalian fish; my personal favorite was the salmon sea kitten.

The Web site went on to explain PETA's mission and goals.  Basically, PETA wants to view fish as they would mammals.  I suppose they believe that by changing the expression from "fishing" to "hunting sea kittens," it may change people's perceptions of killing and eating fish.  I mean, who would want to be guilty of killing and eating a kitten?

On the Web site, visitors can make their own sea kittens and download sea kitten banners and computer desktop images.  PETA also provides visitors with a list of how to avoid the use of fish and fish products, such as eating vegetable sushi.

Now, as previously stated, I thought these sea kitten drawings were precious (though they somewhat reminded me of CatDog).  And, I love kittens.   But, I also love sushi.  I could eat Tekka Maki and Philadelphia rolls for days.  So, when I read the "eat vegetable sushi" suggestion, I found it a good time to go back to studying.

PETA's Sea Kitten Web site is a "must visit" if you haven't already.  It's interesting, full of adorable pictures and somewhat controversial.  Go check out the little underwater furballs so the next time you are SUPPOSED to be preparing for a test, you can strike up a healthy discussion on animal's rights issues.  It's definitely one way to procrastinate.  

Mighty Putty!

A friend showed me this Mighty Putty video the other night on YouTube, and I found it hilarious.  I personally love anything that makes fun of Billy Mays and the commentator does a great job.  I highly encourage all of you to take a two minute break from what you are doing and watch this video.  

Sidewalk Chalk Isn't Just for Kids!

Quite a while ago someone showed me Julian Beever's pavement drawings, and they are amazing! I know a lot of people are already aware of Beever's creative sidewalk chalk art, but for those of you who have never experienced it, prepare yourself to be blown away. Beever draws his sidewalk masterpieces in a distorted manner that from the correct angle gives the drawing a a 3 dimensional illusion. Some of his drawings would literally make you stop walking down the street to avoid falling into what looks like an open sewer lid or raging river. Although Beever's sidewalk art cannot be saved in museums and galleries like famous artists of the past and present, Beever's unique artwork is definitely worth your time to check out.

An album of Beever's pavement art can be found on his website here. I highly recommend visiting his page and looking at some of the crazy artwork he has done!


These photos are an example of the distortion technique used to give the 3-D illusion.

"Hey everybody, I just got accepted at Appalachian State"

So, THIS is why people are fat.

     I am not a big "food person."  By this I mean that I like food, but I am not one of those people who goes out of my way to try new an exotic things.  And I definitely get easily grossed out by food (it's the ex-Vegan in me).  So when I stumbled upon This is Why You're Fat.com, I was horrified.  Just looking at these dishes gave me a double bypass.  And it was slightly horrifying to see what happens when hunger meets boredom.

    There is a wide variety of greasy, grimy meals on this is Why You're Fat, but my favorite was the Mega Pizza.  This tasty treat is basically a pizza with a pigs in a blanket crust.  It is then topped with tomato, onion, basil, mushroom, peppers, garlic chips, italian sausage, ham, bacon AND bacon bits.  I suppose the bacon bits add extra flavor to the bacon?  Oh, and the pizza can be topped off with either maple syrup or ketchup. 

    I have to admit that I spent a fair amount of time looking through the cuisine displayed on this website, laughing with horror and overall shock.  Afterward, I ate a salad for dinner. My roommate, on the other hand, wrote down recipe ideas.  To each his own.  

Holy Sheet!

Normally I am not a fan of forwarded emails, but I have to admit that my grandma definitely pulled through with a really unique forward. The email had these photographs of entries in an art contest at Hirshorn Modern Art Gallery in Washington D.C. The rule was that artists could only use one sheet of paper. It's really crazy and impressive what these artists did with ONE sheet of paper, check it out!

Sumo wrestles over pot

Olympic hero Michael Phelps has been suspended by USA Swimming and has lost a major sponsor after a picture surfaced of Phelps smoking from a bong.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/olympics/2008717327_phelps07.html



Sports stars smoking reefer is nothing new in America, but a recent marijuana scandal has rocked the Japanese sumo wrestling community.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jCrMy-CFjvfMrOvXQiqKedzfN1agD965K5R82



The Associated Press reports four sumo wrestlers have been kicked out of the sport for smoking marijuana.

Wakakirin, a 25-year-old sumo wrestler, said he became interested in marijuana after attending hip-hop concerts.

Marijuana is not considered to be a performance enhancing drug, but I'll bet it helps them keep their weight up.

Falkor and Jesus...Perfect

So think back a long time ago to that super creepy but highly entertaining movie "The Never ending Story". We all remember Falkor the flying dog/dragon thing (if you know what it is please tell me) and of course we know Jesus. Put the two together and you get this highly creative, rather disturbing pictorial. Enjoy.

25 Random Things: So Much Better Than Homework

The other night, as I was getting into bed, my Blackberry announced a new Email arrival.  As usual, I immediately opened the document, only to be disappointed.  Another friend had tagged me in a "25 Random Things" Facebook note.  Being the fifth "25 Random Things" message I had received, I almost felt guilty for not having succumbed to the latest online trend.  But sleep prevailed and I did not think about it again.  

Today, picking up the New York Times to enjoy the weekly section of Thursday Styles, there it was - an article on the "25 Random Things" phenomena.  I realized I cannot escape it.  The epitome of homework procrastination and time wasting had followed me to my favorite newspaper.  

The best part of this "25 Random Things" phenomena is people's justifications.  For example, one note was titled "I am only doing 25 Random Things because my sister did."  Perfect.  But, let's be honest.  Deep down we love this stuff.  It's interesting, funny, peculiar and a great reason to not be productive.    

So, check it out for yourselves if you haven't already.  The New York Times article can be found here.  And if you haven't already, log onto Facebook and do your own "25 Random Things."  Or, be like me and simply spend 3 hours reading 25 random things about people you do not really know.  That research paper can wait, trust me.  

WEEDies

The breakfast of champions! It's no Wheaties but Michael Phelps seems to still enjoy it!