I watched Hoosiers this weekend for the first time. Only I would write a blog post about a movie more than 20 years old, but there you go. It was exactly the kind of movie I thought it would be – small town hires new coach, works with an underdog team in the years before bodybuilding supplements and ESPN. Team goes through bumps and overcomes hurdles and eventually makes it to the State Finals, where it would seem they should be crushed by the taller, faster, stronger team, but LO! the underdogs win, and there is much rejoicing.
Here’s the thing: I love an underdog story. I’m not a sports nut, but I’ll watch a sports movie about an underdog any day. So this was a perfect movie for a lazy Sunday morning. Glad I finally had a chance to see it, after all of these years.
I was thinking to day that Mr. Martini are pretty much “set” with the stuff we have. Really and truly, there isn’t anything that we need right now to make our lives better. We are extremely fortunate that we are in a place right now that we don’t really need anything.
However.
It sure would be cool to have a treadmill.
And a washer and dryer.
And a dishwasher.
Sigh.
Luckily, we both agree that those things are on the “wish” list and not the “necessity” list, because if we ran out and got them right now, we’d be answering a lot of phone calls. Specifically, from debt collection agencies. Instead, we’ll just wait. Which is definitely for the best.
…in Nintendo DS format! This is my new obsession. I had Mr. Martini return Cake Mania when I discovered that you can play it online for free (I know!). I took this opportunity to dig out this game that he had bought me months ago, and had forgotten about completely.
I LOVE IT. As long as I can stick to puzzles from the beginning of the week, I can finish them without too much trouble. I also find that this game is way better at recognizing my handwriting than even Brain Age, which is a plus.
I’m talking a lot about games recently, I know. What can I say, I like my grownup toys.
I went shopping today to find a silk blouse to wear to an upcoming event. I say “silk blouse” even though it didn’t have to be silk. Just something vaguely fancy-looking, that fit me and wasn’t too tight or too loose, that was a pretty color that would go with a black skirt.
I found sleeveless blouses (no), I found blouses that had bands on the short sleeves, which cut off my circulation (no, again), I found blouses in the “brown” family that wouldn’t match my skirt (right out).
I’ve given up. I’m thinking of just hitting my closet for something kind of outdated and worn, and then buying something pretty to wear with it to be a distraction: maybe one of those Guess watches or some sparkly earrings. Because I’m done with blouse shopping.
My hairdryer died a couple of weeks ago, and being the savvy shopper that I am, I did absolutely no research and just ran to the drugstore on my lunch hour to grab the cheapest model they had available.
Hey, at least this time when I needed a new hairdryer, I remembered to get one almost immediately. The last time my hair dryer died, I spent a week drying my hair by sticking my head in front of the auto air conditioning vent in my car. Desperate times, etc. etc.
Anyway, all of the hairdryers at the drugstore said they were “ionic” and talked about positively and negatively charged ions, and I thought, “What marketing genius came up with that line?”
Holy cow, it was not a line. Since I’ve started using my new hair dryer (the cheapest one in the store, even), I’ve really noticed a difference in my hair. It lays smoother and sleeker, and the only change is the hairdryer – my shampoo, conditioner and other styling products haven’t changed at all.
So I gotta give a thumbs up for the ionic hair dryer. Those positive and negative ions must be doing something right.
As you can see, I use Wordpress for my blogging software. The reasons are many – it’s free, it’s easy to use, it has a ton of plug ins and addons to help with all of my blogging needs. It works for me.
One thing that used to drive me batty about Wordpress were the upgrades. I use Fantastico via my site’s control panel to upgrade each Wordpress version. But it usually takes Fantastico a little time to find the update. Meanwhile, I get the “Please upgrade now!” message at the top of my blog’s dashboard until I upgrade, and it Drives. Me. Crazy.
So I was SO THRILLED to find the Wordpress Automatic Upgrade plugin. Basically, when Wordpress comes out with a new version, you can activate this plugin and it walks you through each step of the upgrade process automatically. I used it on this site over the weekend, and it worked like a charm.
Awesome find. Now to find a plugin to combat writer’s block. That would be fantastic.
I am the first to admit that I have a 10-year old girl’s taste in games. While Mr. Martini plays his grown up games on the PS3, I’m spending my time on the DS with games I know are probably made for the design sensibilities and tastes of tweeners.
I am not proud. But I do enjoy them.
Taking up my time this weekend was Animal Crossing, a game I’ve had for awhile but neer really played. There was this whole beginning portion where I had to have a job and pay off a mortgage, and it felt a little less than fun – I mean, that’s what I do everyday. And, even worse, I rent. But at a friend’s suggestion, I gave it a shot, and it really is a cute little game. Now I’ve learned how to sell things, and hae a little cash, so I can buy things, which (like real life) makes it a lot more interesting.
The other game I got on a whim, and really like it: Cake Mania 2. Basically, it’s less about baking and more a long logic puzzle where you have to bake, frost and decorate cakes for customers at a bakery. It’s not super exciting, but it’s got a logic puzzle style that the time-management freak in me really enjoys. Whose cake should I bake first? Which will take longer? How do I keep customers happy while they wait? It’s also super addictive, and I keep trying to earn more money for faster ovens to pump out my product quicker. Which makes it less of a “relaxing” game and more of a “I can’t believe how frenzied I feel playing this” but it is enjoyable.
I’m not sure what will be next in this series of games. Pokemon? Who knows.
I went for a walk at lunch yesterday, and in the 20 minutes I was outside, my face got sunburned.
I know that sunscreen is important, and I know that it’s necessary for both health and beauty reasons. But I haven’t found a good facial sunscreen yet that didn’t feel like I was wearing a mask of chemicals.
I’m sure the perfect sunblock exists out there somwhere. One that hydrates the skin, but just a little. One that has a gentle odor (believe it or not, “unscented” lotions smell “off” to me. I’m a weirdo). One that goes on light without feeling mask-like.
I’m going to have to keep looking, I suppose. In the meantime – pink cheeks for me!
I got a letter in the mail today, with information about renewing my “sweeterlemon.com” domain name. Which I thought was weird, because I registered the domain through my hosting company, and they definitely weren’t the ones that sent the letter. The whole thing was suspicious, including the fact that they were sending me snail mail instead of e-mail, that they required the renewal and payment six months before the domain expired, and that they were charging at least 3 times what my current host does for the renewal.
A little online research and I found out that several companies go on fishing expeditions for domain renewals this way. I don’t think it’s “illegal” but it sure is sketchy. But it must work, since they’re able to afford printing costs and postage in a world of cheap text-based e-mails and spam.
I’m not a huge gamer, I am still interested in new games as they’re released. But I know me, and I know that I very, very rarely see a game through to the end. So when I discovered that our cable company offers G4 content on our On Demand, and that content included a section called “First 15 Minutes,” I was very excited.
The content is exactly what the title says – recorded “films” of the first 15 minutes of play of various video games. For instance, after all of the hype about “Portal,” I sat down and watched the first 15 minutes of game play. It was just as funny and inventive as everyone said. Would I run out and buy it? Probably not. Was it weird to sit there and watch a video game that someone else had played? Not really, since I normally watch whatever game Mr. Martini plays like TV shows anyway.
But still, I do think I’d get a better sense of a game, and be able to better decide if I want to plunk down $50 for something I know I’d like, as opposed to something that just sounds cool. Very, very cool content, G4. Nicely played.
