mellowgeek.org

Do you realize?

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:59:59 -0500

This has to be, hands down, the most awesome song I have listened to in a long while.

By the Flaming Lips

One, two, three, four -

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we're floating in space -
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun don'-go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die -

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize

"I have a BLUEBERRY for a daughter!"

nospam@example.com (Molly) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:58:00 -0500

Blueberry flavor in medium iced coffee with milk and 2 Splenda

To me, blueberries are one of the keystone flavors of summer. Pints go on sale at the grocery store and they taste really good with watermelon. And who can argue that watermelon is not a summertime treat? Blueberries are guiltily "summer" just by association. But how would they taste in coffee?

Survey says.... sweet.

Now, I'm one of those weird people who actually enjoys the taste of coffee. I'll drink a decaf before bed in the winter because it's warm and yummy. The whole splenda thing is just so I can drink it on an empty stomach every morning. And I won't say that I didn't like the blueberry flavor. It was just a bit dessertish for my morning palate.

That being said, I really did enjoy it once the sweetness shock wore off. Every sip had the strong coffee fore-taste with a sweet blueberry aftertaste dancing on the tip of my tongue. My recommendations? To boost up the blueberry, I'd go with a blueberry cake donut. To tune it down a bit, a corn muffin.

Next week: Caramel...

Note: My Dunkin doesn't have chocolate flavor! I will have to hunt around for it...

I <3 bash.org

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:49:49 -0500

<flux-1> certainly vista sucks and I never upgraded, but really, does mac really need to poke at pc in every commercial?
<twentyonegrams> that's like kid with one leg making fun of a kid with one arm

Even I remember listening to "The Sign"

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:27:53 -0500

Posted by a friend of mine in her away message:

"Why is it that people are so antagonistic about 90s music,
especially late 90s pop? I'm sick and tired of people my age
scoffing and acting all offended and sick whenever they hear a
strain. You know what. You lived through it. You liked it. You know
you sang "My Heart Will Go On" with everyone else. Now shut the
fuck up. Are you trying to tell me this stupid shit that's popular
now is somehow superior musically to "Wannabe" in any way? That
"Chain Hang Low" is somehow a lyrical evolution to the primitive
"Mmbop"? Kiss my fucking ass. You know in ten years people are
going to look back embarrassed. Jesus Christ, at least in the 90s
people cared about musical talent. You know, harmony and tone and
shit. Original music that isn't ripped off 80s music or children's
folk songs. Proper spelling. Choreography. And no kids, the
solution is not to bash all music beyond 1994. Get your head out of
your ass. You people are making me ill with your band shirts and
haughty attitude."

A cookie is a sometimes food

nospam@example.com (Molly) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:42:00 -0500

And according to the coffee shop in the subway station I frequent twice daily, doughnuts are "America'a perfect anytime treat!" Disturbing...

Although not a fan of the reformed Cookie Monster, like most working Americans I can't really function with out my morning cup o' joe. But with all the coffee shops springing up around the country (even though Starbucks will be closing 600 of theirs in the metro Boston area) come even more ways to name the beverage. Sometimes, if I haven't said at least eight descriptive phrases I feel as though I've forgotten to specify part of my order.

As a Bostonian, the most ubiquitous coffee joint is DDs, a.k.a. Dunkin Donuts, or just Dunkin. America runs on Dunkin, but Boston would shrivel up and die without it. Regular "coffee", even "iced coffee" seems like it should be simple enough to order but now every morning I'm presented with a barrage of questions:

"Cream and sugar?"
"Just milk, please"

"Milk? Skim Milk?"
"Uh, skim, I guess"

"Equal? Sweet and Low? Splenda?"
"Splenda?"

"How many?"
"Two? Is that the right answer? Do I win?"

Trying to remember this fast-paced verbal duet has taken some time. But after 7 months of living here, I can finally walk in and order a "Medium iced coffee with skim milk and two splenda. Please." Now that I've conquered this first round of questioning, they bring up more possibilities.

"Would you like to add flavor?"

WHAT!? Sure enough, Dunkin has no fewer than nine flavors you can add to your coffee, for free! And, I recently discovered, you can mix up to three flavors. This means there are

9C1 + 9C2 + 9C3 = 129

flavor possibilities at my fingertips. And what better way to document my thoughts and feelings on these flavors than to share them with the internet. Don't get too excited (or groan)... I will only be starting with the original nine flavors:

Blueberry Caramel Cinnamon Chocolate Coconut
French Vanilla Hazelnut Raspberry Toasted Almond

Look forward to the first flavor's report sometime next week: Blueberry...

Sappy Song of the Week

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:53:59 -0500

So, I'll admit it, I can be a sap. And with that, comes a different song each week, generally I run across one sappy song that I like a lot, per week. So, tada! Your first installment of the Sappy Song of the Week.

And today's winner is "Your New Twin Size Bed" By Death Cab for Cutie!

You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed

With a single pillow underneath your single head

I guess you decided that that old queen was more space than you would need

Now it's in the alley behind your apartment with a sign that says it's free

And I hope you have more luck with this than me

You used to think that someone would come along

And lay beside you in a space that they belong

But the other side of the mattress and box springs stayed like new

What's the point of holding on to what never gets used?

Other than a sick desire for self-abuse

And I try not to worry, but you've got me terrified

It's like your some kind of hurry

To say goodbye, say goodbye, say goodbye

You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed

You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed

Listen to "Your New Twin Size Bed" @ songza.com

New Features and a new writer!

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:39:54 -0500

So I decided that I've horded this to myself for too long and not done anything with it. Thus, introducing MOLLY!

*pause for applause*

Anyhoo. Starting sometime, Molly will be posting a new feature, Summer Roast, featuring... well, you'll just have to read it to find out! Subscribe to the RSS feed for updates.

In other news, I'll be trying to come up with something myself and see if we can't get this thing rolling again.

Until next time, Peace!

Free advertising for {codesqueeze} :-P

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:45:01 -0500

So, not one to pass up a chance to win free software... {codesqueeze} is doing a raffle type deal giving away licenses to Bamboo 2.0 CI Server and SlickEdit Tools, generously donated by Atlassian and SlickEdit. As you can see, all you have to do to enter is to tweet, blog, or make a video about the contest. Or, if you're feeling really up to it, write a review of the software.

Visit http://www.codesqueeze.com/birthday-contest-win-bamboo-20-slickedit/ to enter.

Lack of content

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:05:30 -0500

So, it's been a while since I posted anything, haven't really had many ideas of what to post. I'm traveling to Atlanta at the end of this week, though, so maybe I'll come up with something while I'm on vacation. At the very least, I have my camera and I'll post some pictures or something. Exciting.

Ghosts

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:40:42 -0600

So, everyone and anyone who runs across this should go check out the new NIN album, Ghosts I - IV. Not only is it awesome instrumental music, but I love how they're distributing this. Because they are releasing this without a label behind them, they're able to offer all 36 songs, DRM free in multiple formats, for $5 dollars. If you still want a CD, you can buy it for 10 bucks, but you still get the downloads right away. And for the diehard fans, they have deluxe and ultimate editions that include the music on blu-ray, DVD, the downloads, CDs, art books, and vinyl too. Oh, and you can download the first 9 songs for free too. I think the best part is that they put the first 9 songs, Ghosts I, out on torrent sites too. Including an official Pirate Bay download. Wow.

I just think it's completely amazing what they're doing here and I hope it's a big step forward for the music industry in general. I'm crossing my fingers hoping that more people can and will follow. If more people are doing this and I don't know, my apologies. And I'd love to hear about it.

Enough of my rambling about how cool I think what they're doing is. Go check it out.

http://ghosts.nin.com/

This made me super giddy...

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:03:47 -0600

Iron Man Exclusive Trailer

Add to My Profile | More Videos

So awesome! I can't wait for it to come out.

Resolutions

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:37:35 -0600

So, here I had written a nice long entry about things that I want to do this coming year, things I want to improve about myself and things that I want to do. Somehow, it was lost before I could save it. Thank you javascript. Thank you very much. In any case, I don't feel like rewriting it all, but here's a short summary of it, mostly for posterity's sake so I can look back on it.

These are my resolutions for life, not necessarily the new year, though. Let's be honest, how many people really keep new year resolutions? I don't think I ever have. In any case, here goes:

Lose weight: I started this years ago, but due to a number of circumstances, mostly laziness on my part, I dropped off and started gaining weight. Unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, a job change from one that made me run around a toy store daily for 8 hours to one where I sat on my rear in front of a computer for 8 hours. Either way, I went from being slightly in shape, to being totally out of shape.
Work out more: In conjunction with the above, I've started working out more, and I want to continue to. I'm trying hard to make myself go at least three times a week, if not more. I've been going at least twice a week for the last month or so, give or take, and I've noticed a nice improvement in my stamina and my energy levels. And afterwards, I always come home feeling great. I just have to keep it up.
Save money: Let's be honest, I've been terrible about this in the past. One of the things I want to do is build up an emergency fund for myself, just in case something happens and I need it, and then I want to start building up a savings for vacations and the like.
Go back to school: I've been thinking lately that I want to go back to school. I just got out, but already I want to go back for more. When I was in school, I never put much effort into it and never really had much interest in the things I was doing. After starting this new programming job, I want to go back to get my Master's degree in Computer Science or at least go back and take a couple CS classes beyond the intro courses to see if I would want to continue doing this in the long term.
Learn Japanese: I'll be honest. I love watching anime and Japanese drama shows. I'm not completely obsessed with them like some, but it definitely is one of my preferred forms of entertainment. Overall though, I think learning a new language would be good for me. I haven't learned a new one since Latin in high school and French in elementary school before that. So, in addition to the perk of being able to understand what's going on in the shows I watch without having to read subtitles as much, I could use the mental exercise.
Travel: I was so busy trying to work, survive, and graduate college that while I was in it, I never took the chance to study abroad, to travel the world while I didn't have responsibilities to worry about. So, while I'm still young. I want to travel and explore the world, see new places. I figure I won't be able to do this right away, but I have 18 days of vacation every year. I guess I just feel so limited in my views, not having been to many places.
Focus on the moment: This is probably the hardest and most important thing that I want to do in life. I've spent many hours of my life worrying about the past and the future. Things I can't change, and things that, no matter what I do, I have little control over. This has caused me tons of stress and anxiety. I'm trying hard to learn to forgive myself for the mistakes I make, learn and move on. I'm trying hard to live and enjoy each moment and not worry so much about the things that I have no control over and cannot change. It's an effort, it's probably harder than anything I've tried to do in my life, but it's worth doing.

So, that's about it. I know it's mostly just rambling, but they're thoughts I wanted to get out and put down somewhere. I also want to be able to look back on this in two months, six months, a year, and be able to see how far I've come. So I guess this is just another milestone in my life.

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:46:01 -0600

This is amazing...

From IT Guy@ISP:
Dear *support rep*,This user at *isp*.net has email problems.Outlook 2003 is not pulling down the information. Her Outlook 2003 email client does not see new email. She has to click on Send Receive, Down All Email Headers in this folder for it to work. So the header information is acting strange.

There are some real gems in the tech support world. For real. *headdesk*

Here we go...

nospam@example.com (Justin) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:05:39 -0600

So, here we go again. Quite a while ago, I owned empersen.com and tried to start a personal website. Two words come to mind when I think of it: utter failure. Mostly in that I never did anything with it. So here I am again. Let's see how long this lasts, shall we?