blogging

I need to work on doing it more often. If you look at the archive, 2006's total posts were about half of 2005's. If I don't work on changing that, they could continue to go down exponentially, and soon I may not have an internet presence at all! *gasp*

I'm kidding, but I am trying to do this more often, for myself mostly. I'm not even sure who still reads this (besides you lovely people who leave comments). I read some of my old blog (melindaupenn.livejournal.com) today and found it oddly reassuring (my style and way of thinking has changed dramatically from 2 years ago, or at least, more than I expected it to). I like having this written record, and although I've tried to keep a journal at least a dozen times, it always fails. For some reason, this whole internet online thing (it's just a fad, right?) makes it a lot easier.

Fun link

http://www.westegg.com/cliche/

The ten random cliches function is fun for writing e-mails - I like to do it and then try and use them all. Here's an example of the output:

beats the band
put on ice
take one for the team
on the Fritz
when shit hits the fan
he thinks she hung the moon
to come the raw prawn
I always complained because my work was being interupted - until I realised the interuptions were my work.
as interesting as two blind men having a conversation in sign language.
The is FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Repair)

The continued demise of Hollywood...

Proof that we really are about two steps away from Awesom-O.

I knew I moved to California for a reason...

COACHELLA! I totally forgot about COACHELLA! Tickets go on sale Saturday and wild horses couldn't keep me away. Quite a few gems in the line-up:
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=22218577&albumID=0&imageID=1804424764
In case that doesn’t work:
http://www.spin.com/features/news/2007/01/070122_coachella/

I forgot to bring my iPod to work today and rediscovered one of my favorite internet thingies - www.pandora.com - check it out!!

More fun on Craigslist

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/mis/261231285.html

Courtesy of Amber

Good news!

Well, a) I didn't actually lose my iPod like I thought I did and
b) I realized (after living here for over 5 months) that I have a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from my apartment - it's fantastic! Oh and I also realized that there are a few concerts I'm going to try and see in the Bay Area (hopefully I can find someone to join) - here are highlights:
M. Ward
Camera Obscura
Badly Drawn Boy
Josh Ritter
Of Montreal
The Cat Empire
Cold War Kids
The Books

Deceivingly hilarious

If you're thinking about going on a vacation, this article by The New York Times references a new site for hotel bookings and reviews. The best part, though, is this part of the site.

Jumping out of a plane....

Skydiving was so surreal! Here's a picture - although I'm not looking my greatest, it is still a fun shot. There should be several more coming, plus a dvd which I may put on YouTube for my family (my sisters are dying to see what it's like). First, I'd like to thank the random Australian dude in Florence for putting the idea of skydiving in my head, and secondly, Cassandra for taking the first step and finding the trip and then making me follow through by both purchasing the dive (for herself, not me) and offering to drive us there. We went through a group called the Outdoor Adventure Club and only one other member joined us, whose name was also Melinda and she was also a redhead - weird! That NEVER happens!

Anyway, my tandem instructor was named Neal and was super cool and very experienced (which made me feel a lot better) although Cass got the much cuter Alex. I was actually surprised at how rational I felt UNTIL I got to the edge of the plane's open door and looked down (although I did giggle a lot on the way up in the plane). Then all of a sudden my body was like, "THIS IS WRONG!!!!" even though my mind was really looking forward to jumping. It's a crazy experience - hard to describe. But anyhow I had a BLAST and would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone - I'm actually looking forward to going again in the near future. The other great part was talking with all of the skydiving junkies hanging around the "airport" - they all seemed really cool and were very into it.

Other fun parts of the day - waking up early in the morning with about 3 hours to think... "holy crap, I'm actually going to jump out of a plane today", writing my will on a post-it note (always classy), and the GREAT legal video they showed us where the guy had the most mesmirizing 80's ZZ-Top style beard I have ever seen. Here's the sight for the company who organizes the skydive: SkyDance - they may take some of me and Cassie's footage and put it up, but who knows?

New Year's Resolution?

To have more fun, of course! Actually I don't personally subscribe to New Year's resolutions - but I'd love to hear some of yours - post 'em!

The exclusive YouTube premiere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw74NTMHEWc

Felt like it was about time, just in case they shut down my Wharton page. I have graduated, after all.