Book vs. Movie

A couple days ago I unfortunately watched Rules of Attraction starring none-other than James Freakin’ Van Der Beek. I only watched it because I read the book about a month ago and found it very entertaining so I was curious if the movie was decent. I was especially interested because Bret Easton Ellis also wrote American Psycho which is one of my favorite movies. Whomever he sold Rules of Attraction to did not do the book any justice. They took a very dark, disturbing, funny book and turned it into a superficial quasi-RomCom starring Dawson. 

I understand that many movies differ from the book, but this movie was missing major plot points and then just completely changed others (e.g. the female lead is super slutty in the book yet in the movie they make her a virgin, or the two male leads have a romantic relationship while in the movie they barely say 5 words to each other). At times I realized that if I had never read the book I would have no idea what was even going on in the movie or what they meant to imply. For example, Paul and Mitch are making small talk over a keg and Mitch blurts out, “I warned you, don’t say I didn’t warn you” and walks away. End scene. The viewer has no idea what on earth Mitch warned Paul about. In the book when this happens, it’s in reference to the two of them having a prior sexual relationship and Mitch warning Paul that he’s not for real gay and so Paul shouldn’t have been surprised when he ended things to get with a girl. In the movie nothing else is said, it’s never referenced again or ever explained. Anyway the movie is awful but it got me thinking about other books vs. movies.  I think it’s generally agreed upon that the book is always better, but some movies out there put up a good fight.

The Movie Blows:

-          Rules of Attraction Already discussed above. Boom. Roasted.

-          Choke  One of my favorite books ever but the movie was pretty worthless other than Sam Rockwell is awesome. As with Rules of Attraction, it’s hard to get all the complexity of the book into the movie so while I could appreciate some clever dialogue, etc. I would imagine it would be lost on someone who hasn’t read the book and doesn’t have the appropriate background info.

-          The Da Vinci Code  Not really one of my favorite books either but a good poolside read. It’s hard to enjoy the movie because it’s pretty much impossible to get past Tom Hanks’ hair.  

-          Something Borrowed  Not my typical kind of book but it was very enjoyable for a plane ride. And I’m cheating because I haven’t even seen the movie -- but I can absolutely guarantee it’s terrible. And this review I came across really made me laugh “The film seems to think that we will find something entertaining about Darcy just because she's played by Kate Hudson. It's hard to imagine a worse miscalculation.”  (Snider, Eric. Review from Film.com)

The Movie Is Decent

-          The Road  The first Cormac McCarthy book I read and I couldn't put it down. Viggo Mortensen was great but overall the movie was just ok. It’s hard to capture McCarthy’s amazingly disturbing imagery and the movie didn’t quite get there.

-          Where the Wild Things Are  I know a lot of people who loved the movie but I just wasn’t feeling it that much. Visually it was beautiful but overall I found it pretty boring. For most of the movie the people and beasts took turns getting their feelings hurt, beating the crap out of each other, and then everyone just loved each other again without really learning any lessons (which I feel should happen considering it’s based on a children’s book).

-          Marley & Me  Chosen as Walker Family Christmas Day Movie '08. Both the book and movie were cute but nothing life-changing. I didn’t think I was that in to either one until the end of both when I was bawling and realized I really cared about that damn dog. Can’t go wrong with a good dog story J

Both the Book and Movie Are Awesome

-          No Country for Old Men  I actually am in the middle of reading this book but it’s fantastic so far. This is one of the rare occasions where I’ve seen the movie first. Usually I hate this because then you already have a picture of the characters and don’t get to use your imagination but I think the movie did such a stellar casting job that I don’t mind. I highly recommend both the book and the movie.

-          The Shining  The first Stephen King book I ever read and obviously after that I was hooked. I think I saw the movie in like 6^th or 7^th grade and was terrified! The blood flowing from the elevator and the creepy twin girls were captured really well and for sure gave me nightmares. If you can stand looking at Shelley Duval’s droop-face for 2 hours, you can really appreciate Jack Nicholson’s unparalleled brand of crazy.

-          Fight Club  Not my favorite Palahniuk book but definitely a unique, dark, and hysterical read (in typical Palahniuk fashion). I was so impressed with how well the movie was done. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton made a great team. The movie managed to stay really true to the book and I loved how many word for word dialogues took place in the movie. Crap, I forgot that the first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club.

There are so many more examples but these are the ones I could think of off the top of my head. I read a lot but I don’t really watch that many movies so, even though my opinions are correct and awesome, I’m probably not the best person to be writing on this topic. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the books you’ve read versus their movie adaptation!

T-Rex Layaway

A few Friday’s ago, a group of friends decided to get together to watch Jurassic Park for Movie Night 2.0: Raptors & Wine. The first movie night (featuring American Psycho and me drinking WAY too much wine) was such a success that we had to do it again. We met up first at Bin 36 for some wine flights and dinner. Over dinner the boys started reminiscing about the Jurassic Park toys they had when they were younger. Before my ears knew what was happening, I was pulled into one of the best stories I’ve ever heard. Eric explained that he had desperately wanted the T-Rex toy from Jurassic Park, but $32 seemed unattainable to the young Eric. He only received $2 per week for allowance. 

I'm not even sure if this is the right toy, but I really like his "thrashing action"

As luck would have it, the store that housed Eric's desired T-Rex had layaway. Eric’s parents thought this could serve as a fantastic learning experience of patience and devotion. After hearing the whole story, I insisted that Eric and/or his parents write a guest blogpost to capture this amazing tale of parenting. Ken Bill (Eric’s dad) rose to the challenge. Here is his account of how it all went down:


It starts at Hills Department Store in Lafayette, IN 1991. Each time we visited the store, Eric would run to the Dinosaur aisle and stare at the T-Rex and ask “when can I get it?” After many trips it occurred to us that this could serve as a useful teaching moment. Layaway! If he really wanted it, he would be willing to invest in it. And, with patience (not a strength for E, I might add), earn it and acquire it over time. We placed it in layaway. On return trips to the store, instead of going to the Dinosaur aisle where there were several T-Rexes like the one in layaway, E wanted to "visit" his. We had to ask the salesperson if they would retrieve it from the back so that E could see he it was still there. E wanted to hold it. (Editor’s note: That is my favorite part! After contributing his $2 each week, he made the Salesperson bring out his T-Rex to visit! Love it.) After what seemed like an eternity, he would hand it over and say "I'll be back, T".  We didn't make him wait as long as we planned, and finally the day came to rescue T-Rex from the chains of layaway. The look on E's face as the salesperson handed T over for the final time is forever etched in my mind. The good news - now all these years later, E can go to Walmart where they are celebrating the return of layaway!

A JOURNEY (see what I did there?) of Epic Proportions

I don’t want you guys to think I’m all emo or something -- even though I do wear a lot of black eyeliner and frequently sweep my bangs out of my eyes. And feelings, I have so many of them. So to counteract the last post about the worst days of my life, I wanted to post about one of the best weekends of all time in the history of the universe.

On July 30, 2011, I attended an event that was the perfect storm of friends, beer, magic, Honda Pilots,  unicorns, rainbows, and bands from the 70s culminating in the most glorious night. This event was the Journey/Foreigner concert. What follows is one of the most epic tales ever told.

The whole Journey/Foreigner gang

The day started by congregating at Olivia and Drew’s apartment. Olivia whipped up some delicious alcoholic smoothies providing us with the essential nutrients and vitamins needed for the adventure ahead. It was soon time to pile into the Honda Pilot that Carson borrowed from his mom so that we could all drive to Tinley Park together. Yes, we were riding in style. I had prepared an All Foreigner/Journey iPod mix for the road trip that quickly got us pumped for what lie ahead.

As we neared the venue, we decided to grab a bite to eat. I quickly shot down White Castle (seriously, who eats White Castle sober??) and we pulled into Culvers. Actually we pulled into the "exit only" lane of Culvers because Mike's excitement for the concert resulted in a complete disregard for the rules of the road. Maybe it was the energy I gained from my butter burger, maybe it’s because I had heard Hot Blooded no less than 80 times that week, but it was in the Culver’s parking lot that I bestowed to everyone what would become our anthem for the evening: The Honda Pilot Song. You really can’t capture the magic of this song by typing it out (I’d be happy to sing it to you in person!) but basically it goes to Foreigner’s Hot Blooded and you just throw in the words “Honda Pilot” as many times as possible.

We arrived at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, and cracked open the cooler of delicious Coors Light. Considering beers are $11 a piece inside, we wanted to have a few under our belts before heading in. We were soon informed by the 17 year old security guards that we were not allowed to tailgate. However, they apparently had no problem with us sitting inside the car and drinking. Fine by us, the interior of the Honda Pilot is luxurious. Vicki provided us with a delightful game of Liquor Grab Bag where we all got to pull an airplane bottle of liquor from a bag and drink whatever we pulled. A little after 6pm we were feeling good and it was time to venture into the venue.

We headed to the lawn area and claimed a great spot to throw down our blankets. As we waited for the show to begin, we realized we had entered the greatest people watching experience of our lives. Between the scantily clad cougars, security guard with an extraordinary ponytail, tannest women who ever lived, and the ultimate headbanger, it was endless entertainment.

That hair looked amazing as he headbanged throughout the night.

And then it was time to rock! Night Ranger kicked things off with a song we surprisingly kind of knew other than Sister Christian. Night Ranger did have a challenge filling their 15 minute time slot and had to resort to playing a Damn Yankees song to take up some time. Of course they ended things with a bang and just absolutely nailed Sister Christian.  ¯ ...MOTORIN’... ¯ 

Now it was time to get our game faces on. We had been waiting with great anticipation since the tickets were purchased in April.  We were about to see Foreigner and Journey live!!  I can’t say enough good things about Foreigner. I’m a bigger Journey fan, but I’ll admit that Foreigner rocked slightly harder. They listened to our request to play the Honda Pilot song which brought a lot of joy to us.  They ended with an unbelievable, life changing performance of Juke Box Hero that rocked our faces off.

Rocking so hard.

Journey mistakenly played a couple songs from their new album, but overall the set was phenomenal and I’m surprised that any of us had a voice left after screaming lyrics to song after song. Of course I love me some Steve Perry, but Pineda did not disappoint -- that adorable little Filipino killed it. We had thoroughly rocked and the lights went down. But was that the end? No! As Carson put it, “Journey rocked so hard they exploded into a supernova at the end of the set... Then came back as humans and played an encore.”  Journey ended with the upbeat crowd-pleaser Any Way You Want It, and it was exactly the way we wanted it.

Journey explosion.

 The concert was everything I had hoped for and more. We piled back into the Honda Pilot and started our trek back to Olivia and Drew’s. Carson had previously set ground rules for the person who sat shotgun and Drew did not let us down managing to moon multiple limos on the way home. Upon getting home, Olivia, being the amazing hostess that she is, provided us with hummus, pizza rolls, and perogies. It was a delicious feast of drunk treats that was a perfect end to the evening.

Because this was one of the best weekends of all time, the awesomeness didn’t end Saturday night. I’ll admit we were all a little worried about what Sunday would bring. Where did we go from here? What was there to look forward to anymore? But our concerns were quickly put to rest. There was reason to go on!  We all awoke to the majestic scene of a blond angel (aka Carson) bequeathing unto us Dunkin Donuts Coffee, donut holes, eggs, and an extremely excessive amount of bacon. The weekend is definitely going down as one of the best ever.

Don’t stop believin’.

Honda Pilot 4 life.

Worst Days of My Life

Today I’m going to share with you the worst days of my entire life. Actually a majority of that statement was false. First, these are “funny” worst days of my life, let’s not get into anything too serious here on ATIACF (Yay abbreves! Can’t believe that’s the first time I’ve used that). Second, I can’t say these are from my “entire life.” My memory is really bad so it’s more like whatever random stuff I can think of from the past few years.

1.  Taking the GRE

Taking the GRE will make you feel really dumb. I don't like feeling dumb because I am always right. When I decided I wanted to go to grad school, I quickly realized I was going to have to take the GRE. I wasn’t worried about the writing or verbal reasoning sections, those were painless. But the other portion of the test is Quantitative Reasoning (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data analysis). I had to take one stats class in undergrad, other than that I hadn’t worried about math since high school. Luckily I had this video to help me prepare:

Everyone knows that I am a worrier, so it’s no surprise that on test day I was unbelievably anxious even though I had studied really hard. The math portion of the test is adaptive – so if you keep getting questions right the questions get harder, if you answer wrong then questions get easier.  So I didn’t feel too confident when I saw the question 2 + 2 = ? come up. Just kidding, but the math portion did make me very uncomfortable and I probably have never been more nervous in my life. All in all not a fun day. But the story has a happy ending because I got into my first choice grad school and am now a Master of Everything ...or of Interpersonal Communication.

2.  AΔφ Canoe Trip 2003

While I was excited for friends, drinking, canoeing, and fun, I already had a fairly pessimistic attitude for the weekend given that I hate camping.  I tend to get crabby if I have to spend time outdoors while the weather is anything outside of the range 68-78 degrees.  I also despise peeing outside.  The trip started off on a high note: as we drove to the campsite, we passed poor Bambi lying mangled and dead in road.  Don’t worry, CT told me the cute little deer was just taking a nap. For the second year in a row it rained all night and our tent definitely did not keep all the water out so that’s pretty miserable. Then we awoke to find that all the food and beer we had purchased for the weekend was stolen out of the cooler we left right outside the tent. LAME. As usual, me and camping just do not get along.

3.  Spider. Bed. Eeek.

My parents' house is notorious for spiders. My parents live on a lake and the spider population is rampant. Usually they stick to the basement and leave other parts of the house alone. Usually they are of normal size and I can kill them no problem. But sometimes they are gigantic and have nasty super thick legs and are so gross I want to die.  One Summer night I came home after a night out with friends. I got ready for bed, pulled back the sheets, AND THERE WAS THE BIGGEST SPIDER I’VE EVER SEEN WAITING FOR ME. A huge spider. In my bed. Waiting for me.  I stacked up about 184 tissues cause there’s no way I wanted to feel any of the nasty creature when I grabbed it and smushed it. I never took my eyes off the thing because I knew if it scurried away and I couldn’t find it, I’d never be able to sleep in my room again. I stood there staring down the spider for at least 10 minutes, trying to work up the courage to grab it. I kept being like “Ok. One ...two ...three... go!” But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was way too scary. My dad was very pleased to be woken up at 2am to go kill a spider.

4. Easter Morning 2011

The Saturday night before Easter, I went out. Hard. Having a roomie that works at a bar can be trouble. Rooms says she can tell how drunk I am when I come to visit her by how high my voice gets. According to her, that night I sounded something like this:

Needless to say, I paid for it the next day. On Easter, I’m always in charge of dying eggs. I hard boiled them the previous day but I didn’t have to be out to my parent’s house until the afternoon (and I was anxious to meet friends out) so I figured I would just dye them Sunday morning. Big mistake. Because I wanted to die Sunday morning.  It was a “I’m never ever drinking again” kind of morning. I finally forced myself out of bed around 11am because I didn’t have a choice - I had to take care of the eggs and get ready to go out to the burbs. Dying eggs was a challenge and quite inefficient as I had to stop every few minutes to run to the bathroom and barf. I managed to get the eggs dyed and throw myself together right before my brother and sister-in-law picked me up. But then things went from bad to worse. I had planned to just nap in the backseat and try to feel a little better. However, Chuck and Amber had decided to give Eli a bath that morning and he wasn’t dry yet. Guess what doesn’t make a hungover person feel better? Wet dog smell. But wait, there’s more. The other dog, Kagan, doesn’t do well on car trips and he spent a good portion of the trip throwing up. Guess what makes a hungover person feel the worst ever? Wet dog smell + thrown up dog food smell. It was the most excruciating car ride of my life.

There you have it. You should probably feel pretty good about yourself right now since these things didn't happen to you.  

Best Commercials in the History of Television. Ever.

Ok that title may be a bit of an overstatement. Which is odd because I never exaggerate.

Most of the time we are trying to avoid commercials by flipping channels or DVRing, but every once in a while a commercial comes along that you actually try not to avoid. This is by no means a comprehensive list, just a complication of some of my favorite funny commercials that have stuck with me from the last few years (and that I also constantly quote, and usually no one knows what I'm talking about ...which is pretty standard).

Burger King - I'm Spicy/What Time Is It?
Burger King has a pretty great history of commercials. I really enjoyed the ones featuring The King being a creepster. But my favorite round of BK ads were with the office crew circa 2004. Some even featured my husband, Joel McHale! These 2 are tied for ones I quote the most:

Burger King - What Time Is It? (2004) 0:30 (USA)

Sonic - Driving Me to the Movies!
Sonic also has a great repertoire of commercials. Most of the car ones are fantastic and I especially love this one:

Honda Element - I Peench!
I don't know why I like that little crab so much, but I do. You know, I've got some melted butter and some tongs in here...

Sonic the Hedgehog - Real Hedgehog Being Directed
It's so adorable. The best part is when the guy yells at the hedgehog with the megaphone.

Those are the ones that came to mind right now. I'm sure I'll think of some others later. Feel free to share some of your favorites!

P.S. Sorry for neglecting the blog lately. I’ve actually had a ton of work to do at work -- crazy, I know. Anyway, I’ll try to be better, I promise. I love you all. Cheese fries 4 life. 

Elevator Etiquette

From the girl that brought you Bus Stop Etiquette comes the newest edition to doing things the best way possible: Elevator Etiquette.

I work on the 8th floor (top floor) of my building. I take the elevator every day when I come in and when I go home. I tend to take it throughout the day if I have to travel more than 3 flights of stairs. I am astounded at the complete lack of elevator etiquette that I have witnessed here. Below is a list of common offenses and my rules for proper elevator behavior. If you are guilty of any of these acts I hope you know what a dickweed you are and please expect very dirty looks from me if we are ever in an elevator together.

1.  Talking on phone:  First of all, I guess I’m impressed that your phone continues to have a signal while riding the elevator. But can’t you just tell the person on the other end to hold on for a minute or that you’ll call them right back? It’s especially rude when the elevator is packed and you’re all standing shoulder to shoulder. Elevators are small and you are now talking directly in my face. I don’t need to be trapped in a small space with you forced to listen to how your cat is having a bad day and your color preference of post-it notes.

2.  Taking the elevator 1 flight: If you have access to the stairwell in your building then make use of it.  Especially if you’re going down. I mean, come on.  I love modern technology, but that other cool invention, the flippin' stairs, are right over there.  Obviously this is excluding certain situations such as someone on crutches or someone carrying a shitload of stuff (if it’s a shitload of cupcakes, give me one!).   We only have 3 elevators for the whole building. I won’t ever get into the fact that a majority of the time one of them is out of service. I’m on the 8^th floor, I have dibs. During peak times, the wait for an elevator can be 5-10 minutes (hey, that’s long in elevator waiting time) because all you jerkfaces are taking it for one floor.

3.  Sticking your arm (or other body part) in a closing door: Yes, yes, I know you are very important and couldn’t possibly wait for the next one. You have to go ahead and thrust your chicken wing in the door right before it shuts. I guess part of me thinks you’re brave because our elevators are not very responsive. I’ve almost lost a limb trying to hold it for one of you buttheads hustling to make it into this particular elevator. I think the rule should be that if the doors are more than halfway closed, just let it go, man. You didn’t make it in time and you’re just going to have to wait for the next one instead of putting my day on hold.

4.  Holding the elevator open to ask if it’s going up or down: Your lack of proper elevator etiquette has found yet another way to prevent me from getting back up to my desk and the exciting world of financial aid. I bet the guy who came up with the idea to have light-up arrows on elevators is rolling over in his grave right now because it’s going to waste. Just look at the damn arrows. If the doors open and you see it’s going in the direction you want, then jump on in and join us. If it’s not the direction you want, don’t worry, yours will be along soon. Don’t stand in the doorway like an idiot saying, “Oh hey guys. How is everyone’s day going? Lovely weather, isn’t it? How ‘bout them Cubs? Oh, by the by, is this going up or down? Ohhhh, it’s going up? That’s not what I wanted at all. Glad I’ve managed to keep you from where you’re headed because I didn’t glance at those bright arrows in front of my idiot face telling me exactly which direction this elevator was traveling.”

5.  Holding the door open to finish your conversation: It really amazes me the number of times I’ve experienced this. You’re in the elevator with a group of people, 2 of whom are having a conversation. Person 1 steps off at their floor. They aren’t quite done talking so they could either both get off together to continue or say something like “I’ll give you a call later, we’ll discuss this more” as the doors are shutting and Person 2 continues on to their floor. That’s what normal, considerate people do, right? Instead the two of them proceed to hold the doors open and continue their conversation. Please, by all means, take your time. Why don’t you guys play out a damn game of Risk right between the doors.  I have nothing better to do than stand in this metal box going nowhere while you two carry out your conversation!!!

Hopefully no one that reads my blog is guilty of any of this terrible elevator behavior. If you do, we probably aren’t that good of friends anyway and you are quite welcome for making you a better person.

Finally, don’t be tempted to do this either:

"It looks like a Christmas tree."

Living in the Music Past

Several months ago, I attended a wedding in Champaign and shared a hotel room with some friends. While lying in our beds that Friday night discussing our favorite bands, the best song of all time, etc., Drew and I decided we were musical soul mates. I already like Drew, mostly because he laughs really hard at all my jokes, but this conversation cemented my appreciation for him. Basically we both whole-heartedly agree that there should have never been another song made after 2002. We both love classic rock and anything on Q101 from about 1996-2002.

Music during this time period really meant something to me and it just seemed so cool. I remember taping favorites from Q101’s top 9 at 9 to make some amazing mix tapes. Maybe it was because I was an angsty teenager and was all like “how do these bands know exactly how I’m feeling?” Or maybe music was just better back then.  I used to spend hours online (I can still hear the dial-up connection...) for every piece of information available on these bands. I remember when Q101’s Twisted Christmas was the greatest event of the year where you could see bands like Cake, Foo Fighters, Garbage, Beck, Filter, Disturbed, Third Eye Blind, Oasis, Deftones, and Incubus perform together all in one night. Of course I’m into some great newer bands too and I don’t actually wish music stopped after 2002, but man was I obsessed with music back then.

Here’s a look back at some favorites...

Smashing Pumpkins – This was the first concert I ever attended (7^th grade), my notebooks were filled with the SP heart logo

Bush – Gavin Rossdale was so hot.  Plus my dad earned major cool points when he came home with Sixteen Stone for me.

Cake – I was just plain obsessed with Cake and probably listened to Fashion Nugget more than any other CD I’ve ever owned.

 Incubus – man did I have a thing for Brandon Boyd, plus I thought their music was like nothing I’d ever heard before.

No Doubt – Gwen Stefani was the coolest girl on the planet when Tragic Kingdom came out.

Goldfinger – this was the first "real" concert (aka first non-arena concert) I went to in high school. I came home with a lot of bruises but loved every minute of it.

 Nirvana – I was just so grunge in 7^th grade with my flannel shirts and Kurt Cobain poster above my bed. I had the Unplugged in New York guitar book which I spent hours trying to master, I’m sure to the dismay of my parents’ ears.

Blink 182 – They haven’t exactly stood the test of time since I currently find it hard to listen to their 3 chords, but they played a huge role during my high school days. Dude Ranch was on constant repeat in my Eclipse. I have the best memories going to their concerts with Liz, Jeff, and Tom.

Weezer – The Buddy Holly video is still one of the best music videos ever made. Having been to a show just last year, I can say they’ve still got it.

Sublime – I knew every word of every song on the self-titled album. This guy who liked me Freshman year of high school used to write me notes with Sublime lyrics in them. <<Swoon>>

Foo Fighters – a quintessential alternative rock band, and one time I touched Dave Grohl.

Dashboard Confessional – majorly on the emo side of this music spectrum but who else could scream/sing about our feelings better than Chris Carrabba? When they first came on the radio, Tim used to roll down his car windows anytime Dashboard was on and blare it as loud as possible so that he could, as he called it, “advertise” the band.

There are so many more, but these are the ones that first popped into my head.

Not to mention some of the one-hit (or a couple more) wonders that never got old: Marcy Playground, Toadies, the Verve, Silverchair, Tonic, Harvey Danger, Gravity Kills, Nada Surf, Semisonic, Wheatus.

Yeah, there were some mistakes during that era: Creed, Sugar Ray, Moby, Nickelback, Smash Mouth, Limp Bizkit. Ok, BIG mistakes. But I’m willing to overlook them for the majority of awesomeness from bands during that time.

So who were your biggest music influences during your teen years/early 20s?  I’m sure I’m forgetting some good ones and would love to reminisce with you and/or tell you how I have better taste in music than you do.




This list and this one may help jog your memory for some old favorites...

RIP North Face Jacket

Well a tragic thing happened to me about a week ago. I was trying to leave the house to go do all the really important things that I do on a daily basis.  I slipped on my North Face jacket and as I zipped it up the zipper disintegrated right in my hands.  

I was super bummed but for the most part impressed when I realized how long this jacket has lasted. I got it either Junior or Senior year of high school which means it’s at least 10 years old. After college I bought myself a more grownup primary coat since I’m a professional. Don’t argue, I am so professional. However, my North Face jacket has still been perfect for casual occasions and to wear to bars without having to worry about it getting spilled on (or more likely, me spilling on it). I suppose I could get the zipper replaced but at this point it’s probably just best to move on.

So here’s to you, ubiquitously standard North Face fleece: 

No jacket could have looked better with my Abercrombie sweater, Tiffany heart tag bracelet, and Silver jeans. Unlike you and your brood, I know Dave Matthews Band sucks, however, we still got along famously over the years. Thank you for being comfy, and warm, as well as being the only article of clothing I didn’t feel extreme anxiety over when touching any surface at Kams. Enjoy your retirement, I’ll never forget the times we spent together.

What Were Their Parents Thinking?

I’d like to thank my parents for giving me a name that I’m happy to have for my entire life. Lauren Rose Walker may not be the most unique name but it’s pretty and I like it. According to this website, Lauren means “crowned with Laurel.” Go find out what your name means if you don’t already know. My parents’ second choice name for me was Nicole which, again, isn’t too exciting but perfectly acceptable. My parents didn’t really have much of a choice with my brother. I mean, when you already have three Charles Verne Walkers how could you not add a fourth?

The point is, my parents aren’t mean or batshitcrazy unlike some parents out there who have punished their children for their entire lives by giving them unbelievably awful names. We’ve probably heard some of the terrible celebrity baby names out there, for example:

Pilot Inspektor (Jason Lee)

Jermajesty (Jermaine Jackson)

Moxie CrimeFighter (Penn Jillette)

Kyd (David Duchovny and Tea Leoni)

Moon Unit (Frank Zappa)

Naming your baby isn’t some fun game where you start just putting random letters together and see what sounds the most gag inducing. Or you just name them the first thing that pops into your line of vision (looking at you Gwyneth Paltrow). We are talking about naming a human being who has to introduce themselves by this name to every person they talk to for their entire existence.

Teaching and working in Higher Ed for the last 5 ½ years, I’ve heard my share of horrendous names. I always say I’m going to write them down and keep a running list but unfortunately I haven’t done that, so I’m sure I’m forgetting some real winners. But I’m going to try to remember some of the absolute worst to share with you and I’ll add to the list as I think of more.

Chanel  (not entirely bad on it’s own, but add in the fact she has a brother named Stetson, and   yes it was intentional to name them after perfume and cologne)

Dorcus (What, Nerdface was already taken? Why would you wish this upon your baby girl?)

Tuesday Birdock (really, we can’t do better than naming a baby after a day of the week? Plus the word  ‘bird’ is in there so it makes it even worse)

Ramen Benyamen (just say it outloud and try not to laugh or think of noodles)

Parris Harris (my most recent addition to the list and my current fave)

Plus my all time favorite worst first name, contributed by Olivia: AlPacino (no space, capital ‘A’ and ‘P’, this is what some crazy person named their child).

I’m sure you’ve encountered some unfortunate names along the way, so let’s hear them!

Running Sucks

I’ve been saying for a long time that I want to make exercise a regular part of my routine but whenever I start a workout plan I quickly lose interest. I just really don’t find it enjoyable and have a hard time finding the motivation to stick with it.  I’m not really that concerned about my weight; I eat whatever I want and my pants still fit. And I know I would just keep hitting the snooze button instead of getting up an hour early to work out. It’s also hard to want to exercise after being at work for 9 hours. But I know it’s important to be healthy and I feel really out of shape.

In high school I was super in shape because we were always biking everywhere and I played a bunch of sports. Since high school I haven’t regularly worked out except for the year I lived with my parents after I finished grad school. I was only teaching part-time so I had a lot of free time on my hands. The gated community where my parents live has a workout room with brand new equipment which was always free because, except for my parents and a few others, no one under 75 lives at Lake Barrington Shores. Plus there is a fantastic, hilly path along the lake that was perfect for rollerblading. What, rollerblading is cool, right?

Since I’ve lived in Lincoln Park for the last 2 ½ years, I haven’t done a whole lot of physical activity except walking up and down my 3 flights of stairs every day. A couple years ago I fell really badly rollerblading and really hurt myself so I’m kind of scared to rollerblade around the city especially because the streets are in such bad shape with rocks and debris just waiting to get lodged in my wheels. I’m also way too intimidated to bike in the city. I have seen cars almost hit bikers so many times and I’ve heard too many horror stories of friends having biking accidents, including one who lost half his thumb because someone opened their car door into him while biking. Sorry if you just barfed.

With rollerblading and biking out, that doesn’t leave me with a whole lot of options for exercise except for running. Ick. Running is soooo terrible. It’s super boring and not fun. When I’m running the only thing I can think about is how awful running is. Honestly there are only 2 good reasons to run: 

1. Toward cheese fries

2. Away from birds. 

I just don’t really know what other options I have. I’d have a much more enjoyable time getting in shape by playing a sport with other people but I don’t really know anyone who is in a league (that also doesn’t care too much about winning and won’t immediately regret having my spazzy ass on the team).

So I’ve been reading a ton of tips and plans for beginning runners. I downloaded a google app called My Tracks that will record my path, distance, pace, etc. I bought some pants and shirts for running. I bought a new pair of running shoes. Aren’t they pretty:

I have the gear and I’ve done the research. Now I just need to get to that step of actually running. I’ll keep you updated on my (mis)adventures in running. Wish me luck!

Woohoo! March Madness is Upon Us!

Alright, I’m not the biggest sports fan in the world. I haven’t followed pro basketball since the Bulls were winning championships and it was cool to be in love with Reggie Miller and Grant Hill. I hate football except for the food at Super Bowl gatherings. I don’t even have to explain why I’m not into soccer ...I mean, it’s soccer. The only sports I am genuinely interested in following are baseball and college basketball. And even I can admit that baseball can get pretty boring to watch unless you’re at the game.

I just love college basketball; to me it’s the perfect sport. One of my favorite memories from college was watching Illinois play in the championship game in 2005. Even though the loss was heartbreaking, it was so exciting, the campus had so much energy, and all the students flooding the streets afterward was unforgettable. It’s hard to be as into the sport when your team sucks, but I’m a Cubs fan so I guess I’m used to it. Even though the Illini will be lucky to win their first game in the tournament, I’m still really looking forward to watching a ton of great games these next few weeks.

So, I really just want to share my excitement with all of you over March Madness beginning this week! Good luck with your brackets! I’ll keep you updated on how I’m doing...

UPDATE 3/19/11: Go Illini! Thank you for at least winning one game this tourney. Bracket's not doing too bad, although Louisville screwed me. Aside from my bracket, my dad's friend has done a pool for as long as I can remember. Basically you draw a team out of a hat and that's your team to win it all. Or if you team loses but the winner doesn't cover the spread, you get the winning team. Which is exactly what happened to me yesterday: I pulled Boston U but Kansas didn't cover. So now I have Kansas, which is looking promising however a major conflict of interest considering they play U of I in the next round.
UPDATE 3/21/11: Well, as expected, the Illini are out :(  But at least Kansas covered the spread so I still have that going for me.
UPDATE 3/28/11: After this weekend, my chance at any success during this tourney is over. Booo. At the very least, I am glad that I can go back to hating Kansas, it felt very dirty and wrong to be cheering for them.