Welcome to that wonderful time of year, when temperatures drop to sub zero levels ("I'm not looking at you funny my eyeballs are frozen"), your skin starts to dry up (hello to gallons of moisturizer), static cling sometimes causes embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions ("my skirt is around my what?"), and the usual buzz of office chatter is replaced by the sounds of sneezes and nose blowing (so gross, words alone can not describe). Ah yes, New England winters. They make me reconsider why I left the tropics of Florida to come here and walk around in 20 layers of clothes and mittens the size of my head.
During this magical time of year however, we New Englanders utilize many tactics to get through the long winter months, hibernation unfortunately NOT being one of them. One of my favorites is to plan trips. Trips to warm places. There are so many online resources available to the chilly vacation planner, money is no longer has to be such an issue and the type of trip is practically limitless.
Besides the usual suspects though (Orbitz, Travelocity, etc), I wanted to share a new addition to a site I only just learned about. Kayak.com just introduced a new section for all you cruise junkies out there (you know who you are). Search cruise deals just like you would flights and enjoy several days of sun, food, water, and pretty much everything else your heart desires at one all inclusive price. Though I've never been on a cruise, I know many who have and they talk about it, almost every time I see them, and rave about how much fun they had. You don't have to break the bank on one of these babies either. The great thing about a cruise is that all the extra stuff you'd usually pay extra for - like shows, clubs, classes, etc - is included on the ship!
So bon voyage! Enjoy your cruisin'!
Have you ever hit that point at work when you just can't take it anymore? You know the moment I'm talking about; you're brain suddenly comes to a screaching halt and the only complete though you can muster is to order yourself to click on YouTube.com to surf the day's most popular clips. Or worse you end up on one of the latest celebrity blogs (my favorites are www.popsugar.com, www.thesuperficial.com, and www.pinkisthenewblog.com) and waste away the remainder of your work day reading about what other people are doing, like shopping or graduating rehab.
Today, I wasn't the one who hit that slacking off point, but a coworker of mine did and he even sent us a picture to show just how bored he REALLY was.
There are no words to describe it... nope, I got nothing. I'm guessing this isn't the best way to occupy your time or slack off, but it is one of the funniest things I've seen today.
For anyone who hasn't seen these, I'm sure there are at least two of these that you have thought about saying at some point:
New Rule: Stop giving me that ad for classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 25 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days -- mowing my lawn.
New Rule: Don' eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Lobster?
New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: "Lucky bastards."
New Rule: If you need to shave and you stillcollect baseball cards, you're a dope. If you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. If you're a grown man, they're pictures of men.
New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: Do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.
New Rule: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That's our flavored water.
New Rule: Stop screwing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandma figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis.
New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande, half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread add cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low, and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge asshole.
New Rule: I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering my PIN number, pressing "Enter," verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want cash back, and pressing "Enter" again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.
New Rule: Just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high.
New Rule: If you're goingto insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screen. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is that the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie.
New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.
New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to hear "27 months." "He's two" will do just fine. He's not a cheese. And I didn't really care in the first place.
New Rule: If you ever hope to be a credible adult and want a job that pays better than minumum wage, then for God's sake don't pierce or tattoo even available piece of flash. If so, then plan your future around saying, "Do you want fries with that?"
For every tech-head, gadget-freak, or for anyone who likes to know what technology really is in fact "new", I'd like to point to probably the BIGGEST consumer electronic event of the ear, CES which is happening right now in Las Vegas. For anyone who knows me, you are aware of my fascination with gadgets and it just so happens that my work now involves the show. So technically it is now part of my job to keep an eye on the latest and greatest for consumer electronics.
Today was the second day of big annoncements and some of them have been whispered about for weeks now. If you are among the television enthusiasts and have been dreaming about that rumored 120 inch display, you may be slightly disappointed with the screen that was actually released by sony, which came to only 108 inches (now the world's largest over last year's, a 103 inch). Shucks, 12 inches short. What a rip off.
Check out some additional gadgets on Yahoo's CES site, my personal choice for CES coverage.
And as for the major Apple announcements from coinciding Macworld, it is official, Apple has released the iPhone (despite trademark concerns), which turns out to be pretty darn neat. The entire phone is a touch screen so that it is completely button-free! With up to 8GB of storage it can be used as a smartphone, MP3 player, camera, video monitor, or PDA and comes equipped with WiFi and Apple's OS. I can't decide if it is complete overkill or the future of portable electronic devices. Either way, I want to see one for myself. Unfortunately these babies aren't cheap ($499-$599) and they're not arriving until June, so I'm going to have a bit of a wait.
So if you see the acronym CES anywhere in the news now, you'll know what to expect and if you check out some of the announcements online, you'll have some great techie bits to bring up next time someone starts raving about how great their new BlackBerry is. You know, it's nothing compared to the Apple iPhone.
I, like many people, dragged myself through the week following New Year's, feeling each calorie that I consumed over the holidays, every goodie and glass of alcohol (lots of sneaky calories). It wasn't the best feeling, but after the confetti settled it became clear that with the official "holiday season" done, I would have more time to spend on myself; to better myself if you will. With so many of us looking to improve upon certain things, I went on the search for some motivational tips.
With the New Year comes new resolutions, one of which and probably the most popular is a focus on our physiques. Whether you are looking to work on the pounds you've gained over the holidays, have a specific area you've been wanting to tone up, or are just curious how far you can push yourself while still living a semi-normal life, there are some great resources at your fingertips! And I found an excellent one.
So add this site your Favorites list and start visiting on a regular basis, because these celebrity trainers are used to a variety of situations, demands, and results and they weigh in (pardon the pun, I couldn't help myself) on numerous types of workouts and motivational techniques. http://fitlist.msnbc.msn.com/
The nine trainers, some of whom you may recognize, add their most inspiring ideas and experiences on this fitness blog to give readers fresh workouts and techniques that will help them shape their bodies and reach their goals. I'm officially addicted and hope you will be too! I've never been more motivated to grab my new pink iPod and hit the gym to try some of these exercises out!
