For the past few years, I've been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo. I know, I know .. it's kind of very permanent, painful, blah blah. And my one problem was that I didn't know what I wanted to get the tattoo of, and instead knew where I wanted to get it (inner wrist, very unique, I know).
Anyway, with the new year approaching and the idea of turning 24 in a few months becoming more real to me, I figured it's time. I found a design that I like enough to contemplate it for the past few months, envisioning how it would look and why I would want such a design.
Now, with today being the end of 2008, I am still questioning whether or not it's worth getting. Inner wrist tattoo can mean trouble, especially if I ever do decide to go work at some major corporation (for those who don't know me and my current job, a good portion of my coworkers have tattoos - and I'm talking sleeves and such), so I'm wondering if getting a tattoo at such a location will leave me with regrets.
We'll see what happens in 2009.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
At A Crossroad: To Get Inked or Not To Get Inked?
News of the Year by Month
2008 provided us with a lot of news. Historical presidential election, economic crisis, the highs and lows of gas prices... It was a dream year for the folks at CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC for sure. Here are the most interesting headliners of each month.
January- "Stunner in NH: Clinton Defeats Obama"
After a convincing win in Iowa, Barack Obama was the favorite to win the primary in New Hampshire by a 3 percent margin. This race also proved that John Edwards was not going to be a serious contender.
February- "Hollywood Writers Strike Ends"
After 100 days of striking, 90 percent of the members of the Writers Guild of America voted to go back to work. The strike lead to a three year contract that guaranteed writers a portion of the revenues generated through the Internet. No more Re-Runs!
[Mixtape] Best of 2008
My favorite gift to give at the end of the year is to burn my friends a mix cd of what I deem to be the best songs of that year. I really like music, so this list takes time to compile and figure out, since there's only so much room on an audio cd. So to mark the end of 2008, here is my mixtape of the best of '08!
Best of 08
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
2008 Entertainers of the Year: 1) Tina Fey
Well, kiddies, we made it to #1 on my countdown for Entertainer of the Year. Comedian/leading actress/writer Tina Fey beat out Twilight, the Beijing Olympics, Britney Spears, and Robert Downey Jr. for the title. The Associated Press actually stole my thunder last week when they announced her as their pick for Entertainer of the Year. And with good reason! In 2008 alone, Tina won an Emmy, continued producing/writing/acting on 30 Rock, was a leading voice in the Writer's Strike, proved she had star power to open a Hollywood movie, and, who can forget, turned in one of the most memorable impressions EVER as Alaskan governor Sarah Palin.
Song of the Day: Thunder by Boys Like Girls
This song has been stuck in my head for the past few days. Granted, the beginning of the song kind of reminds me of a country song intro, but the lyrics are pretty sweet (not to mention that it is one of my "Twilight" songs - you know, a song that reminds me of Twilight :x).
The video seems kind of cliche, with the emo kids and their lip piercings, but deep down inside, when it comes to that little warm feeling you get when you are totally crushing on someone,
And though I hate to admit it, I kind of like Boys Like Girls :x
Monday, December 29, 2008
2008 Entertainers of the Year: 2) The Twilight Phenomenon
Much has already been discussed on this blog about the Twilight series, both the books and the film. For restoring interest in reading again, the Entertainer of the Year title goes to the 4 books that make up the Twilight series: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. For the author who created the most talked about fictional characters we've seen in awhile, the Entertainer of the Year title goes to Stephenie Meyer. For the actors who made those characters come to life on the big screen and made tween girls squeal with delight, the Entertainer of the Year title goes to Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and the rest of the Twilight cast. And for the millions of teen girls, not-so-teen-anymore girls, and everyone else who took part in the phenomenon, the Entertainer of the Year title also goes to you. You can see where I'm going with this? Collectively, everyone and everything involved with Twilight mania is my pick for 2008 Entertainer of the Year #2 spot.
Friday, December 26, 2008
It's Official: Lifetime Wins How I Met Your Mother
Great news or bad news?
Lifetime has syndication rights to How I Met Your Mother.
Awesomeness? I mean, it's definitely a great win for Lifetime, and it'll definitely help me remember why I love HIMYM (I seriously am not impressed with the current season).
Catch HIMYM on Lifetime, starting January 5th on weekday nights. They will be airing back-to-back episodes from 7PM - 8PM.
I wouldn't mind seeing old episodes about the slapbet:
Slap Bet a.k.a Robin Sparkles
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
2008 Entertainers of the Year: 3) 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
What to say about the month of August '08 other than that it was freakin' awesome. And it was so awesome for one reason- the Beijing Olympics, or the Games of the XXIX Olympiad as it is officially known. For 16ish glorious days, we were treated to a barrage of 10,500 athletes, 302 events, 28 sports, 43 new world records and 132 new Olympics records set. In the US, NBC Universal paid lots of money for the sole rights of broadcasting the Olympics, and it paid off- the Summer Games became the most viewed event in American TV history, with 211 million people tuning in for the 16 days of coverage. Worldwide, some 4.7 billion viewers watched the Games, compared to 3.9 billion who tuned into the 2004 Athens Games.
Signing of the Day
What is recession proof and black and white all over? If you guessed the New York Yankees you are correct! The Yankees will soon sign first baseman Mark Teixeira to an 8 year, 180 million dollar contract. The team has signed 423.5 million dollars worth of contracts in the past month. They now have the four highest paid athletes in baseball (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter, and CC Sabathia). Merry Christmas, Yankee fans. I can't wait till April to open this present.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
2008 Entertainers of the Year: 4) Britney Spears
Are you surprised? I think not. Just like Robert Downey Jr., B. Spears has had a hell of a comeback this year (she says she doesn't like that word, but really, who are we kidding). She started 2008 in the psych ward, which cost her custody of her sons and forced her father to become the conservator of her estate, effectively ending her freedom. Up to that point, every time she did something bad (shaving off her head, beating up a paparazzi car with an umbrella, the 2007 MTV Music Video Awards performance), I'd be horrified, asking myself if things could get any worse. And then she'd go and do something that answered my question with a resounding YES. Except...
Empathy
One of my students, Mingi, gets into trouble more often than not. I could imagine dealing with divorced parents at the age of 9 has that effect on children. To say that he keeps the day more interesting than it should be is an understatement. He once threw a football at another kid's face and then ran away and hid out in the library. I told him next time he throws a football at some one's face to man up and deal with the consequences. A couple of weeks later he and group of his friends got in trouble for throwing somethings around at the after school program. I asked each of his friends if they had thrown things and they each denied it. When I asked Mingi, however, he looked at me straight in the eye and said "Yes, I did." I was so proud him.
On Thursday night, Mingi's dad died. I found out yesterday and I couldn't help but feel heartbroken for this kid who's gone through so much already. I'm pretty stoic over death. It happens. I'm not sure if this is useful to you. Can you imagine, though, what it must be like to be 9 and to deal with this?
Mingi, your dad loved you very much.
Site of the Day: F*ck You, Penguin
The bf shared a site with me the other day, claiming that it was soo hilarious and funny. So being the thoughtful gf, I totally skimmed the site, politely agreed without actually reading entries, and forgot about it. But after perusing through the usual sites via RSS feed, I asked him for the link again .. and LOVED the site.
F*ck You, Penguin is basically a site that features an animal in a cute photo .. and the writer "tells the animal what's what."
My favorite entry by far is probably this little fella.
Monday, December 22, 2008
2008 Entertainers of the Year: 5) Robert Downey Jr.
My life = pop culture and entertainment. It's really the only thing I know, love, and can talk at length about without ever getting sick of it. So it's fitting that since it is the end of the year, and 2008 was, as entertaining as ever, that I have put together my list of the top entertainers of the year. A single person or a phenomenon, each of my top five has played a part in making their mark on pop culture this year.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Old People of the Day
If you had one shot to be an online video sensation at the age of 70, wouldn't you want it to be rapping in a choir? Shocking, hilarious, disturbing are all suiting adjectives for this. Think about a group of senior women singing to you "don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?" Hot flashes, anyone?
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The Michael Phelps Backlash
So, the more important issue of my post should be that Time Magazine, for their annual Person of the Year issue, picked Barack Obama as their #1 person this year. Deservingly so, the man got people of all walks of life excited about politics, and won the most exciting and history-making election of our time. But what I really want to talk about here is Micheal Phelps. He came in as one of Time's People Who Mattered in 2008, and also deservingly so. The man got the world glued to the Olympics, and shed a new interest in the sport of swimming, and kept breaking records along the way, and made the last couple of weeks of summer incredibly exciting. He is one of my entertainers of the year, for sure. Yada yada yada. What I REALLY REALLY want to talk about runs a bit shallower than that. Oh, Michael, I don't know what you did to deserve this, but someone in Time's photo department hates you. HATES you!!
Retail Site of the Day: FredFlare.com
FredFlare.com, oh how I heart thee! Any store/site that has the tagline, "Stay Cute!" wins a place in my heart. And cute, they are. I've had FredFlare bookmarked as one of my favorite sites for about a year now, but never bought anything from them until last week. Boy, was I missing out. First of all, from time to time they have free shipping codes that are AMAZING, because even with the free shipping, you get your stuff really fast. I ordered my gift for a Yankee Swap my friends and I do on Monday, hoping that I'd get it by the time we exchange gifts next week, and lo and behold the package arrived today. Everything was the same as it looked on the site, it was packaged thoroughly, and I was super impressed.
Head on over to the site to check out really cute stuff/last minute gift ideas for yo self and/or others, they have everything from apparel and accessories (someone get me these faux-Ray-Bans!!) to novelty gift items (colorblock roller skates, anyone??) to fun camera stuff for the photography buffs. They also recently opened up a physical store in Brooklyn which I want to check out sometime SOON, and their blog is really fun to read, like Life-in-Boxes fun.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Movie I Want To Watch: I Love You, Man
I know, I know. Another post. But hey, we're just excited for the movies of 2009!
Reasons why I want to see I Love You, Man:
5. Use of a Vampire Weekend song in the trailer.
4. Comedy flick - I loves me a good comedy!
3. Andy Samberg - I heart him on SNL, and I've been scared because of their lack of showtime for him on air. It's a relief to see him in a decent-looking film.
2. Jason Segel - I LOVE him as Marshall on How I Met Your Mother. And he was pretty funny in that other movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
1. Paul Rudd! Need I say more?
Other reasons might include awkward moments, puggles, etc.
Keep your eye out for it - its theatrical release date is aimed for March 20, 2009.
Here's the trailer for your viewing delight:
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Movie I want to watch: Veronika Decides to Die
Like Julia, I really like romantic comedies. I also really like movie adaptations of books. I know movie adaptations can be hit or miss, but I like to think that they start off better than your average movie, just cause no one is going to try to make a movie out of a bad book. So you at least have a good story as the foundation, even if the execution of it falls apart. There are several movie adaptations of books that I actually like better than the book itself, Bridget Jones's Diary being one of them, so I normally have high hopes for books-turned-into-films.
Well, I've been intrigued by the plot of this book since I stumbled upon it a couple of months ago, and though I still haven't gotten around to reading this Paul Coelho's book (or the supposedly AWESOME The Alchemist for that matter), I was super excited when I heard it was going to be made into a movie starring the talented Sarah Michelle Gellar. Veronika Decides to Die is about a 24 year old woman (Gellar) who seems to have everything but the will to live. So she decides to off herself, only to wake up in a mental institution, with the news that her botched suicide attempt has left her with a damaged heart and only days to survive. In this time she discovers a newfound will to live, and well, you know the rest of the movie/book is about that journey. Sounds interesting, yes? Veronika Decides to Die will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. From there hopefully it'll find a distributor so that the rest of the world can see it.
Oh, and bonus points for using the awesome Foo Fighters song Stranger Things Have Happened. Well done, trailer people!
Song of the Day: Just Wanna Be With You - Troy & Gabriella (HSM3)
Disclaimer: Please don't judge me -_-
Okay, I feel a bit shameful to admit it .. but I kind of love High School Musical. (hangs head in shame) If you look at my current iPod playlist, there's a couple of songs from the three HSM movies.
Sure, a lot of the songs are cheesy, but the one song that I can easily listen to without cringing is "Just Wanna Be With You," which was featured in the more recent film, High School Musical: Senior Year.
It's upbeat, cute, and a happy song to listen to.
Anyway, here's a crappy, ghettoriffic Youtube clip of it:
Monday, December 15, 2008
Movie I Want To Watch: The Ugly Truth
I am a fan of chick flicks. The Wedding Planner, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Definitely, Maybe, etc. - you name it, I've probably seen it (and probably dragged the boyfriend, too!).
Anyway, I saw the trailer for The Ugly Truth today .. and I WANT TO SEE IT! Besides the fact that I kind of dislike Katherine Heigl (she really likes to bite the hand that feeds), Gerard Butler is a handsome piece of man, and I love a good chick flick. It'll be out in theaters on April 3, 2009.
The Skies Are Falling Today
All is lost! All is lost! The Giants lost to the Cowboys yesterday in an ugly, ugly game. The Giants have now lost two games in a row bringing their record down to a pedestrian 11-3. Tied for the best record in the conference. Tied for best?! Is that the best they can do? In fact this is such terrible news that after the game last night, NBC news opened with a story on the Giants' loss. Economic crisis, window left. War abroad, window right. Local fire, you're riding bitch. The Giants are riding shotgun tonight!
Let's calm down, Giants fan. We're already in the playoffs.
My favorite status from last night comes from my friend Suah who wrote "my hatred for the cowboys
Friday, December 12, 2008
Art Review: Cindy Sherman @ Metro Pictures
Cindy Sherman, Nov. 15-Dec. 23
Metro Pictures
519 W. 24th St. New York, NY 10011
One of my biggest passions is modern art, and Cindy Sherman is one of my favorite post-modern artists. She is best known as a conceptual photographer, where she intills herself into high-concept photographs to call attention to the stereotypes women face in the eye of media- film, television, and print. It is her ability to manipulate every part of herself, from her weight to age to expression and be a performer in front of the camera is extraordinary and has drawn me to her work. She works by herself, acting as her own model, photographer, make up artist, and stylist, which makes all of her works that much more impressive. My favorite thing she's ever done is a series called the Untitled Film Stills, a series of black and white photographs in which she presents herself as an actress in various familiar scenes out of film noir, B-movies, and Hollywood films. Every film still looks oddly familiar, like images we've all seen a thousand times before, and it is this instant flicker of recognition that makes her work so poignant.
Right now, until the 23rd of December, the Metro Pictures Gallery in Chealsea has a Cindy Sherman exhibition that is worth checking out. In this series of portraits, she presents herself as heavily made up, heavily dressed up aging women, effectively calling into question ideas of self-awareness, beauty, and aging. It's really fascinating stuff, to see these giant portraits of Cindy posing as different women, every photograph overloaded with detail in every sense. And while you're at it, check out the multitude of other galleries that line 24th St. It's a great and cheap (i.e. FREE) way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon.
Things I Love Update: Harry Potter, Twilight
After all that drama with New Moon's upcoming production (as well as the issue about recasting the role of Jacob Black), I just want them to start production already! But it'll be a lot riding on Chris Weitz's back, especially since the Twilight series are considered to be more for girls, and if he effs it up, a whole army of Twilight fans will be sure to make his life a living hell..
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Song of the Day: Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
If you've been reading this blog for the past couple of weeks, you know that I have been obsessed with 2 things as of late: Twilight and Britney Spears. I've probably listened to Britney's album nonstop for the past week (she has the #1 album this week, with over 500,000 copies sold, that is MY GIRL!!!). When I'm not listening to Britney, I am listening to the Twilight soundtrack, which is actually a pretty great compilation. Julia wrote about her love for one of the songs on the album, Iron & Wine's beautiful Flightless Bird, American Mouth. I want to recommend my favorite song on the album, Muse's Supermassive Black Hole. The song is used in the baseball scene in Twilight, which is like the greatest use of this song ever. I love Muse, an English rock band who I don't think many Americans know about. Hysteria is one of my favorite songs EVER and like my favorite song to run to, I think their cover of the otherwise annoying Can't Take My Eyes Off You is pretty awesome, and I just love their overall sound. Twilight author Stephenie Meyer is always citing them as a huge inspiration in her writing, calling them her muse (get it???). I love the name! I love the band! I love this song!!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Deal Of The Day
I am not talking about Target. I'm talking about the New York Yankees signing CC Sabathia for 7 years 161 million dollars. I'm not the biggest fan of this deal especially considering the size and length of this contract. But you gotta love getting one of the top pitchers in the game. Besides, it's the Yankees, the money tree grows even during winter. The Yanks starting rotation is now at CC Sabathia, Chien Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, and Phil Hughes. Put AJ Burnett in there, and we are good to go.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Power of Airbrushing
We all know Jessica Alba is a beautiful person. More than one guy I know would count her as their favorite hot celebrity, and she used to be my girl crush during her Dark Angel days (she was a good actress then...). And to prove that the universe does indeed hate the rest of us non-beautiful/non-famous people, these pictures of her for a limited edition Campari calendar were recently released. Hot dang it, this woman had a baby not so long ago. Look how sizzling hot she looks, surrounded by all those equally hot guys. Le sigh. Did I mention, SHE HAD A FREAKIN BABY A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO?!?
Except... Well, not everything you see is what is real...
TV News of the Day: Leno Stays
This seems to be an interesting move for NBC. Understandably, they don't want to lose Jay Leno .. but to pit Leno against other prime time shows such as the CSI shows, Bravo programming (Top Chef!) seems to be a bit of a gamble.
I, for one, am more of a Conan O'Brien fan, so as long as that awkward, lanky, red-haired man is still on, then I am good (though, I'm sad that he will no longer be based in NYC).
Monday, December 8, 2008
Get Fat or Settle!
Most people think that the US is the fattest nation in the world, but that is a myth. Australia is actually the heaviest nation per citizen. A report done in June showed that 26 percent of Australians are considered to be obese, narrowly edging the United States' 25 percent.
The US has never taken finishing second quietly so if you want to help the cause of increasing the US's obesity rate by 1 percentage point, here is a link to the 272 highest calorie fast food items. The top choice is White Castle's Chocolate Shake in the Louisville region with a whopping 1680 calories.
Vampire Weekend Concert Review
After an exhausting week-long trip to Seattle, the last thing I wanted to do was go to a show on a rainy night in the city (seriously, rain in Seattle really did it for me). Because fellow LiB writer Jen and I had purchased tickets about 3 months in advance, it was one of those things that sounded awesome at the time .. but as the date drew near, I was regretting such an early commitment.
Friday, December 5, 2008
These Four Things I Know Are True
1. Britney Spears is hot, again. I remember a time when I told people that Britney was the hottest person on Earth and people would call me crazy. Maybe not the hottest person, but close. I still remember our high school baseball team rocking out on the bus to Hit Me Baby One More Time. Womanizer, I can do without.
2. There will be a lot more Knick fans in 2010. Be prepared to order your #23 jerseys. On another sports note, Christiano Ronaldo (wooer of ladies) Nike wants you to go to Inter Milan. We'd love to have you and make up for the last Ronaldo we had.
3. Ponds clear pore strips don't work. Find something else to get that filth off your nose.
4. Korean BBQ chicken is better than turkey on Thanksgiving every time!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Analogy of the Day
You can fly the plane, but can you land it?
What does it mean to you? You can get dressed, but are you ready? You can complete the 60 yard bomb, but can you score? You can win an election, but can you lead a country? You can shoot yourself in the thigh, but can you man up to the consequences? You can make them believe, but can you make them feel it? You can say all the right things, but can you make it happen?
SO READERS! I SAY AGAIN!!!!!
You can fly the plane, but can you land it?
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Music: Britney Spears - Circus
Album: Circus
Artist: Britney Spears
Release Date: December 2nd, 2008
Genre: Pop
Welcome to Circus, Britney's very aptly titled record that was released this Tuesday. So this album has been streaming on imeem.com for weeks now, but I didn't want to listen to it until I had the full album in my hands, because I'm a huge dork like that. Anyways. I've heard very mixed reviews about this, her sixth studio album, but I am liking it more and more after each listen. I will say, it is no Blackout, which was pure pop/dance delight, and probably her best album yet, but this is a pretty good effort. Combined with some heavy promoting which she is actually doing for this album, a newly announced tour (crossing fingers on getting tickets), hot new bod (admit it, she is looking mighty FINE), and chart topping singles Womanizer and Circus, Britney is back, bitch. And no, I am never going to stop using that phrase.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thought of the Day: Which City Do You Love the Most (in the US)?
As most of you may or may not know, I've been in 3 different cities for the past 3 weekends. First weekend was spent in New York City (yeah, big deal, right?), the following weekend was spent in Philadelphia (was anyone else at the Philly Marathon?), and this past weekend was spent in Seattle (well, I'm still here until tomorrow).
Being in such different, yet somewhat similar cities made me realize one thing: NYC is the best city in this country. (runs away from angry mob)
Sure, I mean I pretty much grew up to know the city to be New York City, but no other city has got anything to trump it.
And I really thought that people were exaggerating when they warned me about Seattle's cloudy, rainy weather. I think that during my past 5 days here, I've seen the sun for a total of one hour. -_-
Monday, December 1, 2008
[Mixtape] It's Britney, Bitch!
So it's officially Britney week here at Life in Boxes. Ok, KIDDING, Jorge and Julia would kill me if I even so much as floated that idea around. Let me re-phrase. In honor of Britney's comeback (Circus, out in stores tomorrow, my review coming later this week), I've declared it Britney week for me...In my heart. So, don't expect posts about any other subject from me this week! If you haven't checked out the MTV documentary Britney: For the Record, I think you should- it's a really interesting look into the craziness that is her life, and I'm pretty sure MTV will re-run the crap out of it. Say what you will about her, but I don't think many of us can be thrust into the spotlight/fame/money as she has and come away with it unscathed.
I was going through my iTunes collection, and I realized that Britney has a pretty extensive songbook, considering her decade long career. So, here are some of my favorites for this special Britney mixtape edition, some probably familiar to you, some probably not as much. Ch-ch-check it out.
1) Hit Me Baby One More Time - Her debut song, she certainly made a splash by making Catholic schoolgirls...sexy. Apparently the idea behind that was all Britney. Even at the age of 16 she knew that sex sells. The music video recently was named #1 most iconic video of all time on the now-defunct TRL, and it was also the last video to be played on the finale of that show. This is the song that made me a die-hard Britney fan. Classic!
2) I'm a Slave 4 U - Oh how I love this song. From her third album, Britney, this single was a defining moment in her career, when she shed all traces of the virginal girl-next-door image for a more steamy, grown up look. Love the hot hot video, and who can forget the MTV VMAs, when she danced with that giant snake (my favorite performance of hers ever)? Say what you will about her, but no one puts on a show like Brit.
That's What She Said of the Day
We all have that's what she said (TWSS) moments through out the day, but when of my coworkers and I get together we look for those moments with every phrase that is uttered. It's never mean spirited but it can be quite funny. Here are some of my favorite that's what she said moments of the past couple of weeks.
Person (after being pelted with TWSS through out the day): "I'm going to have to be so careful of what I say now, but I don't know things just come out of my mouth sometimes."
Person (while rock climbing): "This is so hard! Even if I try to keep my legs open."
Person 1 (commenting on one thing or the other) "I usually take mine from the back." At this point I can't hold my seltzer water in and spit some of it on Person 2 who yells, "AhhH! You got it all over me." An impressive double TWSS.
Person (trying to put something together) "No it didn't go in right. Pull it up harder! Okay now bring it in slowly."
Person 1 (email on playing basketball) "Just come...I suck too...we can all suck together"
Person 2 (replies) "That's what he said"
Impressive
