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Earthquakes: Protecting Your Most Important Assets

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 24, 2011 in Business and Technology

My first instinct when I heard about the DC-VA-NYC Earthquake was to text my daughter who is away at college in the eastern part of NY State. The Gospel According to Twitter seemed to indicate that people from North Carolina to Boston were reporting tremors, so it seemed reasonable to check on her. My iPhone may have misinterpreted my intent:

She answers a lot of my texts with either “Wow” or “Sigh.” It must be a college thing.

I have a son as well, who lives in San Diego he texted me “What’s shaking?’ Oh Cali people. Laugh at our panic, but remember this if you ever get three inches of snow out there.

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Oooh Something Shiny on Facebook!

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 24, 2011 in Humor, Writing

The long wait is over:

http://www.facebook.com/OoohSomethingShiny

Like me. No, really. Like me

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Awkward Photojournalism Part Deux, The Sequel, Back With a Vengeance

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 23, 2011 in Awkward Photojournalism, Humor

I have continued to take pictures of the absurd. The only problem with a recurring kind of blog post is that you can’t use the same title, but what do you call it to kind of keep it together. I considered calling it The Earthquake that Earthquaked an Earthquake, just for blog hits, but that would be wrong. So here it is MORE Awkward Photojournalism.

“I Work Just Hit Hard.” Who knew that the restroom  next to a volleyball court behind a church would contain a sign that sums up my career philosophy so completely?

Bacon Vodka? Who thought this was a good idea? Just because you like two things, doesn’t mean they belong together. I like chocolate and I like pizza, but you won’t see me sprinkling Raisinettes on my NY style slice. What are they going for anyway? The Hair of the Dog market?

Premade toast? Really? In which circle of hell was this conceived? Toast is my number one childhood comfort food. It’s an abomination.

I got this weirdass gerbil thing for Christmas. It’s cute, but it freaks me out a bit because it makes Furby-like noises and I am afraid of Furbies. They are just alarming. They LEARN TO TALK by eavesdropping on your conversations. Why would you invent a sentient stuffed animal? Did we learn nothing from Planet of the Apes, I-Robot, The Trouble with Tribles?

There is something seriously wrong with the Captcha people. Enough said

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Domestic Violets: Corporate Shenanigans or Literary Legacy

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 23, 2011 in Book Review, Uncategorized

Imagine a fictional  son of John Updike (Couples and Rabbit Updike, before he begin living entirely in his own head). Add healthy doses of Dave Barry and Scott Adams and sprinkle with a little hipster. This is Tom Violet, the snarky, mis-employed son of critically acclaimed, womanizing author Curtis Violet.

Matthew Norman’s Domestic Violets details the foibles of Tom Violet who, having grown up in the shadow of this literary giant opts to join the corporate world rather than compete on his father’s home turf. To say that Tom is ill-suited for corporate life is the grossest of understatement.

Tom’s subversive office antics save his sanity, but undermine his career. He tortures his corporate drone coworker, Greg, flirts dangerously with his young coworker Katie, while his indulgent boss Doug ignores much of his shenanigans because of Tom’s copy writing talent.

When  Ian, British company president comes to town to shake things up, it means big changes for Tom, who describes Ian’s office to Katie:

“standard president stuff…Water slide. Gold-plated desk. Little Korean boy fanning him with a giant feather.”

I was frequently annoyed that my real life interfered with my ability to get back to Domestic Violets and find out how Tom would resolve his sexual and professional impotence and rebuild his career, marriage and relationship with his parents.

Definitely a fun, fast read with well-developed relatable characters and a page-turning plot.

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It’s Like Wearing a Bra Made of Clouds

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 19, 2011 in Entertainment, Uncategorized

Genie Bra – A Review

I have seen these infomercials on television and the bras look pretty good, but infomercial products always do.

They had a variety of women wearing them all supposedly D cups in varying back sizes and they all looked smooth, lifted and faboo in these bras.

I figured I could see myself trying one if it was 20 bucks or so. Unfortunately as it frequently is with infomercials, they don’t want you to try one, they want you to buy 197 of them for 12 low low monthly payments of $99.99. So I didn’t give it another thought.

Then one day I saw them while shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond. They were sold in a box of two for $19.99 which seemed entirely reasonable.

My shopping companion and I looked at back of the box and saw that the bras were sold by shirt size, so technically we should wear the same size even though I am a B cup and my companion is considerably further down the alphabet. We decided to buy a pack and try one each.

Companion tried hers first and tells me it was laughable. There simply wasn’t enough fabric to accommodate someone with a substantial amount of breast tissue and the paddy things that go in the front for a “smooth look” (read – high beam prevention units) was not up to the task. (Imagine putting a yarmulke on a basketball)

For me, on the other hand- awesome. It feels like I am wearing nothing, but have complete motion control. I am test driving it today, on casual Friday. I’m wearing a slim fitting tee and have plenty of lift and support and because of the sportsbra like structure a completely smooth rear view, even under slim fitted stretch cotton.

There is nothing to pinch or bind and it doesn’t roll up. It’s impossible to overstate how comfortable this Genie Bra is. It’s like wearing a bra made of clouds

I would highly recommend it for up to a C cup, but I honestly don’t see how it would work on anyone of a larger cup size.

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It’s Like Wearing a Bra Made of Clouds

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 19, 2011 in Entertainment, Uncategorized

Genie Bra – A Review

I have seen these infomercials on television and the bras look pretty good, but infomercial products always do.

They had a variety of women wearing them all supposedly D cups in varying back sizes and they all looked smooth, lifted and faboo in these bras.

I figured I could see myself trying one if it was 20 bucks or so. Unfortunately as it frequently is with infomercials, they don’t want you to try one, they want you to buy 197 of them for 12 low low monthly payments of $99.99. So I didn’t give it another thought.

Then one day I saw them while shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond. They were sold in a box of two for $19.99 which seemed entirely reasonable.

My shopping companion and I looked at back of the box and saw that the bras were sold by shirt size, so technically we should wear the same size even though I am a B cup and my companion is considerably further down the alphabet. We decided to buy a pack and try one each.

Companion tried hers first and tells me it was laughable. There simply wasn’t enough fabric to accommodate someone with a substantial amount of breast tissue and the paddy things that go in the front for a “smooth look” (read – high beam prevention units) was not up to the task. (Imagine putting a yarmulke on a basketball)

For me, on the other hand- awesome. It feels like I am wearing nothing, but have complete motion control. I am test driving it today, on casual Friday. I’m wearing a slim fitting tee and have plenty of lift and support and because of the sportsbra like structure a completely smooth rear view, even under slim fitted stretch cotton.

There is nothing to pinch or bind and it doesn’t roll up. It’s impossible to overstate how comfortable this Genie Bra is. It’s like wearing a bra made of clouds

I would highly recommend it for up to a C cup, but I honestly don’t see how it would work on anyone of a larger cup size.

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Jersey Shore Sullies Abercrombie and Fitch’s Squeaky Clean Image

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 17, 2011 in Entertainment, Uncategorized

So Abercrombie and Fitch doesn’t want The Situation from Jersey Shore wearing their clothes anymore. I guess he detracts from their image as purveyors of slutty clothing for excessively cologned teenagers.

“Oh, please! Don’t wear our clothes (available at a mall near you).”

 

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Bumping into Things Reading The Help

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 16, 2011 in Book Review, Uncategorized

Even for someone who thinks they know a lot about the civil rights movement, the portrayal of 1963 Mississippi in The Help is astonishing. I was born around this time and can’t comprehend that in the span of my lifetime, the historical equivalent of a blink of an eye, African Americans were thought of as scarcely human.

While racism is hardly gone in this country, most at least have the decency to be ashamed enough of themselves to conceal or encode their bigotry.

People who have read the book have told me that it was so good that they whipped through it in a weekend. But not me. I found it too painful to read more than a few pages at a time before I had to put it aside.

Until Skeeter began her project. I don’t think I am spoiling anything to reveal that the plot is driven by a white woman who was inspired to write a book detailing the lives of the Black women working as maids or The Help.

The risks that both Skeeter and the maids, led by Aibileen and Minny, were taking was hair-raising. I nearly walked into to walls reading while walking when I just didn’t want to put The Help down.  I couldn’t wait to see how far they were willing to go to tell their stories at a time when the most minor infraction of Jim Crow laws could result in beatings or death.

The stories of these brave women are well worth the read. I’ve heard that the movie is as good as the book. I can’t wait to see that as well.

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Shiny Happy Searches

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 16, 2011 in Uncategorized

These were some of the most amusing from last week. I love looking at this stuff.

why did evil dick leave big brother – SEVEN times

twitter feuds

Gunnar Deatherage

trucker mania

ooh shiny shirt

something shiny underwear

shiny hair ties

twitter fueds

“whatthetext”

project runway and speaking foreign

jaws comes home – shark week

apple is awesome

for laser surgery am i sitting up or laying down

“like myself pocket”

psyche Amy Winehouse

do you wear crocs

interesting searches

cloud castle 2

giant shark found in chatham curly

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Gleeks, Geeks and Freaks, But Not Enough Puck

Posted by ooohsomethingshiny on August 14, 2011 in Entertainment

Glee 3D was not exactly the movie I expected, but still really fun. Way too short, actually. It was an in-character concert event with peeks behind the scenes and fan interviews. The only thing that confused me was that I couldn’t tell if the fans being interviewed were actual fans of the show, or actors playing fans of the characters in the show. (No, YOU Google it. I don’t care that much.) But that may have been entirely too meta for a Saturday afternoon.

The wardrobe was pretty low-key. (except Brittany’s which was low fabric). They wore items that high-schoolers on a budget might pick out. I noted that Santana was wearing black knee socks with short black boots which I thought looked really cool, but I’m not entirely sure if a middle-aged woman should look to a slutty teenage character for fashion tips. The choreography and production were polished and amazing.

There was a number featuring each student character. There were no “adults” other than Spanish teacher Gwyneth Paltrow, who answers the eternal question, “Who on earth could be slim enough to wear a skirt with such awkward pockets?” The fact that most of these teens are played by adults in their late twenties is the only thing preventing middle-aged flash mobs stampeding confessionals nationwide.

There was not enough Puck, but there is never enough Puck. I was really disappointed that he didn’t reprise his version of Beck’s Loser, my favorite Glee song ever. In one episode, he even managed to make Sweet Caroline tolerable, which I never would have believed possible. There was also no Toxic by Brittany playing Britney. Quelle Dommage.

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