So this is the battery from my MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, the laptop is out of warranty and the battery wasn’t one of the recall batteries (although I thought it ought to have been, I mean, look at it!). I’m a Windows user for the most part so it was a lightly used machine, so I don’t know how this happened, but I took it to the Apple store and they said I would just have to get a new battery.
You know what though? I carried it to the nearest Apple store in my backpack and the whole time I was kind of nervous because I was afraid the battery would burst and kill me. Like in the Dead Zone. At this point, I don’t remember much about the book EXCEPT for that scene with the car battery bursting, killing someone. So my shoulder blades tickled the whole way there. Then the Genius or whatever (after he telling me he couldn’t help me) said that I should not put the battery back in the laptop since if it leaked it might damage the electronics. Aarrgghh! Okay okay, how was he supposed to know that I read some book like a million years ago and developed a battery phobia? But still, never mind the laptop, what about my spine?!?!?!
And yesterday on my way home, some dude was working on his car, and he had a huge car battery on the sidewalk and I had to walk right by it and OMG! I was kind of nervous; he was in his car, but someone was walking behind me so I had to pretend to be normal as I walked by his car and that battery. :p
I should write him a letter:
Dear Stephen King,
You have scarred me for life! I have phobias that I can trace directly to your books. Thanks a lot!
I wonder if he gets a lot of these letters or if I’m just particularly wimpy.
Interesting, No?
Right now, the time is 05:06 on 07/08/09. (And in fact, if WordPress let me schedule down to the seconds I could’ve scheduled this for 04:05:06 07/08/09. But alas.)
Winner
So I entered a contest at Hair Thursday for Pureology NanoWax. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d win. I don’t win these things — a million other people enter and the random number generators don’t like me. But I won! Yay! She did have five contests going on at once, so maybe that helped my chances, I don’t know. Anyways, I just got it today, so haven’t had a chance to test it out. Considering that I haven’t tried it before though, I think I’ll wait for the weekend. Cos I’m a hair noob. :)
Roger Ebert: Still Got It
When Transformers came out, we actually rather liked it. I mean, you have to turn off your brain entirely, but sometimes that’s just perfect for a hot summer afternoon. And okay, it was a little too much like a two hour long GM (or some car company, I forgot) advertisement, but well… overall brainless good fun. When we heard that there was going to be a sequel, we weren’t sure if we were going to see it, figuring, “Only if it gets good reviews or word-of-mouth or something.” Today I read Roger Ebert’s review. Totally damning! He calls it a “horrible experience of unbearable length” and says that “this isn’t a film so much as a toy tie-in.” It’s not that I read Ebert’s reviews always, although he is generally good, whether I agree with the review or not. Usually I just check Rotten Tomatoes, but I was browsing around and well, this one was so excellent. I’m going to guess the movie isn’t worth seeing, but the review is full of vitriolic splendor.
We did see Up finally this weekend, in 3D, which is the new popular thing, I guess. I don’t know if the 3D was a big deal to this movie — it was nice, but it didn’t particularly seem important. I would say that Coraline was a better experience in 3D than Up. I liked Up, I just think it would probably have been fine either way. Anyway, wow what a tearjerker! If you told me that Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks or some other such writer wrote the original story, it wouldn’t've surprised me! I thought the movie was good though, especially the silent montage, which I cried through. I was warned, and I’m warning you now, all the people who read this who haven’t seen the movie (what is that, 0?), but honestly if you are at all prone to crying in a movie, well, you’ll probably bawl. So go watch, and bring tissue. By the way, Ebert liked it too.
Eye Exam
I had an eye exam last week. Nothing new, my eyes are terrible. I asked again about daily disposables; last year I tried every brand available at the time. None were a good fit on both eyes, and there haven’t been any new products out this year, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! :p So that’s a no go.
Oh they plucked one of my lower eyelashes out, which was a totally new experience for me. The darn thing was growing towards my eyes instead of outwards. I didn’t know eyelashes did that! They were worried about my corneas getting scratched when I wear glasses (contacts would protect the eyeballs, but you can’t wear contacts all the time). Ouch. Dude, do they make eyelash curlers for lower lashes? I might need one of those. Totally medically necessary and all that. :p
Posing
I have to admit, everytime I’m being touristy, even remotely, I’m tempted to do the v-sign pose. Double, actually. But there are other choices! :) [via kottke]
Worst Evar
It was the worst weekend of card playing ever. I was thinking of trying to use the quote from Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” but dude, it wasn’t the best of times at all; I lost at cards to everyone! Not that I was always last, but I never won.
I lost to K at Scotch Bridge or Up and Down the River or Oh Heaven, Oh Hell (whatever that game is called), then to Mike at Napoleon, then to Yuli at Napoleon. All the young’uns are growing up and I’m growing old. I probably only didn’t lose to Jimyo cos he was playing Block Party and Plants vs. Zombies and other video games for part of the time. Gaaaaah.
Speaking of Plants vs. Zombies, I think it’s been a hit with the whole family. We’ve played a LOT of Plants vs. Zombies. :) Worthy buy at ~$20.
More Yogurt!
There are two new tart frozen yogurt places in Berkeley — that I know of — for a total of five tart frozen yogurt places and at least seven frozen yogurt places total (tart and sweet alike). It’s madness! I’m not complaining, mind, but I’m just shocked that there is this much market for frozen yogurt in one place. Even accounting for the different parts of town they are in, it’s still amazing.
The two new places are the self-serve types, meaning you grab a bowl and put however much yogurt, however many flavors, and whatever toppings you like, then pay by weight. Yes, you can see the problem already, can’t you? It’s hard to get just a little bit, it never looks like much and it’s yogurt, healthy yummy yogurt. It’s also hard(er) to not go. Like… after dinner, when you’re so full, but well, you can just get a little bit of yogurt, so why not. (And by “you” I mean “me.”)
In case there was any doubt, I’ve tried all of the places. Creations on Shattuck between Channing and Durant and charges 36¢ per ounce and Yogurtland on Bancroft near Telegraph (although the website says they are also opening one on Shattuck) charges 30¢ per ounce. They’re both good, but Creations has more of the fruity flavors that I like. The one time I went to Yogurtland, there were green tea, coconut, chocolate, tiramisu, and cherry vanilla flavors amongst others, but Creations had blueberry, mango, lychee, passion fruit, strawberry, chocolate, and green tea flavors (amongst others, I don’t go enough to have both menus memorized I swear!!!). On the other hand, Yogurtland has biodegradable spoons, and regular Cap’n Crunch which is a plus. Creations so far only has Crunch Berries so if I only want the regular Cap’n I have to pick them out of the Crunch Berries. But overall, I think I like Creations a little better than Yogurtland.
Compared to my old favorite, Yogurt Harmony (where they serve you, have compostable everything, regular Cap’n Crunch, and free wireless), it’s tough. Because even with all of those advantages for Yogurt Harmony, it’s nice to be able to decide to mix three flavors and a little bit of three toppings and control (or not control) how much to get. I think Creations is especially a good value if you like flavored (instead of plain) tart and if you want a little bit of multiple toppings. So I go to both, depending on what I feel like — Yogurt Harmony for plain yogurt with two or no toppings, and Creations for lychee, mango, passion fruit yogurt with mochi, and/or Cap’n Crunch. I’ve mentioned the compostable spoons and Cap’n Crunch problems to the Creations folks, so hopefully they will fix that. It’s getting to be nicer weather, so I am back to a minimum of once per week, so I dunno, maybe they won’t fix it because no one cares; I’m just weird!
Haha, just had the following chat with Yut:
yut: they will just kill each other’s business after a year when the craze starts to fade
mim: It worries me cos I mean… I want the ones I like to make it
mim: This talking about yogurt makes me want some
yut: you can’t support their livelihood all by yourself
:p
So Sleepy
I like sleeping. I mean, I know, we all need it, but let’s be honest, some of us like it a whole lot more than others. I love sleep and I’m a pretty bad night owl. (But consider the cultural prejudices that make me say, “bad” night owl! I didn’t even realize until after I typed it.)
So refutation, from 3 Smart Things About Sleeping Late (more details in the article):
1. You may need more sleep than you think.
2. Night owls are more creative.
3. Rising early is stressful.
“Until the invention of the lightbulb (damn you, Edison!), the average person slumbered 10 hours a night.” Didn’t know that, didya? (I totally didn’t, myself.) Take that, early-bird, six-or-seven-hours-a-night people! Haha, Benjamin Franklin quoting, Leonardo da Vinci factoid spewing folks! :) [via Caterina.net]
At Least Decriminalize It
Thoughts on Pot vs Alcohol from a former Police Chief
If one of these two drugs is implicated in dire health effects, high mortality rates, and physical violence–and the other is not–what are we to make of our nation’s marijuana laws? Or alcohol laws, for that matter.
Anybody out there want to launch a campaign for the re-prohibition of alcohol? Didn’t think so. The answer, of course, is responsible drinking. Marijuana smokers, for their part, have already shown (apart from that little matter known as the law) greater responsibility in their choice of drugs than those of us who choose alcohol.
The crazy thing (to me) is that Prohibition in the US lasted only for thirteen years, while marijuana which has few negative effects and proven medical uses has been illegal … well I dunno, but if you count from the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, then 39 years?! [via Daring Fireball]
I just had two posts about drugs in a row, ha, oh well — today’s April 20 and coincidentally I’m feeling a lot better, better enough to think about blogging, I guess; the inhaler, cough syrup, and antibiotics really worked whatever I had. Still coughing a little bit — the doctor says sometimes it takes a while for the mucus membranes to calm back down. Or something like that.
