25 random things. Woohoo!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Here's that "25 Random Things" meme that's been going around Facebook...I thought I'd post it here as well. Enjoy!
1. I can't wink my right eye. The left one winks like it's supposed to; the right one refuses to move independently of the left. I'm not sure if it's a genetic thing, or if I've suffered the world's mildest stroke.
2. I hate root vegetables. Turnips, beets, ginger - blech! I don't even like root beer. Carrots are tolerable in small amounts, but I'd still rather go without. They all taste bitter to me.
3. My name is spelled "Vinessa" after my dad, Vincent. I'm the youngest of three girls, so my parents figured I was the closest they'd ever get to having a Vincent Jr. As a kid, it annoyed me tremendously when my teachers insisted that my name was spelled "wrong" (my parents were ahead of their time with the creatively-spelled name trend). If I ever have kids, I'm giving them simple, unambiguous names spelled in the traditional way.
4. I'm not really interested in having kids, but I'd love to have lots of animals. Preferably dogs. It's too bad it's so hard to find an apt. around here that will accept them. Dogs are awesome! And I'm giving them simple, unambiguous names spelled in the traditional way.
5. I never learned how to roller skate. Which means I missed out on countless childhood birthday parties at the Wallington Roller Rink.
6. I spent a semester in college selling hot dogs at Walt Disney World. The job was awful, but I'd move back to Orlando tomorrow if I could.
7. My oldest sister and I are 13 years and 1 day apart. So our parents would celebrate our birthdays together, sometimes with interesting results. My sister may be the only person alive who celebrated her Sweet 16th birthday with a Kermit The Frog cake.
8. My other sister (10 years older than me) and I shared a bedroom until I turned 11. Imagine being 15 and sharing your room with a 5-year-old. I still don't think she's quite forgiven our parents for that. She still tells stories about finding my My Little Ponies tucked into her sneakers when she'd change for gym class.
9. That same sister is responsible for me becoming a Beatles fan. She had the complete set of UK LPs and played them nonstop. When we got our first VCR, the very first tape she bought was "A Hard Day's Night." After that, I was hooked for life.
10. I've been a fan of horse racing ever since the 1989 Preakness. My family picked horses' names out of a hat. I got Sunday Silence, who ended up winning one of the most exciting races in history:
And I won 18 bucks! A huge windfall for a 10-year-old. How could I not be a fan after that?
11. I was raised Catholic, but I no longer consider myself one. I'm still not satisfied with where I am, religion-wise, but I know Catholicism isn't the right fit for me.
12. I've ridden the Big Dog!
13. Despite being 100% Italian, I had never seen any of the Godfather movies in their entirety until I was 27 years old. I have no excuse for this egregious oversight.
14. I never left the Eastern Time Zone until age 24.
15. I never left the United States until age 29.
16. I didn't do much of anything until I hit my 20s, come to think of it.
17. When I'm alone, I like to sing. A lot. I sing in the shower, in the laundry room, in the car, in the office when there's nobody else within earshot...I don't have a very strong voice, but I do manage to stay on key. Usually.
18. I write a hell of a lot more eloquently than I speak.
19. The most useful class I took in high school, by far, was a typing class.
20. Although I could use the extra height, I don't wear heels. They hurt. A lot.
21. As I've stated elsewhere, I don't like heated car seats. I've tried them, and I just cannot get used to the sensation of warmth emanating through my butt. It's just not natural.
22. Lest all of the mockery above give you the wrong impression, I love my family dearly. We don't always "get" each other, but they're all pretty awesome. And fun to be around.
23. I love my job, too. I somehow managed to find the perfect niche between the worlds of journalism and librarianship that's exactly right for me. I hope for many good years ahead...
24. ...But if there aren't, I'd consider going back to school for my Ph.D. Preferably in a warmer climate. I hear the U. of Texas has an excellent information studies program...
25. ...Or maybe I'll write a book. Judging from my experience writing this list, it'd be 2300 pages long and will take me 60 years to write. But the title will be simple and unambiguous.
Labels: Beatles, Family, Memes, Sports, Video
posted by Vinessa @ 2:27 PM,
Abort, retry, fail
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I'm writing this post from my small emergency backup laptop ("Zippy") because my large main laptop ("Earnest") appears to have bitten the dust. I guess I shouldn't be surprised - my first two laptops only lasted about two years each, and this one managed to make it past three. I should have realized it was living on borrowed time.
I'm hoping I can recover some of the laptop's files - despite two previous laptop hard drive failures, I still haven't learned my lesson, so I only had some of the data backed up beforehand. When I ran a CHKDSK, it indicated that the hard drive has "one or more unrecoverable errors," which quickly brought two thoughts to mind:
1. Oh, crap.
2. "Unrecoverable Errors" would be an excellent title for Bush's memoirs.
Labels: Technology
posted by Vinessa @ 9:42 PM,
A time to blog, a time to lose a 23-point lead
Saturday, January 3, 2009
So I'm flipping through the channels, looking for something to get the bad taste of UConn's International Bowl win out of my mouth. I stumble upon the Rutgers/Tennessee women's basketball game - on CBS, no less! The original, Channel 2 CBS! - and lo and behold, the Scarlet Knights have a big lead deep into the second half. Against Tennessee, a team I cannot recall us ever defeating in the Stringer era.
So I put the remote down and proceeded to witness what was probably the worst collapse in college basketball history. Or at least, one of the worst. Rutgers, which had led by as much as 23 at one point, went on to lose, 55-51.
Screw this. I'm going to go back to reading my novel.
Welcome to the blog, by the way. So far I haven't decided exactly what the focus of this blog will be, but if this first post is any indication, there will be lots of griping about sports and sentences beginning with "so" and "or." My high school English teachers would be so proud.
Labels: Grammar, Rutgers, Sports, TV
posted by Vinessa @ 4:21 PM,
