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I bet you're just jumping to know what I've been doing in my spare time lately. Well, you can sit down now. Visit the aspire LJ gallery and view my attempts at iconage. You can also head to the manipulation gallery and see my new Elijah wp...because it's Lij's bday! Whee!
A preview:
Please comment and let me know what you think. Thanks!
You might have noticed by now that I love snow. What I don't love, however, is trying to get around in snow. And it makes me sad...because I remember the uninhibited joy of snow days when I was younger and didn't think anything of cajoling my parents to take me to the nearest hill. But now I know the loveliness of trying to drive when your windshield wipers don't quite wipe the entire windshield, when your tires slip on roads that still haven't been cleared three days after the fact, when you spend ten minutes scraping the ice off the windows smelling car exhaust and being consistently 15 minutes short of the time you'd like to be at work. Now, I'll put up with this because I do really adore snow. I love to go sledding, and I'm waiting for another American Beauty snow...
Oh, and happy 23rd birthday to Elijah Wood.
And for all you Atkins diet (weird) people (just kidding!) here's a funny for you from Dork Tower.
Also, did you know you can get dating advice from RotK?
And did you know? After the Oscar nominations were announced yesterday The Lord of the Rings trilogy became the most nominated film series in Academy Award history with 30 nominations, surpassing both the Godfather trilogy (28 noms) and the Star Wars franchise (21). (from theonering.net)
TheOneRing.net has a list of the 11 nominations that Lord of the Rings: Return of the King garnered this year. Thankfully, Best Picture and Director are among them, and thank God the Academy got its head out of its collective behind and let RotK's score be nominated. Yeah sure it sounds like the other two, for continuity's sake...but it has wonderful original moments. But...no cinematography? Eh. It'll be interesting to see which of my two favorite movies of the year (RotK and Pirates) win in the categories they're going head to head in. And yay Johnny Depp! A nomination for best actor! Whee! This should be an interesting night.
On January 24, 2004 the Macintosh celebrated its 20th birthday. Unveiled two decades ago, "the computer for the rest of us" was the first consumer-level computer to include a graphical user interface and a mouse. The original all-in-one model had a peppy 8MHz processor, 128K of memory, 3.5" floppy drive that used 400K disks and an integrated black-and-white display. It sold for $2,495, which was rather pricey back in 1984. More legendary than the product itself is the advertisement that introduced it to the world.
Ridley Scott's Orwellian ad, in which a young women rises up against autocracy and conformity, stunned many viewers of that year's Super Bowl "1984" went on to win numerous awards and is still regarded as one of the most powerful advertisements ever made. Apple has posted an updated version of the commercial that gives the young woman something to listen to as she rails against big brother. You can view it at http://www.apple.com/hardware/ads/1984/. (from Mac Hot Tips email)
Funny how I'm older than Macs. I love Apple!
My cousin's finally the same age as me again 
She spent the day driving to New York and sightseeing. Lucky for her with the sightseeing...not so fond of the driving part.
It SNOWED! And I got to SLED! Whee! Jen is happy. I'll probably be more sore tomorrow what with having to walk back up Art Hill after sledding all the way to the bottom, but it's worth it. And the new sled I got, while it did split up the middle on the bottom, worked wonderfully. Nothing a little duct tape can't fix! It was a pretty even snow, not so much accumulation, but icy. It took quite a while just to get the ice scraped off the car...hopefully it won't refreeze so I don't have to spend more time scraping the car tomorrow morning! Maybe I'll get into work on time. Last friday I somehow managed to turn off my first alarm but sleep through my emergency second alarm. So I woke up about ten minutes before I'm theoretically supposed to be at work, even though I never get into work until 15 after anyway. Darn walk from the parking lot gets me every time.
Anyway, after sledding Alex, Leo and I saw the Butterfly Effect. Interesting movie. While there were some horrifying moments I'm not disappointed I saw it. Ashton Kutcher is sort of a cutie, especially when he's clean-shaven...It's a good concept, and I think it was well done. It's just not quite up there. Eh. I guess my standard is pretty high now, what with the LotR movies...shoot, they even influence how long I feel a movie is. Anything under three hours is a short movie now, haha. But yeah, about TBE...I'd recommend it, I guess, it's pretty suspenseful. It's not a movie you could see again very readily though. Part of what made it good was that you really didn't know what would happen. So here's my ambivalent-with-a-nudge-to-go-see-it vote.
And speaking of LotR...watched the end of the golden globes tonight so I got to see RotK win Best Original Song, Director and Motion Picture Drama (!!!Whee!!!) RotK also won best Original Score which means they won all the awards they were nominated for. Go RotK! At least the Hollywood Foreign Press got it right. Let's hope the Academy are taking the hint.
I like snow.
Back in this post I told you how entering the words "miserable failure" (with quotes) and hitting the "I'm feeling lucky" button at google.com would take you to GWB's bio at whitehouse.gov. Unfortunately that doesn't quite work anymore, but the BBC reported on it and you can see why. But funny as hell when it worked.
If you're ever in town on a date I highly recommend Cyrano's. I guess you could call it a french restaurant, as it has some typical french cuisine, but it's really just more of a gourmet restaurant with some eclectic foods. WONDERFUL dessert, though...that's why we went. Cyrano's used to be close to where I went to college, but then it closed down for a while and now it's back, in a rather different place. Anyway, my cousin came into town before her (grad) school shopping trip which includes New York, Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa...and her birthday is tomorrow so my parents and I wanted to take her out to dinner. Cyrano's had just reopened so my dad suggested that and boy was it a good idea.
I'd already had dinner so I was just going for dessert but we did end up having some french onion soup and I tried one of Corey's mussels. Interesting taste, that. But between the six of us we laughed up a storm while praising the fine food. Then for the desserts: I had a tarte tatin, which is a french apple upside-down pie. Trust me, it's good. Especially when served with cinnamon ice cream. Since we were there for Corey's birthday she got her 'Cleopatra' dessert free...and a whole lot of whipped cream. And if you're on that hot date...get a flambé. Sure they're expensive but they're prepared at the table and you get cool effects when cinnamon and nutmeg is thrown into the flaming pan! Mmm, brandy and cherries. Rock on. You should go.
Mom and Dad made these little party favors with Corey's grad pic on them...they were the kind where you blow in a tube and a paper tube unrolls...we had entirely too much fun with those. Thank goodness they didn't make noise or they would have thrown us out of the place. We had to wait about an hour for a table because they don't take reservations...but it was worth it. Especially because we had a pretty cute waiter and the food was great of course. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time. Laughing is good for you, you know. It burns calories! lol.
I need more posters, or at least more things to hang on the walls here. It's still quite bare even though we've been here what, four months? sigh. Where's my domestic spirit? lol. it'd rather be in bed with a book like I am *rolleyes*
And so I tagged along with Alex and Leo as they started their joint Atkins diet exercise plan. We just went to the weight room at the athletic complex at the uni, but it was a little weird being there again after all this time...sigh. I keep saying I should work out and I'll say it again. I'll probably hurt tomorrow even though I barely broke a sweat. Those squats will get you every time. One of these days I'll give my new pair of running shoes a better workout, I swear. Really. Where's my motivation? When did I become such a couch potato? And think of the contradiction...I love track, I miss it, but I don't want to spend the time to get back into it. I'll put it off a little longer at least. First I'll stop rambling--
This is why I don't like Bush. The stupid man was grinning during his State of the Union address like he knew he was getting away with something, which he has. I didn't know too much about the patriot act before but if this ad is true then SAFE is the way to go. PLEASE don't vote for Dubya. As my mother put it, she would vote for a monkey over Bush and be happy with her choice.
Gung hai fat choy! Happy Chinese New Year! I hope you wore red and can grab yourself a bite of dim sum...click the link for all sorts of goodies on CNY.
This year marks year 4,701 on the Chinese calendar! Those smart chinese people...they figured out exactly when the seasons are gonna change...as opposed to us Julian-calendar-users who just fumble through with fixed dates...lol.
And remember: If you are in a hurry you will never get there. (Click the fortunes link above for more proverbs )
So all of you who were wondering what the heck those numbers near the bottom right of the layout were for...there's finally some content! Er. There are now even more ways to leave the stars behind because I updated the 'outs' page finally. So go visit all those fine upstanding sites and forgive me because I haven't gotten around to deleting sites off my blogroll. Speaking of, does anyone know if there's a way to manage your own blogroll, as in you control the scripting? It would be nice because as you all know I'm a cheapskate and hate paying for things online, so I only have the one free blogroll allotted to non-Gold users. But I'd like to have more and have a little more control over it...eh. Just me being power-hungry I guess.
Don't forget to wear red tomorrow for Chinese new year! Alex, there's your reminder not my fault if you don't read it until tomorrow!
Just because. Thanks Leo!
Today is like Monday even though it's Tuesday. Nothing to do, so far. I guess I should go ask people what's going on, but bleah. Amazing how I'm managed to waste three hours just sitting here at the computer. And I just dl'd a lot of photoshop brushes so maybe I'll try making some LJ icons. Maybe. I'm so bad.
Any ideas as to what I should be thinking about for the next layout? For anything? I know there's a lot of html (or php'ing for that matter) that I should be doing but I'm laaaazy today and don't wanna. Sheesh. That was mature.
Pray for my mom that she gets good information back from her tests that she has to take in Milwalkee tomorrow. They're gone until thursday which is sad because thursday is chinese new year...and it's my year! Well, it's everyone who was born in my year's year...the year of the monkey! Go clever monkeys...
yeah. bored. No comments on my thoughful post last night?
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I was thinking the other night as I drove home from my parents' house how so much of our life is built on trust, and we take it for granted. We trust that our cars won't break down, that the wheels will grip the road even if it's raining, how our parents will be there (until they die, which we don't think about). We trust that our home, apartment, dorm, whatever will be there when we get back and that our car will be in the same place as when we left it that morning. We trust that the car will start even in freezing temperatures. We trust that the grocery store will have milk and orange juice and that the gas station kiosk we stop at will have gas in the octane you need or paper so it can print your receipt.
We trust that our harddrives will store our information and start up the next time we hit the power button. We trust that we will still have a job when we get to work the next day and that there will be someone to talk to. We trust that things will work out. We trust that God or whoever you believe in has a plan for us and that it's all going as it's supposed to. We trust that we are right and they are wrong.
Where does this blind trust come from? Sometimes I wonder at how much we trust that everything is alright. I trust that someone is reading this journal and that just maybe someone appreciates it...otherwise I'm just doing this for my own glory.
Anything that makes you go hhmmm?
the BOW! and the QUIVER! and the DAGGERS! (but you already knew about those) all at lordoftheringscatalog.com. This stuff was previously only available in Germany (...wtf?) So now all you people asking me where you can buy the bow (since you don't read sidebars) can visit there.
Wouldn't it be cool to have the kit? I don't know what I'd do with it and I certainly don't have the money for it, but damnit it would be SO cool to have. There's even a display plaque for the bow and six arrows. When am I gonna be rich again?
Yes, that man of great beauty
, the essence of elf, the perfect pirate, the titan of Troy...er. You get the idea. Orlando Bloom is 27 today, which I think is a wonderful number
Dave knows why...maybe I'll come back later with a cute fansign, maybe not. Depends on how glucose transport goes. Happy birthday, you hunk!
Edit: Here's a fansign...not my best, but hey, it's Photoshop 5 LE. Best I can do between muscle movings
Went home and watched Alias that the folks thankfully taped for me yesterday...(Lauren Reed! Agggh!) and scanned in my new Orli drawing (just in time for Orli's bday
)...it was one of those that just begged to be drawn. Hope you like.
Click for my gallery page and hugeness.
Comments welcome, add them on the gallery page!
and here I answer some pretty inane ones.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what some website had for the translation
Anyway, here are some answers to your burning questions.
Q: where can i find legolas's bow? A: I've already answered this, several times...take a look at the sidebar under "right now" and you might be able to figure it out. As of right now the bow is not officially available.
Q: buddy icons. A: Also already answered this...you people don't check back often enough. I don't really have time to make a lot of icons, so there aren't a lot on my site. You can find plenty online!
Q: What is this website for? A: This website is my personal journal/portal to all my other sites. A place where I can ramble about my (argueably) unexciting life. Click on the 'what the heck is an etoiline" link on the sidebar. NOT affiliated with Orlando Bloom, Lord of the Rings, or anything in Hollywood. Just a fangirl! Am I gonna have to make a disclaimer?
Q: How many times has Orlando Bloom factured his skull? A: I'm not quite as obsessed as some, so I can't tell you for certain. I believe just once. Though he has broken his ribs three times. and Q: how much money did Orlando Bloom make? A: As I'm not his agent nor his accountant I am not privy to any of his financial information...honestly, people. I must not sound like a girl! and Comment: I'm a big fan of you OB and I was wondering how could a guy so hott{sic} like you not be married but then again maybe you could stay single for 11 years{laugh}? Where on this site does it say I am Orlando? Can someone tell me why this looks like anything other than a fansite? There's nothing official about it. Go bug full bloom.
Q: will i marry legolas? A: Gosh I sure hope not because that would mean you are delusional. Not quite so obsessed with the lovely elf prince that I don't realize he's fictional.
Q: Age? A: Come now. You obviously didn't look at the site very long, did you?
Q: what does the back of arwen's crown look like? A: Wait, let me ask her to turn around for you. I wish I knew, but I'm not a metalsmith so I couldn't even begin to guess. Do I look like a jeweler?
Egad. I had more of these than I realized. Maltese falcon screencaps indeed. I've never even seen the movie. And I don't think Billy Boyd or Orlando will marry anyone who visits this site...and I certainly can't tell you what they're thinking! And yes it's true, the cast are all friends still. Read any interview and you can see that is true. I have only sketched Orlando in his Legolas and Will Turner guises, and just pure sexiness as himself. Maybe more later.
Just heard Melissa Etheridge's new song, Breathe, as originally sung and produced by the St. Charles (near my hometown) band Greenwheel. They're both on the same label, and she picked it up. I recommend the Greenwheel version.
And things are a little boring around here. Yay triglyceride assays that don't work. And I made a timesheet for tomorrow's experiment. And I read some of the RotK Script, with screencaps of the first half...
I can't believe I forgot to wish Tolkien a happy 112 birthday last saturday. Alas. Well, I saw RotK in honor of it...yeah, that's it. And yes, that does mean that I've seen the lovely bit of cinema that is Return of the King three times, and as far as I know I've got at least one more in me...we'll see if I can rack up the 6 theater viewings I had for FotR. Only once more to tie my TTT record...and have you heard that the RotK EE is most likely going to come close to FIVE HOURS long? Ahh. Bliss! lol. Kidding. Really. How are they even going to fit all that on two discs? lol.
Would you like to be a part of a research project on Lord of the Rings? Click here.
I'll have to check out Walgreens to see if they have RotK valentines yet
Auld lang syne, anyone? What a night.
Spent New Year's Eve at Forest Park for the big 04Eve celebration. LOTS of people. They had estimated maybe 30,000+ people might come...today's estimates have over 100,000 people thought to have streamed through the park. As you can imagine logistics was a pain, but overall I though it quite grand. Lots of activities, all free (what more could you ask for?) and the most wonderful seat for fireworks you could wish for. Jess, thanks for going, sorry you had to leave early and glad you got home ok. It was nice to meet you Marty, thanks for the champagne and of course you are gay. The couple of gay guys I've met have all been pretty cute, funny, and they like me...I'm just not their type
In case you were wondering, yes, drunkeness occurred. Strange how nights at Alex's always end interestingly.
More later when I'm not quite so tired from a) walking nearly the entire western part of Forest Park and b) staying up waay to late the last few days. Happy 2004!
