By now I'm sure at some point during your regular daily web surfing you've seen one ad or another for an online browser game called "Evony."
Originally, the ads started out pretty harmless, showing a knight and his sword preparing for battle. But apparently that wasn't attracting enough players, so they decided to ditch the knight in favor for a medieval dressed woman with a little cleavage showing. Eventually that "little" cleavage became "a lot more" cleavage.
And then, someone made the decision to just ditch the drawn images and go for hot chicks in tight little tops.
But that wasn't good enough either.
Soon enough, I saw this ad for the game:
Yes, that's right - it's a busty bra-covered torso with matching little panties.
My first thought: "What the hell does that have to do with this game?"
I found out recently, that a brother-in-law of mine sometimes plays this game, saying he can start a building or farm, go do something else and come back 20 minutes later and it's still going. He also pointed out the fact that the ads have NOTHING to do with the game - the graphics aren't that great, there are no females or sexy hot queens to rescue - it's like a smaller scale browser knock-off of the Civilization games.
What really drives me nuts is that 1) I see these ads on nearly every other site I visit these days (you can't get away from them!!) and 2) I'm a female - this type of advertising does not appeal to me! I don't want to be checking my facebook or some forum I visit frequently or reading a news story on a news site and see this crap! It's bad enough I have to see commercials with women dressed like this while watching late night tv - I shouldn't be forced to see it while I'm doing my daily web surfing routine!
When I was in 3rd grade, my best friend started taking figure skating lessons at our local ice rink. After seeing her in that year's ice show, I decided I wanted to do it too - after all, we were best friends and best friends do everything together, right?
My parents enrolled me in beginners classes and I did enjoy it for a few years. While my friend was a few classes ahead of me, we still had fun going to the free skating on the weekends and being in the ice shows together, even though we were never in the same number.
The other day, I was at the dollar store on a quest for a cheap Rolodex. While looking around at pretty much everything in the store, I came across a familiar book in a random bin.
This book brought back a lot of memories of those figure skating days!
During our years of figure skating in 3rd-6th grades, my best friend found about this new book series called Silver Blades, which follows the adventures young talented figure skaters and friends Nikki, Danielle, Tori, Jill and Haley as they have dreams of one day competing in the Olympics. When we first started reading the books, there were only maybe a handful of them and I remember we had to wait for the next ones in the series to come out to find out what happens next.
Eventually, the wait between books got too long, and we got older and stopped reading them. But it appears that the series kept going on throughout our time in high school, with 23 books in the main series, plus 2 additional sets to the series - 2 "Special Edition" books, and 3 "Gold Medal Dreams" books. Several of the books have even been recognized by the USFSA.
Did I buy the book? No, but only because it was one that I'm positive is stored in a box somewhere at my parents house - probably the same box my remaining Babysitter's Club books are in (I was stupid and put them out for a garage sale like 10 years ago and I recall someone buying half of them >< ).
It was fun taking a trip down memory lane though in the middle of the store!
I came across this article awhile back and I happen to think a lot of it is good advice. Since Valentine's Day is just 2 days away and a lot of women, whether single or in a relationship, tend to go into that lovey-dovey mode this time of the year I thought I'd share it.
Ladies, before you decide to tie the knot, make sure you haven't missed out on some important life experiences every woman should experience.
Live by herself for at least a year.
Live with someone else for at least a year.
Recover from a broken heart.
Have a vacation fling.
(this don't mean you have to sleep with them, but a little summer romance/crush never hurt anyone!)
Take a road-trip with a group of girlfriends.
Relish sleeping in a queen-sized bed by herself.
Get her finances in order.
Learn to love her body.
Have sex with at least one person she’d never want to marry (or introduce to mom).
(Now I don't think you necessarily need to have sex with someone, but as the quote by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings goes, “A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life, to be thankful for a good one” which I fully agree with and believe this statement goes more along the lines of that quote.
Find reliable birth control.
Pay off as much credit card debt and student loans as possible.
(Once you get married, your debt becomes theirs and vice versa!)
For those of you like me who have been using Facebook since its early days, I've probably noticed just how far it's come in 5+ years. One such feature that's really come a long way is Groups/Pages. Back in the day, people could only join your group is you went to the same college as them (because originally, Facebook was a college networking site and a way to find old friends from high school), which sucked because sometimes your friends that went to other colleges had cooler group names. Eventually Facebook made everything "global" so anyone from any network could join a group. And then they added in Pages, where you could "become a fan" of everything from a band or author to a tv show or movie to well, pretty much anything!
Today when I logged in I saw a rather amusing Page that some of my friends had become fans of: "Can I have a coke?" "Is Pepsi alright?" "Is Monopoly money alright?"
Over the past few months I've seen some of my friends joined some rather fun or interesting groups and pages and thought I'd share some of these clever or random titles.
Really Neat For every person that joins this I will donate $0.01 to Haiti Relief
This person already made a $1,143.09 donation, however the group is still growing and is now at 172,386 members
If 1M people join, girlfriend will let me turn our house into a pirate ship
The dude did get over a million people after a few years of this group being around. He hasn't built it yet though because he's trying to find a way to fund it!
When I Was Your Age... When I was your age, Pluto was a planet When I was your age I lost a tooth, not my virginity When I was your age we had to blow on the video games to make them work When I was your age The Rock was a wrestler, not a tooth fairy When I was your age we used to rent movies from the video store When I was your age we had Kenan and Kel, not Drake and Josh
Can this [insert noun] get more fans than [insert person]
Can this purple monster I made on paint get more fans than the president? Can this pickle get more fans than Nickelback?
Guilty as Charged (these have happened to me) I die a little inside when someone has not heard of The Prince Bride I stand in the shower aimlessly for ages just because it's warm I only check my voicemail so the icon disappears on the screen I was a grocery bag Indian in elementary school and I rocked it hard Thinking there's another step on the staircase and falling because there isn't Trying to delete useless characters in a text to make it under 160 I try to finish my dream by trying to sleep again after waking up 63 notifications later and I regret liking your status Testing the person next to you stuff you can't say out loud I stay in my pajamas until I absolutely HAVE to get dressed I survived Y2K, Bird Flu, Made Cow, 9/11 and Swine Flu. 2012, here I come! Yelling at inanimate objects Saying something, then realizing it sounded extremely sexual I feel my phone vibrate when it doesn't Loving a band no one knows, and dying inside when they become popular
I concur! Carmen Sandiego is one sneaky bitch If I had a kid at 16 I'd get my ass whooped, not a TV show I hate it when the dentist talks to you when their hands are in your mouth
Yeah really - how do they expect you to answer their questions?? PE teachers shouldn't be fat Don't you just hate it when the radio doesn't tell you who sang that song Jack could've fit on that door with Rose
That confused me in Titanic - he's there floating in the water freezing to death as she hogs the entire board - there was room for the two of them! Why do we need algebra? Finding X is only useful if you're a pirate
Humorous DeKalb/Sycamore Earthquake Relief
This is funny because, as some my recall from my post the other day, we had a minor earthquake here in northern Illinois B.U.F.F.E.T. - Big Ugly Fat Folks Eating Together When I lose - "Who cares, it's only a game." When I win - "HAHA IN YOUR FACE!" Trying to turn on the lights then realizing that they are already on On 12/21/2012 I'm not doing my homework, excuse will be "I thought I'd die" I can sing better than anyone! In the shower Having a 100% sarcastic conversation with someone who thinks you're serious Laughing at your ex when they date someone really ugly Paper beats rock? Ok, I'll throw a rock and you defend yourself with paper I don't care about your farm, or your fish, or your park, or your mafia!!! What if Google didn't exist? Man we would all be screwed I believe the word 'studying' was derived from the words 'students dying' He broke her heart, so she broke his xbox. Who do you think cried harder? Dora the Explorer is soo an Illegal Immigrant
This one has some hilarious user submitted photoshopped photos of Dora and Friends border jumping! My status isn't about anybody, it's lyrics to a song dumbshit...
this is funny because it often happens to my sister I have texted while lying down and dropped the phone on my face
this is funny because me sister has confessed to doing this... several times! lol...
Anne Frank would be so pissed if she knew everyone read her diary Anne Frank - Hide and Seek World Champ 1942-1944
these 2 had me cracking up at the titles
Thoughtful The feeling you get when you understand something in math class When I realized that 3.14 looks like "PIE" backwards my mind was blown I responded to your text in two seconds, stop taking two hours to answer If you remember "Boy Meets World" what the hell kind of name is "Topanga"
I recall wondering this too when I watched the show... Taylor Swift won a Grammy. Where was Kanye?
Yeah really, after all that fuss at the VMAs... the Grammy's are what really counts!
What funny, interesting or amusing page/group names have you seen while on Facebook?
Driving home today I heard one of my favorite rock ballads from the 90s on the radio and since Valentine's Day is this weekend I thought it might be fun to share some more of my favorite rock/alternative ballads of the 90s.
Tonic - "If You Could Only See"
"If you could only see the way she loves me, maybe you would understand why I feel this way about our love and what I must do... If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says she loves me..."
I loved this song as a kid in junior high. It starts out simple with a guitar and then kicks in the bass and drums. It was music to my ears!
Candlebox - "Far Behind"
This was the ballad I heard on the radio that inspired this post.
While I was only in 3rd or 4th grade at the time this song was released, I wasn't introduced to it until I was in high school and I completely fell in love with it. Musically it's strong, lyrically, it's got one of those choruses and hooks that you can easily sing along with in the car (which I often do when this one comes on).
Guns 'N Roses - "November Rain"
Amusing story behind this one - the summer between 7th and 8th grade (summer 1997) I had an internet boyfriend. Now this back before sites like eHarmony, match.com, chemistry.com, etc were household names and if you told anyone you were dating someone online, you'd get strange looks and people would try to tell you that your relationship didn't count. But it did for me and my internet boyfriend. We'd chat online regularly through Prodigy Classic's early form of an instant messenger and on rare occasions we'd sneak phone calls to each other where he would sometimes play me songs on his guitar, including Guns and Roses. I want to say he played me part of this one too and that's how it became "our song." Eventually my parents found out I had an online boyfriend and freaked (as most parents would back then), cut communication for awhile and eventually we both moved on in life.
But I still remember this song. They lyrics are sweet and rolling in at 9 minutes long, this ballad tells a story. I also love how it's in 3 different movements: the first is soft with piano, then the 2nd is the main melody - the body of the song - where it combines all the elements such as guitars, drums, strings, etc, then the third - my favorite - you have all the same elements, but throw in some neat guitar shredding by Slash combined with the heaviness of the piano and strings and WOW! You got yourself something REALLY NEAT going on!
Bush - "Glycerine"
"Don't let the days go by..."
Ahhh Gavin Rossdale, how do I <3 thee! Gwen Stefani is one lucky lady!
This was another song I fell in love with back in junior high. This one starts out with just Gavin gently playing a guitar with some very subtle bass and then the strings chime in. What makes this song work is that it has beautiful build up to the chorus, then it quiets down, working it's way back up each time. With Gavin's vocals and the strings it gives it that rock ballad edge without going over the top or ever getting really really heavy like some rock ballads do.
The Smashing Pumpkins - "Tonight, Tonight"
I remember being fascinated by this video when I was in 6th grade and as I grew older I fell in love with this song. The neat thing about it is that musically, the entire song is one big build up to the climax near the very end of the song. With each verse and chorus it just builds and builds to that one moment when Billy Corgan asks "Believe in me, 'cuz I believe in you" and then it dies down and closes out in a matter of seconds. Genius!
Eagle Eye Cherry - "Save Tonight"
This song was a staple of my freshman year of high school. I remember handwriting out the lyrics on a piece of paper after recording it off the radio and spending some time stopping and starting the cassette to write it all down and then singing it with my friends at school. This is a great combination of music, lyrics and vocals that works so well together.
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
"If everything could ever feel this real forever... If anything could ever be this good again... The only thing I'll ever ask of you - You've got to promise not to stop when I say when..."
First time I saw this video, I couldn't stop laughing at the guys in drag. Musically though, this is probably one of the top rock ballads of my generation.
Gin Blossoms - "Follow You Down"
Another one I loved back in 6th grade. I loved the harmonica, guitars and rhythm in this one. I also get excited when they use this one in chick flicks, usually when one of the main characters realize they're in love with the other and have to go chase them down (such as in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days").
Van Halen - "I Can't Stop Loving You"
While Van Halen has had several lead singers over their career, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I didn't mind the Van Hagar years. While the band wasn't as heavy with Hagar as it was with Roth, they did produce some pretty powerful powerhouse songs, such as this one and "Right Now." Sure it's different, but this was a great ballad for them!
Bon Jovi - "Always"
I remember being in grade school when I first saw this video at my friend's house and WOW! Talk about some heavy stuff going on here - I loved it!
Aerosmith - "Cryin'"
Spacehog - "In the Meanwhile"
Honorable mentions that fall more along the lines of being 90s pop/rock love songs
Random, I know, but when it came to addresses we've been using a 3 page list of addresses from our wedding which was back in September '08. And no, it's not 3 pages long, it just unfortunately printed off in 3 pages - page 1 having the name and street address, page 2 having the city and state, and page 3 has all the zip codes. How it printed out like this I have no clue, as I print out Excel lists all the time at my job.
Sure I could just enter everything in an address book in our computer, which is handy for big mailings where we just print off labels, but if I just need one address wouldn't it be simpler to just flip to the name in the Rolodex than have to wait for the address book in the computer to load up? Plus what if the computer isn't on? Then I need to wait for it to boot up.
So I decided to go buy one the other day.
They cost a bit more than I was expecting though.
I had to stop at a dollar store to pick up some gift wrap supplies (btw - dollar stores are GREAT for gift bags, tissue and wrapping paper!) so I decided to see if they had any cheap Rolodexes.
They did not.
Next stop - Walmart!
I searched and searched the ENTIRE office supply section at Walmart and only found 1 lone Rolodex, hidden in a random spot on a lower shelf. This one was fancy mesh though, that matched the rest of Walmart's desk organization supplies and it was nearly $10.
I passed and drove over to Office Max, where they had a whole section of Rolodexes! Big ones, simple ones, cheap ones, expensive ones. I opted for the cheapest one they had which cost about $7. Honestly though, I wasn't expecting to spend more than $5. Oh well!
As you can see in the photo above, I did buy the cheap Rolodex, which Tiger is modeling. She enjoyed posing for pictures, so long as the flash was off (she's a big blinker like her mommy!)
