What's Your favorite cookie?

Please let me know if you don't like cookies
because I've never met anyone who doesn't

One of my favorite characters is the cookie monster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhUFxaauNTE

What's your smurf name?

I was browsing the bulletins of myspace and my friend Sarah posted this. (Thank you Sarah, for always posting the best!).

http://bluebuddies.com/smurf_fun/what_is_your_smurf_name/what_is_your_smurf_name.htm

I typed in my name: Kate Lathrop, and got Summer Smurf

Then I did a mix of my roommates name and mine: Aubreykate Yeanoplos and got Smarty Pants Smurf! We got a kick out of that one!

Other names have been Angelic Smurf, Lovable Smurf, Ol' Mac Smurf, Photographer Smurf, Vanilla Smurf.

What's weird...my roommate is a photographer, and she's photographer smurf!

Check it out!

taking care of business

suggestions please!
What is the most effective way of getting things done?
I just made a list of everything I need to do for school and I'm trying to figure how to get it done best.
Step one: turn off phone.
Step two: close door
Step three: buckle down and DO THE WORK! don't let anything distract from what is important to get done.
Step four: Mantra- "you'll feel better when this is all done."

But does it work better to multitask, or get one thing done at a time?
Does it work to have scheduled breaks?
Do I get the hard stuff done first? Or do I get the easy stuff out of the way so I'm not thinking about it anymore?
What do I do?

Text Mania

If phones could make food and water, anyone could live on a desert island and get by just fine for a month or two.
It's not a new craze.
People are addicted to their phones.
We put everything we need on our phones. GPS, MP3, TV, internet, everything!

And I'm at 600 text messages 10 days into my billing period. I'm texting my friends.Coordinating rent payments with my roommates. Texting my boyfriend "good morning", "how's your day" and "goodnight". Communicating during boring classes. Taking care of business in general.

I get around 50 text messages per day, give or take. That's about 2 per hour. But in those hours that I don't get text messages, I wonder what is wrong. I wonder why no one is talking to me.

A little obsessive? YES!

I'm not alone. Their are support groups for people who are addicted to their cell phones. Like for alcoholics.

I'm going to be careful...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,204046,00.html
http://media.www.cm-life.com/media/storage/paper906/news/2007/09/19/Lifeline/My.Cell.Phone.Addiction-2976361.shtml

Bettas

Anxiety
I have two new pets at the office. Shown at left are my red and blue betta fish respectively, Dragon and Munch.
Soo... look at how close the bowls are. Are they too close together?
Reason I'm concerned: My friend Brittney told me about how one of her betta fish jumped into her other betta fish's tank and killed it! I just got these fish and I just don't want them to die. I knew they wouldn't get along. (My boyfriend Matt told me that if two male betta fish are in the same LAKE, they will find each other and have a fish war.)
It makes me wonder who the tougher fish is, Dragon or Munch? I'm NOT testing this out. I'm rather attached to both of them.
So I'm headed to work early tomorrow to clean their tiny bowls (I'm getting bigger ones soon). Hopefully I'm find them both alive and swimming.

Here's Munch- he's my favorite color, blue! he's the smaller of the two, the therefore, a munch.



And here's Dragon. Red Dragon! He's my roommate Aubrey's favorite color!

I've been researching how to care for bettas. Here's some sites that have helped.
http://www.bettafish.com/
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/anabantids2/p/betta.htm
and of course- wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_Fighting_Fish

A little bit of luck

I did a nerdy thing today.
I picked up a penny from the ground.
I do that. I pick up pennies that I see on the sidewalk, or the street. I put them in my back pocket and forget about them. At the end of the day I find the forgotten penny and put it in my dish of extra change.
I couldn't tell you of this helps me in any way. There was one time when i lost my debit card and had to scrimp for change to buy food for a couple of days. But most of the change I spent were quarters, dimes and the occaisional nickel.

"See a penny, pick it up
All day long you'll have good luck"

A superstition or a random rhyme? I haven't measured the amount of "luck" I've had on the days when I've picked up pennies. I have a hard time deciphering "luck" from "not luck". I suppose my surprise at the end of the day when I find the penny would constitute as something that makes me marginally happier.

Maybe that's all the penny is needed for- a little bit of luck. Pennies, or pence, or fennig, or pfennig, or a penni (depending on what country you're in) are all 1/100 of that currency. Should pennies bring the picker- upper 1/100th more luck than they otherwise would have had that day?

"Spending a penny" means "to urinate" (thus the word pee). So does having an extra penny help one to ne less constipated later?

Lots of businesses have little change holders for extra pennies. People take them and leave them. And yet there are talks of discontinuing the use fo the penny in the U.S. (http://www.pennies.org/poll_july2002.htm). Will this gradually lead to the run- down 1/100th of luck for the American people? I really doubt it.

But some things are "worth every cent", (like google or the iPhone apparently) don't believe me? google "pennies"...

Talk like a pirate day!

don't forget about Talk like a pirate day! it's tomorrow! My boss Elaine is crazy weird about pirates!

This is the main page
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

...and instructions for how to talk like a pirate!
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/howto.html

Find out your pirate name!
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/howto.html
Mine's Epileptic Antionia Smythe

and another pirate name quiz
http://www.piratequiz.com/
my name is
Dread Pirate Cash

and of course, the pirate translator!
http://www.syddware.com/cgi-bin/pirate.pl

and some pirate jokes!

Why is pirating addictive? They say once ye lose yer first hand, ye get hooked!

What does a Dyslexic Pirate Say? RRAAAAAAAAAAA!

What does a pirate say when he has a heart attack? Arrr! Me heartie!

A pirate walks into a bar wearing a paper towel on his head. He sits down at the bar and orders some dirty rum.

The bartender asks, "Why are you wearing a paper towel?"

"Arrr..." says the pirate. “I’ve got a bounty on me head!"

LDS Institute dedication

Among the talks given at the LDS Institute of religion at ASU, overall message was the importance of secular and religious education being intertwined in order to find truth. President of ASU, Michael Crow noted the changes that had been made to the university in the past few years in order the facilitate secular and religious education side- by- side. he used Thomas Jefferson's gravestone as an example of the importance of standing up for religious freedom. Jefferson understood this principle despite being a deist, and out of the three achievements he put on his gravestone, the last one was the addition of the rights to religious freedom in the constitution.

Elder Henry B. Eyering, an apostle in the LDS church, told the story of his family, and the testimony of his father being a combination of chemistry and God. His father found truth in both, and knew them to be true.

I had a reminder today to be the best I can be in every way. It is easy to work on one part of life at a time and forget the others. I'll work on my spiritual side, and then I'll put that aside to work on my emotional side. I always thought that this was the way I was supposed to do things before tonight. I learned that I should be working on everything simultaneously, always striving to make myself better.

Myspace or Facebook

Until recently, I've sworn by facebook as the greatest online social utility. Though less popular, facebook was easier to navigate and kept me updated on my friends better. Then I started playing with my myspace account, and found that this worldwide networking site let me say a lot more about myself than facebook. The idea is the same with both of the, but the options are different.

Knowing html lets a user make any graphic they want to on myspace, with makes it possible to choose backgrounds, icons, and formats. People can be friends with their favorite television shows and the characters on these shows. They can befriend nightclubs, schools, and cities, as well as their friends. Videos and websites are posted.

Facebook provides games which users can play with each other. It informs users when their friends make changes to their profiles, and tell how they are doing. The format is the same for all pages, which makes a uniform feeling to the site.

These are only some of the features of each of the websites. I've decided that I need both. Perhaps it's just my addictive personality speaking, but I have friends on facebook who are not on myspace, and vis versa. Not everyone needs to use both websites, but I find myself checking both of them often. Both social utilities. Both forms of communication. Both addicting. Who cares abnout the differences

Mama Mia!

This play was fun! It reminded me of girls nights.

Girl Groups

So the Spice Girls have reunited for a world tour...I wish I could afford tickets...
Reason being that I liked the Spice girls when I was nine, and a decade later, I still groove to their music.
I turn it down when people come into the room, but it's usually too late- they've heard the embarrassing poppy music and cheesy lyrics, and pictured five skinny girls in silly clothing.
To my surprise, they say "Hey, turn that back up! I love the Spice Girls!"
(these people are usually girls. I haven't tried the Spice girls on any of my guy friends as of yet. My nine year old guy friends were more into other music.)

I've even added the Spice girls as one of my radio stations on pandora.com. Pandora takes your music selections and mixes them with similar music. I like it because it introduces me to new artists I might like and even opt out of music I don't like. My Spice girls radio station usually comes up with other pop music of the 90's. Britney, 'NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys, Janet Jackson, and Destiny's Child are among the mix. Yes- this is the blissful Spice Girls station.

I listen to it all the time.

And then, as I am nostalging over the 90s, a song comes on the radio station that does fit in.

And then, it DOES fit in...but it's NEW!

The Pussycat Dolls have sung their way onto my Spice Girls station.

This doesn't make sense to me at first. How are the lingerie- wearing, sultry, come- hither singing Dolls like the....wait...

They pretty much are the spice girls- 11 years later and up- to date. A clique of attrative women. Revealing clothes. Suggestive lyrics. Attitude. Personality. Lots of production. The center of the pop world.

Girl groups begain in the 1960, when Ron Spector started the Ronettes and Motown supported the Supremes. Girl groups were fun. The british invasion and put girl groups in the background. Flash forward to the 80s with Salt 'N Pepa, and continued with TLC and then Destiny's Child. The Spice Girls were the most successful of all of these.

Each wave of girl group fun was up- to- date on society's norms. Each has gotten more risque with their clothing and their lyrics. They seem to come into the spotlight and then leave after their run is done.

But people still like the Supremes. My conservative, too- embarassed- to- dance mother shakes it UP when she hears them.

And girls my age like the Spice Girls...

Are girl groups more classic than I gave them credit for? They might not seem serious enough to be taken seriously. But what is classic music? Could it be the stuff we listen to and love repeatedly, no matter how long it's been or how many times we've heard it?

And the Village People wrote silly songs a long time ago. People still listen to them.

*sigh* BITE

Watch this. Tell me what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb3g3F7cttc

After watching, I think we're probably thinking the same thing. Yeah. Saddest movie, but one of the best. Right?

No!

Did anyone notice that Satine is a VAMPIRE? You might want to watch it again now...

Alright, let's go over this. As soon as the lights go off, Satine convulses in pain. Anyone's notive how white her skin is? Christian runs to her. She does even have the strength to raise her head, but after she "has a coughing fit" and has been close to Christian, there is blood on her nouth. Everyone is sad.
theme: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return."

Yeah...here's how it really went. The lights onstage are pretty bright. Anyone who's been up there knows. It gets bright and hot. Guess what? Vampires don't do well in the light. In fact, they die.

Now Satine, is a pretty strong vampire. She can stand the light for a little bit.Did anyone notice how she doesn't go out during the day? Yeah- She's a "lady of the night", in more than one way.

The pale skin just adds to her vampireness.

Anyone notice how Christian gets all pale and crying after Satine "coughing" on him. There she is with blood in her face, and he's looking pale, sweaty and upset.

I would be too if I were bitten by a vampire.

At the end of the clip, you see Christian typing up the story. (i guess being bitten by a vampire is one kind of inspiration.) (depression is another) and he's both!.

Anyway. of anything her could write, he has to type "live forever".

Hmmm. what kind of person lives forever? Oh! Vampires! Unless they've been shot with a silver bullet through the heart....or stabbed in the heart with a cross....or out near garlic....

....or being under a spotlight for too long.

But before she died, Satine passed her vampiric qualities onto her lover. How sweet. Now HE will live forever!

The best love story ever!

*Please note. I really did appreciate this movie. I see myself purchasing it in the future. The way the movie was shot was amazing. I liked the way the mood changed between the crazy parties with many distractions and the long romantic shots. It really showed a difference between the fleeting, valuless things and the true, everlasting things in life. It's sad that people try to overpwer things so pure and true.
I thought about the above section because I was joing around in an effort not to cry and the end.

In Cold Blood

I read Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" recently. It made me think about how i judge people. Both men who killed the Clutter family seemed friendly and sane on the outside. Most people who met them thought Perry was a nice man, though a little off kilter, and Dick was a personable person.

I don't let people into my life very easily. When I meet new people I try to feel them out quickly. I think I'm pretty good at feeling people out. for the most part. I usually don't decide I like someone who ends up disappointing me later. If anything, I choose to not be close to someone and then change my mind when I know more about them.

"In Cold Blood" made me change the way I look at people. I shouldn't judge people by how they act, but also by what they do. A look into Perry's and Dick's past shows clues to their erratic and lethal behavior. It's what people do that make a difference. This is in addition to how they act and what they say.

I want a dog!

I want a dog. Period.

The are a few problems though....

Other than considering things like roommates, landlords, the lawn and my bank account, dogs can be rather...well....gross?

Aren't dog's the ones who slobber? and pee? I would grow to hate any dog that peed on my stuff. I would hate anyone who peed on my stuff...Maybe that's why I don't lie babies or my brother...they have the potential to pee on things....

Don't they eat their own poop?

Sometimes they smell bad...not all the time though. And it seems like fun to give the dog a bath. If worst comes to worst I can just spray it down with a hose and squirt some shampoo at it. This dog thing is sounding more fun with each passing moment.

I'm thinking..it can't be a BIG dog. I couldn't afford to feed one. and if it sat in my lap, the circulation in my legs would stop. I have a hard enough time with my parent's cat and comes and sleeps on my chest. Imagine waking up to find a fifteen lb weight on you. Yeah- you can't breathe.

It needs to be able to have a small yard. I don't own a golf course or anything.

If I did own a golf course I wouldn't mind dog pee on it. The dog could dig holes wherever they want too. Aren't there holes all over the golf course anyway? Someone with a dog must have invented golf.

More about golf:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X04wZpqx3U

Anyway. So here's what i'm thinking. Jen- if you're reading this, please take especial note...tell me if you want it or no...

Ladies and Gentlemen
I'm thinking of getting a Corgi!

(Maryann said this would work well since i'm such a corgi person ha..ha..)

But look at it!
If it looks short, that's because it is. No- this is not lame.

Corgi's were bred in Wales to be herding dogs. If cows or sheep kicked them, they were so small they could just roll out of the kick without being hurt. Or the cow would just miss because the dog was located so close to the ground.

They are agressive dogs, and want to please their owner.


Who know's? I could even get a dog like this. Notice how happy HE is just sleeping...awww

Book Club Listhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

I never feel quite as well- read as I would like to be. At the book club yesterday, everybody had really good suggestions as to what we should read next. Her's what we came up with

1. One flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey *- we're reading this now
2. Mrs. Dalloway- Virginia Woolfe
3. The Giver- Lois Lowry
4. To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee
5. Beloved- Toni Morrison
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
7. The Poisonwood Bible- Barbara Kingsolver
8. Invisible Man- Ralph Ellison
9. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
10. The Number One Ladies Detective Agency- Alexander McCall Smith

designers take note!

The judges at the MuchMusic video awards gave a sigh of relief when a certain starletf stepped out of her limo. Hilary Duff decided to censor her cleavage for the night.

A good move for the coming of age pop star. But can someone just give her a clue- "Hey Hilary, it's okay to show your stuff. You're not on the Disney channel anymore. Apparently she hasn't noticed her famous forerunners, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera who have successfully transcended the Disney world- to- Hollywood barrier.

Perhaps this is a stylistic choice.

Maybe she dribbled some mac and cheese on herself during the Duff family dinner. What a great way to cover up a stain!

I have to give her props though. My mother would be happy if she saw me wearing this. Once time she said "Honey, why do you show off your cleavage so much?"
"mom, it's kind of hard to pretend you don't have boobs when you're a C cup"
Mom, (an A cup, trying to be a B cup), nods aquiescingly, "Well, you're right, I guess the only thing I can do to keep cleavage is this.
and she pushed her boobs together.

Thank you Hilary, for being such an outstanding model of modesty. The next time I see a cleavage furrow, i'll make a mental note to censor my own clothing.

oh, the places I go

I always thought my family was kind of wonky...
There were just some things I would never tell anyone about my family's habits...until yesterday.

It was then when I visited my best friend's girlfriend's house, and their family quirks were put on display. I'd heard funny things from my friend...and I consider myself quite adaptable....but some things just have me rolling on the floor.

Her brother, J, had graciously made us dinner...(some salmon they had found while cleaning out the refrigerator) You see, the dad, Cliff, has kind of a habit when it comes to food. Come 5pm, you hear the grill being fired up. My best friend has never had so much BBQ in her life. He also keeps food...for a long time...In fact his most precious posession is his vaccuum packer. You know those vacuumed bags where you can't tell what the hell kind of food is in there? it looks like food from space. He vaccuum packs EVERYTHING. His kids joke around that they'll vaccuum pack HIM when he dies. He'd probably be happier that way.
But Cliff had gone on a long road trip with her sister (who apparently has an inordinate amount of lingerie. Subsequently, this is all she wears...even when there is NO ONE in 5 five mile radius to seduce.) anyway Cliff gone on road trip= ideal time to clean. and keep things clean.

Dinner was good, and they let me make brownies....

Just to let you know...J. isn't their brother. No, I don't know what he is...b ut according to him.
"I've lived in this house my whole life...except for when i lived next door."

I've made a mental note to figure this relationship out....becuase if my next door neighbors moved in and started cooking for me and sleeping naked....and...living there...I don't know what I would do.

J. is proud of his butt. I made some comment about how guys usually have skinnier butts than girls...and got this:

J.: My Butt is rock hard! One time my mom spanked my butt and her WHOLE HAND turned red! Here- spank my butt and feel how hard it is! One time, I couldn't get me shorts on because my fat, hard butt wouldn't give. When i finally got my shorts up, I was like "Yes!" and then the button poppedoff and like...out of the room.

He was wearing those shorts- still buttonless- when i was there.

And then we got set up to watch a movie (Hitchhiker's guys to the Galaxy- really loved it). We grabbed somee vanilla ice cream and the brownies I made and headed to the living room.
The cat was sitting in front of the couch. J. He snuck up to the couch and pulled the recliner lever- thus sending the cat flying across the living room. Ahh yes- flying cats.

I think I'll go back real soon...

The Great Gatsby

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arm farther...And one fine morning-
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

this passage, no matter how many times I have read it, has always made me feel the same way. It encourages me to keep stretching and reaching for my dreams. Even though Gatsby didn't achieve his dreams, I believe that I can get what I hope for. I think that the problem with a lot of dreamers is that they reach for things and then don't realize what they have once they have it. They keep wanting more. Keep reaching for more. All Gatsby knew in his life was his want for something- someone. I wonder what would have happened had Gatsby gotten to keep Daisy. Would he have been happy?

It's in many people's nature to want to become better. achieve more. Whether it means earning more money, having more children, achieving more degrees, having more materially or begin closer to God. Success means something different to each person. Yet once that success is reached, each person will want more.

When I was in the third grade, I looked up to my brother who was in high school. To me, he had "the life". he could go wherever he wanted to when he wanted to. He had his own money. He had a house key. He could go off by himself. he got to toilet paper houses. I wasn't allowed to go to the end of the street on my bike. Little did I know thechallenges I would face when I got to High School.

The secret to dreaming about things is to be content with what you have. We will always be unhappy if we reach for tings we do not have. We can always say "I'll be happy when i have...." This brings on a constant struggle.

Work on being happy with what you have. Not what you don't have.

the new cast of Charlie's Angels

The New Cast of Charlie's Angels:

Natalie, formerly played by Cameron Diaz will be: Kim Heywood
Alex, played by Lucy Liu, will be: Amy Tait
Dylan, played by Drew Barrymore, will be: Kate Lathrop


Primarily these choices were based on hair color similarity. Then, as the movie was re-viewed, we found that we each had personalities just like our characters.

Kim is cute, fun, and likes to dance. She also knows how hard it is to find quality men. She's working on dancing around in her underwear. But her room is always clean, and so is Natalie's.

Amy is attractive and blunt. She doesn't let just anyone get to her heart. She's very selective. She let's her girls know what's up. Chances are, if she had a high profile spy job where she could wear hott shoes and learn new things every day, she would be happy. (She can cook better than Alex can though.)

Kate has an attitude and she eats a lot, so she wouldn't mind licking a few steering wheels and kicking a few asses on a daily basis. She likes weird guys, but finds the fun in dorky things like shake and bake and scrabble. She also doesn't mind being naked.

There's no reason not to...

I don't have picture of him, but about two months ago I bought my new true love..my digital camera Bobby. Jenn named him. When we go out we can talk in code or something..be like "Are you bringing Bobby?" or "Smile for Bobby!".

Bobby's first adventure was a trip to St. Louis, Missouri and then a road trip from St. Louis to Fremont, CA with me and Jess. i've posted the videos (take by Bobby) on youtube. Here are the links:

Jess woke me up waaay too early in the morning...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQER-WAZA5Q

we went and saw the Arch in St. Louis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxamdXsvQQU

we cruised thee streets of St. Charles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_yRsiuYIPU

We had some trouble packing the truck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNVeYpU1T78

Once we got out of St. Charles we drove west for awhile. I was feeling mexican food, so we stopped at some very random mexican place. i can't even remember what town we were in. But it was the best food I'd ever eaten! and the best cheese!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-DYyJcSrWs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reooN2T66r0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeV-wmdQymo

And then there was the trip...here's a clip from Kansas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQcqCOlj7mc

we stopped in Salt Lake City and toured the conference center with Elder Ducky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGLF_0GfyE4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFmp2NooD50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM8oMo1Xo1E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AzYZnNEfys

check out more vids in youtube!