Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl commercial: Yay or Nay?
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dprQVQ3wOU]
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A Cloverfield sequel? Already? Is it even out of theaters yet? Would people actually pay to experience motion sickness again? Doubtful. Though I think I already know the answer to this one, I’ll ask anyway…
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Cloverfield sequal: Yay or Nay?

Blogging Meme from the lovely Singing With My Heart.
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How long have you been blogging?
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I started using LiveJournal in 2002. I still use it currently, but not as frequently as I used to. LJ was my primary “blog” until I started using a Myspace blog. That didn’t last for too long. I’ve had my Wordpress blog for almost a year I think. Wordpress is now the one I pay more attention to.
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What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?
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I’m not sure what really got the ball rolling on this blogging thing. I’ve always been writing whether it was online or in a real journal. I like having an outlet, a place where I can express myself about the many things that fly around in my mind. I think I like blogging because of the opportunities it provides. I get a lot of feedback on my thoughts and ramblings from people all over the world. I have the chance to make a lot of friendships and develop relationships with people all over the world. I like that I can be as open or censored as I like. I also like that my blog serves as a record for my own personal knowledge. I enjoy being able to look back two, six or twelve months and see what I was going through at that time. It’s a great tool for reflection and growing. I think I am more inclined to write if I know somebody is reading it.
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As for mentors, I think any of the blogs I’ve read could be a mentor. I love all of the different writing styles and topics of blogs I read. Some people are so incredibly profound and expressive in their writing. I feel like I am catching a unique glimpse into their world. I catch myself many times wishing I wrote a certain post or sounded more like so-and-so.
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Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?
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If I could make money off of it, I don’t think I’d pass up the opportunity, but who’d pay me to write this about chin pubes? I’m doing it for fun and because it’s been very healthy and therapeutic to have this outlet.
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What 3 things do you love about being online?
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1. Creativity/expression.
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2. Inspiration.
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3. Support.
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What 3 things do you struggle with online?
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1. Keeping up with all of the blogs I read. I easily fall behind.
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2. Self-doubt. Once in a while I’ll come across a post that just blows my mind and I wish I was capable of writing such a moving piece without trying.
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3. Censoring myself - to an extent. I do open up a lot more on my LJ, but don’t frequent it as much. But because I know people from school, work and family read this, I don’t like to divulge too much information that could be incriminating, hurtful or taken the wrong way. Too much can be taken out of context. I really love what Life of a Valley Girl has done. She’s completely anonymous, yet completely honest. Names have been changed and readers don’t even know if Val is her real name or not. I know so much about her, yet I don’t know her at all. Love it!

Short version: Rub my neck and you’ll receive jewels and riches from some guy named Dave.
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Long version:
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I have a love/hate relationship with my neck. For the last two months I’ve been experiencing a lot of neck pain. I switched to a memory foam pillow in hopes it would help keep my neck properly angled while sleeping. It ended up making the pain worse. I’ve been switching back and forth between that pillow and the other three I have on my bed. No luck. It doesn’t help that I’ve been writing a lot at work on a desk that is much too high. This resulted in my shoulder being elevated. What muscle does that bring to mind? If you said the levator scapula muscle, you are correct. Please direct your attention to the photo on the side.
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I really think my whole right side is messed up. Months ago, way back in like August and September I noticed a giant adhesion (knot) forming on the right side of my upper back. I can’t tell if it’s in the rhomboid, trap or infraspinatus muscle on my scapula. Well anyway, I can feel it when I gently rest my hand on my shoulder and rotate it. Its about the size of a walnut, if not bigger. Through my exploration, I learned I also have a lot of crunchiness along my rhomboid muscles. Ew. I think the work I’ve been doing has been irritating my levator. The right side of my neck is tight and it feels like they’re pulling on my head giving me headaches. I hate that I know this. I hate that I know which muscles are giving me grief but can do so little about it.
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I love my neck. It holds up my bowling ball sized head. I appreciate the muscles helping me look to my right and left. I’d be happier if it would stop hurting, just the right side! The left side is doing it’s job well and being pain-free.
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Time to schedule a massage huh? Perhaps if they didn’t cost so much.
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*The picture of the back shows where all my knots are that I’ve been able to find. They’re all on the right side, but because of the layers of muscles shown, I had to show some on the left. I’m more than willing to accept a deep tissue massage if you’d like to find the rest.*

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I’m sure my mom will be very proud of me for this post because I titled it Chin Pubes. Hi mom!!
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If the media is going to have a Britney news extravaganza every week and post pictures of her and her creepy paparazzi boyfriend, could he please shave that landing strip of pubes off of his chin?
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Why leave it? Why go through all of the work of shaving and leaving a perfectly straight line (o’ pubes)? Adnan, the lower half of your face looks like a va-jay-jay. Shave it.
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I have officially caught up with Lost last evening. So I haven’t finished the second or even started the third season, so what? I tuned in last night for the TWO hour finale with extra info. The text scrolling at the bottom of the screen was very helpful. I didn’t realize how utterly annoying the finale was though. Ben, is that his name? The guy with the crazy psycho eyes who leads the other. He bothers the crap out of me. And um, Charlie? Really? I’ll be watching the premier of season four this evening, but I’m not sure if I’ll make it through the whole thing. I already have so many questions.
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Lost gives me anxiety and apparently, headaches. Last night while watching it I got a migraine. Not cool. I sure hope Jack had nothing to do with that. He’s a hunky piece of man meat Anyway, just wanted to share that.
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I also watched Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. So cute. The last half is pretty, eh….craptastic. But the chipmunks are freaking adorable haha. I want a chipmunk. Please?

By all definitions of the word I would have never thought of myself as the loner type. I was extremely shy growing up and still am, though some would find that hard to believe. When asked if I am extroverted or introverted I reply both. I mask my awkwardness, discomfort and embarrassment with my humor.
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In grade school I was shy. Always trying to fit in with my small group of friends. My cousin was my best friend and I always gravitated toward her. I didn’t need anyone else. In seventh and eighth grade I joined cheerleading in hopes it would open me up socially. Turns out my same group of friends joined, along with my cousin.
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In high school I branched out a bit more. Still I had a small group of friends, but my cousin and I drifted apart. I blame boys. I was still ridiculously shy, but I was also a class clown. Only in my comfort zones though. There were only certain classes in which I could be myself. Freshmen English was one of those classes. We were instructed to write a short story and I wrote mine about Captain Kirk and Spock. It was complete with different voices when I read it out loud. I also played Romeo, the Friar and Juliet (for a scene) in our classroom production of Romeo & Juliet. It was beautiful if I do say so myself. I even remember getting into trouble and having to sit by the teacher’s desk all throughout class. I ruled.
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I had a couple close friends and a few other friendships that were dripping with drama. What all-girls high school didn’t have those?
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My first year of college I went to Wright. I quickly became part of a group from my science class. It was unlike any other group I had been in because it was male dominated and I was the only white person. It was great. A lot of different personalities, cultures and stories. We met before class, after class and outside of school. We were pretty close for that semester. But afterwards we didn’t have anymore classes together. I kept in touch with one guy for a while, but that didn’t last.
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Then came Western Illinois University. I had a roommate for a short time, but we were too different. She was a moocher and I wasn’t. I then had a single room for a while before I joined a sorority. I wanted so badly to have a group of people I felt that I belonged with. People I could depend upon for support, laughter and good times. These girls weren’t really it.
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I wasn’t your typical sorority girl. I had a pixie-style haircut, thick black-rimmed glasses, wore green converse, gel bracelets up my arms and didn’t drink. I was sober sister almost every weekend. When I wasn’t busy driving home drunk sisters, I was entertaining them with my comedian-like skills. I still don’t think I’m that funny, but I had them cracking up. I wonder if they were laughing AT me rather than with me…hmmm….
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I didn’t maintain any friendships from there. I left the house after a year and move to Salt Lake City. There I had a roommate. We got along fabulously for a while. She was insanely intelligent, too smart for her own good really, very creative, ambitious, determined and structured. After a while things weren’t so peachy between us. I think we both got under each other’s skin a bit. I had a few friends at school there, but none that I wish I kept. It was more socializing than building relationships.
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I worked at a movie theater while living there and developed a few friendships. The crowd was younger than I was by a few years, but still I was their main source of entertainment. I sang into the broom while cleaning up behind the concessions counter, danced while cleaning the theaters and talked to people from the ticket box office. I wasn’t acting shy in the least but still felt it. When I left, everybody signed a card saying they’d miss me and how much they laughed when I was around. But none of us kept in touch.
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Olney was lonely. I had few friends there, mostly because my ex knew a lot of people in town. The place I worked was filled with the older crowd and nobody around my age. It was a pretty lonely place and I think I fell back into my shy slump there.
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Then there was Cortiva. I took on a leadership role right away as class representative. By the end of the year I was representing two classes and was voted to speak at the graduation ceremony (I passed along my vote to someone who I felt was more suited for the job.) I was friendly, open and social there. I developed a few friendships that I hope I hang on to. I already see msyelf pulling away though, as usual. The texts/calls dwindle, the emails get less frequent. It seems that if it doesn’t have to do with school, there’s nothing to talk about.
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I feel disappointed that I didn’t get closer to my classmates and have the type of relationships classes before us had. Classes left school feeling like they had a second family. I’m just glad to get away from the drama.
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And now here I am. Still shy. Still laughing. Still pushing people away. At Alanon I met a girl my age. We talked briefly and she gave me her number and showed me her son. I texted her last night and when she said I could call her if I wasn’t busy, I told her I was reading a book and maybe another night. Why didn’t I just call her? The book wasn’t important. I’m feeling nervous about it. I feel silly about that!
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I don’t hang onto friendships, but more importantly I don’t think I give them a real chance either. I realize the kind of relationship I want won’t grow over night and I need to give it time. So what’s the deal? Am I that picky? I know the type of people I attract and the type of people I don’t want in my life. But do I create flaws in people so it makes it easier to push them away? I hate being alone and yet I don’t reach out or give much of myself. I’m quick to step backward and even quicker to dismiss.
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I know this is something I need to work on. I’m at that point in my life where I want to have fun, meet new people, learn as much as I can from them and involve them in my life.

I am studying for my NCBTMB exam to get my massage therapy license. A big portion of my study guide is a review of anatomy and physiology. While I love the subject, I have a hard time staying focused and actually remembering what I’m reading. It gets very boring after a while. I can only remember so many muscles! So I make it fun. I sometimes have the maturity of a seventh-grader and I’m okay with that. When I come across words that sound funny or make me think of inappropriate subjects, I giggle. I then remember that word because it sticks in my mind as a thing of humor and not something I forced in there.
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I figured I would share these, not only to educate, but to hopefully make you laugh as you say them outloud.
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My list of fun words:
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- Buccinator: What sounds like the Terminator’s brother, is actually the muscle that allows you to pull back the angle of the mouth and flatten the cheek area. Doesn’t sound so cool now does it?
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- Supinator: This isn’t the last of the -nator muscles, but it is the last one I’ll share. I still think of the Terminator when I say this one. But I also know that this is the muscle that allows you to rotate your forearm so your palm faces up so you can hang onto the bowl of soup. Still, I’d like to picture these two as some type of super hero battling it out for all of mankind.
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- Epiglottis: How is this not fun to say? It sounds like you have something stuck in your throat. “Ep-i-GLOT-us.” Maybe it’s just me. The Epiglottis is a flap of cartilage attached to the root of the tongue. It guards the entrance to the glottis (tee hee, another fun word), which is the opening to the vocal cords. Simply put, it prevents food from entering the trachea. Sometimes this doesn’t work and food or drink “goes down the wrong pipe.” Damn you epiglottis!
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- Purkinje Fibers: “Per-kin-gee” fibers are all sorts of fun for me to say. These bad boys enable the heart to contract, thus controling the heart rate. Who knew something so silly had such an important job. You’d think they’d get a better name.
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- Bundle of His: Bundle of his what? Ha! They’re a collection of specialized heart muscle cells that allow electrical conduction to occur more easily and quickly than most cardiac muscle. Again, another important part of the heart, yet such a dumb name.
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- Phalange: These are your fingers or toes. I love the word mostly because of Phoebe’s alter ego Regina Phalange in Friends \

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- Islets of Langerhans: Okay seriously, this should be a movie, a group of pirates or some type of computer game. Unfortunately, they just house the hormone-producing cells of the pancreas. They make up about 1-2% of the pancreas. In a healthy adult, there should be around 1 million of these pirates.
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- Duodenum & Jejunum: I love saying these two words. They’re fun to randomly yell at people mid-argument. You know how people start speaking French or Spanish when they’re upset? I speak anatomist!
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You son of an epiglottis! I hate you and your duodenum. You can take your jejunum and phalanges and go stay at the Islets of Langerhans! I don’t want to see your bundle of his anymore. You’re such a purkinje fiber! Lint licker.
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The duodenum and jejunum are probably two of the most unpleasant parts of the body. The duodenum, the first and shortest part of the small intestine, connects the stomach to the jejunum, which is the second piece of the small intestine. Ew. I once had the pleasure to explore the intestines of a cadaver. I think I could have done without that.
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- Circle of Willis: I love this. It’s a circle of arteries that supply blood to the brain. Named after Thomas Willis, an English physician, not Bruce Willis. I’m particularly fond of this one because there is all sorts of organized chaos going on in the brain. It’s beautiful to look at.
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This concludes today’s Fun With Anatomy post. Thanks for putting up with my strange fascination with the human body. Move along and go call somebody a duodenum. Do it.

Dear Michael Bay,
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Do you feel that it is absolutely necessary to remake the Nightmare on Elm Street collection? I suppose you’re going to tell me this is all New Line’s idea and you’re simply going along with it.
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I’m not a huge fan of recreating movies. One, it shows Hollywood’s complete lack of originality and movie-making talent. Two, you really do a shitty job. Need I mention the Texas Chainsaw Massacre? You didn’t stop there, no. You went on to create remakes of The Amityville Horror, another Chainsaw Massacre movie, Friday the 13th and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Are you kidding me? Why The Birds? Does it really need to be remade? Hitchcock is perfect the way it is.
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These remakes are not necessary. I’m afraid I’m not a very big fan of you right now. I’d tell you not to eff it up, but I’m sure you will. I hope Freddy gets you in your sleep.
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Sincerely,
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A disgruntled 1980’s horror movie fan.

I can understand people wanting to decorate their homes, party spaces and even themselves with the logos and colors of the team they’re cheering for. But the pets? Seriously?
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Super Bowl Scratcher for cats. The cardboard football also comes with a 1/2-ounce bag of catnip. How nice. The company behind this, M.A.X. is actually pretty spiffy. They’ve created a whole line of unique-shaped cat scratchers.
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On the more ridiculous end of the spectrum, we have jerseys for our sport-friendly pets. Before I go any further, let me state that I don’t like dressing animals up in clothes to begin with. Put a sweater on them when they go out and it’s cold. There’s no need for skirts, vests that match mine or suit jackets.
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So obviously I won’t be buying a Giants or Patriots jersey for my four-legged pals. There’s also a hat to match the jerseys, as well as food bowls, pillows/beds, etc. Sweet lord.
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More importantly, I will be watching the Super Bowl hoping that Eli Manning effs up some how and secretly hating both teams because neither one is the Bears and I can’t cheer whole-heartedly

Rumor has it that Starz is turning “Crash” into a television series.
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Good idea? Bad idea?
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Much of the movie’s original creative team, including director Paul Haggis and co-writer Bobby Moresco, will be coming together for the new project. Don Cheadle, who played Detective Graham Waters in the movie, will produce the series.
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I liked the movie…but a TV show? I just don’t know.
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Is anybody else tired of the play-by-play Britney drama on every celebrity website? Perez is especially annoying this morning. I appreciate his desire to want to keep us informed, but enough is enough. Nobody cares about this train wreck. At least I don’t, I can’t really speak for the rest of the world. Just stop giving this girl publicity. She needs help, not media attention.
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Anyone want to buy me a dozen Cakesicles? Thanks.
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Did you know that yesterday was National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day? I didn’t.
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Once the busiest airport in the U.S., O’Hare now has a new title: World’s Most Flight Cancellations. Congrats. What’s even more devastating is that O’Hare ranked at number 32 (dead last) for on-time departures. Sad.
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About 13,434 flights were canceled through the first 11 months of last year.
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The world’s busiest airport? Hartsfielf-Jackson Atlanta. They only have 6,196 canceled flights. But in Chicago’s defense, there’s a huge difference in weather conditions. That’s not really a fair fight. Atlanta doesn’t battle snow and ice storms for 5-6 months out of the year. However, Chicago’s other airport Midway battles the same conditions as O’Hare but only had 1,172 flights canceled. I don’t understand that. Some argue that Midway has a smaller volume of flights…whatever helps you sleep better at night folks.
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The Chicago Red Eye thinks men are happier than women. What do you think?

“Why when we do our darkest deeds do we tell? They burn in our brains, become a living hell. Cause everybody tells…”
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I have a secret that I’ve been hiding from myself. I’m an adult child of an alcoholic. I have no control over that. I cannot change the fact. No matter how badly I want to. No matter how much hope I have. Nothing will change that. I’ve been noticing darker characteristics of myself floating closer to the surface lately. Feelings and emotions that I’d rather not deal with. Have I been repressing them? Recently I have admitted to myself that I am very unhappy. I am often angry, taking my frustration out on others silently - by this I mean I huff and puff to myself and give sarcastic, almost annoyed responses to others. I’m not an angry person and I don’t like who I’m becoming. When I’m not wrestling with my anger, I’m drowning in my guilt. The amount of times I let guilt control my life is astonishing and embarrassing.
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Recently somebody close to me, a fallen hero, was arrested. Because of our relationship and my “I’ll pick up the pieces” attitude, I bailed them out. Against my better judgment, I helped that person, even though I just found out nearly everything out of their mouth had been a lie. So many secrets, so many lies. I had to find out the truth on my own because said person is a coward.
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I’m struggling with feelings here. I’m not sure what to feel. I feel betrayed by somebody who I once trusted (not lately.) I feel hurt. I feel foolish for putting up with it for so long. I feel angry at them for doing what they’re doing. I’m angry because they’re ignorant. But yet I pity them. I have to sit by and watch them mess up their life and take everyone around them down, too.
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And now I’m being told to hate the disease, not the person. But where does the disease stop and the person begin? Alcoholism has been a part of his life since I was old enough to remember. Am I to believe that deep down this person cares and wants help? Is he struggling, too? Or is he just selfish and emotionally stunted?
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I went to an Al-anon meeting yesterday. In case you don’t know what that is, it’s like an AA group for family members of alcoholics. I felt out of place and uncomfortable, but still at ease because it was so refreshing to hear stories that resemble my own. It seemed that most people were there because their SOs were the ones dealing with the disease, but are currently in AA. Unfortunately, my qualifier doesn’t realize he has a problem.
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I could tell him. I’ve written him numerous times. I’ve never actually sent a letter or spoke a word. Instead I stand by and watch him dig his hole deeper and I allow myself to get sucked in - out of loyalty and guilt - I enable him. By helping, I am telling him that I will be here to help pick up the pieces every time he fucks up. He wouldn’t care if I told him. I’m the one with the problem in his eyes. It would hurt more giving him the letters than watching this because he would ignore everything I say. And for him to blatantly ignore his own daughter and drag me into his hell…well, that’s just not something I’d like to face right now. It’s my secret. For now.
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Generally this is not the place where I’d discuss these sort of matters. I’m not sure why this evening is different. I’m holding them in too much and am taking it out on the wrong people. I think it’s about time I start talking about this.
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Grant me the serenity
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to accept the things I cannot change;
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courage to change the things I can;
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and wisdom to know the difference.