I'm Famous Again!

Its not every day that you open up an email and see your own face in the pretty header at the top, but thats exactly what happened to me today. Fun times in the Neeley School of Business!

Anyone Remember?

Can anyone (more specifically the Altamesa crowd) name where this song came from? I seriously spent my half my drive home singing it to myself - probably the first time I've even thought of it in over 10 years...

I'll cast all my cares upon you
I'll lay all of my burdens down at your feet
And anytime I don't know what to do
I will cast all my cares upon you

My guess is Maggie will name it first. :)

Life's too short to live in Lubbock...

That was my favorite t-shirt slogan that I saw yesterday at the TCU v Tech. I'm sure we all know that I'm happy right now, so I'll keep this short today with a quick recap.

The Good
We won. Duh!

The Bad
No touchdowns! How boring of a game is that? (Although I'd still like to interject here that we won. :) )

The Stupid
While driving to the game (it took me 1 hour to get to campus when it usually takes 15 minutes, by the way), I saw a guy scalping tickets at a gas station. He had the standard "I NEED TICKETS" sign that supposedly lets people know he has tickets without saying it, but then was standing in the back of his truck waving 4 tickets in the air. Way to be discreet, buddy!

And finally, one of the fun pictures floating around right now. Have a happy Sunday!

Early to Bed....Never to Sleep

I discovered something in undergrad that I had forgotten until tonight: there is no point whatsoever in going to bed early.

Every now and then, I would be really exhausted during the day. I would get home and around 9pm realize that I have nothing left to do. So, I'd decide to go to bed. I'd lay down, thinking about how great it was going to be when I woke up the next day so refreshed. One hour, two hours, three hours go by....and I'm still laying awake, cursing the world because now I'm just rested enough that I'm not going to sleep any time soon. I chalked it up to the noise of having 3 roommates that kept me awake.

So tonight, I was tired all day, decided to go to bed at 9:30pm. Apparently I wasn't tired enough because its now approaching midnight and I am wide awake. No roommates to blame now, just the cruel tricks of nature keeping me up. I have truly learned my lesson now - no going to bed before 11pm. Anyone got any Tylenol PM handy?

My Next Science Fair Experiment

Football Season!!

Football season officially kicked off this weekend with both of my teams winning their first games (OU beat UAB and TCU beat Baylor!) This weekend is the first home game for TCU which means the first tailgate of the year!

This year football season takes on a new element for me...I'm doing some consulting work for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, so it will be really fun to keep track of the players on our pre-season watch list while trying to get us some recognition in mainstream American football. Happy Football Season!

I'm Famous!!

That's right....the Emily who made a comment that Ausiello (a TV Guide television critic) responded to is ME! I feel almost as famous as Maggie.

You know you're jealous!

Yesterday, just as I was leaving work, I get a text message from my friend, Chris. No text, just this picture:


It looks like he is having a HORRIBLE time, so I decided to make him jealous by sending a picture of where I was right then:

********

What is the deal with passwords these days? It used to be make up a name, make up whatever password you wanted. I think the only restriction used to be that it couldn't be the same as your username. Now every website makes up different rules for their passwords, making it nearly impossible to remember which password goes with which site. There are seriously some sites that I have to use the "forgot password" link every single time I try to log in. 6-8 letters, must have 1 capital letter, 1 number, 1 special character, no special characters, can't reuse your last 500 passwords, must change password every 60 days, cannot be similar to former passwords, the list of restrictions goes on and on. The more difficult the sites try to make it for other people to guess your password, the more likely they are to make me NOT remember it. All I want is to use my old standard password and go on my merry way. Anything else is really frustrating. DOWN WITH STUPID PASSWORD REGULATIONS!!!!

Smart People on Reality TV

Two posts in one day, but I couldn't resist this one!

On a commercial for the new season of The Amazing Race, one lady says "This has given me the opportunity to travel around the world....money can't buy that."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think traveling around the world is one thing money actually CAN buy... :) Just a thought.

My Rangers Experience

Several times yesterday, I would start writing a post and realize, "This is no where near as good a story as Maggie's post!" and would stop. Until now. Last night was the second most fun baseball game I've ever been to (#1 being when Katie, Lindsey, and I got a ball from Greg). Lets replay my experience by the numbers:

8 runs scored by the Rangers in the 3rd inning

7 people ejected from the game

6 of my friends that I got to stand up and sing when they played "Deep in the Heart of Texas"

5 dollars for a large Dr. Pepper :(

4 times in a row that I have chosen the losing color in the dot race

3 batters hit purposely by pitchers

2 homeruns by the Rangers in the 3rd inning

1 dollar to get a hot dog last night :)

0 people left on the bench/in the bullpen once Kennedy charged the mound
Definitely an exciting game!

Healthy = Disgusting

I have a confession to make. I hired a personal trainer. I had a trial membership at 24 hour fitness for a couple of weeks and upgraded yesterday to a full membership with a personal trainer for 5 sessions. I wasn't planning on telling anyone because a) chances are I'll probably flake out on it like i usually do and b) with Stephen's new blog format and Lindsey chiming in and saying that she joined a gym, it would look like I was just jumping on the bandwagon when it is actually just that two weeks ago I saw an old friend who is built like me that was all skinny and cute and it took away my "I'll never be able to look that good because she's not my body type" excuse that I usually use when coveting someone else's figure. The next day I started my free trial. But thats not what I'm here to blog about today. I just had to admit to that fact because otherwise you'd think that I bought the bars that i'm about to talk about on my own accord, and joining a gym is much less embarrassing than buying horrible health bars in free will.

So with my personal training package, they gave me a big box full of Apex Quick Energy bars and cookies and shakes, etc. I've never been much for the health bars, but I brought one to work with me today thinking it might be a good snack at the end of the day before I go work out. And they were free! So 3:30pm hits, my afternoon tiredness sets in, and I think "Hmm...time for some Quick Energy." I pulled out the bar that had the most promising name - Oatmeal Raisin. The picture on the outside shows actual oats and actual raisins, so I'm thinking granola bar. They were thinking fake-icing covered powerbar. If there are 2 things that I hate, they are fake icing and powerbars. I've been sitting here trying to eat this thing, I've eaten about 2 bites and can't take anymore. It is absolutely disgusting. It says "an excellent meal replacement bar" on the side....it'll replace a meal cause after 1/2 bite you lose your appetite! This is just affirming my theory that people who buy health food, shakes, bars, etc. are insane.

Roomie Weekend 2006!

When I graduated last May, it was the end of an era. It was the end of the fabulous Apt 524 roomies that were together all 4 years of college. So when we left, we all agreed to have at least one weekend a year where we all get together to do something NOT associated with ACU (so Homecoming, Sing Song, and other ACU events don't count.) This was that weekend! My old roomies all came to Fort Worth and stayed with me last night for our first annual event. Deborah came from Houston, Lindsay from Abilene, and Nichole from Dallas. I treated them all to a dinner at P.F. Changs (because I"m the bad roommate who hadn't bought anyone a birthday present yet....) and then we went to Pete's Dueling Pianos in Downtown. From there I proceeded to tell one of the piano guys that it was Lindsay's birthday (it really is this week) and for a nice little tip, he called her up on stage and had her sit on the piano while everyone sang "You've lost that lovin feeling" to her. We also had our traditional late-night Whataburger taquito run (which we used to do at least twice a week) and then had lunch together today. All in all, it was truly a fabulous weekend!

Life + Flashing + Eyes = NOT GOOD!!!

Returing to the fabulous "I Click Stuff Too" post, a website told me that my date of death is Friday, July 14, 2062. This was before I became a commuter. I now believe that my death date has been moved up immensely and is now accompanied by an exact location: The intersection of Hwy 121 and I-35 trying to merge onto I-30.

This map shows what I have to do everyday in red along with what the rest of the world has to do in blue. You can see where there is a little bit of conflict. When I get off of 121 every day on the way home, I have to cross over 6 lanes of traffic, 3 of which are merging as well, to get into the correct lane to exit onto I-30. And the other 5 lanes are trying to merge in the opposite direction because the I-30 lanes are exit only. And the merging lanes are usually full of semis because it is heading South on 35. And the really fun part: I have about 30 seconds to do it.

How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

You know those people that are just lucky and things seem to work out for them without them actually having to do anything? I have decided that I am NOT one of those people.

Lets all remember by 7 interviews before getting on at Sabre, being passed around and really having to work to get where I am. I chalked this up to my lack of work experience - I was at a disadvantage compared to others. So now I'm in my job, its getting to be the end of the summer, several of my fellow interns are getting offers to extend their internships into the next semester, and I have heard nothing from my boss. I only have class 2 days a week next semester, so I would really like to work.

I finally decide I had just better ask if there was an opportunity. My boss said that he had never had an intern stay on during the semester before, but that he would see what he could do. Three days later, I get the offer to extend! Of course in between there was a lot of confusion, apparently the processes had already started for the end of my internship and now have to be reversed, but its all okay. And it was frustrating because rather than just having my position naturally be extended like a lot of other people, I actually had to proactively make this happen. And what made it even more frustrating is that my best friend at work IS one of those people who things just happen for...they were talking about her extension in the first week of her job!

So this is how I've come to the conclusion that I am not one of those people that things are just going to happen for. Its not work experience holding me back anymore, its just a fact of life. I know that I am going to have to fight for everything that I get, and thats okay. But if I have only learned one thing this summer, it is if you want something, go for it. Make it happen. Cause the worst thing that can happen in asking for what you want is for someone to tell you no and you go away knowing that you did absolutely everything you could....but it could turn into a job for the next semester. :)

GRRRRRR!!!!

Two absolutely heinous crimes were committed tonight. I am not a happy camper.

1. Allison Holker was eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance. She should have been the overall winner. Its ridiculous.








2. They announced the dates for the SYTYCD tour (thats what the screenshot is). I know you can't read any of the locations in the picture, but if you go to the website and look, none of the performances get anywhere even CLOSE to Texas or the south (no, Florida does not count as the south.) I actually wanted to go!

So I guess its time for ***Shameless Plug of the Month!***
Anyone want to Meet Me In one of the locations for the SYTYCD tour? And I'm really not kidding either. Just leave me a comment and let me know!!

Katie the Rookie

Apparently Katie hasn't figured out yet that if you take the pictures, we expect a post, and this story is too good to let go to waste. Hopefully she'll still post the pics and/or send them to me because I want copies anyways! :)

Last Friday, Katie, Stephen, Lindsey, and I went to see Lady in the Water. It was opening night, so we bought tickets online and got there an hour early to get our favorite seats in the first row of the stadium seating with the bar to put your feet on. So we sit down, start watching the pre-movie show (since its not a slideshow anymore), talking, etc. The movie is supposed to start at 10:30. 10:28 - The lights come on and the fire alarm starts going off! But this is a talking alarm that says "WARNING! WARNING! AN EMERGENCY HAS BEEN REPORTED!!! PLEASE EXIT THE BUILDING!!" (which Katie hears as "An EXPLOSION has been reported". Definitely gave her a hard time about that one.) So what do we incredibly smart Americans do? Nobody moves. A completely packed theater and we all just sit there, certain its nothing.

Stephen goes out to the lobby to see what is going on and calls us to tell us that they were making everyone evacuate. Do we listen? Nope! Lindsey, Katie, and I refuse to give up our "bar seats." Finally, after about 15 minutes, a security guard comes up to Stephen to tell him he needs to leave, and Stephen's response is "Do you know that Theater 7 is still packed?" (thanks for selling us out Stephen!) So they come in and make us evacuate. We leave our drinks at our seats, put a Mamma Mia playbill over Stephen's seat, and head out. We go out to the lobby and basically wander in circles, never quite making it out the door in hopes that we could still be at the front and get our seats back. We still wanted to see this movie.

Pretty soon, they start handing out the free passes. We are a little upset, but we walk up to a girl to collect our pass. Then we realize that everyone but our girl is taking up the ticket stubs before giving a pass. So we go to someone else to get another with our stubs. Katie can't find hers, so she starts digging through her purse. Then we notice several stubs on the floor. Thrifty Katie starts going around and surreptitiously picking up the extra stubs. All of a sudden, we hear someone call out a name and realizing they were reopening the theater, Lindsey takes off running about 100 miles an hour! She nearly takes out a couple of small children, but who cares? She got our bar seats back! Katie, having been in the middle of a stub pickup when the theater reopened, didn't get in before they posted someone at the door to take up the free passes before entering the theater. A problem for anyone else, but not "25 ticket McBroom"! Katie hands him a stub off the ground and says "I haven't gotten a pass yet!"

So, 1 hour, 10 free movie passes, 2 crying children, and several interesting pictures that we took in the lobby cause we were bored later, we finally got to watch our movie. Some people said it was burned popcorn that caused the alarms to go off, some people said electric fire in the elevator, while still others claimed it was a suspicious package left in the lobby. We'll never know the true cause of our adventure, but I'll always claim the suspicious package because it sounds much more dramatic. :)

LIMBOOOOO!!!

A couple of months ago, I posted about going to a Mexican Wedding with my friend Jaime and his girlfriend, Melinda. This weekend was Melinda's birthday which means.....another party! Melinda is also leaving on Thursday to go to Mexico to teach English for a year, so it was a farewell party also (with the running joke being "Melinda's being deported.") It seemed like a normal party at first - eating some Cousin's barbecue, talking over the DJ playing music that no one was dancing to - until they brought out.....the hula hoops.

That's right, we had a hula hoop contest. Once that was over, I thought that would be the end of it, until they brought out.....the limbo pole! We limboed!!! I haven't done a limbo contest since I was about 8 years old, and I think that was on roller skates at the Crowley Skating Rink. That, combined with the fact that I am 5'9" and not in any sort of good physical condition, I was expecting to be out after the first or second round. But I made it through all the way to the 2nd to last round! Top 6 baby! The funniest part was the other girls left towards the end actually knew what they were doing, to the point to where they were giving me advice on limbo technique! The next round after I got out was the end - all out but one.

So now, its the day after the limbo and I am SO SORE! My quads and my back are killing me! Apparently, I am never going to leave a party that Jaime or Melinda invite me to without being sore the next day. Mexican parties are workouts!
Me and Melinda at the wedding in May.

Not just a pretty face here... :)

I've got the brains too!

In case you haven't heard, it is HOTTTT here in Texas. Like, the high was 106 both yesterday and today and is forecasted at 104 tomorrow. We have parking garages at Sabre and usually its not hard to find a spot; a lot of people would park in the surface lots too. Not right now. I got to work before 9 am and the entire garage was full at my building. So I had to park on the roof level. At the 2 of the roof corners, there are towers where the elevator shaft and stairwells are. One of these had some shade this morning and of course all of the cars up there were right around it, hoping for a bit of the shade. I thought to myself, "What good does it do to have shade now? It will still be an oven when I get OUT of work." So I went and parked at the other tower, all by myself and in full sun exposure just to see (and maybe a little out of bitterness that I hadn't gotten to the shade first...). So when I came out to my car this evening, here is what I found:





The poor suckers who parked in the shade this morning





My Durango in the beautiful, beautiful shade! Haha! I win!

Jennifer Connelly? Really?

Back in March, I took a stab at one of Ryan's "This Is What I Clicked" posts only I called mine "I Click Stuff Too." One of my links was to a facial recognition site that can supposedly tell you which celebrity you look the most similar too by uploading a picture. My original line said, "Ever wondered what celebrity you look like? This site can tell you! Apparently I look like Jennifer Connelly....I wish!"

Fast forward to today....

I went to get lunch in the Sabre cafeteria. The head chef usually mans the line that has what I refer to as "real food" (not sandwiches, salads, or burgers) and today they had a chicken dish that looked really good, so I got in his line. Right as he was handing me my food, he said "So how often do you get told that you look just like Jennifer Connelly?" (And I could actually say that I HAVE been told that!) Of all the people to pull out of the air, he chose Jennifer Connelly. I still don't see it, but its a weird coincidence, don't you think?



Edit: Okay, after looking up pictures, I can see it a little bit. Except she has that beautiful color of hair that I am dying to have. And she's a lot skinnier. :)

Also, important safety tip: Don't search Google Images for Jennifer Connelly. Turns out she was a bit of an exhibitionist at one point and the search turned up NUMEROUS inappropriate pics...