Wednesday, March 29

Gawker Loves Me

They told me so. I wrote in to them, pointing out what I mistakenly read as a typo and shamelessly begged for an invite to comment also. This was one of the replies in the back and forth :
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Typo in "Get Your Bloggy, Gossipy Wall Street News Here: JPMorgan Likes Its Twinky Interns Scoured"
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 11:53:53 -0500
From: Jesse Oxfeld
To: ctrl-freak

i added a "maybe."
because you have a point. and because we love you.

But not enough to let me comment.

A Couple Things Before I Go Offline

[I'm heading out into the desert for a couple days - hopefully to view some nice wildflowers and chill out..]

I thought yesterday was sucky - the rain, the burst chair/ball incident, my sore gums - but it GOT BETTER. And by better I mean worse.

So last night over a nice dinner I bit into a piece of Trader Joe's vegetarian pizza and thought I hit a 'tough' part. "Oh, must be just a charred portion of the crust," I naively thought to myself as I just swallowed the offending particles of carbon.

WRONG.

For about an hour after dinner (which also included some pasta with olive & garlic sauce) it felt like I had a little popcorn hull stuck between 2 lower teeth. When I went to a mirror to investigate the culprit it became clear to me that

my fucking tooth broke.

Well, to be honest and clear, a filling seems to have crumbled away (I know!) leaving a jagged portion of my tooth for my tongue to scrape against (I KNOW).

So before I head to the desert, I have an emergency scheduled appt. at the dentist.

And I just started flossing regularly again last week...

Ugh, this issue is so trashy. More on that later.

Dan Savage has kicked off an ITMFA campaign.
I suggest you check it out. [borderline NSFW]

And in other news, the president of the US is going to Cancun for Spring Break. What makes this shocking and newsworthy is that he's allegedly going for work and not the wet t-shirt contests or the body shots.

So on this note, I'll leave you for a couple days. When I return, I'll be another year older and hopefully aeons wiser. Go floss.

All I did doc, was bite into a piece of vegtarian pizza, I swear..

Tuesday, March 28

So How's It Going?

My apartment is vibrating as I type this, for starters. It's either an earthquake (unlikely as it's been going on for a bit too long for that) or the dryer in the laundry room.

But that's not the point. Nor is the fact that it's been raining for 2 days straight or that my birthday week started off with part 1 of 2 deep tissue (their words not mine) cleanings at the dentist yesterday morning.

I think the point I'm trying to make is similar to the one made in this article,

Guy Who Just Wiped Out Immediately Claims He's Fine

You see, I just came into the room and sat on my 75cm silver and black fitness ball which doubles as my computer chair (I want to maintain core strength and good posture don't you know) and after giving a moment of resistance to my pressure-inducing ass, the thing BURSTS sending me to the ground and back into a weight bench with a very weird, loud, rubber-flappy "Blam!"

So now I'm a big fat lard ass with bad teeth for my birthday. Sweet.

But no, seriously, I'm fine. Really.

Friday, March 24

Ew, Sucky People Whose Birthday is Today

#1. Star Jones

Mars Rules

Haha, this can be taken in such a smutty manner, I love it.

from the WaPo of all places:

Your Love Match Reading

Aries and Aries - When two Aries come together in a love affair, there's bound to be fireworks. These two are always competing, which can make for quite a challenging love match. An Aries-Aries relationship is like looking into a mirror: Aries understands their partner's need for independence because they're the same way. At times, however, they can be possessive and turn into two Rams butting heads. They have to learn not to compete with one another so much. If they can do so, their partnership can be extremely powerful.

An Aries-Aries love match is a meeting of two strong spirits; generally, the relationship is positive and enthusiastic. They love to try new things -- often extreme sports or some other intense activity. Solving the inevitable problems of a close relationship can be tough due to the two egos constantly clashing. They must learn to work together. Since both partners like things to go their way, they must make a conscious effort not to be selfish. Aries also has a natural generosity, however, so two Aries together can certainly learn to take turns indulging each other. Aries is very open with their feelings; totally straightforward, two Aries will never have problems with deceit or hypocrisy. Both partners will have trouble with temper outbursts that result from hasty judgments. Aries just wants to get on with it, already!

Aries is ruled by the Planet Mars. Mars was the God of War, and, like two soldiers in a battle, two Aries can either fight together or against each other -- but they will fight. Mars also represents passion, and Aries tends to have an active and exciting time with any lover. This energy is only heightened with another Aries. And, though arguments are inevitable for this pair, the best is yet to come -- first of all, Aries is too busy to hold a grudge for long, and besides, making up is so much fun!

Aries is a Fire Sign. It's rare for one partner to get tired while the other still wants to continue; two Aries will play hard together and tire at the same time. Again, two Aries maintain a constant battle over who will be the leader. Neither partner likes to submit, so compromise is essential. If these two can keep their egos in check, the relationship will be smooth.

Aries is a Cardinal Sign. In an Aries-Aries combination, both partners are skilled at initiation. When they see what they want, they pursue it without a moment's thought. They never waste time feeling each other out before they jump into a relationship.

What's the best aspect of the Aries-Aries relationship? That exciting spontaneity that always keeps things new and that's so hard to find with other Signs. Two Aries will never be bored! Their mutual energy and ability to make up after disagreements makes theirs a passionate and compatible relationship.

This Day In History

Courtesy of the History Channel..er, online.
  • 1603 Queen Elizabeth I dies
  • 1989 Exxon Valdez runs aground in Alaska
  • 1996 Shannon Lucid enters Mir
  • 1977 United States and Cuba engage in direct negotiations
  • 1998 A school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas kills five
  • 1980 Nightline debuts
  • 1999 NATO bombs Yugoslavia
  • 1955 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens
  • 1975 North Vietnamese launch "Ho Chi Minh Campaign"

Happy Birthday!

You know who you are.

And no¹, it's not you Fatty Arbuckle,
or Steve McQueen, (though he's so badass I'll wish him a happy birthday anyway)
or Harry Houdini,
or Annabella Sciorra,

¹ All born on March 24.

What's with Spam & 'Replicas'?

So Donald Burkett assures me that 'every chick will be mine' and inquires:
Do you want a high quality replica?

In our online store you can buy replicas of Rolex watches and
other brands. They look and feel exactly like the real thing.

- We have 20+ different brands in our selection
- Buy 2 watches and save 25% on both watches
- Save up to 40% compared to the cost of other replicas
- Standard Features:
* Screw-in crown
* Unidirectional turning bezel where appropriate
* All the appropriate rolex logos, on crown and dial
* Heavy weight

I'll pass.

Wednesday, March 22

Told You So

Interesting that this study came out of Germany, where they are famous for their upbeat, warm, & friendly disposition. I wouldn't have expected them to come to such a conclusion. The Japanese or the British perhaps..

No but seriously, I've been trying to convince people close to me that 'expressing' can be vital to one's sanity. Now science is backing me up. Go out there an be totally brutally honest bitches, y'alls. You'll live longer.

I H8 U 2

Ew. This is nauseating.

I hope people egg the driver.

I Could Be Sitting Next to a Fax Machine

Well today has been one of the more productive days as of late.
A 30 minute walk along the beach to get a mediocre haircut followed by lunch outside, and then a cover letter and resume were sent off.

I'm a bit uncertain that anything will pan out as a result, for when I phoned the office this morning to try to get more information about who would be reading my letter (thereby informing me of whom to address and follow up with) I got this answer from the receptionist:
"Just fax it to me, er.. well the fax number.. and I'll make sure it gets to the right person. Actually, I don't know who posted that job so..mm... I don't really know who gets it yet, but fax it to the me. I sit right next to the fax machine."

So yeah. I should be all set. This time next week I could be gainfully employed if that receptionist finds out who to give my letter to. Um, yeah.
[Actually, I better not be, since that would totally clash with my birthday plans to go to the desert.]

Monday, March 20

bIRTHDAY tEETH

"Since it iiiis a deep tissue cleaning, we're going to have to schedule you 2 appointments: first the left-side upper & lower, followed by a separate appointment for the right-side."

My head reels as I look down to the chart open between this woman and me. Wouldn't my mouth feel weird in the interim between having the first side cleaned & the second? On the chart there were 2 very dark multi-scratched Xs over two particular teeth in the back. The phrase 'deep tissue' and what that meant teethwise had tricked me up. (I know in massage speak that shit hurts days after and actually left me bruised in one instance.) Apparently my mouth is in such horrendous shape that before we can even get to any "reparative" work, I've got to have 2 separate deep tissue cleanings for the left and right side of my mouth. Then - and only then - can we embark on what the dentist clinically referred to as"getting things back together in there".

After that, I'm getting 2 teeth replaced with crowns.
And it sounds really unpleasant. I'm bummed. I'll go over the finer points here and now for you.

First, they "grind" the offending tooth/teeth down to like a little stick or grain of rice. Then they put a temporary "crown" (hello euphamism, how about "torture-stump cap") on the stick/rice tooth and I wait 2 weeks for them to create the final tooth "in a lab". No joke. At this point I seriously all but checked out unconscious
right there, but held it together by scanning the reception counter for the bowl of dum-dums (like at my dermatologist's none here at the dentist, duh) and clamped onto the reception desk to stay standing. I assume I was told what happens with the FrankenTooth from the lab and my rice tooth stump, how they are chemcially fused..no amalged together, but I don't recall that information. We'll cross that bridge (haha, bridge, get it?) when we come to it, won't we?

Suffice to say, I am freaking out at the thought of having my natural teeth ground down for fakes. I feel old. Not like mid life old, but like decrepit, indigent old. And this all on the cusp of my 35th birthday. (I swear, I probably look like a young 29.)

It literally, is like a nightmare. Well, except it's day and I'm not asleep, but the teeth torture part.

Oh and a word of advice -- don't ever Google-image (nice verb) a dental procedure you are scheduled to undergo.

Marketing Weirdness - Halitosis for the Hip?

This is indeed weird. It reminds me of the sort of thing we'd make in grad school but then we'd justify it as an exploration of non-linear narrative that aims to unpack the sense of play that is lost from childhood. Or something.

It's actually a mini campaign for gum. [via AdRants]

Spring is Here

A rare instance of fashion photography getting it right.
[via Boing Boing]

Ugh, Hello My Name Is

Dear Dreaded Introduction letter [a.k.a The Request for an Information Interview Letter].

My name is obviously the one that my email address indicates at the top of this letter, and my enclosed resume will feature anything that may grab your attention long enough to even care what I'm writing, so I'll get right to the point. I came across your firm while half-assedly searching the web under the keywords "jobs" "local area" "multimedia". The other tabs open in my browser while I was loading your page in the background were Gawker, the New York Times, Gmail, and Gizmodo.

I have a graduate degree from a semi-unknown program at an impressive institution in an ill-named field with a vague description. My work experience is impressive as well -- I've worked in Japan, then in NYC for a foreign government, and also at previously mentioned impressive institution in a very geeky technical graphics lab, but that too can be culled from the enclosed resume.

I've moved from NYC to SoCal and know nothing about the industry here while having absolutely no connections. For that reason, I'm trying to find out more. Your firm appears to be as off the beaten path as my skills and history are, making us a great match! I'll refer you to a web link that will show a video of one of my more recent projects. It will probably confuse or repel you, so feel free to contact me for more information.

Oh, and if I haven't been clear up until now, I'll ask you straight out - would you or one of your colleagues be willing and/or able (I'll take 1) to meet with me and talk about what you do and how a candidate like me might be able to gain entry to the field?

I probably won't follow up with this because my low self esteem will bring me to believe that if I were worth it, you'd contact me, but I'll say that I will anyway. Hopefully, the threat of being contacted by a stranger will compel you to take the proactive step of shutting me down first.

I look forward to hearing from you and genuinely appreciate your time in this matter.
Have a nice day.

Best Regards,
Ctrl-freak

Thursday, March 16

Useful, Clever Design

This shelf, called '72 degrees'* contains a hidden under compartment for hiding things.
It can only be opened with a ring/key that the owner wears.

I want one.

* Haha, more cleverness on the designers' part - 72 degrees is the angle of the average (?) erection and the degree to which the under-compartment opens.

And Just Because I Can Once Again Upload Images

Charles Atlas

Proof That The Universe is Fair

Hahahaha, this is hysterical. Britney Spears got 'poked' with a hyperdermic needle when she was walking around a parking lot barefoot. [The Superficial]

Stupid cow can't even contract an infectious disease the way a true rockstar would.








Warm Weather & All It Brings

Aah, the warmth has returned to southern coastal California (and just in time too, it's been like below 60 for the past three days) and with it a renewed sense of optimism.

I've renewed my commitments to exercise regularly and I am HELL BENT on finally quitting smoking cigarettes once and for all as my midlife birthday approaches.

In other news, with Project Runway done for the season, I guess I'll go back to reading books and watching movies.

Whoa, wait, what's with all the intersex/trans going on in the above?

And can someone please explain to my why I am no longer able to include images in my posts? I know it's cause the blogger software sucks but I'm looking for more specific information.

Tuesday, March 14

Yeah, Um I Definitely Don't Need This

An application that
"...Reminds you at regular intervals, to, well, take some time out from your computing"
Dan Frakes, Senior Writer, Macworld
This PC user doesn't have that problem.

Thursday, March 9

Sometimes Real Life is Better than Photoshop

If only.
Scary bastard

I'd Like to Speak to the Manger of your Pubic Relations Department

Are you a detail oriented person?

You're not if you didn't notice the punctuation mistake in that sentence or the two most common spelling errors on resumes in the title..

HAHA GOTCHA!

You see, I am a detail-oriented individual. So much so, that I had to consult references to learn the difference between 'analytic' & 'analytical' (none for my purposes) and when to use a hyphen for compound adjectives (when the noun they modify follows).

Writing unsolicited formal business letters sort of sucks.

But the learning never ends here, y'alls.
Snacktime.

Wednesday, March 8

Been a little pessimistic here at HQ

So, once again, I present some internets morsels that won't bring you down.
  • Geisha Asobi blog - completely 'Japanese' in it's commendable efforts; weird, random links to cute or disturbing things.








That's enough for now.

Agent Noneck, can you help our Faith Based Organization with this weekend's Bake Sale (pending approval by the Dept. of Homeland Security, of course)?

Hahaha..

Worst. Oscars. Ever.
Seriously, it was a crash and burn in my book. Get it? Crash?! Haha.

Wait -- wrong post, I meant

Worst. President. Ever.
And that's not my opinion, friend, that the vox populii, yo!
Jesus, can I get some of what the 40%-who-do-approve group is smoking? (For my glaucoma. Really.) That is some seriously enviable denial. I may go so far as to accuse those 40% of disassociating with reality, but I can't really say I blame them at this point. It's an understandable escape.

Anywaaaay, what has our little 'leader' [cue trace amounts of vomit into mouth] gone and done now? It seems he's calling for the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the expansion of faith-based organizations. (Yes, that's newspeak for religion.)

I can't think of a better governmental body to be involved with the expansion of religious-based groups in this country than the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Let's not paraphrase, let's go right to the source
[cue trumpets]
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate a national effort to expand opportunities for faith-based and other community organizations and to strengthen their capacity to better meet America's social and community needs, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Blah blah blah blah Christianity state religion Blah blah blah everyone else go fuck off blah blah blah and we will be monitoring your activities blah blah blah and don't even think about it blah blah blah cause we'll haul your suspicious ass in and keep you for questioning blah blah blah until you are forgotten and rot away. Blah blah blah.

Jesus! Er..um, I mean..Symbolic Leader of a Faith-based Organization!

I'm going to go overdose on Cute Overload! now.

Well, Johnny, these used to be completely different streets.
They used to have a pretty decent divider between them.
After the president came, he sort of bulldozed it into one huge highway..And yes, those potholes are a bitch, Johnny.
Keep running. They may catch us.

-from the ongoing imaginary dialogue I have with my newborn nephew once he's grown up.

Sunday, March 5

Damn

Pat Tillman, former professional football player, was shot to death by fellow soldiers in Afghanistan in what previous Army reviews had concluded was an accidental shooting.


News story here via MyWay

update:
more damn!


Friday, March 3

Great Design

I love it when someone puts something out that is useful, innovative, & somewhat common sense-driven.

This is one of those things. As often, Boing Boing is the source.

I want one of these



A Tw'ice bucket for champs.


[via Cool Hunting]

Anime

Just cause I feels like it



Thursday, March 2

Blogger SUCKS

File under: obvious.

image uploading is always a 50/50 gamble at best

Sorry


I'm sorry that this video is so appropriate & I'm sorry that it's probably been sent around/posted on every site you've already hit today.

But I'm also sorry about the sad state of affairs re: our 'leader' & the fact that public American political discourse these days is often reduced to viral montage videos with catchy soundtracks and stark contrasting images.

Ooh, lookit me, all uppity this morning.

I'll chill.

How does a person develop 'patience'?

Patience (Pa"tience) (?), n.
[F. patience, fr. L. patientia. See Patient.]

1. The state or quality of being patient; the power of suffering with fortitude; uncomplaining endurance of evils or wrongs, as toil, pain, poverty, insult, oppression, calamity, etc. "Strenthened with all might, . . . unto all patience and long-suffering." Col. i. 11. "I must have patience to endure the load." Shak. "Who hath learned lowliness From his Lord's cradle, patience from his cross." Keble.

Synonyms -- Patience, Resignation. Patience implies the quietness or self-possession of one's own spirit under sufferings, provocations, etc.; resignation implies submission to the will of another. The Stoic may have patience; the Christian should have both patience and resignation.


And can someone remind me why "suffering with fortitude" is a virtue to begin with?
Anyone?


Wednesday, March 1

Why o why when I am bored

does the internet suck and no one updates their blogs?

Hmm..What to do?

I should
  1. Finalize the edits to my resume and send it out to (2) parties for review.
  2. Go running.
  3. Bathe.
  4. Add content to the online portfolio I'm supposed to be working on.
  5. Buy new underwear (online).
Instead, I will
  1. Continue wasting time by reading/watching (is there a verb for 'internetting'?) cool things like this, useless things like this, and mean things like this.
  2. Constantly refresh the 3 email clients I currently have open in the hopes that some correspondence has been pushed through.
  3. Go for a walk down to the pier.
  4. Try to figure out where to get good underwear..Anyone?