Things I can play on bass guitar, if your definition of the word "play" is extremely liberal

• E, A, D, G and any note above the third fret
  
• Two measures of Iron Man
• Two measures of Seven Nation Army
• Some three-note succession from Guitar Hero II
• 12 bar blues progression in A (it's best if someone is singing Hound Dog while I play it)
• The "learn guitar" book's Lesson Four exercise
  

Twenty-two isn't even easy to say

I turn 23 in two days. I'm not necessarily excited to be 23, but I'm a little relieved not to be 22 anymore. For some reason, 22 was the hardest age for me to remember. Whenever anyone asked me how old I was, I always answered 21 or 23. Thinking back on it I have a very foggy idea of what it's been like to be 22. Being 21 is all about flashing your brand-new drivers license, and being 20 is about not being a teenager anymore. But 22? That's not really fun. And 23 is well on your way to being a full-fledged adult.

And while that might not be better, per se, I hopefully won't look like an idiot when I have to give someone my age.

I don't even know that it's that great of a video

I was reading boingboing.net yesterday when I came across this entry, and I was surprised by it because I know the people who created it--they were in this class with me last semester. In fact, it was a class project. (My group made this video.)

Maybe that's a silly thing to tell you about. But I thought it was pretty neat to see people appreciate something that I thought would never be more than an annoying assignment.

Wondering

if my sister and I will ever be able to share our bathroom, or if we will kill each other by the time I move out of this house.

Wonder-ful

Today I listened to the Just My Show podcast (I've been on a podcast kick lately, seriously, they are great), which in celebration of Mothers' and Fathers' Days interviewed Marion Ross (America's favorite tv mom) and Dan Lauria (the dad from The Wonder Years). Marion Ross was adorable as ever, but Dan Lauria's spot was one of the best interviews I think I've ever heard. You can tell he loved The Wonder Years, and that he respected it, and for some reason that makes me like it even more. I was only 9 years old when that show ended, but I remember staying up late to watch the series finale. I can't quite remember why I wanted to watch it so badly which leads me to the conclusion that I was a pretty strange kid. I was completely bummed to find out that the show is having all kinds of problems with DVD release because of all the rights to the music they used.

Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like without anything digital in it.

Things I recommend part deux

• This yummy, summery sandwich. I'd eat it everyday if it didn't feel like the middle of January in my office's cafeteria.
• Listening to the entire new White Stripes album here
• These Will It Blend videos on YouTube. At first you think, "That's stupid." Then you watch some guy turn marbles into glass dust, and suddenly you've got to watch them all. We walk around saying, "don't breathe this" to each other.
• Taking a look at the rest of the photos from my trip to San Francisco, which I finally posted on Flickr.
• Signing up for Postcrossing, and then sending a postcard to someone in another country (and getting one in return). The USPS even makes it easy to figure out the cost.
  
• Avoiding watching these iPhone commercials, because I was all "Psh, who needs an iPhone, I certainly don't" and then I watched about half a commercial and started drooling.
• Speaking of Apple, I just downloaded Safari for Windows. Please stop using Internet Explorer and start using a better browser. Either will do.

It's the smug Mac people's turn now

I suppose I should tell you all what happened to my Powerbook, which I thought was as good as gone a few weeks ago. I was upset, but more about the music and photos stored on its hard drive and less about the machine itself. Because it was secondhand, and because I assume it had a rough life before coming to belong to me, I figured this was just its way of saying, "I've been abused. I'm done with this." And I sort of understood that. Sort of.

My trip to the Apple Genius Bar, which is an hour away, did not leave me too impressed. Unlike my first encounter with a Genius, the guy I talked to last weekend was everything you'd expect from the stereotypical IT person: impatient, slightly condescending, all that good stuff. After telling me my computer was dead and that it would cost $150 and five days to recover the data from my hard drive, he rolled his eyes, took my computer into the back room, and got it working.

He said something like, blah blah RAM slot blah blah, send it in to have this replaced. I called on Saturday, sent my computer in Tuesday, and got it back...Friday. It went from Ohio to Texas and back in four days. FOUR.

Because of my warranty (which I didn't know I even had until this issue popped up, long story), it was all free. Which was awesome. And also? During its abused phase in life, someone had nicked the screen. And they replaced that. Also free.

So it turned out alright. And I found out that I have until August of next year to completely screw up my laptop.

Reason #54,237 I probably need my own apartment

There is a website that collects passive-agressive notes people have left stuck to the refrigerator or scrawled across whiteboards. It's become more popular in the last few weeks, and its fame has coincided with my own abuse of passive-agressive note-writing: We are currently in the midst of Bathroom Battle '07.

What started as a squabble over the toilet seat a year ago has escalated to an even bigger problem, which is that my sister seems to have confused our bathroom with her closet. Or, maybe it isn't that she's got them confused. It might be more like her closet and bedroom have overflowed and she has no place to keep her clothes and shoes other than the bathroom. I asked her to take something to her bedroom the other day and she said she couldn't, because "it would get lost if I put it in there." I see this as a problem. She doesn't.

So, to remind her how things work for normal people, people who use hangers in closets and who sleep in their beds (which they make on a regular basis) and who are not total slobs, I started labeling the bathroom with post-its that said NOT SPACE FOR DIRTY CLOTHES and NO SPACE IN HERE, EITHER. (That one was on the closet door, because apparently the shelves that hold washcloths and hand towels are also where we're keeping her bathing suits now.) I even left a friendly reminder stuck to the hallway wall that asked, DID YOU REMEMBER YOUR DIRTY CLOTHES?

I know it's mean, but I can't help it. I don't like having to scale a mountain of dirty gym clothes just to brush my teeth.

Things I recommend

• A car with air conditioning! I keep forgetting to turn it on when I drive my new car, especially since I have those power windows.
• This American Life, via iTunes podcast. You can purchase old episodes at audible.com if you're really interested. I just listen to the free ones, though.
• An iHome alarm clock. Is there anything better than waking up to The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun?" Well, there is, but it's sleeping in. Otherwise it's totally at the top of the list.
• Big Love. If you have HBO, its second season premieres tonight. I will be there.
• Buying tickets to a White Stripes concert so Ticketmaster will give you a bunch of free iTunes music. You even get to pick some of it yourself.
  

Unhappy Feet

I lifeguarded at my beloved pool yesterday, partially because all of the current guards had the day off and partially because I just bought a car, a little 2002 Honda Accord. So, the $24 I made helped me pay for the power windows and keychain unlock thing and all the other great stuff my old car didn't have. Did I mention the power windows? Because now I have power windows, and they are pretty amazing.

Did you know that lifeguarding is the Best Job in the World? It totally is. I think my favorite part is that I don't ever have to wear shoes. My feet were always badass by the end of the summer, all toughened up from walking around on hot cement and hazardous chemicals, not to mention that they were the most tan part of my body.

Now, my feet have been faced with a new challenge, and it is called Wear Dress Shoes Five Days a Week. They are, apparently, not up for said challenge. They are pale, and covered in blisters, and generally quite unhappy with me.

I have faith in them, though. Because there were times when they didn't like the wet pool deck or the chlorine-dusted pump room floor. And they made it through. So how much harder can a pair of 3-inch heels be?

And the smug PC people nod annoyingly

My Powerbook did something awful Sunday night (in the middle of ripping Steppenwolf's Greatest Hits, no less) (maybe this was the problem) and it won't turn on anymore. I'm so distraught that I've taken a sabbatical from the internet. I will return when my Mac does, because I miss it. AND the 41 days of music stored on its hard drive.

Neither of them goes hunting. They go KILLING.

Don't ask me how I discovered this, but take a look at Davy Crockett's theme song, and then try to tell me that this guy wasn't the 19th century's Chuck Norris. I dare you.

Reasons why having a guy for your best friend doesn't always work out so well

(or, Reasons why living across the country from your best female friend sucks)

1. I will have to dye my hair by myself.

2. He is too honest when I ask, "why don't I have a boyfriend?"

3. I don't have anyone to tell me if these shoes look good with this outfit.

4. I can't borrow his clothes.

5. He doesn't understand how good chocolate is.

6. He doesn't want to watch Sex and the City, nor does he have the complete season on dvd for me to borrow.

7. He is not interested in going shopping with me, unless the store we're going to has an electronics department.

8. I don't have anyone to share really great gossip with, the kind you know you can't tell anyone, so you just have to tell each other and leave it at that.

9. No one understands what's going on when I make ABSOLUTELY PERFECT FOR THE MOMENT jokes, because unfortunately they are inside in nature.