Would you rather?

spend the night (by yourself) in a haunted crypt,


Blurry effects caused by ghostly presence

or

spend the night in an open coffin at the bottom of an open grave?

Check in by 10:00pm, check out at sunrise.

Things to consider:

• Ghosts (at both)
• Goosebumps (at both)
• Heebie jeebies (at both)
• Permanent psychological damage (at both)
• Bumps in the night (at both)
• Reputation for being tough (from both)

Which do you choose, and why?

The Year 3000

Remember the last time you tried to break a pinata? You got blindfolded, spun around several times, and then you were left to your own devices in that disoriented state. That's exactly how I felt after my experience in the Apple store yesterday.

A couple weeks ago I noticed that only one of my earbuds was working on my iPhone. I thought I could live with it for awhile, but I only lasted a couple weeks before it became too annoying. So yesterday I went to the Apple store in the mall.

As I walked into the three walled store, I was greeted by two very friendly employees who asked me what I needed. I mentioned earbuds, and was whisked off by one of them into the most sterile, futuristic store I've ever been in. Have you been in one of these places? The whole place is white, blue, and chrome, and you're surrounded by gadgets that look like robots. It's surreal.

The employee grabbed the earbuds off the wall, and asked if I needed anything else. When I said no, he took out his phone and started punching in information. I asked, "so where do I check out?" And he said, "right here." Huh? I didn't see a cash register, and we were standing in the middle of the store. But I didn't want to look too uncool so I just just took out my wallet. He put out his hand for my credit card, which he swiped through his phone. What? I was so confused. He then said, "you're all set," and sent me on my way. As I walked out of the store, I felt totally disoriented. What had just happened? Where was I? It had all happened so fast.

About a minute later, my phone buzzed indicating that my receipt had just been e-mailed to me. At that point, I called my sister and said, "I think I just left the year 3000."

Every store I went to after that resembled a general store from the 19th century. I mean, who uses cash registers anymore!? Or doors?! And who browses? Paper receipts!? Primitive!

That having been said, I'd rather never go to the Apple store again. The future is far too disorienting for me.

Wednesday Thoughts

You know what's scarier than the Grudge? Flirting. I mean, flirting for real - when you want a guy to ask you out. Not just playful flirting, purposeful flirting - do you know what I mean? Ok, I somehow just made it sound even scarier. And weird.

I've realized lately that most of the guys I've dated have been willing to meet me more than half way. I made this scale to illustrate. The red and pink lines are as far as I typically go with flirting, confidence, and boldness. The guy has to meet me the rest of the way which is something like 70% from the looks of it. I realize this isn't fair, but I'm not sure how to make the pink and red lines stretch further. How bold can I really be? How can I increase my confidence? Maybe I'm selling myself short - maybe I do more than I think I do. It's just that I see some girls who meet the guys more than half way, and I really can't do that.

Paint comes through again. Nothing but the best for you guys.


What about you? Are you/were you a flirt? As you know, I don't (can't) ask a guy out, so I try to be as friendly as possible to make up for it. How much do guys expect girls to do to express interest?

Enough about that. I have a confession about Halloween. You guys know I love Halloween so this might surprise you, but I don't like dressing up. I can never come up with any costumes, and I usually just feel silly. So then I just end up sticking with one of the old stand by's, like a cat, or a witch, or the thing I'm going to be this year which I can't reveal yet. But which is not original. What are you going to be?

One last thing for today - this Friday is going to be the last "would you rather" for a couple weeks. Instead of doing it every Friday, I'm going to move it to every other. This one is going to be Halloween themed, so get ready to make a very spooky decision. You're gonna love it! Come back Friday and see.

Happy Wednesday.

The Grudge

'Tis the season for scaring ourselves out of our minds, all in the name of Halloween. Haunted houses, haunted hayrides, scary costumes, and of course, scary movies.

Of all the scary movies I've seen (and there aren't many), the one that scares me the most is The Grudge. I abhor this movie. I hate the way that stupid Grudge moves like a spider down the stairs, I hate the way she creeps on people, the way she disguises her voice, the way she's terrifying, etc, etc...

Yet somehow this movie ended up in my possession. I have no idea how. I am 100% sure I did not buy it. The Grudge herself is the most likely culprit, being the evil "person" she is. But I don't have evidence that it was her. My point is, it somehow ended up with my movies years ago. I hid it in a shoe box so I wouldn't have to see it,  but I knew it was there.

A friend of mine who shall remain nameless, but who is Grudge-like in his desire to scare me, insisted on watching this movie with me this Halloween season. I think he thought it would be amusing to see me scared out of my wits. After months and months of him telling me we were going to watch it this fall, I somehow gave in and agreed.

There's no need for me to tell you how the viewing went. I had my eyes closed for at least half the movie. I screamed more than twice. From under the blanket, I would ask, "is the Grudge gone yet?" When my friend left that night, I tried to give him the movie but he wouldn't take it. So this morning I brought it into work and put it on our "free table," where people leave kitchen stuff, books, and whatever else they couldn't sell at their garage sale. Here's a picture I took of it:

I wonder if anyone will take it? Getting home from work today and seeing it on my kitchen table is my worst fear right now. I wouldn't put it past The Grudge to do something like that.

What is the scariest movie you've ever seen? What's one you wouldn't see again?

Introspection

After a couple conversations I've had recently with blog readers, I've realized more and more that my blog really only shows part of my personality. Because my full name is available for all to see (rookie mistake), and because I both do and don't know who's reading, I can only say so much.

I'm always reluctant to do posts like this because it feels so vain to presume that anyone would care to know more about me, but considering we are all nosey by nature (which is totally different than naughty by nature), I thought I'd tell you a bit more about me. Stuff that I don't talk about much here. Maybe you could tell me a bit more about yourselves too, if you feel so inclined.

• I am the oldest of four. I have two sisters and a brother.
• I have a degree in English. I couldn't resist pursuing that degree, even though I knew it would never make me rich. I loved college, and still read all the time.
• Because of my degree, I feel guilty when I read fluff literature, yet I often do anyway.
• I listen to NPR daily, and love talking about what's going on in the world.
• I am very active in my church, and am always open to talk about it if anyone wants to, but would never want to push it on anyone.
• I have a fish named Brutus who I adopted from my sister. She adopted it from our friend, Megan. Brutus is now 4 yrs old and he won't eat unless I'm standing next to his tank. I swear that if I hum while I'm standing there, he gets excited. He's unique.
• I love riding my bike and ride as often as I can. I only wear a helmet because in my head I can hear my sister lecturing me about it. Sometimes I rebel and don't though because I love the feeling of my hair blowing in the breeze. I realize I sound like a ten year old.
• Led Zeppelin is my favorite band, and I love rock music. I also like pop though, and just loads of other stuff. I also love the Beatles and they always put me in a happy place. 
• I feel the most alive after a really good conversation.
• I'm not always nice. Generally, I can get along with most anyone but certain personality types rub me the wrong way.
• I'm too critical of myself.
• I both love and hate having crushes. My heart is always hopeful but my brain is a pessimist. This makes crushing a painful experience.
• I try to be optimistic and laugh a lot but am often lonely.
• I'm really bad at holding grudges and can't stay mad for long.
• My favorite t.v. show ever is Northern Exposure and I have all the seasons of it on DVD.
• I love holidays and try to make people feel really special on their birthdays. I love any excuse to celebrate.
• I'm a little bit too sensitive, but am trying to develop a thicker skin.
• I am an insomniac. Or maybe I'm just a night owl? Either way, I don't get nearly enough sleep and I think my life would probably be better if I did.
• I feel more confident when I straighten my hair.
• I am light hearted and laugh often. I try to see the funny side of life - laugh or cry, right?

Wow, I had no idea how long that was getting. That's probably much more information than you wanted. But I think I painted a slightly bigger picture of myself. Now you know me a little bit better.

What is something about you that doesn't come through in your blog? Or if you don't have a blog, what is something about you that you don't think people know?

Would you rather?

Be invisible (you can turn it on and off)

or

Be able to fly?

Things to consider:

Flight: It's flight. What more can be said? Well, I'll say a bit more:

• Easier commutes.
• Women will think you're Superman (if you're a man).
• That cape you wear will finally make sense.
• You can get Frisbees off the roof.
• Point out to men when they are balding. They love being informed of this.

Invisibility: This super power strikes me as being slightly more sinister, but it could be used for good, right? Here are some ways:

• It would be awesome to go running while being invisible. I hate being seen when I'm huffing and puffing. 
• Invisible bike riding would be pretty good too. On more than one level.
• There are sooo many ways you could embarrass people.
• Spying. It seems like that's why most people want to be invisible, right?

Which do you choose, and why?

Wednesday Thoughts

Since we're only a week and a half away from Halloween, I thought I'd do some follow up from my post "Things I'd like to do this Halloween season" from last week. Mostly because I want to brag that I actually did some of them. Here's an update:

Make some mod podge pumpkins: did it! It really was a Halloween miracle! Here's a picture of it when it was still drying:

Watch the Changeling, Ghost Busters, and one other scary movie: I haven't seen the two listed yet, but I have seen The Skeleton Key, Hocus Pocus, and another which I'll mention later.

Decide who to have a crush on this fall: still figuring that out (wink wink).

Eat candy (Larry) corns: Sooo did it! Bought a jumbo bag. Luckily it's impossible to over eat these things because after about 7 or 8 my stomach starts hurting.

Come up with a good Halloween costume: Not yet. But I've become somewhat of a lameoid (technical term) when it comes to dressing up. I need to work on that for this year. Do you know what you're going to be?

Carve a pumpkin into something unexpected: Oh, did I. Check it out! Can you guess what it is?

Put the past in the past: Success.

Find the movie "Mr. Boogedy": Yes! I watched it on Youtube to start, and a friend found the actual movie and is getting me a copy! Score. In case you follow that link, I recommend watching the Bride of Boogedy too. 80's gold.

Oh, and this wasn't on my list, but for bonus points I also went to a cider mill and baked pumpkin seeds (but not at the same time).

Have you accomplished any of your fall goals?

In the spirit of Halloween, I'll leave you with my favorite non-scary scary video. I've posted it on here once before, but it's that good.



Happy Wednesday!