Ban Smoking Govenor Purdue

My friends and I went out last night and what I learned was that NY, CA, DC and many other cities/states have it right. Smoking should be banned in all restaurants and bars. I don't want to smell like smoke or inhale smoke when I go out. Please ban smoking in all bars in Georgia.

I LOVE Grey's

Grey's Anatomy has to be the best show on TV. Every week I watch, the show somehow tunes into something relational that I can related to. This week Derek and Meredith show that when you are in a relationship and fight, you still show up. You still love each other even when you disagree. Kristina learned that you don't have to win - sometimes just running the race is enough. Addison and Kereve learned that just because a kiss happens - it doesn't have to change anything. And Richard learned that life will pass you by if you wait to long. Such good lessons. I love it.

It is Friday

I don't really have a cohesive idea for this post so it is really just going to be a bunch of random things that I just want to put out there in the world. First thing is that my new favorite song is I Don't Feel Like Dancin' by the Scissor Sisters. I listen to the song like 4 times a day and it is always in my head. It has a good beat - kind of reminescent of the Bee Gee's. Definitely good times!

Last night I watched Grey's Anatomy. I think I have figured out why the show is so good - it is because we can all relate to the storylines and these storylines sometimes hit straight into our heart. For instance, last night when George was having to decide to let his father go and then say goodbye - I was actually crying because I have been there before (never had to say good-bye - not yet - but I have still been in that hospital room when you don't know if this could be good-bye). I am not a crier either so you know it is touching if I am crying! I also like the simplicity of the struggle on how to sleep between Meredith and Derek. After the intial excitement of the relationship, what makes the relationship stick or come unglued is the everyday - the living together and compomising. It is good to see that part of a relationship on TV and not just the lustful/romantic parts. These parts are real.

Since I was on a plane last night, I watched another episode of 90210. I thought that show was good when I was a teenager/early 20s but now it is almost laughable. Maybe the later seasons get better but the first season is weak and full of bad hair, bad slang, and bad outfits!

That's all for now. Happy Friday!

Music - Social Networking

A friend of mine just introduced me to this new website that will track what music you are listening to called Last.fm. It is pretty cool because it shows you what you listen to, gives info about the artist you are listening to, compares your musical tastes to your friends, and lets you make friends with folks that like the same music as you do. It is sort of like MySpace centered around music.

It is kind of scary that I am freely letting someone track what sort of music I like. I think if you are smart enough and have access to enough computer databases, you could probably put together a file on everything I do from where I eat the most, what music I listen to, when I go to the gym, etc - everything we do nowadays is tracked so if someone wanted to map out my life then they probably could. Very scary.

Red Flags for Dating/Relationships/Marriage

A co-worker and I were discussing dating this week and came up with a list of red flags for dating and once you have moved into the relationship. And while neither of us have been married, we know some things that could be very damaging once married if you don't pick up on them before you get married. So in no particular order and mixed together, here are the flags (ie the things you should stay away from):

1. Be of the opposite sex (as in if you aren't of the opposite sex then it is a red flag)
2. Smoking
3. Have a crazy religion (individual's can define this on their own)
4. Short (too short for a girl and not tall enough of a guy)
5. Bad teeth (sure you can fix this but if they haven't noticed by now, they don't care about dental hygiene)
6a. If your date/boyfriend/girlfriend tends to morph into you. In other words, their likes are now your likes and they don't seem to have their own individual likes. From the movie Runaway Bride, know the kind of eggs that you like don't just like scrambled eggs because I do.
6b. In a relationship, if you are always doing what one person wants then that is bad. Have your own likes and don't follow what he/she wants to do. Stand up for what you believe in and like to do. It is fine to do things you don't like because the other person likes to do them but don't give up your personality for the sake of them. This is similar to #6a so I put them together.
7. Beware of folks that seem to have a hidden side. You don't want to marry them and find out that this whole time they were hiding something from you or didn't disclose everything. This is tricky to identify so just be on the look out for strange behavior.
8. They are an only child - only children seem to be selfish so just beware. On a related note, if they have a crazy family or seem extra attached to their family/siblings then try to digger deeper about what is causing that connection and see if you want to be a part of it. It is always good to ask "Do I want these people to be my child's grandparents, aunts, and uncles?"
9. Overweight- at this age, we should be in the best shape of our life and should eat/exercise like it
10. You don't want to eat breakfast with them for the rest of your life (ie you can't imagine waking up to them everyday and having to talk to them at breakfast).

I will end on 10 because it is a nice round number. I may add more later but that is all for now.

Old School 90210

My sister gave me the greatest Christmas present this year - the first season of 90210 on DVD. I just laughed and laughed when I got the present because it is so great. In college, 90210 reruns would come on at like 4, 5, 6 and 11 and I remember sophomore year just watching the show over and over again. I remember when Dawson's Creek came on the air and the young-ins in the sorority wanted to take over the house TV to watch that and us old folk wanted to watch 90210. We were so into the show that one of my boyfriends said "Brooke, you know that Brenda, Dylan, Donna, Kelly and Brandon aren't real people!". Very funny memories.

So I have begun watching my new prized possession lately. So far I have watched the first 2 episodes of 90210 which by the way came out in 1990. I cannot believe how bad they dressed - I mean pants up past their waist, yellow leggings with a pink skirt and a print top, ripped jeans with plaid fabric behind it - it is just crazy stuff! The hair is bad too - especially Shannon Doherty's in the 2nd episode because she has hideous bangs. They even say old school stuff like “nimrod” – who even says that today?

I am not even sure that I ever saw the original premiere of 90210. I did notice that they must have taped the premiere and the 2nd episode a few weeks/months apart. Here are my observations of the first 2 episodes. First, Brenda's hair color and style is different - that is the most notable one. Second, the front of the Walsh's house is different looking and same with the interior. Third, Dylan McKay (aka Luke Perry) isn't even in episode 1 - he was definitely my favorite character. Fourth, Dylan lives in a hotel in the 2nd episode and I am pretty sure when he is college age/after college that he goes back to living in a hotel - that is when he was dating Valerie and Vanessa Marcil's character. Fifth, there are a lot of guest stars in 90210 that are famous in their own right now.

The Camel Club

I just finished reading The Camel Club by David Baldacci. It is a fiction book centered around a mystery involving The White House, Secret Service, the NIC, and some guys who meet to discuss conspiracy theories and call themselves The Camel Club. The book is long - about 560 pages in paperback. Not only was the book a good story, it also gave me a lot to think about culturally and how folks outside the US view Americans. The story includes context of real life events like the war in Iraq and the struggle between the radial Muslims and the US. One character is a women who has moved to the US for the sole mission of sacraficing herself for Alah. She view Americans as excessive - excessive weight, excessive car size, excessive "stuff". She hates everything Americans stand for because she grew up with bombs falling all around and she lost all of her family members to violence. By the end of the story she does find herself envying the peace of American but still ends up sacraficing her life for the great cause. The book also talks about how Muslim countries are afraid of the US because of all of our fire power - this makes senses because they are surrounded by violence. As Americans we don't believe our country will resort to nuclear weapons but as a person growing up in this radical countries, they don't know that because all they know is violence. The book gave me a lot to think about as to how the world views Americans and while we take for granted our lifestyle, we really do have it great and should appreciate the little things in life and not live to excess. We should also take the time to understand the other cultures and viewpoints of the world - understand the history of those views and what has shaped their views for 100s of year. If you want a good read, I would definitely recommend this book because it tells a good story and leads you to think introspectively about our culture. Incidently, it is Book 1 of 29 on my 2007 list!

Corteo

I just saw the Cirque de Soleil show Corteo this evening in Atlanta. This is the best Cirque show that i have seen (I have seen Allegra and then knock off Cirque show called Cirque Dreams). This show is not to be missed. The music is great, the acrobatics and performances are awesome, the story is interesting, the acts are funny and the costumes are cool. As I was sitting there I thought back to ancient times when performances would entertain kings and thought this was surely a show fit for a king. It was amazing what some of the performers could do. I think my favorite was the trampoline/acrobatics but they also had performers hanging from chandeliers, balancing on ladders, rolling in rings, jumping from bars and even playing a song with just glasses. The funniest thing was the midget attached to huge balloons and she just jumped from hand to hand in the audience just floating - too funny. It was a good mix of entertaining acts (ie the midget and balloons) to amazing physical feats (ie the acrobatics). Here is an official list of acts from the website: Adagio Duet, Bouncing Beds, Chandeliers, Cyr Wheel, Juggling, Ladder, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Paradise, Teeterboard, Tightwire, Tournik, Helium Dance, Glasses, Teatro Intimo, and Puppet Artist. Upcoming shows are in the following cities: Dallas, Houston, Columbus and Denver. Book now because the show sold out in Atlanta. If you don't want to take my word for it there is a min preview of the performances on the website - definitely check it out.

The Year of the 29

This year I turn 29 and to honor my final year in my 20s, I have decided to theme my "Things to Do in 2007" list towards the number 29. Some of these "to do's" may or may not be achievable but I think it will be fun trying. So to supplement my usual list, I now have a 29 themed To Do List. So to kick off 2007, here are some of the things that I want to do this year...

29-Themed To Do's

• Meet 29 new people
• Read 29 books
• Visit 29 cities (this may sound crazy but I travel with work now and think this is doable)
• Eat at 29 new restaurants
• Save at least $2900
• Give at least $2900 to a charity
• Do 29 hrs of community service
• Go on 29 hrs worth of dates - and this will not be a continuous 29 hr date:)
• Work out at least 29 mins a day/4 times a week
• Play 29 holes of golf
• Fly on 29 flights
• Spend 29 hrs at the beach
• Spend 29 hrs skiing
• Run 29 miles (okay, 26 miles in a marathon)
• Lose 29 lbs (No worries, not going to do anything unhealthy and I already started counting against this number in Fall 2006)

Places to Visit:

• Phoenix, AZ to see Callie
• Syracuse, NY to visit Mindy/Andy
• Austin, TX or Puerto Rico with Jane
• Boston, MA to visit Andrew
• Prague, Czech
• Ski somewhere
• Beach somewhere

Things to do:

• Go/Be in Weddings: estimated 5

Carryover's from 2006 list:

• Steeplechase in Atlanta
• Art Walk on the First Thursday or Castelberry Hill Art Walk
• Complete a sprint triathalon
• Take a dance class
• Skiing in Chile

You may ask how I plan to keep up with all of this but have no fear, I have an Excel spreadsheet and will post what I can at the end of 2007 so you can see how I did. I will also probably add to the list as the year goes on so stay tuned for updates.