Sunday, January 31, 2010

Clients From Hell.

Little tidbits from the tumblr "Clients From Hell" (Makes me glad I don't really deal with people....):

Client: “That font right there!  It’s clean yet edgy.  There’s no WAY I’ve seen that font before, I would’ve remembered!  What font is that?”
Me: “Arial.”

Client: I need to get moving, anyway you can do some work on this on your vacation. That’s a long vacation, I bet you’ll get bored anyway, and this is back-and-forth via email, not phone, so it shouldn’t cause you any stress..

Client: “I have a great idea, and I’d like to bring you on board as a partner.”
Me: “Go on..”
Client: “It’s great.  I want to recreate Google, but make it better.”
Me: “How?”
Client: “Well that’s where your expertise comes in.”

Client: That other website is stealing our business. Can you make it so that when someone types in their address they come to our site?

There are about a billion more.... check out the awesome!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Oh lordy.....

My husband likes to sing Kesha’s “Tik Tok”. Ok. I can deal.

HOWEVER.

He just brought his CDs in from the car, among them, Kesha’s cd. I asked how long he’s had it, and he admitted to owning it for over a month. He was just too embarassed to admit…

Thursday, January 28, 2010

I heart this song.



This isn’t the official video, but the song was on Bones tonight….I very much dig.

Throwback Thursday: Cheesy Smile for a Cheesy Crowd

These cool cats are on a cruise right now. A cruise that involves Turks and Caicos. While I wake up before the sun and face a gloomy cold day of the dentist, work, and a week night game....they wake up when nature wants them to to a glorious day of sun reflecting off waves, sand in their toes, and endless buffets of gourmet food. Let's envy them together. Hardcore.

Although really, I doubt they have a cooler hat than me...

Monday, January 25, 2010

Dementors Reign.

I am 98% positive that Dementors have taken up residence in Cedar Falls over the past few weeks….and tonight proves it!

Back in the Day (A Wednesday, of course)


I remember the walk I took a few months ago, the last real walk of 2009. It was almost "too cold", but I had my new camera and wanted to do it anyway. Oh, what I would give to have a day "too cold" like that again. It would be as if a huge heat wave had hit, and color had painted the skies. Remember blue? Remember how it felt to be able to actually see the ground? Without snow or even layers upon layers of salt. Even the ground that you can see is as what as the snow with much salt has been put on it this winter. It gets on your car, your shoes, your pants. Everything, as if you've been prancing around in a coke den all day.
The smell of grass. Of life. I swear the only outside smells I get now are the smells of going out to the garage where my car is warming up and the door is barely cracked to let just enough of the fumes out. Yummy, eh?


Reds, browns, kitties, and Tim!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

OMG, Is This What Brides Sound Like On Wedding Message Boards?



OMG, Is This What Brides Sound Like On Wedding Message Boards?

This is hilariously fantastic. Women are absolutely crazy, and that's without weddingmania. Add them together. Whoa buddy.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Null and Void.

I worked out hard this morning with my trainer. Like killer hard.

And then I get to work, and there on the desk are Carolyn's RIDIDCULOUSLY amazing cinnamon rolls that we get about twice a year.

Irrestible. Completely.

Ugh. There goes the gym session. I suck.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Throwback Thursday: Kids like White!

I think yesterday's post makes this more self-explanatory...although what is still perplexing is why I look like I am riding an invisible horse....

Wednesday Whiteout.

These show why everyone in this town is in some desperate need of color in our lives....



Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Another Way to Find Me

I find a lot of pictures that I want to share with the world, but don't feel the belong to me enough to put them here, so I gave in.....

http://clarethewanderer.tumblr.com/

It shall be totally different than what I post here. Promise :)

Monday, January 18, 2010

Hakuna Matata!



The 1pm show on a Sunday only reinforced my complete and utter disdain for children...

I must admit, both of us were pretty disappointed. The show was on much too small of a stage, so they couldn't perform the way I feel it was meant to be performed. And it was far too long. I would have loved just an hour+ of the ensemble dancers/singers and the woman playing Rafiki singing African songs. As much as I love Lion King, the plot totally got in the way. Just not as much as the small children I wanted to punch in the face....

Also, the Des Moines Civic Center is trashy. Don't see things there. Not worth it.

Happy Tuesday! ;)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Friday, January 15, 2010

Feline Friday.

Look at this love and affection....

I know most people don't care, but our cats have been extra whorey lately, which also means extra cute and obnoxious. Always wanting attention at ALL hours of night. So I figured they might as well be internet whores as well, for a day.
Always leads to....


Nessa says "Cheese," eyes closed, chin out!
Myla looking as crosseyed and doofy as ever. She is our loudest and most needy whorer.
While the licking seems cute in the picture, it stops being cute when she licks EVERYTHING including walls and baseboards...

The amount of anger and hatred in Myla's face is far too hilarious. We had just gotten Olivia, and she was far less than thrilled.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Double Dose of Post. Let Me Eat Cake!


Throwback post is down below this one, but I saw this cake, and have officially deemed it my birthday tonight! Someone needs to make this for me (I'll help!). No really. I want this. Forget the fact that I was born in October, I want!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Throwback Thursday: Oh to be Summer again....

I would give anything to have this weather right now, if only for 12 hours. I just want to go for a run outside! Even if I had to wear that swimsuit to do it...
But I will admit, its been almost 20 here the past two days. It smells like spring. It makes me want to break out some more water proof shoes and go for that run! I know spring isn't anywhere near here, but a girl can dream of 80s pastel flower swimsuits, cant she?

I know the cat's sure are ready for summer, they talk to that rabbit outside all the time. I think they are planning a 4th of July barbecue...with rabbit on the menu....

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Wind Caused Delay?


Wow, long overdue post. The week before Christmas (I know, it seems like AGES ago) the Nordyke fam with Tim and I in tow, made the trek to Chicago, with the main reason of seeing Cirque Du Soleil's new show, Banana Shpeel. We left Saturday morning (basketball game the night before), and journeyed through the cold snow to be met by the most glorious, meat in tube shaped meal EVER. My personal favorite, Portillos Hot Dogs. Checked into our hotel downtown, snapped a pic with my brother (best bro/sis pic ever) and we went to see the show.

Let me make myself clear, I adore Cirque shows. I have seen more than I can count on one hand. Some more than once. Everytime I see one, its beautiful and entertaining, and its well worth the traveling to see them. So believe me when I say, that this was the WORST show ever. Even if it wasn't part of Cirque I would have thought so. Wasn't funny, there was no talent, there were no tricks, the cast sucked, it was just bad. I would have walked out at intermission, but Dad was determined that it might get better (it didn't, but there was a pretty Russian pole dancer dude!). That's that story.

We dined on a great meal at McCormick and Schmicks, but the highlight was when mom ordered a "Chocolate Box" dessert, and this GINORMOUS hunk of chocolate filled with mousse was served. No joke, the chocolate alone had to weigh several pounds.

Next day, the Chicago German Christmas Market, oh Olliebollen, I love you.....

A less than quick stop at the giant Gap store downtown, Macys, and a Portillos lunch later, we were on the road!

Stopped in Galena on the way back, Tim had never been, and it had been years since I had been. Visited the Cannery and had a MILLION and a half samples. Hit up a few other shops, wishing we had a kitchen three times the size of our current one, and finally arrived back home. A quick jaunt, but everyone knows its just nice to get out of town sometimes....


(Above) Portillos Glory, Mom and Dad outside the theatre, the view from our hotel room!
(Below) Infamous Chocolate Box, Chris&Dad at Christmas Market, Sampling Haven!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Bonus Post: Tim's Pork Baby

Second post of the day! Two of my favorite things. Movies (see below post) and food....

If someone you love has an affinity for meat or barbecue, do NOT let them watch the show Barbecue Pitmasters, or give them a digital meat thermometer for Christmas. Or you will end up with your parents around your dining room table with this look on their face!
Tim decided that he was going to buy a huge hunk of scary looking pork, and slow roast it on a Saturday. For 13 hours. I have to put out there, that I am not a pork person. I am barely a meat person. But pork in particular, ick. And after Tim pulled the pork out of the oven, put a fork in it, twisted, and the meat literally just fell apart...I knew I would be liking this pork...and yes. For all the world to see, I enjoyed that pork. Just as much as my mother's homemade bread that accompanied it.

Pre-13 hours of roasting glory.... Trust me, the after picture doesn't make it look any prettier....

Them Newfangled Moving Pictahs!

I have seen quite a few awesome movies in the theater recently, which is surprising because I feel like there was a LONG good movie draught. But both Sherlock Holmes and Daybreakers quenched my entertaining movie thirst over the past month. And I will totally admit that my taste in movies does not even come close to rivaling those that attended school with. I don't need cinematic breakthroughs or political agendas or iconic directing to blow me out of the water, I just want it to keep my attention, entertain me, and have me not look at my watch from opening credit to ending credit.

Which is why, when asked by a friend of mine, an aspiring film critic, to send in my top 10 favorite of the decade, I was hesitant. I saw so many dramatic films in school, that I figured my list of cheese puff popcorn films would be an embarassment. Plus, a lot of these make me seem like a 12 year old girl. But frankly, not everyone went to film school, and almost all on my list did great at the box office, so I'm not crazy! Let me know if you agree. Poll on the side -->

1. Nochnoy dozor: The sleeper hit of the decade, very few saw this Russian beauty, but everyone should. Breakthrough in its vision, an epic story, just freakin sweet.

2. Mummy II: Just as good as the first, if not better, since they finally realized that Brendan Fraser doesn't do drama....

3. Blade Trinity: Vampires, Ryan Reynolds, and Jessica Biel. Its like watching hotness for an hour and a half.

4. Shawn of the Dead: Rampant beating of a Vampire set to Queen. Instant success, but everything else makes it classic.

5. Garden State: This movie might as well have been on constant repeat my entire years of college.

6. Live Free or Die Hard: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, and Kevin Smith?! Who woulda thought.....

7. Harry Potter: I can't not love how amazingly brought to life the books have become. I never thought it would match up to
the images in my head, but its creepily dead on.

8. Princess Diaries: I am so ashamed, I refuse to comment, but I still love and adore this movie. It has Julie Andrews!

9. Serenity: Joss Whedon is my television hero. And here he is on the silver screen. Mix in some Nathan Fillion, and you have my heart.

10. National Treasure: Because Tom Hanks sucked up the other Mason based movie of the decade.

I would just like to add that two of my favorite movies of all time JUST missed the cut of 2000. Silly 1999....The Mummy, Boondock Saints, and 10 Things I Hate about You. The Saint was a few years off as well. Bah!

Thoughts and opinions blogging world? What were a few of your favorites of the decade? Take the poll on the side -->

Friday, January 8, 2010

Throwback Thursday: New Years 1987!

It's been awhile since I have done a Flashback picture, so I figured this one would mesh nicely with a New Years post. From 1987 to 2009....weird. I thought I might try to squeeze into that frilly navy frock, but alas, it wouldn't have matched my shoes...and mom wasn't willing to pick me up and hold me! So blame her.

New Years Eve went differently than expected to say the least. I spent most of the day on the couch, having done something atrociously horrid to my back (which is slowly morphing into a tailbone issue), but manned up enough to go to my parents for the traditional NYE hors deurvs dinner, which, as always, was fully of sinfully tasty foods. Followed by a game of Scrabble, where my father spent the length of the game trying to spell Shaqtus. And I was left with the world's WORST set of letters....
Kenya kept trying to get dad to spell "hardboiledeggs" And then I bucked it up even more, donned the dress I had spent way too long shopping for (forgive the poorly framed picture) and headed out for NYE festivities...with -1 on the thermometer outside. Strappy shoes and below zero temps do NOT mix....
Happy 2010!