The Daily Adventures of Mercat

ATTENION. Submit your name for this contest to spend the night in COSI's Adventure. And then if you win, BRING ME. PLEASE, I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! (Well, some of you do, I'm sure.)

But seriously... do it.


I do not drink soda more often than milk. I LOVE MILK. I have it every morning for breakfast, and with a lot of meals. If we go out to eat and it's a Coke place, I get milk. And in terms of pop, I drink Mountain Dew. I'm not really a cola person. Every once in a while, root beer.

An all-cat production of Hamlet. I... how?

I missed a few days worth of prompts, sorry. I've been looking at grad school stuff... I'm kind of intimidated :( I'm starting to think I should have done mechanical or computer science engineering or something like that, but five years ago I didn't have quite the same aspirations.

Mean Girls: is a fantastic movie. Fun to watch, amazingly quotable, aptly quotable on an everyday basis, and hilarious. Also, it's probably a good icon for women in comedy. I don't know much about the comedy forefront but I do know that it's considered a job where men flourish and women fail. And the guys I always get to watch this movie agree that it is not a chick flick like they expected, but a fantastic (and wonderfully quotable) comedy. So. We should all just stab Caesar!

I have a sister. She and I get on much better now that we don't see eachother much, but we do tend to snip at eachother if we're both home for a few days in eachother's company. We're strangely opposites, and I think the way we have turned out isn't exactly how I would have predicted it ten years ago. Then I would have said that she would turn out to be the sorority-sister arts major, and here I am in an engineering sorority and not wanting to engineer a damn thing (well, sort of). And she used to talk about starting a fashion company, and now she's pre-med. And I'm a nerd who loves to read, but she is probably smarter than me. Or she's just really good and guessing and BSing, which is both accurate and enough. I am a little too honest and a little too paranoid to be a good BSer. Which is a shame, really, because being an introvert in a world of extroverts is exhausting.

Buuuuut enough about that.

My favorite junk food... is probably Mountain Dew. I try to treat it like a dessert; one, because it has a lot of empty calories, two, because too much caffiene headaches gives me mini-migraine-mock-caffiene-withdrawal headaches and they suck balls.

BACK TO APPLYING TO GRAD SCHOOLS =/

(and waiting for it to be Thanksgiving so I can get excited about Christmas except I listened to the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy cover of Mr. Heatmiser today and I DON'T CARE)

Sometimes I agree.

Oh god, it IS horrifying.

When Superman invaded the KKK. Life is awesome sometimes.

hehehehe, space.

This whole thing pisses me off. Yeah, maybe it's a little low-cut for a movie premiere, but it's the preimiere for Kick-Ass, and if you haven't noticed, I'm going to take a stab with the whole hot-pink hair thing and say she probably doesn't give a whit what you think of her. Not to mention, half the headlines talk about her husband (and call her "Mrs. Wossy") despite the fact that she's the fucking screenwriter. And somehow, they pointed this all out and still managed to completely miss the point?! I don't know. I really don't.

Oh, Liam Neeson. I still don't get this movie.

NOOOOO MOUNTAIN DEW THROWBACK TASTES HORRIBLE :C

ICHC is a Mensa favorite site. I don't know if that means they have a sense of humor or they're no better than the rest of us. Oh, humanity. You and your ego.

Old hat, but these George Takei ads creep me out a little. I mean, he's awesome, but his voice is just... weird.

Oh, FUCK YOU, Gizmodo. The dude did not "sneak a peek". HE TOOK A FUCKING PICTURE. (Oh, and remember, these are impossible to misuse, remember? At least it didn't take long. Maybe they'll realize what a dumbass idea these are.)

NOOOOOOOO why do they release all these lovely bright colors after I just got a new lappy?! AUGH. Turquoise or hot pink or lime green or sunset orange would have been SO SUPERIOR to dark blue.

Didn't know there was an Indiana Jones timeline. However, this guy seems thoroughly unamused? I really hate when people get interviewed and respond with stuff like that. At the least, make your answers interesting if you have nothing to add.

FUCK YES TREASURE ISLAND A LA THE NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES. AND APPARENTLY TWO STUDIOS ARE DOING THREE MUSKETEERS.

MOTHA'
FUCKIN'
HELLS YEAH

I really love the English's sense of humor. Or humour, as it were. Anyway, St. George is also the patron saint of... Barcelona? No, Valencia? I think it was Valencia. I remember seeing little Winnie-the-Poohs dressed up as St. George in the Disney Store in Valencia. I really wish I had bought one now, that would just be too awesome.

Heheheheheh.

OMG OHIO YAAAAY I'm so proud. This goes out to everyone who says we suck as a state. SCREW YOU.

Jones soda is making D&D flavors... I'm posting this only because I know there are some D&D fans and some Jones soda fans out there. Personally, I can't do Jones soda, the holiday flavors killed it for me (it's the aftertaste). Also, I'm glad to see gamers are getting their foot in the door with advertisers, like the WoW and Halo Mountain Dews. Okay Mountain Dew, you know what's next? Indy V, I want to see some fucking DELICIOUS marketing. Enough with that Dr. Pepper bullshit

Oh, and did I say Indy V? I think I did.

(Also, Jones soda has a perfect in, but I hate it so please don't. I'M BEGGING YOU, PEPSI, DO THIS FOR ME)

Also? It's about damn time someone made an INDIANA JONES PUZZLE GAME, goddamn. I want to buy it but sadly I don't think games transfer from phone to phone...? also, nerd moment, that article number is 1135 goddamn i'm a huge nerd

I'm actually surprised this didn't happen sooner, and that it wasn't a youtube mashup, but a real piece of music.

This man can draw perfect circles. It is ridiculous.

I always knew Abercrombie & Fitch was a pretentious pile of overpriced bullshit, but I didn't realize they actively discriminate. Yeah, glad I never shopped there, and now I never will. Ugh.

Fur Elise arranged for owls, loons, cats, and a wood stork:



Scanning dead salmon in fMRI machine highlights use of red herrings. I admit, this title immediately caught my attention; salmon was a joke at Troop this summer, and it's also become a (different and completely unrelated) joke here in PoD's trumpet section; also, ever since Katy introduced me to the Planetarium Puzzle I've always been drawn to anything regarding red herrings, maybe simply because I'd never heard the term used before. I have no idea why I am so obsessed with the concept, but I am. Anyway, it's a good article.

An interesting article on cursive and print. Another topic I've become fascinated with ever since I found out cursive was no longer being taught in schools. It came as kind of a shock to me, because, well, we're going to end up with people who can't read it. Not that it's too difficult, but I imagine for some it could be, especially with letters like the old style Q, or Z. See, I don't even remember anymore because they (who is they?) changed it when I got to second grade, so we relearned some letters. Anyway, I mean, I can understand that so many people type now that it rarely matters. I mean, fuck, pretty much all my teachers refuse to accept handwritten assignments. But I am inherently drawn to fonts (I don't know why, I just am--I sketch fonts when I'm bored, for god's sake, random words that pop into my head just because I want to make them look interesting) and it makes me sad that an alternative sort of alphabet could disappear. Anyway, just some thoughts there, nothing really pressing.

Depp unsure about Pirates 4, which would be a bummer considerig the first movie is so much better than the second two.

So, I decided to start chewing gum. This was at first a challenge because Juicy Fruit, ever since they changed their recipe or something a few years ago, it tastes terrible. Although I DID finally find sugarless Juicy Fruit in the US--it comes in those 60 piece BigEPaks. So despite that I'm a little bit of a chomper and I get tired of chewing it pretty fast, this is the plus list I'm trying to focus on: I don't bite my nails as much, it prevents me from eating as much snack food, and it burns some calories. BUT Orbit peppermint is pretty good (I don't think it's sugarless though?) and Trident bubblegum is pretty good, too.

ALSO since Pittsburgh sucked so much this weekend, all I did was pick up a halloween snowglobe. I wonder how long it will last. HOWEVER, it is awesome.

So I've really been avoiding LJ. I've just been kind of overwhelmed with real-life stuff and I don't have the time nor the inclination to go through the millions of pages of communities I've been following. So, sorry if I miss something =/ If it's important, let me know, I promise I'm actually around. For example, today I've been making sure facebook doesn't explode my inbox.

Anyway, so I'm going to have an exciting weekend. I wore wonderfully bright things today (and my Indy QC shirt) and then went to El Toro with mom and dad and Laura. Laura convinced me to get a pina colada but it was not really to my interest. So, so far things aren't looking good for my drinking self. Champagne is a no, mudslides are a no, pina coladas are a no. Wine is meh but I'd rather drink milk and mountain dew and sparkling grape juice to be honest... =/ Yeah, like I said, I'm just not that interested.

ANYWAY but Stebs is coming down from Indiana tomorrow & we are going to dinner with the roomies & Laura & Sav, then doing something (undetermined yet) on Saturday and then PARTY to which I invited all of facebook because I was lazy (which is actually kind of awkward) and then Sunday is dinner with the whole fam fam. Delicious summer spaghetti and cooorrrrnnnn and brownies, yum.

So classes are looking okay though my grad-level tech elective might get cancelled because there are only five of us and the teacher didn't even show up to the first day. Art history I'm kind of pissed at because we're doing prehistory but all European, Mediterranean, and Mesopotamian. =/ Why no Asian, southern African, or American?! Or Australian... really, anything.

Anyway. Might be back more this weekend or hopefully next week. woo

Also actually wanted to go to the gym today. Which is a good sign for wanting to stay fit :D Now the problem is finding easy but filling lunches... Salads are good but not filling enough, considering yesterday I thought I wanted to puke.

You know what is exciting, though? Besides my friends Matt and Riley who are both trumpets at Troopers, I also found out that Fred Morris shares our birthday! And always my dad, as well. We are so cool beans like that :D

Can't remember if I posted this before, but today I felt like a walking Sprite can. Green coat, yellow bag, navy and white shoes. I fit the profile, trust me.

Things I did over the weekend instead of rehearsal, #thingsIforgotbefore: figured out how to juggle. Now all I need to do is practice enough so I'm not throwing stuff forward when I do it, and that way I will be able to stand still and juggle, and everything will be cool with the world.

For all you Twitter users out there: is there a way to only recieve "@" texts to your phone? I can read other stuff online, but it might be nice to get "@" messages when I'm just sitting in the airport texting or whatever.

Did I mention how excited I am over my Timbuk2 Metro bag? It's perfect. It's designed to fit composition-notebook sized things, which is hard to find in a medium-sized purse, and I don't want a full-on messenger bag size. Also, it's designed to last nigh on forever for people who are bike travelers, so the external material is weather-resistant to boot. (To the point most people call it waterproof.) And then the liner is vinyl, and it has a million awesome pockets, and a key loop, and a water bottle mesh, and it fits ALL my purse contents AND my netbook WITH ROOM TO SPARE. Fuck, I love this thing. I really really do. Plus all the pockets are covered and there is not only super-strong velcro but buckles on the flap that would definitely prevent this from being easily pick-pocketed. I AM SUCH A HAPPY CAMPER RIGHT NOW :D

Also, I went to Subway tonight for the "support Chuck" campaign or whatever, and I forgot how much I miss walking down Chaminade's campus to get a turkey sub at Subway and a Mountain Dew slushie down the street at the gas station and then walking back upstairs to my room and just surfing the net or watching a movie or whatever but just enjoying my slice of Hawaii. I miss it so freaking much.

Oh, I'm trying to figure out if I can attach one of my fake hibiscuses to my new bag (since it's all atrociously yellow) without poking a hole in the material that would let water in. Or I'm thinking I can paint some purple or green or blue stuff on there, but I don't know what. ~decisions~

Back to cleaning up links because I have way too many tabs open, and that doesn't even include all the interesting stuff I have sitting in my Google reader.

Fighting litter one kid at a time. Good idea, hopefully it actually teaches some good lessons. =)

Derringer Cycles; someone needs to buy me one of these. Or all of them.

New explosion creates new island in the Pacific, near Tonga. That is a sweetass picture.

So bandicoots are fucking adorable.

Poor hedgehog with no spines. :C

First Lady starts garden at the White House, can I just say I am extremely excited about this? I hope it helps support another branch of a sustainable living trend.

A really good video on the Ex-Gay movement. I think the best thing is that after 30 years of creating and participating in the Exodus ex-gay movement, the creators had no successes and APOLOGIZED PUBLICLY for it. GO THEM. True scientists who did not bend the facts to their will.

The most beautiful wave shots ever. Truly beautiful. I'm pretty sure #4 is Waimeia Bay on Oahu. (I remember that tower.)

A very fascinating photo-journal of North Korea. I may have already posted this, but no matter, it is really cool.

New rainbow jellyfish! Cool beans.

Mountain Dew and Pepsi will have a throwback (with omg sugar). Hooray! I am interested to try it.

WOAH HOLY SHIT HARRISON FORD JUST SHOWED UP MY TV IN A WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING AD. That was unexpected, lol. It was like "oh cool some random dude is talking about extinction, going back to blogging nowWAITAMINUTE I KNOW THAT VOICE"

I weird myself out sometimes.

Selling Girl Scout cookies online: I'm actually against it. The troops get money from each box sold and if you're taking over some other troop's market by making it available online, that is rather unfair. Especially if you're one of those obsessive sellers who sells hundreds (or thousands) of cookies. I could never understand those girls. Do they have issues or something? Anyway.

Whew, atheists make up roughly 15% of the US population. That's nothing to scoff at. I'm just compeltely surprised by how high that number is, and I'm sure reading the article gives you an idea as to why that is.

How to survive falling through ice. I probably love survival guides too much.

Rolcats! That is, Russian lolcats.

This guy wants to retool government media, and he seems to have his shit together. We need people who know what the fuck is going on in the world of technology.

Mac OS 7 on an iPhone! I miss MacPaint :C

Retooled youtube mashups: fucking amazing.

I love visual tricks; I'm still trying to figure out what optical illusion was used here.

Irrational Geographic, a photojourney through Mardis Gras.

I love this shirt more than I should. Threadless really does have so very clever tees every so often.

Zec Efron as Prince Philip: the fuck? Sorry but that shot is just... weird. And I really hate Vanessa Hudgens. The only reason I don't hate Zefron is because he actually showed some talent outside shitty Kenny Ortega HSM crap with Hairspray and stuff. Although apparently he's not doing Footloose because he doesn't want to get typecast? Which is too bad, I guess, but hopefully they find someone else that can make musicals popular to Hollywood again. (As for the audience, particularly if you look at Disney fans, I think you'll see musicals never went out of style.)

Nite Owl I saves the Waynes? Can I just say I fucking loved that movie? Mostly for little detail reasons like this.

Okay, that's like 40 tabs, I think that's enough for now. Even though I still have 79 open to clean up...

You see, the strange thing is, I didn't have any caffiene yesterday. So all these weird dreams I've been having, which is usually a caffiene thing--this time, it is not the case.

Last night, I had a completely acid trippy dream. It involved a Batman who was Batman but wasn't Bruce Wayne (and not Terry what's his face either, he was honestly this Batman but imagine some random blonde guy under the mask, and think more like the bluish coloration of the cartoon style) and several other superheroes (combo Marvel and DC, in case you cared) and a gang fight (sort of Xmen movie-style) involving some people who thought superheroes were actually Harry-Potter-style witches and wizards.

IT WAS VERY CRACKED OUT.

There's more, but it's so far out there that I overload my brain thinking about it. See, the weird thing with my dreams are, they're not at all "fortune-teller"-y, they're just my brain processing things I experienced during the day, or random neurons firing, I don't know. But I don't usually get a case like this where ALMOST EVERYTHING is something I consciously thought about during that day, particularly, in this case, the hour before I went to bed:

1) A concrete block--I met with Mark and Kay to talk about their brick garden wall design, and we talked about doing a concrete block center with a brick/tiling facade rather than a straight up brick structure.

2) The superheroes--I was upset I had to hang out in the lab until 1 am and that I was missing Robot Chicken. The night before, Robot Chicken was the episode where the construction workers are designing the Chachapoyan temple from Raiders, and then later in the episode there is the Justice League sidekick party-thing.

3) A nutcase teenager Sarah Palin lookalike--I read an article about her (and feminism, interestingly enough) an hour or so before I went to bed.

4) The fact that one area looked like Liz Markus' house--I referred to her in discussion once during the day, but that's about it.

Batman and some of the other stuff are usual enough occurrences that I'm not exactly surprised they showed up, but it was still weird.

The part I can't figure out? The Harry-Potter obsessed gang... I just do not know.

[EDIT] OH AND BATMAN-WHO-WAS-NOT-BRUCE-WAYNE HAD PARENTS. AND A LITTLE SISTER WHO WAS ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OLD. AND SHE WAS WEARING LIT CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, WHICH I SAW ON A HOUSE IN THE GHETTO COMING HOME FROM THE COMPUTER LAB AT 1 AM.

WHAT
THE
FUCK,

BRAIN

Title quote thanks to a piece of art in a catalog my mom had at home.

So that favorites meme everyone's been doing:

01. Answer each of the questions below the cut using the Flickr search engine.
02. Choose a photo from the first three pages.
03. Copy the URL of your favorite photos here.
04. Then share with the world.



1. SOME PASSIONS NEVER GROW OLD, 2. I'm Nacho Mama, 3. 1974 Xenia Tornado, 4. When Butterfly turned into Flower, 5. "hey, that's dick van dyke...", 6. Mountain Dew Kitty, 7. rapa nui sunset, 8. Brown Sugar Brownies (Recipe), 9. The Indiana Jones Queue, 10. Dream of Flyin, 11. This is your cat on drugs., 12. Pecado venial

( keywords/faves here )


[EDIT] NOW WITH ADDED INSTRUCTIONS! (I'm good with memes, y/y?) ~hurr~

Here's a life tip: don't try to mark the end of tape by sticking it to your lip. Pulling it off also removes a layer of VERY SENSITIVE SKIN.


Also, the new Mountain Dew Supernova is pretty good. (It's strawberry melon.) I want to try the raspberry one, and then I will vote. I would REALLY REALLY love it if they decided to bottle Baja Blast though.