I am VERY fired up about Distracted Driving this week. In fact, I stared a Facebook group called "If You Can Read This, You Aren't Texting," AND I am going to get bumper stickers printed with the same message.
I will give these bumper stickers away FOR FREE to anyone who wants one. This is important! We need to change attitudes about cell phone use in cars. Each of us has a part to play!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
IT CAN WAIT
U.S. Secretary of Transportation (and my personal hero) Ray LaHood was on Talk of the Nation yesterday urging people to put their goddamn phones away while they are driving. In his words:
To the caller yesterday who seemed to think that people who are "feeding French fries to their kid in the back seat" are more dangerous than people on cell phones, all I ask is this: How many times do we see people feeding French fries to their kids while driving? Probably almost never. How many times do you see someone either talking or texting on a cell phone while driving? LITERALLY EVERY DAY.
We need to break bad habits and put our phones away. We need to speak up when we're in a car and the driver is texting/talking. Take responsibility for yourself and help instill good habits in your friends/loved ones. Do not talk to them when they are "driving and bored." Would you get in a car with a drunk? HELL NO. Studies have shown that texting/talking while driving impairs you MORE than being drunk! It is NOT OK!
Yes, I am preachy but this is important. I love my friends and want them to be alive. BE SAFE and encourage others to do likewise.
Last year 5,500 people were killed as a result of distracted driving and half a million were injured. A lot of lives and a lot of injuries can be saved if people take personal responsibility... and put their cell phone or Blackberry in the glove compartment.Honestly friends, this is a topic about which I cannot soapbox enough. IT CAN WAIT. No text message is worth someone's life. Put your phone OUT OF REACH when you are driving. Driving is an inherently dangerous activity, and fiddling with gadgets only decreases your reaction time and increases (exponentially) your chances of getting seriously injured or injuring someone else.
To the caller yesterday who seemed to think that people who are "feeding French fries to their kid in the back seat" are more dangerous than people on cell phones, all I ask is this: How many times do we see people feeding French fries to their kids while driving? Probably almost never. How many times do you see someone either talking or texting on a cell phone while driving? LITERALLY EVERY DAY.
We need to break bad habits and put our phones away. We need to speak up when we're in a car and the driver is texting/talking. Take responsibility for yourself and help instill good habits in your friends/loved ones. Do not talk to them when they are "driving and bored." Would you get in a car with a drunk? HELL NO. Studies have shown that texting/talking while driving impairs you MORE than being drunk! It is NOT OK!
Yes, I am preachy but this is important. I love my friends and want them to be alive. BE SAFE and encourage others to do likewise.
Fun with Subtitles
When I'm ellipticizing at the gym (and watching Ellen), I often catch some hilariously botched closed captioning. A recent favorite was "Mary-Kate and Arby Olson," but that can't hold a candle to yesterday's jaw-droppingness.
Ellen usually has horrible musical guests and yesterday was no exception: a Justin-Beiber-in-training singing about happiness, finding the good in life, and following your dreams to the end of the... wait for it... RAPE BOW.
Meet me at the end of the Rape Bow. Honestly.
Ellen usually has horrible musical guests and yesterday was no exception: a Justin-Beiber-in-training singing about happiness, finding the good in life, and following your dreams to the end of the... wait for it... RAPE BOW.
Meet me at the end of the Rape Bow. Honestly.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Putting the "X" Back in Xmas
Guess who has really kick-ass seats to see "A John Waters Christmas?" Damn right! ME! In their infinite wisdom, the Carolina Theatre sent me a postcard announcing the show with a password for the ticket pre-sale. Vee and I will be just a few rows away from the stage for his sure-to-be-tasteless, sure-to-be-amazing one-man show.
In preparation for the event, I will be rewatching some of my favorite John Waters movies and reading his recent memoir Role Models. I just picked it up from the library yesterday! He has such a lovely and familiar writing style. I want to give him a big hug on behalf of weirdos everywhere! See you in December, John!!
In preparation for the event, I will be rewatching some of my favorite John Waters movies and reading his recent memoir Role Models. I just picked it up from the library yesterday! He has such a lovely and familiar writing style. I want to give him a big hug on behalf of weirdos everywhere! See you in December, John!!
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Hunger Games
Based on the recommendation from my favorite Nine-Toed Woman, I read Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy.
You haven't read it? WHAT? Stop reading this ridiculous blog and get on it! I bought the first book as a birthday gift for a friend on the condition that I got to read it when she was done. She did me one better and promptly bought the other two books and loaned them all to me. Now, I have passed along the first book to my (super-rad) boyfriend and then to a co-worker, who burned through it over the weekend and is clamoring for Book #2 (Vee, get readin'!).
While the trilogy is technically Young Adult fiction, the story is about as far removed from a passing-notes-in-the-hall teen soap as you can get. Without giving too much away, the trilogy is a literal and figurative metaphor for war and the effects of war on people. It challenges your perceptions of right vs. wrong, justifiable vs. unjustifiable action, and perception vs. truth. Collins' writing is superbly balanced between light and dark, hope and despair. It's truly a compelling story and TRUST ME - you won't regret reading it.
Thanks for the tip, Alysha!!
You haven't read it? WHAT? Stop reading this ridiculous blog and get on it! I bought the first book as a birthday gift for a friend on the condition that I got to read it when she was done. She did me one better and promptly bought the other two books and loaned them all to me. Now, I have passed along the first book to my (super-rad) boyfriend and then to a co-worker, who burned through it over the weekend and is clamoring for Book #2 (Vee, get readin'!).
While the trilogy is technically Young Adult fiction, the story is about as far removed from a passing-notes-in-the-hall teen soap as you can get. Without giving too much away, the trilogy is a literal and figurative metaphor for war and the effects of war on people. It challenges your perceptions of right vs. wrong, justifiable vs. unjustifiable action, and perception vs. truth. Collins' writing is superbly balanced between light and dark, hope and despair. It's truly a compelling story and TRUST ME - you won't regret reading it.
Thanks for the tip, Alysha!!
My Next Endeavor
Last weekend, a musician friend of mine told me about RTOOT. Little does RTOOT know, it has a date with destiny in the form of ME.
RTOOT stands for the "Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle." Let's say, hypothetically, that once upon a time you totally kicked ass at the French Horn. You played for years and loved it but certainly never harbored any illusions of a symphonic career (and needless to say never harbored any illusions that the French Horn was cool). You didn't think about the French Horn for years because you were busy playing in rock bands... until the day you saw a dented-up POS horn on Craigslist for $50. You bought it, and you know what? You could still play a scale. Then you put it BACK in the attic for a few more years until you heard about RTOOT.
Seriously, RTOOT, buckle up. I am going to rock your terrible world!!
RTOOT stands for the "Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle." Let's say, hypothetically, that once upon a time you totally kicked ass at the French Horn. You played for years and loved it but certainly never harbored any illusions of a symphonic career (and needless to say never harbored any illusions that the French Horn was cool). You didn't think about the French Horn for years because you were busy playing in rock bands... until the day you saw a dented-up POS horn on Craigslist for $50. You bought it, and you know what? You could still play a scale. Then you put it BACK in the attic for a few more years until you heard about RTOOT.
Seriously, RTOOT, buckle up. I am going to rock your terrible world!!
Autumn Updates
Well... that whole Twins-dominating-the-playoffs thing didn't really turn out the way I hoped. Seriously, fuck the Yankees. At least they didn't make it to the World Series. Go Rangers, I guess?
The fall has been rolling right along. Been busy knitting (but haven't taken any pictures... d'oh!), crafting (i.e. Janzig stage props), music-ing, and Girls Rock-ing. Admittedly, I'm a bit over-scheduled but most everything I'm working on is super-fun.
I just spent an incredible weekend helping to facilitate the Women's Rock Retreat at the Celebrity Inn Bed & Breakfast in Siler City, NC. Along with a few other GRNC cohorts, we formed bands with 8 ladies who had virtually no musical experience. Over the course of the weekend, each band wrote two (TWO!) songs and performed at The Cave. I can't tell you how inspiring it was (is) to see women work together, have fun, and rock out!! Lucky lady that I am, my band wrote a spooky Halloween song which we dedicated to Vincent Price. A-MAZING.
The fall has been rolling right along. Been busy knitting (but haven't taken any pictures... d'oh!), crafting (i.e. Janzig stage props), music-ing, and Girls Rock-ing. Admittedly, I'm a bit over-scheduled but most everything I'm working on is super-fun.
I just spent an incredible weekend helping to facilitate the Women's Rock Retreat at the Celebrity Inn Bed & Breakfast in Siler City, NC. Along with a few other GRNC cohorts, we formed bands with 8 ladies who had virtually no musical experience. Over the course of the weekend, each band wrote two (TWO!) songs and performed at The Cave. I can't tell you how inspiring it was (is) to see women work together, have fun, and rock out!! Lucky lady that I am, my band wrote a spooky Halloween song which we dedicated to Vincent Price. A-MAZING.
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