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Update

It's been quite a long time since we've updated the blog. So here is just a quick update:

-i bought a 2007 ford fusion (and am subsequently broke)
-megan's been two weddings already this summer
-i leave for california is less than a week!
-megan's has a new potential
-we are still both very pasty due to the lack of recent warm weather in Minnesota.

Im sure there are more things, but this was just a quickie ;) (even though that's not my usual style)

-S

Awkward turtle...

A GREAT discovery!

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

-S

Mind twist

a lesson from the molecular biology of cancer class:

An inhibitor of an inhibitor is a cancer promoter.

-S

Stop: it's grammar time

The apostrophe is dying! Or so says MSN, the source of all things newsy, of course. I'm in mourning.

-M

Pen!

I am now the proud owner of an expensive pen with my name engraved in it.

I have made it in the world!

-S

Not your typical sundae experience

Normally when I'm in St. Paul for various reasons and things (oh the joys of CBS being split amongst mpls and stp) I like to stop into the Saint Paul Student Center for delicious ice cream. I dont know if you know, but its made fresh by the food science majors and it is pretty much the most fantastic ice cream i have ever had (and i eat ice cream at every meal, for the record). it's also a pretty good value as well!

and get this, the spoons are made from corn! go green minnesota! the spoons are not your typical smooth feeling plastic spoons but provide an interesting sensation (yes they are tasteless). I didnt like them at first but i think its actually added to the experience.

no matter how crappy i am feeling, this ice cream ALWAYS cheers me up. so you should go get some!

I reccommend gopher gold and black raspberry burst. mmmmmmmmm.

-S

T or B

Today I was quite perplexed as I had the choice of using the word "motile" or "mobile." In essence I thought they meant the same thing and to a degree that is true. Here is what m-w.com had to say:

mobile-
capable of moving or being moved

motile-
exhibiting or capable of movement


so it sounds like one can be both motile and mobile if you can move on your own but only mobile if you can move, but with assistance

i'm still slightly confused.

-S

What's your favorite color?

There has been a lot of discussion lately regarding the new I-35W bridge. No one really seems to know what governs the color of the bridge lights at night. For the majority of winter, the lights were blue. But some people have also seen red, white, and green. Looking online I was not able to actually find an answer and I was not satifisied with the "it depends on the outside temperature" explanation.

So I took the my digging to the next level and emailed the director of communications for MnDot. Here was his response:

"Sam,

In all honesty, it is somewhat arbitrary.

We haven't established a protocol for determining color. We used the blue for awhile. We attempted the green prior to St. Pat's day, but couldn't make it work. It has been green since, I think.

We will use some other colors in the future. I expect that we will develop a policy regarding the use of color."


Answer solved.

-S

Pon and Zi

I love the Pon and Zi cartoons. I always seem to stumble across them when I need them most. Here are my favorites:

-S

Memoirs of a...

Look for the first volume of my dating memoirs on the shelves sometime around 2020. They keep getting more and more absurd.

-M

Bonjour

Frenchmen are raunchy.

A response

150 pages of immunology have led me to make a response to Megan's post from a guy's perspective.

Winter date location: Sledding. The Depot is too expensive to spend hours skating around in a small circle on bad ice. Sledding provides numerous opportunities to cuddle up together and there is nothing more romantic than crashing and suddenly finding yourself landing on top of each other.

Summer date location: Canoeing. Row out to the middle of a lake, pull your paddles and just take a nap in the middle of the water.

Make-out music: If you're concentrating on the background music while you're making out, it's not good.

Cheap date: Taking a walk through any of the Minneapolis parks. Dont set an end goal, just walk and see where you end up

Best and worst television dating: A double shot of love with the ikki twins (yes!) and the bachelor, boo.

Get it out of the way: "Do you play softball?" The majority of guys will understand what this means.

Questions, comments, concerns? Let us know.

-S

Let's date

A long and lyrical Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature paper has kidnapped every appositive and participial phrase out of me. Instead, here is a bulleted best of the best, dating-style.

Winter date location: The Depot
Summer date location: Take your pick of any grassy area, any blanket and any finger foods. My favorite? The grassy knoll behind Minnehaha Falls.
Make-out music: I'm partial to Cloud Cult right now (see previous post), but just no Phish. Please. I become high through iTunes osmosis and it's not pretty.
Cheap date: Maybe it's because I'm a tour guide and have said this joke to hundreds of prospective students (I wonder how many current freshman would recognize me...), but I will stargaze at Tate before I graduate.
Best and worst television dating: Millionaire Matchmaker and Millionaire Matchmaker respectively.
Get it out of the way: "Are you a musician?" Run, ladies, run! Musician are bad news bears, in the sexiest and egotistical and most tempting of ways. I would know.

Questions, comments, concerns? Let us know.

-M

My how we've grown...

not enough

As society progresses towards a state of efficiency in all things, there is one thing that is severly lacking:

ketchup packets.

honestly, has anyone ever used just one ketchup packet? I use three on my chicken sandwhich alone. What's the logic behind not putting any more sauce in? I just dont get it.

20 questions

Hey folks! I apologize for the laxidasical posts lately. I have no excuse except for a test, paper and book that needs to be read in the next two days; or, as I would read that, whine, whine and whine.

Here's the quick update:
Reading: The End of America
Listening to: Cloud Cult
Dreaming of: My too too too far away chance of a summer in New York
Watching: Jon and Kate Plus 8
Wearing: Banana Republic trench, black scarf, jeans, boots
Dreading: That whine, whine, whine mentioned above
Looking forward to: Putting the wool sweaters away
Missing: My Coley

Anything else you want to know?

-M

Veg

It's almost Spring Break!

I leave tomorrow night for Chicago and am excited to spend the next week and half relaxing and getting myself back into mental and physical shape for the rest of the semester.

I'm actually kind of glad I'm not going anywhere for vacation besides Chicago this year. While vacations are fun, they really arent a break for me. Its always filled with the need to do crazy exciting things since you're in a fun new spot and I never really feel like I get to just sit back and chill. What I really need is sleep and low keyness. Hopefully this break will be perfect for that.

-S

Dear Abby

If this was supposed to be some cheery, Dear Abby blog, I apologize. But you can find another blog for that. Right about now Sam and I both need a big ol' pat on the back. I'm not looking for sympathy, but rather something a little more endearing than my mother's "your being ungrateful" jewel of advice.

Vague, I know. It's always been a tight-rope walk for me between being a tease and divulging every detail about every moment. This time I feel like I should keep my big mouth halfway shut.

But hey, if you see either of us, a word or two or ten of encouragement would be fantastic.

-M

Ahead, not necessarily better.

While I may be a step ahead of Megan, I feel like that's not necessarily an advantage since everything in my life is falling apart.

I'm doing poorly in all my classes, i'm so stressed that i can't sleep at night, my personal relationships are falling apart and I just have no motivation to do anything.

This all came to a point today when I came home. I was my playing my piano so hard that I cut one of my fingers on the keys, something that has never happened before. I have missed my piano greatly and I now realize that it was an emotional release for me when i played it almost every single day in high school. I dont have one at school either which makes it equally as difficult.

So being ahead doesnt have it advantages aside from the fact there is a light at the end of the tunnel. but right now, it's just a pinprick.

On my way

We're in the transition period of our lives. Fine. I get it. Sam's packing his sunglasses and Minnesotan accent to move to San Francisco, and while I'm mentally organizing my corner office overlooking Central Park, I oftentimes ignore the present. And yet, while "real life" seems so close, I still feel like half a person: too old to do some things (whine), and too young to do others (be taken seriously).

Maybe when I can replace "intern" with "assistant" or cut a wristband off my arm instead of scrubbing permanent marker off my hands I will inch toward real person-dom. Getting paid for what I do would be nice too. Or being responsible enough to own a pet--and that doesn't mean the possible mouse camping under our stove.

Sam's one step ahead of me, with graduation thisclose and a cross-country move on the way. Give me another year or two. I'm on my way, I swear.

-M

Mrs. Robinson

Megan is a cougar.

Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

I can't decide whether I want to write about the new DMB album, the Ped Egg commercial that still grosses me out or the trough of Jello pudding, popcorn and cookies I've engulfed in the last three days.

So I won't write about any of it.

-M

Beep!

Today i got a lovely phone call from Sarah Rowcliffe.

She got cut off because she kept talking.

Oh Sarah....

-S

Stop! In the name of...

...Citizen's Arrest.

MSN reported today that millionaire Nicky Hilton recently placed a homeless man under citizen's arrest at a local IHOP. Now i've heard of the infamous "citizen's arrest" before but really? people actually do that? and can i do that? because, i gotta tell you i would fully utilize all my citizen arresting power if i can.

According to Wikipedia, "Each state with the exception of North Carolina permits citizen arrests if the commission of a felony is witnessed by the arresting citizen, or when a citizen is asked to assist in the apprehension of a suspect by police. The application of state laws varies widely with respect to misdemeanors, breaches of the peace, and felonies not witnessed by the arresting party. American citizens do not carry the authority or enjoy the legal protections of police, and are held to the principle of strict liability before the courts of civil- and criminal law including but not limited to any infringement of another's rights."

hmm. damn. i guess i'll just have to catch Megan in the act of committing a felony. Maybe she's been opening her roommates mail!

-S

Puppy love

Forget a boyfriend, I want a puppy. Maybe this one?

They're BAAAAAACK.....

That's right folks, Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's are back!


How amazing was it when I walked into the Dinkytown McDs yesterday and saw the infamous tube of green liquid extending into the ice cream machine? So perfect. and several days ahead of schedule!

And because friends and coworkers are amazing, Katelyn bought me a large shamrock shake and had it waiting for me after i finished my tour.

simply amazing.

(for those who arent a fan of the shamrock shake because you think its too minty. our friend Steven makes his half chocolate/half shamrock which is equally delicious).

-S

Something in the air....

There's something in the air....that shouldn't be there.

Flurries. Ugh.

This morning I woke up to another winter wonderland. Now had it been that magical time before christmas, i would have been in love. But since this has been going on for months, i'm tired of the wet, soppy mess.

For my last winter in MN for a while, it was a rough one. Lot's of snow, bitter cold, sleeping in a pretty much unheated bedroom of 45 degrees every night. blah.

But, warm adventures are on the horizon! I'm ready for the sun and the waves of California, so bring it on!

-S

Getting discovered

Sam and Megan: soon-to-be-discovered, if nothing else for our dazzling personalities.

-M

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes

My nose! I can breathe! How exciting!

I've returned from my deathbed, hoping to seduce the wedding ring off of Ben Kweller tonight. I can see his tour bus from my bedroom window as I type. (Actually, that's not true. I'm at Jones Hall front desk--come visit!--right now desking like the best of them. Were I in my bedroom, however, I could probably see the hood of his tour bus.)

My question is, at what point does a fan become a groupie? Do I need a Penny Lane fur coat? A couple notches on my bedpost?

-M

Minty Heaven

It's almost March which can only mean one thing....

SHAMROCK SHAKES are back at McDonalds!

That fantastic mix of vanilla shake and mint extract keeps me making regular trips to McDonalds in March. I will have to save up all my spare cash since they arent cheap and also since the Dinkytown McDonald's only accepts cash.

Last year the Shamrock shake didnt make its appearance until Feb 28th. Let's hope this year it shows up sooner!

Slobpants

In similarity to my future business partner (we're going to open pretty much the most amazing bar ever), Zach HeyBabe Brehmer, I have started to wear a lot of baseball shirts. Zach wears baseball shirts pretty much everyday and it's probably something that I see myself doing frequently.

For good reason.

There is something about the high collared shirt and 3/4 length sleeves that just makes me feel comfortable. Much more than any sweatshirt or pajamas could...or worse sweatpants.

sweatpants. ugh.

Sometimes I wish we went to a school where more people cared about the things they wear to class. Because it seems that wearing sweatpants (even though its MN) is perfectly acceptable. Come on people, we're young adults. It's time to be professional and look professional.

Sweatpants ARE perfectly acceptable for sporting events, workouts, running, even lounging around the household. But when you wear them to class, to work, in public...you look like a slob and it's pretty much like wearing you're still wearing pajamas. And nothing screams unprofessional like pajamas. It is really that much more work to put on a pair of jeans (and i have some pretty amazing jeans, so comfort isnt the issue).

Do us all a favor and take a few more seconds in the morning to bypass the slobpants.

Going on day 6

Well this weekend certainly was interesting. We all got a tasteful reminder what happens when you mix cough syrup and alcohol....yikes.

We'll resume regular posting once we are both back to full speed because my body is still out of commission and i havent really slept the past three nights.

-S

Nose bidet

My right nostril has been out of business for three days now. I think it's time for a neti pot. Check it out: Oprah, Dr. Oz, the New York Times all approve.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/fashion/03skin.html

-M

Yo Pepto Bismol

Nausea. Heartburn. Indigestion. Upset Stomach. Diarrhea.

There are few things worse than being sick in college. You're sick, feeling like the world is caving, far from the comforts of home and help, so you must go on with your life taking care of yourself. All while balancing your homework commitments, tests, labs, and jobs.

It always seems to me that I get most sick around midterms. I dont know if it was stress or what but i was always sick. Luckily this year, I've managed to avoid being overly sick...until today. I have had days where i couldnt talk or felt crummy, but not flu like. Well today is that day and luckily I dont have any tests. But i'm still at work, still trudging to my classes because I hate missing things. I managed to sleep for 9 hours last night (unheard of in college) and will likely be passing out this afternoon in a deep nap.

But this is nothing compared with sophomore year. So everyone knows labs are essentially non-skipable. and they are a bitch to reschedule. Well take an organic chemistry lab, throw in standing for four hours watching and unfortunately smelling steam distillation of cloves while having to run out every 15 minutes. one of the worst nights of my life.


stay healthy kids!

-S

(and for the record, the immunity boost at Jamba juice will not stop you from having to throw up in the middle of a calculus midterm)

Bleeding ears

Whether on messages, childhood home videos or video blogs, I can not stand to hear/look/listen at/to myself. I wonder if I really sound like that and question why I have friends. How can things go so wrong between my mouth and my ears?

Therefore, please accept my apology for any and all video blogs. There goes my career as our generation's Rikki Lake...

Weekend plans?

Our first video blog!

NEWS ALERT: Diet drinkers, You're not a man

I'm going to continue on with another Pepsi rant and not just because i was raised a Coke kid (coca-cola, that is...)

Pepsi, in a swift move, is now marketing its Pepsi Max brand to men because apparently "men can take anything except the taste of diet cola."

Hold the phone...really?

Pepsi marketing director Tony Thomas claims that men do not buy into the diet concept as it is a taste and image compromise and apparently men can be a little shy when asking for Diet Pepsi as they think it's not masculine enough.

what the hell.

Since when has pop had gender attached to it? Now there are several products out there that do have gender connotations (such as alcoholic beverages), but no one really judges a guy for drinking diet pepsi or diet coke, or a girl drinking regular pepsi or coke. And regardless of appearance, for taste, Pepsi Max is really just diet pepsi in a black can.

are we really heading back to that age of the atomic family when the woman stays at home and the man is the breadwinner? because apparently....men can no longer drink diet soda without being socially scrutinized.

Thank god i drink regular coke.

Born to be the sexiest man alive

Forget the monster-themed ads, forget Ben Roethlisbergererer, forget how I will forget who won the Super Bowl by St. Patrick's Day. I want to talk about Bruce Springsteen's crotch. In your face.

I saw Bruce and 18 of his best friends perform during his Seeger Sessions days, and can honestly say I haven't been the same since. Call People Magazine; Bruce has GOT to be one of the sexiest people alive. He even made up for his two-hour tardiness with a non-stop three and some hours performance. I don't quite have the words to describe his energy and charisma and what he did to those middle-aged women I was surrounded by.

Enjoy this performance of one of my favorite songs, Long Black Veil. (Johnny Cash, Dave Matthews, and Bob Dylan all approve? Then I approve.) Though I can't view it myself while manning Jones Hall front desk, I trust in the power of YouTube and Bruce. And if it's an awful video, please accept my apologies.

Refreshed?

Ahh. Superbowl Sunday. That magical day of the year when thousands of Americans glue themselves to their television sets to either catch the game or to analyze the newest commercials.

This year I was struck by Pepsi's generation ad featuring Bob Dylan's song "Forever Young."




Don't get me wrong, I love Bob Dylan, but I felt the song didn't exactly fit with the commercial. Wouldn't it have been more interesting to watch the commercial that compares things that are exactly the same 40 years ago as they are today with "Time's they are a changin'" as the background music? And for a company whose new advertising campaign is "Refresh everything" i was struck by familiarity of it to the "generational theme" that was pepsi's superbowl ad in 2002.




Needless to say, i did not find the new superbowl ad very refreshing. Though I do believe the you have the right idea pepsi with your new year's eve ad.

Whoa mama....

Please also check out the size of the cast's mouths in the Spring Awakening video below.

wow.

recom-Mc-dation- Spring Awakening

Today I'm posting a recom-Mc-dation for the hit broadway play Spring Awakening. SA won the Tony award for best musical in 2007 and for good reason. The musical is based on the controversial 1891 German play of the same title. It's set in late-nineteenth century Germany and it's not your typical "PG" rated musical. The original play was banned in Germany due to its portrayal of masturbation, abortion, rape and suicide. Heavy topics for anyone to sit through but throw in modern folk-rock power songs, this play comes alive.

Not many college-goers are into the theater scene but this is a musical that really appeals to a youth audience. If you get the chance, see it. Student rush tickets are only $20 an hour before the show. It's playing today and tomorrow in Minneapolis before rushing off to the next great city. If you missed it, make sure you download the soundtrack or catch it when it comes to your town.

Here is Spring Awakening playing at the Tony awards. So awesome.

Pants on fire

Sam is such a liar. I do not run, much less enjoy all the running I'm not doing.

I tried a version of jogging last spring as a less suspicious way of spying on all of the East River Parkway estates. After a month or two I decided it wasn't worth all of the ankle/knee/lung pain I suffered afterwards. Nah...I can spy on them walking too.

Six-pack Nation

Believe it or not folks, Spring Break is closer than you think. Sunday marks the start of Febuary which means there is only a month and half for you to turn that beer gut into a six pack or to go from the color of cream cheese to a delicious caramel (do you personally pronounce it car-mel or cara-mel? I'm more inclined to the former).

Despite the fact Megan and I will probably both spend the break walking backwards for the U rather than lying on a beach trying to remember what we did the previous night, I have started a workout regime. Have you noticed the difference in my physique? Probably not since I hate working out and and my regime consists of dragging myself to the St. Paul Gym maybe once a week.

Megan, like most people, gets endorphins when she runs. But I feel like my brain is wired in reverse and rather than be happy, I get crabby. And when I'm crabby, we all know it's best just to stay away.

So society you can either have me a six-packed asshole or as a personable, unhealthy flab...but you can't have both.

Take that, NE Kentucky Industrial Pkwy

According to a quick Google search, the source of all things truth, the longest street name in the U.S. is Northeast Kentucky Industrial Parkway, located in, duh Kentucky. That has nothing on our twin's Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard (see below).

Thank you VO for my knowing how to spell boulevard. But don't expect me to win a spelling bee with bouttenier, even though I also work for a local wedding magazine. Monique Lhuillier, on the other hand, is my favorite spelling conquest of the year. Last year, that is.

Yes I live on RDMLKJ Blvd....

The city of St. Paul boasts some fantastic sites to aimlessly wander around on a sunny July Saturday. and while our former wrestler-actor-governor Jesse Ventura said that the streets in StP "must have been designed by drunken Irishmen," I feel that st. p's street names have taken the prize.

Here is a picture of our friend (and the mother of Sam's 26 children) Sarah Rowcliffe, with what could quite possibly be the longest street name in the nation.

I'll sweep your supermarket

Alright Sam. I'll take your Russian Roulette and raise you one Supermarket Sweep, my favorite game show everrr. (But this is only because Cash Cab is in a category beyond game show; it's more like a lifestyle/educational show. The PBS for the young and restless.)

Thanks to Supermarket Sweep, I know the anatomy of a grocery store AND can unscramble letters of produce products. By the age of twelve I was well-versed in the most expensive products--gallons of olive oil, full turkeys, armfuls of cheese blocks. As a Wisconsinite, even I couldn't identify that cheese. I suppose that cheese factory field trip from fourth grade wasn't very effective...

I especially appreciate the low production value of Supermarket Sweep, the little game show that could. Notice that the taped audience is surrounded by mirrors and the fake enthusiasm of the host. Is it just me, or does it seem game show hosts have a high suicide rate? Best yet: though while the winners go home with the cash value of their sweep, the second and third place constestants are only given a sweatshirt.

A Supermarket Sweep sweatshirt! Get the car, Sam. We're going to Goodwill.

The best game show

I'll admit it. I love Game Show Network. It hasnt been on in a couple of years but there is one game show that will go down in history as the most awesome. I am of course talking about Russian Roulette. What's funnier than watching people fall awkwardly through trapdoors after answering a question wrong? (see montage below). Better yet, what could be more fun than unexpectedly falling through a trapdoor on a gameshow? This is one game show I would want to lose on.

-S

Still I can't let you go

Have you ever noticed that the Boyz 2 Men Pandora playlist repeats a lot? End of the Road over and over and over.

Maybe that just means nobody else can compare.

Breaking free from the playlist

Nice try, Apple.

Lately when we're working at the VO (our office), we seem to be listening to Pandora a lot. Since we're primarily an office of student workers, Pandora gives us the ability to add more variability to our work playlist then just one person's iPod can provide.

For those of you unfamiliar with Pandora, it's know as the Music Genome Project (similar to the Human Genome Project). One simply puts in a song or artist they like and the website then analyzes over 400 different musical attributes (riffs, lyrics, vocals, etc.) of the song of your choice. After a few seconds of waiting, Pandora generates a online radio station that plays songs of similar interest. Some of you might try and suggest that isn't it a play on iTunes Genius Sidebar?

No.

Pandora was launched in 2006, whereas Genius didnt come out until the iTunes 8 release in September of 2008. Whereas Genius does generate a playlist of songs you already have in your music library, it also encourages you to purchase select songs on iTunes, a marketing ploy to increase Apple profits and a computer slowing program. Genius is also only limited to the computer of which your music library is on whereas Pandora can be accessed via any internet-connecting computer (are there non-internet-connecting computers now?).

So Apple, we give you an A+ on innovation for the iPod and iTunes, but a fail for Genius.

-S

More than a frosted pastry

Today over our lunch of frozen dinners and soup from a box, we discovered that like many members of our generation, rather than select our breakfast treats based on nutritional content, we opted for sugar and artificial colors. And what better breakfast treat for diabetes than...

POP-TARTS!

Toast them, micro them, or eat them plain. Pop-tarts have been a staple for over 20 years of delicious breakfast.

Do you remember that kind that had purple frosting with blue swirls? We couldn't. So...of course we went to poptarts.com.

But wait. a mandatory login? What's this? Turns out Pop-tarts is full of advergames to satisfy any pop-tart aficionado. Naturally we got drawn into the world of breakfast games and only after several attempts to get our pop-tart avatar to jump over a boiling vat of orange juice, did we decide to continue our task of figuring out that pop-tart flavor.


On to the Kellogg website. Did you know that there is an entire line of poptart flavors? They have everything from Orange Cream to Chocolate Banana Split to Vanilla Milkshake pop-tarts. Turns out, the kind we wanted was Wild! Berry flavor. mmm. And in fine work of website genius, the Kellogg pop-tart website shows you where you can find the nearest retailer that sells each individual flavor.


So after a successful lunch, we congratulate you Pop-tarts for being more than just a feast of champions but for catering to your consumer (namely children under 10) and parents willing to concede to unhealthy eating habits.

And so it begins.

An introduction of sorts:

I like to pretend I don't believe in love, if only for the purpose of delusion and protection from disappointment; Sam likes to claim he didn't laugh and cry and feel any wire-walking inspiration from Man on Wire. (Ok, I made up the crying part.) If I never hear the word hegemony again, it will not be soon enough. But if you need to hear some harsh words, "tough love" Sam is your therapist for the minute. Sam microwaves his Pop-tarts; I eat them in any form, from straight from the fake foil to curled from a microwave to beautifully browned from a toaster. Just as long as the edges--my favorite part--aren't burnt, I'll take them any way.

We both have earned a paycheck from walking backwards and can give you a tour of the University of Minnesota in our sleep. Perhaps we have.

And just watch: someday we'll be discovered, if for nothing else than our dazzling personalities...

-M

Let's get it started

Meet the hosts of your new favorite talk show, Sam McCabe and Megan McCarty!