Did you ever...?: November 2005

...spend 1.5 hours looking for white fudge covered oreos?

Yes, yes I have. 2 Krogers, a Meijer, a CVS, and a Walgreens. But now they're mine! See me at lunch tomorrow to watch me enjoy some of them!

...wonder what you're best at?

People often use the phrase "I couldn't _____ even if my life depended on it." I sometimes think about what my best skill is. Of anything I do, what am I the most proficient at? I've decided that the best way to determine this is decide what you would want to do if your life depended on it. If your life depended on youir ability to do one thing, what would you want that thing to be? Would you rely on your ability to bake cookies, to answer questions about 15th Century polyphony, play a sport, make someone laugh, accurately throw balled up paper into garbage cans from unnecessarily long distances? I would love to hear what people come up with. I think that some people, like me, would start at his or her major. "Well," you reason, "I'm a theory major, my biggest talent must be theory." But then you think that maybe if it came down to it, you'd rather rely on your piano skills to keep you alive. But, be specific. You're not great at every type of piano playing. I mean, what if they gave you an orchestral score to sight read. That's not what you would want to be tested on. Your ability to play jazz then? Or your ability to play expressively? If it is theory, are you best at writing about theory? Are you a solid researcher? Would you prefer a short answer test?

Take some time and let me know. This is not an ego thing. You're not comparing how you are in relation to someone else. You just want to figure out what you are best at.

If I get at least 4 comments my next blog entry will contain what I've decided I'm best at. By the way, you can't be the best at sucking at piano. That doesn't count!

...realize that the format of your blog may be problematic?

You know, I came on here to talk about my weekend which was very nice. I had a wonderful thanksgiving with Bridgett, got to see some of my good friends from college, got to see Rent (Rosario Dawson and Idina Menzel are Hot!). I also got to begin listening to my Christmas cds. I LOVE Christmas music!

Well, the titular problem, as Dr. Berry would say, was that this did you ever format makes it hard to just come on and write about my day in general. I suppose that's not the case. I've won this round but don't think I'm going to let it go... I will be back. Oh yes, I will.

By the way, thanks to John for mentioning me on his blog. I will go ahead and own up to being at least one of the people that has felt misrepresented by his blog. In order to avoid having similar problems, I'll just make sure not to misrepresent people. This way if they come to me feeling as though they have been misrepresented, I can simply explain that I don't misrepresent people and therefore they must be mistaken. If that fails I'll explain that by complaining they are being unpatriotic and if I change what I'd say about them, the terrorists win. I do intend to stay the blogging course.

Finally, I'd like to reiterate: titular. Perhaps the dirtiest sounding academic word ever.

...spend a lot of money on something and decide you should go into business making it?

This happens to me somewhat often. The first time, I think, was in undergrad when my car got towed because I had forgotten to properly display my parking permit. As I was shelling out the $200 or whatever to get my car out, I realized that the towing business must be all profit. I decided I should open a towing business.

Flash forward to today. I found out that replace 2 screws on the casing for my air filter in my car, I would have to buy a $250 part since the screws can't be bought individually ( a fact that I am going to look into). This is not the point. The point is that a plastic casing which couldn't cost more than, let's be generous, $10 to make is costing me $250. That's 2500% markup! I now realize that although the towing business is a decent idea, making these plastic casings for cars is basically like having a license to print your own money! (what if you went into the "licenses to print your own money" printing business? That'd be pretty good too I suppose. )

On an unrelated note, I just made a paper airplane out of a sheet of notebook paper. Anyone want to give me $75 for it?

...think that you should start a blog?

I did. This morning. After reading yet another bad editorial in my school paper I had fantasies of writing my own editorials for the paper. Then I thought, "you know what would be easier? I could start a blog!" Of course, the actual creation of the blog suggested an alternate title to this entry: ...wonder what your blog layout says about you? I have decided to go with "Rounders3." I believe it says that I'm serious yet casual. If this blog were a restaurant, it'd be, well, Olive Garden. Can you wear shorts and a t-shirt to Olive Garden? sure! Will you feel awkward going there all dressed up before the symphony? no! The waiter/tress might joke around with you or treat you with the formality that your outfit suggests. Those that know me will not be shocked that I am 1. using an analogy not 50 words into my first blog entry and 2. babbling.

As for any sort of protocol, I have made a decision to use people's real first names. In certain other blogs, much like in Law & Order: SVU, the names have been made up but the situations are real. Recently, however, a certain unwanted person was made aware of such a blog in which an inauspicious comment had been made about her. I do not recall hearing anyone say "well, at least we didn't use our names, she'll never be able to figure out who said what!" In light of this I intend on using first names. Of course, people are welcome to use whatever nickname they want.

As with the launching of a new TV show, you must include certain things to draw a crowd initially before you can really wow them with content. This, I feel, is also true of a blog. Towards that end, here is a pictorial of all the elements crucial to a successful debut:

A sexy female lead: