Website: Hollywood & Swine

In high school I would definitely purchase and read all of the gossip/tabloid magazines in order to stay up to date on celebrity news. My mom has said that her generation remembers exactly where they were when JFK was assassinated. My generation has the legacy of knowing exactly where we were when Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears broke up.  I don't think this is the future Whitney Houston hoped for and sang about. Today I am a recovering tabloidohlic (I've been sober for 7 years, with only 2 relapses), so I just read the cover of those magazines while I am waiting in line at the checkout counter.

However, I am a religious Entertainment Weekly reader, even though I don't have cable. In the most current EW issue, there is page on a new website called Hollywood & Swine. It is the new place to go to find out the latest news about your favorite celebrities and all things Hollywood that you won't find anywhere else; because they make it all up.

The current made-up headlines are:

• Adam Sandler Enters Rehab for Addiction to Making Really, Really Bad Movies
• Katy Perry Gives Russell Brand $20 Million Dollars to Stop Acting
• Mark Wahlberg Injured After Attaching Himself To Too Many Projects
• Spielberg Set To Direct Spielberg Biopic
• Disney to Give A New iPad 3 to Anybody Who Goes and Sees the Movie John Carter
• Over 1,300 Women Killed After Jumping in Front of Oncoming Traffic in Hopes Ryan Gosling Would Save Them
• Starbucks Bans Screenwriters From All 19,435 Locations Worldwide

To read more ridiculously, but could be true headlines and stories, visit the website http://hollywoodandswine.com/

A PG-13 Easter

Book Review: Hilarity Ensues

Tucker Max's third book, Hilarity Ensues

When a friend wants to read a funny book, I always recommend Chelsea Handler books. However, if that friend is liberal and wants a hilarious book, I recommend Tucker Max's book, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell (IHTSBIH); this was his first book. However, recently he came out with a new book (his third), Hilarity Ensues, and he once again got me laughing so hard I was crying.
       Some of my favorite chapters were:

• The (Almost Banned, Now Complete) Miss Vermont Story
• Why Halloween is really awesome
• The Cancun Stories
• Sexting with Tucker Max: Absurd
• Meet My Friend Hate 
• The Deadliest Vacation

The Deadliest Vacation is about Tucker being invited to spend some time on a crab boat, The Time Bandit, which is featured on the show Deadliest Catch. When I read this chapter, I was one of the few people who had never watched the show. However, instantly after I finished reading the chapter, I got on Netflix to see if the show was available instantly and it was. I immediately started watching it, and I am now almost done with season 4. I do not even like seafood, but the show is that addicting.

However, my favorite chapter in the book was, Meet My Friend Hate. In all of Tucker's other books, I always found SlingBlade to be, by far the funniest character in the books. However, after reading this chapter, Hate, wins the prize for making me laugh the most, and hardest. I now want to go and reread Tucker's other two books to find out how I could have overlooked the humorous Hate.

If you are still one of the individuals who have never read one of Tucker Max's stories, you are definitely missing out. I have found that it is imperative for me to read his books in the comfort of my own home, because then I can relax and laugh as loud as I want.

My Apple Family

MacBook, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPhone 4S, and iPad2

There's the saying, "you can choose your friends but not your family." Well,  I got to choose my second family, and they go by one name (like Prince or Madonna), Apple.  


I bought my first apple product in undergrad and it was a first generation iPod. Like any family member, we had problems from the beginning. It would constantly freeze or not sync up my music; therefore, I was an unhappy Apple user. 


Fast forward two years later, and my perception changed........


I took a quiz to find what brand of computer would fit my needs best, and Apple won. Then I took the quiz to find out which Mac computer would be most compatible with me, and the MacBook won. Then I purchased an iPod touch. Then came the iPad2. Then iPod Nano. And to complete the family, I got an iPhone 4S this week. 


The transition of going from a PC computer to an Apple, was one of the smartest decisions I ever made. I yell at my computer a 1000x less. I did not worry about it freezing up or a virus destroying everything in sight. Additionally, the transition from my Droid phone to iPhone was THE smartest decision! I never realize how crummy of a phone a Droid was until I got the iPhone. Plus with the amaziness of iCloud, my phone is even more amazing.


As you are reading this blog posting, you may be thinking "Wow, it seems as if she has been brainwashed." And you may be right. Apple is one of the leading companies that has a cult following. I truly believe once you go Apple, you can never go back. Below is a snippet from an article titled, "7 Companies With Cult Followings." To read the full article click on this link: http://money.msn.com/investing/7-companies-with-cult-followings

Apple: Home of the iCult

The buzz is simple: Apple (AAPL) products look sexy. Consumers feel better just carrying them. "I don't know anybody who says, 'Boy I just love my Dell,'" quips Stuart, at the University of Maryland, who describes iCult loyalty as "the church of Apple."

But much-loved products are only the starting point. To achieve cult status, a company has to deftly weave a bigger message about lifestyle into the mix. With Apple, it was "think different," a popular company slogan, says Turkle, at MIT. "Apple is very good at this."

Apple is also great at creating communal experiences, another hallmark of a cult company, says Tim Maleeny, head of strategic planning at Ogilvy & Mather, an advertising agency. A good cult company never seems like it is selling you anything, he says. "What they are really doing is celebrating something. In Apple's case, it might be the release of a new product. There's always the sense of 'we are in it together.'"

With Apple, the shared experience runs deep, because the company has created a broad ecosystem of products that use the same technology. They can easily share content with other Apple products -- and nothing else. Apple is now extending this ecosystem with iCloud, which lets consumers store digital content on Apple servers. Once consumers start using this system, it's hard to break out. And judging by preorders for the new iPad, no one wants to anyway.

For investors, all this means Apple stock still looks cheap even though it is trading near all-time highs, says Dan Morris, who owns the stock in the Manor Growth Fund (MNRGX), where he is a portfolio manager. The death of Steve Jobs won't change this near term, since he built a team of top managers who shared his values, said Scanlon, of the John Hancock Balanced Fund, which holds the stock. "There are plenty of people in place who know how to carry his vision forward."

Additional Packing Wisdoms

Many of you know that I am moving to Seattle in May. Therefore, I am moving the majority of my belongings (including furniture) to my parents' house in Missouri. Therefore, the belongings left in my apartment are just the essentials and things I want to pack in my car when I drive to Seattle; also known as, the only piece of furniture in my apartment now is an air mattress. This weekend I packed and drove a Uhaul to unload my stuff at my parents' house, and have since returned home. Throughout this process, I have learned some "I wish I knew that" tidbits, and thought I would share them with you!

Getting ready to drive the Uhaul to Missouri

Things I learned after I packed all my boxes

• Do not pack your tools until you have taken apart furniture and removed nails from the wall.
• Once you pack your light bulbs, lights will almost instantaneously burn out.
• Leave baggies out to put screws from your furniture being taken apart.
• I pulled out DVDs that I thought I would want to watch before I packed them; two days later I wanted to watch 8 movies that were already packed away.
• Under my bed was the Bermuda Triangle. I found my favorite pen, a button that came off a jacket, 2 socks, a battery, kleenexes, $5, and a shopping list.

Things I learned while driving my first Uhaul

• When you are driving a Uhaul for the first time out of state, be prepare for more road construction than usual, road karma. 
• Uhauls do not have CD players. Therefore, bring an iPod or iPad to listen to music. Because if you forget you will get to listen to the 1000 stations of country music.
• Uhaul trucks do not have cruise control; therefore, your right foot and leg definitely gets a workout.
• A five hour trip listening to music on your iPad will only use 7% of your battery...I love you iPad!
• When driving in the Uhaul you will feel every single bump on the road.
• I realize how much when I am driving my car I use my rear-view mirror when reversing and changing lanes. Uhauls of course do not have rear-view mirrors. Therefore, I had a friend follow me and when I needed to turn lanes she would move over first, therefore I knew it was safe. This system was a life-saver for me and the other drivers on the road.
• Bigger, bad and squisher bugs are going to hit the windshield of the Uhaul. The Uhaul's windshield looked like a Picassco picture with all the different colors, and of course I didn't know how to use the windshield wipers in the truck.
• One can't help but get the mentality that they are invincible with the transition of driving a little car to a Uhaul truck (I got a 17ft). Therefore, drivers beware of superiority complexes that accompanies Uhaul drivers.

Things I learned spending the first night in my air-mattress furnished apartment

• I am not a person who tends to sit on the floor that often; therefore, it is weird to be sitting on the floor for everything.
• I finally found a practical use for the textbooks that I am not reading. I stacked them up to make a TV stand for my TV so it is at the right level for watching television on my air mattress (see picture below).
• It is much harder to roll out of bed to go the bathroom in the middle of the night when you roll out of bed and you hit the floor. I am thinking about crawling to the bathroom next time. ;)
• I realize how much I did not dust while living in my apartment. I had to vacuum around the baseboards because of all the dust that accumulated.
• It's only been one night and I already miss a piece of furniture to sit on. I never realize how much I would miss that sensation. 
• Without pictures on the wall or furniture, everything echos.
• It's going to be impossible to do homework/study in my apartment. I kept one light just for emergencies in my bedroom. Therefore, my new home address will be Starbucks, can't get ahold of me, just leave a message with the barista.
• It's inevitable that you will have nightmares/fears about bugs having easier access to you since you are sleeping on their territory now.

My textbook TV stand.