Happy weekend, everyone! Since it’s the 4th of July holiday weekend here in the U.S., we’re going to take Monday off. To make up for it, we’ve loaded today up with extra posts, so hopefully that will hold you over until Tuesday. And there’s always our handy Recap to give you a bit of a cheat sheet for the week. Or just feel free to just hang out in here and get your chat on. We’ll be back with the LTP at noon on the 5th. I hope everyone has a great weekend, whether you’re traveling somewhere fun or just hanging home.
Anyway, what better way to get us all in an inspirational mood than to listen to the president’s speech from the fine American film Independence Day?
OK well, now that I’ve watched Bill Pullman get his groove on I can’t stop thinking about Spaceballs. (He’ll always be Lone Starr to me!) So here’s a clip of some of the best moments in Spaceballs. That’s right, two videos in one OT post! Who says I don’t spoil you guys?
Photo: Getty
33 replies on “Open Thread, Holiday Weekend Edition”
So… I desperately need a to-do program, preferably one that I can access on my Droid and also on computer via web interface.
Any suggestions?
todoist? Remember the Milk?
Todoist looks promising… will try it out :)
I’ve had luck with todoist.
So, in honour of the most awesome event of the final Harry Potter movie coming out in a couple of weeks I am re-watching all the other films while I do chores. (Harry Potter makes chores much more bearable, so does Buffy for that matter.) I always forget how Alan Rickman steals the first few films. He’s amazing as Snape. It would be so easy to make such an apparently petty, bitter, child-hating character into a caricature, and yet he pulls it off with finesse.
one of my local cinemas is showing all the films before the release of Part 2 – one a night for a week. I was so tempted!
I <3 Snape. Ob-vious-ly.
Hmmmmm, I might need to steal your idea on this.
Not going to lie, I’m still tempted. I might have to go see Half Blood Prince and Part 1 again, at least.
Aaaahahaha, just wanted to come here and do a virtual happy dance. I just learned that the B-52s are going to be playing for FREE at the Jazz Festival tomorrow. I could cry, I’m so happy!
The B-52s’ music holds a lot of emotional significance for me. I have many fond memories of blasting Rock Lobster in my mom’s car as we took my brother and sister to school, or putting Cosmic Thing on the CD player while we scrub the house from top to bottom. In a way, it makes me miss her more than ever, especially since she won’t be there for me to call afterwards to gush about how face-meltingly awesome the concert was. But I also know, at least in spirit, she’ll be doing the Swim right alongside me tomorrow night!
Anyone watching Wimbledon championships this weekend? Great upset yesterday, and today it’s Rafa v. Novak. Vamos Rafa!
awesome Q&A answers from Paula Radcliffe:
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
I don’t feel guilty in having pleasure!
How often do you have sex?
As often as we want.
Ladies! You know that whole mostly-vegetarian thing I’ve been doing? I’ve eaten shellfish since, and that’s been fine, but meat now tastes…weird. Steak just tastes like someone’s had their period all over it, and I just ate some chorizo, and it mostly tastes of metal and plastic. This is…odd. Is this a usual thing?
(also, some crazy person is accusing me and some other people of stalking her on Twitter, and is telling us we’re ‘under investigation’. I don’t even follow her (nor she me, AFAIK), and neither do the others. I’ve blocked her, of course, but… weird).
Ew. To, um, all of that.
Yes, in retrospect, that was kinda an ew-filled post…
The crazy Twitter person phoned a relative of one of the other people saying crazy shit, so the police have been called on her.
Well, that’s not stalker-y behavior at all. Jeez. What are these people thinking?
This might sound odd, but I hope the stalker-person has a mental illness that can be treated. If not… yikes.
The meat thing is not uncommon. I’ve known a lot of people who stopped eating meat for a while and ended up going vegetarian for real because meat just tasted weird after quitting it for a few weeks.
good to know it’s not just me!
I need motivational help, Persephoneers. It’s t-2 weeks until I need to give my supervisor a first full draft of my PhD thesis and I am way behind. Currently attempting to revise a chapter and my brain has turned to mush, but I need to persevere probably until I go to bed tonight.
Do you have any motivational techniques that work? Getting out/going for a walk/exercising aren’t options – we’re talking 15-minute breaks here, no more. I genuinely don’t have time, since I have to be at an engagement party in London tomorrow so I’ll be out almost all day (yes I am at that point where my time is calculated in hours spent working).
Or just motivational songs? I’ve already danced around to ‘Eye of the Tiger’ but have yet to see results…
have you tried the Pomodoro method or something similar?
Quick summary, you set yourself a goal to accomplish in 25 mins (e.g.: X pages edited, Y words written), go hell-for-leather, take a 5 minute break, repeat. Every 4/5 sessions give yourself a longer tea/dance break. I used a timer on my laptop so I wasn’t constantly checking the clock: it was called KeepFocused, but there’s a list of free ones here: http://gigaom.com/collaboration/9-free-pomodoro-timers/
Thanks for the advice hon! I’ve been using the pomodoro for a while now, but I’m just so burnt out it’s not even working anymore.
But now that it’s after dinner, I’m finding a G&T most inspiring (the new Sipsmith gin – really excellent)!
excellent choice!!
(if the 25-5 intervals aren’t working, something like 10-5 might, but whatever works works:) )
My grandmother has been dead for 17 years, but every year on her birthday, I still feel completely and hopelessly sad. That was today, by the way. Am I the only one who still misses her Mom Mom?
Not at all. I lost six grandparents (there were some step-grandparents in there, too) within four years. Every once in a while, I get a horrible twinge of sadness, usually brought on by a particular food or song or sometimes nothing at all.
Thank you. Sometimes I feel like such a baby, especially because I know that for as much as I miss her, my mom misses her more, and she doesn’t ball her eyes out every July 1, or have those moments in the middle of nothing when your heart just spontaneously shatters. Or maybe she does and doesn’t tell me. Either way, a lot of people lose their grandparents and act like the funeral is such an inconvenience or something, and I feel like I will never get over it.
Oh, and 6 grandparents in 4 years? That’s awful. I’m so sorry. Internet hugs.
my grandmother died last year. We weren’t very very close, but she was always around, you know? and on her birthday and coming up to it I was teary all day. Hugs.
Thank you. Sorry about your grandmother. I think even when you aren’t close to someone, it’s still sad when they aren’t here anymore.
I have days that I think of and miss my Grandpa and Grandma. July 1st (Canada Day) was my Grandpa’s birthday, so I always think of him then (I can’t even recall when he passed away … but it was about 11 years ago). My Grandma died on April 1st a couple years ago and she always always called with the same April Fool’s Day joke, so that’s when I particularly think of her. I think of her on birthday too, which is September 11.
My Grandparents seemed to “like” notable days apparently.
I’m in NYC! So exciting! I went to the Met and saw the McQueen exhibit, and I went for tea, and then I went back to my friend’s place and chillaxed with her dog. Tomorrow is picnic and gay bars time!
I need to do this more often, since I only live about 3.5 hours away.
ahhh I’m so jealous! I want to see the McQueen stuff so bad. And in my experience, the best people in the world hang out at gay bars. Have fun!
Oh I want to see that exhibit SO BAD! I’m hoping it’ll still be showing somewhere when I return to the states, even if it’s not still at the Met.
It’ll be showing at the Met until July 31. The line is huuuuuge and like an hour long wait (fortunately, my friend is a member, so we were able to skip the lines. Score!)