"You just gotta ignite the light/ And let it shine"

I gave up Facebook a few weeks ago cause I didn't do much on it. And it was kind of getting to the point where it could be renamed "DisappointmentBook" because of the never ending changes, privacy concerns, and just seeing stuff I could go without seeing (ignorance is bliss, after all). So when Facebook was forcing this new profile design onto me, I thought, hey, all I really do is check the newsfeed on my phone a few times a day and that's all. Why not deactivate my account and see if there is THAT much of a difference in my life. A month later, I'm still going strong. Twitter is now my social media of choice. I don't understand why more people don't use it. And it is so true how the people who denounce it are the ones who make the most status updates on FB. Don't hate.

Anyway, since I've cut FB out of my life, I have more time to read more of both the novel and blog variety. I have a few go-to-blogs but am always in search of more so if you have any you'd like to pass along, please do in the comments.

The top three I have frequented in the past few weeks are:

1. Enjoying the Small Things. If you're a first time visitor, click the tab that says "Start Here if You're New" and have some tissues nearby as you read Nella's birth Story. Don't skip ahead and look at the pictures, it will ruin the overall effect of the story. And Kelle's pictures are amazing and while sometimes her language is a little too flourished for me, I still like to read what she has to say about her family.

2. Tyler Stanton of TrippandTyler fame. I gotta admit, I always thought Tyler was the Bob to Tripp's Larry; the more serious (/less funny) of the two. And oh how I was wrong. After reading both their blogs, I am now borderline obsessed with Tyler's. He is hilarious. I follow him on Twitter (and he requested to follow me yesterday! Sure, he has a "you follow me, I follow you" policy but I'll take it) and I just ordered his book on Amazon.

3. Bryan Allain. I stumbled across him because of Tyler's name dropping and I'm glad I did. Some of his rants from his early blogging days are so funny because they are SO true. Check him out.

Okay, I've shared some of my favorites, now please share some of yours so I'm not bored at work (when the kids are taking their nap if anyone from work reads this :) ).

"You don't understand, you're a legend, man!/ ...You're Harry freakin Potter"

I saw the new Harry Potter movie today. I thought it was pretty good. Especially when you consider that I did not really enjoy the 6th movie and it was by the same director. But I really liked it. I thought it was exciting and it never really lagged in any parts. I really enjoyed Emma Watson in this one considering she sometimes overacts especially in eyebrow expressions. Rupert did a good job as well as Daniel. Yay for the trio still getting the job done in their seventh movie together.

I admit I teared up at the end even though I saw it coming thanks to a particular topic trending on Twitter for the last few days. Still, it was so sad.

Unfortunately I had a very animated (and high schooler filled) audience so I missed some of the dialogue thanks to their excessive laughter (seriously "goblin piss" is not that funny). And some of the teenage girls down the row kept whispering but hey, that's the risk you run.

I'm glad they are breaking it up into two because I hated how they cut SO much stuff out of the fourth film because that book (Goblet of Fire) was my favorite. So I'm glad they are sparing no expense for this one. All I know is I am excited to see the final film. It's gonna be epic.

"Oh oh I want some more/ Oh oh what are you waiting for"

Oh heeeeeey Panera. I almost forgot what you looked like on the inside. Yep, since SO is done, it's back to trying to find a job. I've gotten to the point where I am just sending a resume to any company where I feel like I am "somewhat" qualified. I mean I have no experience, I have no skills, gotta do what you gotta do. And also, let's do an Observations/Thoughts since it's been awhile! Here we go (Fun fact: I always say this in Natalie Portman's southern drawl from Where the Heart Is. Bonus points if you know from which scene)!

-The best part was a job posting yesterday where you had to call a number and listen to a five minutes message from the president which basically said "I'm awesome and started this company when I was 18 and now I'm even more awesome. I believe you get what you put out so if you're not awesome, don't work here cause we only accept awesomeness." Frankly, the guy sounded like a d-bag but if I worked with him and he liked me, I'd probably like him. Yep, I'm shallow and wishy-washy with my opinions. So I spent all this time crafting a cover letter and hitting the points he mentioned in the message about his expected criteria. And so I finally hit send and I immediately get a message back. Oookay. "Due to the large volume of interest in this position, we are conducting group interviews Wednesday MARCH 24th" aka: the day BEFORE I sent the email. Awesome. You'd think Mr. Awesome would have thought to change the message or something. Oh well, he sounded like a d-bag anyway.

-So I searched for copy editor just now and "What?! A copy editor is needed in Atlanta. ONLY FIVE MILES FROM MY HOUSE?! I can totally do this. It for an outdoor magazine. I mean, I can try to fake that. I mean I ran on the IM fields occasionally in college. I sit outside and watch my nieces play. Sometimes. * continues reading * Oh I must be an expert in fishing and hunting. Yep, can't fake that. Moving on."

-And then, there was a position for a proofreader. My thought process: "Oh I totally correct people's grammar all the time (at least in my head). This was made for me! * continues reading* Must have a great understanding of html coding, and other technical talk that I can't even remember and repeat for the sake of this blog post." Soooo... no.

-All this "upload your resume and we will grab information and inset it into the application" technology doesn't work. I'd rather it be blank since I just have to go back through and correct everything.

-I have also really discovered I use Twitter to complain. I went to the post office earlier today: Someone in line did not smell good. As I was assessing the people in line, the untidiest looking man who I believe to be the culprit made eye contact and looked me up and down. Ew.

-Then I went shopping and got locked in the dressing room. And apparently the door locks/ gets stuck a lot because the employees were like "Oh it locked. AGAIN. Guess you are sleeping in the store tonight. hahahaha" They didn't tell me they were doing anything to remedy the situation and I was pulling on the door so hard the frame was popping out of the ground. Finally I got let out. I also complained about this incident on twitter.

-Since the weather has been nicer, I am inclined to drive with my window down. There has been construction all along the road lining my neighborhood since I would say June if not before. And these construction workers apparently feel obligated to live up to the stereotype of whistling, cat-calling, etc at young girls driving by with their windows open. I do NOT enjoy this. And therefore, complained about it on Twitter.

-Panera is crawling with high school students and it's only 2:30. Must have been a half day. Oh to be so young and naive. And think you are way cooler than you are. But hey, I used to be one of those so what can you do? But now I'm an unemployed college grad so I AM cooler than you.

-Chocolate chip bagel was DELICIOUS.

-I HATE these salary questions. I am a recent college graduate. I only worked summer jobs before so I feel stupid typing in "well I only made this much an hour". Then it's like how much do you expect to make? Dude, I don't care! I just need to support myself. But I don't want to sound greedy but then I don't want to lowball it. Annoying. So I just pick the lowest option and hope I sound humble and that I won't be taken advantage of.

-I enjoy so much when these sites give a progress bar. This current one does not. Boo.

-I do not enjoy when these sites send you a million emails when you submit a resume, submit a cover letter, submit your application. Just compile it all into one so my poor little inbox doesn't almost explode.

-This will mean nothing to any of you besides former roommate AW (and I don't even think she reads this). AW is sometimes confused and sometimes cheers for Florida basketball (when Georgia isn't playing) cause she used to be a FL fan before she reformed her ways and saw the light. So there was this guy, I wanna say his name was John, who made fun of her cheering for FL, we saw this guy ALL the time so we started calling him Florida Fan, even to his face (hence why I am unsure of his actual name) even though he did not cheer for Florida. So this was years ago but we would still see him every now and then in the last months of college. So then I thought I saw him at the Starbucks I frequent once I moved to Atlanta. Several times. If nothing else, it's his look-a-like. And now I'm at Panera and not even the one really close to the Starbucks and he's here! I wonder if he recognizes me. That was a lot of background for a very worthless story.

-Ultimate coincidence: he is sitting with a man wearing a Florida Gators hat and shirt. So you know, I automatically don't like him.

-But (possibly fake) Florida Fan brings me to this thought: I always just want to ask the professional people sitting around me if they are hiring anyone. I mean that's how Heidi got her job at Bolthouse; she met him in a bar (there's a little Hills trivia for you). I'm look respectable and job searching in Panera on a Friday afternoon. I'm a good person! Hire me! It could happen!

-Why does this $300/day for being an extra pop up in EVERY SINGLE job search. And not just once but like fifteen times. I don't want to do that. Why isn't this on a talent/ modeling/ acting site? Although they do film The Vampire Diaries in Atlanta.... maybe it's for them! Maybe I should look into this. Oh Ian Somerhalder. I just googled his name to make sure I spelled it right (I'm all about the quality) and I think it's so funny how "Ian Somerhalder girlfriend" is the second most popular search as it always is with all these boys. Because tons of celebs date and marry girls who googled them on the internet. If only....

-OneRepublic's sophomore album "Waking Up" is FANTASTIC. Oh UnoRepublic. I love you. Never go away.

-I also am listening to several songs from American Idol (that's right. I watch it. I'm not (that) embarrassed) thanks to a handy video2mp3 converting site. My favorites you ask? Casey James and Lee Dewyze. I can get on board with Siobhan and Crystal and Big Mike. I have the most Casey songs but I always enjoy Lee. There's my opinion. I know you were dying to know.

-Some of these requirements are ridiculous. "Must have 10 years previous experience" "Must be able to lift 20 pounds".... to be an administrative assistant? Seriously? No wonder this job posting is still around.

-Oh yeah, months later and I STILL can't log into Monster. I finally made a new account using my UGAmail address.

- It was dumb of me to put my "Job Search" tab RIGHT next to my "LOST" tab. I always start to click the LOST and have to move over. Even subconsciously, I just want to read what other people said about the Richard episode and all the little things that I missed. So tempting. Must. Fight. Urge.

-The couple next to me are talking very animatedly-- lots of waving arms and hunching over to emphasize a point and gesturing. It's very distracting.

-The man got up and he is wearing very bright blue pants. Prompting me to look at how bright his pants are. And it may have looked like I was checking out his booty. But seriously, they were freakishly neon.

-I truly love the iTunes Free Single of the Week. It's how I found out about Owl City's Fireflies, Lady Antebellum's Love Don't Live Here Anymore, and Asher Roth's I Love College. Unfortunately they have been sucking lately. Then they gave us a good one with Neon Trees' Animal and now it's back to sucking. Too bad. Here's to crossing fingers for next Tuesday!

-I have seen several girls with purple purses today. So brilliant. Goes with so many colors. I am jealous.

-I really love epic music. Like songs that are used in the trailers for movies like Lord of the Rings and, hate to say it, New Moon. And The Lovely Bones trailer had some epic music I was able to track down thanks to sites dedicated to figuring stuff like this out. I am currently listening to it and I sort of want to go partake in battle or beat someone up or something. Well not really but sorta.

-The worker keeps cleaning the tables around me, but my table was empty when I got here and it is very sticky. Maybe it was before his shift started.

-A job posting I think I could do is taking FOREVER to load. Oh what to do, what to do?

-Oh no. After refreshing and reloading the page is blank. Figures.

Alright, I'm cold. It's four and I tried. Time to call it quits.

"And I'm invisible and everyone knows who you are/ ... Give me a photo to hang on my wall/ Superstar""

I have had a brush with fame.

Now I have already admitted I am a bit celeb-obsessed. In fact the topic somehow came up at my family's Christmas dinner (probably because I was gushing about some minor celeb) and this question came up: Which celebrity would you be genuinely starstruck around? Now I didn't lie and admitted sometimes I even get flustered when the associate pastor at my church is milling about the crowd. Brenda Woods, a local Atlanta news anchor, goes there too and I always point her out to my mom in a quiet whisper. One time I missed running into Matthew Stafford (UGA's former quarterback who is now QB for the Detroit Lions) by about an inch and I almost died (he was standing directly behind me in line at Jittery Joe's so when I turned around and he was RIGHT there. I think I gasped but it was more so because I almost slammed into him and would have gasped even if he hadn't been a star football player, who is rather attractive). So it's admitted, even minor popularity gets a big reaction from me. Some of my siblings tried to say that they would only freak out around a former president or some an A-list movie star. Whatever, they are liars.

But before we get to my awesome, albeit small, brush with fame, some background information: One of my favorite blogs to read is B-Side Blog. He created the other site I pimp on here but this is his own personal blog. He is high-larious. It takes a lot for me to laugh out loud at a website but he almost always accomplishes that. He blogs about Survivor, The Hills, living in LA, he does cooking adventures, and his flogs (live blogging when he is flying on a plane with wi-fi) are comedic gold. In a word he is AWESOME. So he blogged about the most recent season of Survivor and he said how NiceRussell looked like he could be in Dave Matthews Band and he would always have NiceRussell saying DMB lyrics along with "Shambo on sax!" in his recaps. It doesn't sound funny when I say it but it was hilarious. You should check it out if you're a Survivor fan.

So DMB's song was in a promo for the BSC Championship game last night (Poor Colt McCoy) and the second he came on all I thought was "Shambo on sax!" And this made me giggle. I happened to be on Twitter at the time and thought I should say something to B-Side. Now, while I like to know what the celebs are saying on Twitter, I rarely if ever say anything @ or directly to them. They get hundreds a day, why would they care about me? But this was funny, it was quoting him so that's flattering so I figured why not, so I said:

Simple, not too fan girl. Okay, okay. So then I saw that not too many people say something @ B-side. In fact, the last person that did, he responded to. You mean I could register on my favorite blogger's radar?! I was giddy. But alas, several hours passed, Texas couldn't accomplish a come from behind victory and there was no reply from B-side. I retired to my room to read before hitting the hay.

Long story, short(er): I read something in a book that I wanted to Google so I looked it up on my trusty iPhone. Then without really thinking I checked Twitter and I saw "the blue box" on my home page. Meaning someone said something directly to me. Now I had been tweeting back and forth with my friend HW so I expected it to be her but no, it was this:

That's right. I screen captured it. I'm a dork!

B-Side said something to me! ME! O.M.G. I told you it was small but it was exciting. He's one of my favorite (online) writers. It'd be like if Charles Dickens or Jane Austen said something to you on Twitter. Try to understand where I am coming from.

Well, I freaked out and got very excited cause I am a dork. But then I realized something: He only said it a few minutes ago, it might be the big tweet on his Twitter page! So I tripped over myself trying to get out of my bed that is piled with blankets thanks to this 20 degree weather we've been having and scrambled to my laptop on my desk. I get on Twitter and what do I see:

I'm slightly famous by slightly famous association!

He has 1,000+ followers and my name was there for all to see! And maybe he clicked on my name and read my tweets, and thought I was funny and then clicked on my website and saw this here blog and read it and loved it and is now reading this post and thinks I am a stalker and is somewhat worried. But he is admittedly sort of the same when it comes to celebs so I think he will like the gushing if he ever comes across this.

Oh and it gets better. He has a twitter feed on his blog. And I realized, OMG my name is probably on there and behold:

Ta da!

Very, very exciting. To me at least. I know you probably thought this post was lame and he's not even a real celebrity. But I recommend you check out his blog and read his hilarious stories and recaps and you too will fall a little bit in love with him and you'll understand where I am coming from. Might I recommend:

1. This Flog. And the exciting conclusion

2. Top Ten Baggage Claim Annoyances

3. About Sugar from Survivor: Gabon

I just reread the Flog and conclusion and I am cracking up. You really need to check it out.

"These are a few of my (new) favorite things"

*Note: New to me. Some of them may be old news to you. If that's the case, way to be ahead of the curve. And if it's new and I'm the one to introduce something new and awesome to you, you're welcome.

1. Sporcle.com How no one came up with this before, I have no idea. As the tagline explains, "Mentally Stimulating Diversions". Think you know all fifty states? Chances are you'll probably forget at least one if you weren't taught the state song back in elementary school. Do you know all the presidents? I do not but I did back in the 11th grade. Along with their party and years in office. So that should count for something right? How many of Shakespeare's plays can you name? It's all on this website. One weekend my family broke into teams and competed to see who knew the most or could get all the answers in the fastest time. It was awesome. I highly recommend this website to anyone who loves a little bit of trivia. Or just if you want to be able to brag that you know all of the movies starring Ben Stiller/Julia Roberts/ Matt Damon.

2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I really enjoyed this book. Being a fan of LOST and the fact that time travel has become a huge component of the show, I read that a lot of people who were fans of time travel on the show were also fans of this book. It helped in putting a lot of things in a new perspective with the whole "whatever happened, happened" aspect. I thought the first person perspectives from both the time traveler, Henry, as well as his wife, Clare, was brilliant and it really makes you feel for both of the characters because they have very different struggles when it comes to Henry's "condition". But at the heart of it all, this very much in love couple hates being apart and dreads the fact that the separation may be permanent one day if Henry fails to find his way back to the present. I really loved the character of Clare because she was strong even though the character could easily have been viewed as weak since she sat around waiting on a guy for most of her life. The book had some surprising twists (considering it pretty much lays it out there in the title that Clare does in fact become Henry's wife) and it was one of those "I'm exhausted but I have to know what happens next so I'll read one more chapter before I go to bed" books. The only downside for me was when Niffenegger talked about the paper making process in relation to Clare's profession. I didn't understand, it was hard to imagine, and I didn't see how it added that much to the story. Well the paper creations in general did, yes, but not the actual processes. Overall, a great book and I highly recommend. P.S. They are also coming out with a movie starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams later this year. Loooove her so I am excited to see it even if it does take on more of a sappy tone than it contains in the book.

3. Parachute's Losing Sleep (Bonus Track Version). I found out about this band because their song "Under Control" was one of the free singles of the week on iTunes (another of my favorite things!) a couple months ago. I loved the song (even if I did lose a little respect when I heard it in a Nivea commercial a few weeks ago but, hey, you gotta make money somehow these days) and sampled a few others on iTunes. Once I saw that the album, the bonus track album, was only $6.99, I was sold. They definitely have a Ben Folds/ The Fray/ Maroon 5 feel to them but I happen to enjoy those bands so that's a plus in my book. "She (For Liz)" and "She is Love" are the standouts thus far in my few listens, along with the one that started it all, "Under Control". Plus you are getting 12 songs for the price of seven. Holy sweet steal Batman.

4. Extras the t.v. show. It came from the minds who created The Office so of course it is bloody brilliant. Ricky Gervais is absolute perfection in his role. I also found it amazing he was able to create an even more socially unaware character than his alter ago, David Brent, but he succeeds with Maggie. She is my slight hang-up about the show. No one is that stupid. I understand a lot of the time it is a device to further the plot, but come on! And they gave her a slight chance at redeeming herself at the end of the first season but then any sign of that seemed to go away by the beginning of the second. But seriously, great show. Absolutely hysterical. The guest stars are amazing because you know they are having a blast playing the complete antithesis of themselves, or at least the antithesis of their public image. Chris Martin and Orlando Bloom are my favorites and not just because they are fun to look at but because they play the extreme of what they potentially could be in their profession but you highly doubt they actually are (or at least not to that extent). Chris Martin hypes up his rockstar image and the whole "caring about third world countries" deal is just an act to get more publicity. Orlando is obsessed with being better than Johnny Depp and making sure that women find him more attractive than his Pirates of the Caribbean counterpart. Brilliant. Hysterical. The guest stars must have had an absolute blast being a part of this show. It is British so it is a bit more "cutting edge" but, man, is it funny. Love it.

5. Twitter. I know, I know. I was one of those people who just didn't understand the appeal of Twitter. Why would anyone care what I was doing/thinking (You could say the same thing about this blog actually)? But seriously, people do! Well at least I do. You mean I can know what John Mayer thinks about Guitar Hero? I can see pictures that Lauren Conrad posts from her book tour that she takes herself? Kevin Spacey can squash rumors that Jeff Goldblum died in an accident so I can sleep in peace? YES to all of the above! I can also stay in touch with my siblings in Seattle or know what my friends are up to at their summer jobs. You know, the people I actually know. But I already admitted to a slight celebrity, um obsession, so this is heaven to me. It's constantly updating, you can do it from your phone-- it is just awesome. Not that I think anyone cares about me or what I have to say, but it is strange when I posts photos and see the view count in the double digits. Granted I am sure that is my family/friends but still there is a chance that somehow I come across Andy Roddick, Rainn Wilson, or Rachel McAdam's radar. Exciting!