Monthly Archives: January 2009
bonus feature
for the few loyal OLIO followers: time for a quick update on what ~~myOLIO~~ is dispatching into cyberspace. you may have recently noticed an extra widget there on the right…or maybe not. i thought maybe i should introduce the new kid on the block, seeing as he’s been hanging around for a month now without a proper welcome. meet ~OLIOsnippets~, your almost-daily dose of ~~myOLIO~~. lemme ‘splain:
because this blog is really just a way for me to easily catalog my thoughts on the topics i am passionate about, i only post when it’s something i’d want to file away so i can retrieve later. (or subjects on which i would welcome insightful input.) this little pocket of the net is my organization tool, and i don’t want to muddy it up with this&that like i would in my written journals.
however, i do encounter impressive things almost every day that are worth sharing and remembering. so i started a page to record the remarkable stuff that’s keeping me preoccupied and away from ~~myOLIO~~ when i’m not posting. there’s an overwhelming abundance of data out there on the information superhighway, and these are the nuggets that i find valuable for entertainment, enlightenment, or appreciation.
click on the link in the sidebar (below the categories) and check out the ~OLIOsnippets~ page – the widget will show you at a glance when there’s something new.
LOL – dueling ring tones
as promised, here is the first installment from the “laugh out loud” list, for your amusement:
if you’re like so many of us in this mobile-media-device driven era we live in, you depend on your cell phone for many functions, including the role of alarm clock. my husband and i both rely on our phones to stir us from slumber each morning. (we each set our own and snooze individually, even when we are getting up at the same time.) there are certain drawbacks to assigning your phone wake-up duty (oops* i left my phone on silent after that meeting yesterday and didn’t hear the alarm this morning…), causing us to repeatedly vow to buy a real alarm clock – which has yet to happen.
a few months after we were married, we both got new phones to replace the archaic models we had been carrying for so long. this was followed by the natural adjustment period while we learned the new menus and operations, as well as tried out all the possible rings for calls, mail, messages, and of course, alarms. it seemed like we each had a different alarm sound each morning, because all the ring tones are so horrible that either one or the other of us could not stand the racket in our first waking moments. (“that’s the worst sound ever, you have to change that.”) the trouble with frequently changing ring tones is that neither of us could recognize our own alarm. each morning our bedroom was a cacophony of polyphonic screeching and cries of “turn that off already!” followed by “that’s your alarm!”
this confusion was compounded by the steep learning curve involved in adapting to our new smart phones, with chat-style text messaging and applications that can send you notifications at any hour. occasionally my phone would erupt shrilly in the dead of night with an automatic update or unsolicited message and lee would express his sleepy exasperation at my inconsiderate phone etiquette. one night it was his phone that so rudely interrupted our sleep, and although i was not happy to be awake, i took small pleasure in being able to say “SEE! now it’s your phone!”
he mumbled an excuse about how it was probably important and rolled over to assess the offending message. a few key punches later we were both on our way to snoozing peacefully again. but mere seconds passed before my phone was dancing noisily across the bedside table. as lee groaned and asked in frustration “who could that possibly be?” i stared at the screen with bewilderment and indignation.
“it’s YOU!” i exclaimed, thrusting the phone in his direction so he could view the message of nonsensical gibberish he had crafted just moments before. our mutual irritation melted into delirious laughter as the full realization of what had happened sank in. and when we woke in the morning to the raucous little devices, it stirred the dreamlike memory of our nocturnal chaos, and prompted groggy giggles rather than annoyed grumbling.
we’ve both moved on to newer and fancier mobile phones since then, and have become much more cell-savvy. but we still remember the incoherent reply lee sent when he accidentally opened our text chat that night in his sleepy stupor: “il slus acid.” how eloquent.
* word choices have been softened to keep this blog family-friendly. 
no one says “oops” when they realize they’ve overslept.
LOL (Love Of Laughter)
i love to laugh. (cue the sugary mary poppins chorus) but really, who doesn’t?
hopefully each of us finds at least a brief chuckle each day, but the true pearls are the unexpected incidents that catch you off guard and provoke side-splitting, tears-streaming, pee-your-pants whoops of laughter. these valuable occasions have more merry merit than your average funny incident, because they have the power to rouse fresh peals of laughter each time they are recalled.
you know what i mean: the episode you can hardly retell without dissolving into fits of giggles; the instance that causes an involuntary snort or at least a suppressed grin as you visualize the moment again later; the perfectly-timed clever quip that seems to grow in hilarity each time it is repeated.
these are precious gems that should be archived and revisited, and milked for all their mirthful worth. to capitalize on the full comic potential of these amusing memories and squeeze out as much gleeful mileage possible, i have fastidiously kept a growing list for the past 14 years of the times i have been inspired to spontaneously laugh out loud.
it is aptly titled “laugh out loud list.” i’ve been building this list since before the swell of instant messages and prolific acronym usage, so i’m thinking of updating it to the more hip and modern “LOL list.” (although i’m sure that still leaves me appropriately behind the times for my age.)
my close friends and family know about the list, and we have gone to it on difficult or dismal days seeking a guaranteed pick-me-up, or during giddy late night laugh-fests to keep the riot rolling. quite a while back i had a request to feature some of those stories here, and i would welcome the chance to flesh out some of the details before they fade and “herding jelly tag-team style” or “bryan’s dramatic dixie chicks concussion” doesn’t bring to mind the same vivid response as it used to.
so my plan is to occasionally choose an entry from the list that isn’t too extremely “you had to be there” (lest you move from speculation to conclusion of my craziness) and describe the situation in more detail here. some of these stories may include you, so be prepared to have your humorous escapades broadcast to the world. 
(don’t worry, this blog has a following of approximately eight, so your entertaining antics are still fairly safe.)
stay tuned for the the witty remarks, oblivious faux pas, klutzy blunders, and chaotic scenes that have induced uproarious hysterics for me. i hope i can pass the laughter on, even if it’s just a slight snicker.
wanderlust
“not all those who wander are lost.” – j.r.r. tolkien
once again i have learned that there is a name for a syndrome that i bear. this one was actually hiding in the german language, and was delivered straight to my inbox via the dictionary.com word of the day. (a reminder that, yes, i am a total word geek.) this term describes my affliction precisely:
wanderlust – n – a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about; an irresistible impulse to travel.
1902, from German Wanderlust, literally “desire for wandering”
[German : wandern, to wander + Lust, desire (from Old High German; see las- in Indo-European roots).]
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University
i first came down with the “travel bug” when i studied abroad in the netherlands in my junior year of college. i got it bad. interacting closely with people of so many cultures and visiting virtually every country in western europe inflamed a viral outbreak of must-see-the-world that developed rapidly.
my condition progressed as i continued to participate in the international community at my university back home, and was exposed to more and more unfamiliar customs, traditions, and lifestyles. the symptoms were unmistakable: my usual daydreams were replaced by visions of faraway lands, my life goals were modified, my job search took a new direction, and my activities and interests had a shifted focus.
i became more deeply affected after i took a job organizing mission trips and found myself traveling several times a month, immersed in the culture of mostly latin america, africa, and china. an additional visit to scandinavia and an extended stay in south america proved that my infection is chronic – i have wanderlust.
the urge to wander, through the colorful cultures across our united states and abroad, is always present in me. the fact that the world is now shrinking so swiftly through the growth of the internet, and also the movement of people, is both a blessing and a curse for me. in a sense, having the world at my doorstep (189 nationalities are represented in oklahoma) and at my fingertips (instant news, stunning photos, and descriptive articles online) temporarily satisfies my demanding hunger, but ultimately just whets my appetite for more, for real immersion.
i believe my affinity for traveling is driven by my impulse to try new things. having a curious nature and an obsession with experiencing things first-hand means anything unknown is something i would be intrigued to explore. it may not become a favorite or even hold my attention for much longer, but i feel compelled to know for myself.
robert louis stevenson said it well when he pointed out that “there are no foreign lands, it is the traveler only who is foreign.” oh, how i love to be foreign. if you like to travel, share your favorite destination below.
that’s a nice little ditty
confession: i have over 100 GB of music on my computer. okay, so maybe that’s not so shocking, compared to what some people must have, but it is a sizable collection (seeing as i have yet to rip all my old cds to my hard drive). this is the kicker: i have to keep it all perfectly organized at all times. this means when i get a new album, it needs to be saved into the appropriate folder, properly categorized into a genre, with file names precisely formatted to match all other music files. it also needs to be attached to the cover art and labeled accurately with the year of release. this is all of utmost importance. (i just want to be able to find what i want when i want it-or perhaps that’s a bit of my a.r. surfacing.) after spending the better part of 4 hours listening to and organizing music files one saturday, i realized i might need a shift in my priorities.
but maybe not. after all, it’s not as if i devote that amount of time to it day after day, and i truly believe that music improves life. it’s no secret that it has mood-altering potential. it’s a crucial part of setting the scene in film and television production, and is also a huge component of many therapies. i love the therapeutic effect it has on my life. a punky upbeat song can banish my blues in no-time, and enjoying a soulful serenade is the perfect way to unwind. when i need to vent some anger or frustration, i can let it out through a strong driving beat. if i need extra concentration, classical really does the trick. and i can honestly run an extra mile with the right mix on my ipod. do i even need to mention creating atmosphere for parties or romance? life needs a soundtrack just like movies and sitcoms.
the trouble is, i love all kinds of music (who me? dramatically varied interests?) and so i am constantly encountering a new artist or collaboration that i feel compelled to appraise, because nothing can be automatically dismissed. no really, when i said i like all varieties of music i meant it. even the kinds that are often alienated -> country, techno, hard rock, world music. i never met a genre i didn’t like. songs, yes; some are unbearable. artists, yes; some are just ridiculous. but there is a sampling from every category that pleases my musical palate. there is just so much talent out there: some stand out for their unbelievable dexterity with instruments or creativity in composition, some for their cleverly-executed lyrical aptitude, some for their undeniable ability to entertain.
i’ve always had someone in my life who was my “awesome new music scout.” you know, the pal who always seems to have the inside tip on the next “nobody’s-heard-of-’em-but-their-music-is-SICK!” and they were usually right. in middle school and high school it was my friend todd, who would come bursting into my house triumphantly holding an album that we needed to listen to now. in college it was a classmate i met my freshman year in ground school (yes, aviation, whole ‘nother story) who proved to have a keen capacity for recognizing musical greatness. now my husband‘s good friend troy is the one who sends annual Christmas compilations of the year’s best offerings and tunes that characterize his year.
these days there are so many avenues for discovering new artists that everyone wants to be on the leading edge and reserve their early-adopter bragging rights. and with so many musicians using tools like myspace and such to promote their talents, we have easy access to many more independent recordings than ever before. it’s like opening pandora’s box. speaking of, don’t go to pandora.com or you’ll be listening to music til your mouse-clicking finger cramps up. every song you give a “thumbs up” to leads to a slew of more songs and artists you’ll probably like. for another genuinely worthy source, check out paste magazine. my brother-in-law turned me on to this stellar publication and i am forever grateful. subscribe and get loads of excellent music, film, and culture news, plus an entire cd of new music each month. a definite ‘do’.
my playlist is continually morphing, always including new obsessions and longtime favorites, but there is always room for more fabulous music if you stumble upon a gem. i welcome any recommendations!
