Vern and I share the same smurf name? Wow, that's pretty cool. Wonder if it has to do anything with our backgrounds in design.

I'm Squanto Smurf!

I don't have a good creepy-encounter story myself, but my best friend and his girlfriend told me a good one.

They were taking a walk in a park and it seemed like this one guy was following them the whole time. He was keeping enough of a distance, though, that it wasn't clear whether he was following them or it just seemed that way.

Anyway, they sat on a bench for a while to rest and talk and hadn't seen him for a while, but by this time it was nearly dark. After a few minutes they noticed him peering at them quietly from behind a tree just 20 feet away. Needless to say, they hightailed it. Creeeeeeeepy.

IMissEthan, that wasn't me posting, that was Hannibal Smurf. He is uncontrollable.

Oh nice, M.Darcy, blame it on the cute blue guy with the beard.
And swimmerboy, I'm guessing it's b/c you're both charming, witty and enormously detail oriented ? (I'm actually just guessing about the last one, but my neighbor is an architect, and talk about detail-oriented. SHe's compulsive!)/end of gross generalization....

Totally. I started his thread in the TS forum. It's changed since then, but I called it "Vern: Designer/Architect Extraordinaire" because at the time "Vern: The Boyfriend My Parents Would Have Been Most Happy With" was a little too long. (Plus - *gasp* - it ended with a preposition!)

I'm Radioactive Smurf, which explains the blue. Ah, smurf logic.

My sister-in-law had a stalker that ended up breaking into her apartment and really seriously freaking her out, even with restraining orders. She's moved to a new state since then but will have to go back this summer to testify in court. Pretty scary stuff, especially since she's the nicest person in the world and I know it kills her to have her trust in humanist damaged like this.

I did the smurf-name thing for the kids in my homeroom. One of them was "Heterosexual Smurf". She didn't like that. My favorite, though, was "Smurf Smurf Smurf". It really fit her.

I got my second letter from an inmate in texas today. This is really really wierd. I got one a few months ago, called the police, set it aside to send back with a request to please not write me...and then Jemee ate it. This time I called the Region V office and the Tulia Unit and got all the names, numbers, and addresses that I need. woohoo. Go me!

Has anyone else gotten a letter like that? It is a very nice and pleasant letter...he wants a penpal of sorts. Its just creepy as I never signed up for anything like that and I don't know anyone in TX.

Returning to the obnoxious items sold at work topic for a second:

Today, I saw a box of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups next to the coffee station at work. And a sign.

"Help a child go to Diabetes camp."

Now that's just 10 levels of wrong.

Zron, no amount of office-worker onlookers would have detered me from shredding that loser's bike. But then again those are the types of situations that bring out the "incredible Hulk" in me. I get irrationally irate.

Bart Ender, you have got to me kidding me about that Diabetes Camp thing. Totally pathetic...

I'm Phil the Smurf. But that's ok bc I heart Phil. And I'm picturing his Smurf version in a fugly turtleneck sweater.


That's from a few pages ago and I already forgot who said it, but it cracked me up. It's so true. I hate that part, I always sneak out before it if I can manage it.

Bart Ender, I was in the grocery store the other day and saw a bake sale table sponsered by the members of the local Curves gym, benefits to WalkAmerica for diabetes research. Double irony!

Sureshot26, sorry to hear about your rejection! As someone who was received six grad school rejections in the course of three weeks several years ago, I feel your pain. What are your other emergency backup schools? And where are you? My alma mater is the University of South Carolina, which is a great school for children's/school media librarianship, as well as offering the added perk of getting to yell "Go Cocks!" at football games. They have a distance learning program there too, I believe, although I lived in Columbia while I got my MLS and I loved it. Low cost of living, gorgeous weather, nice people (for the most part). Sure, there's that Confederate thing, but you learn to ignore it after a while. North Carolina also has an fantastic program, from what I've heard, as does Maryland.

Stay far far away from the University of Michigan whatever you do, they don't even have the word "library" in the name of the school anymore -- it's the School of Information. Bleah. And not so good with the public/kids' library stuff. They are all about data structures and information technology. I wanted to go there, since Ann Arbor is my hometown, and I ended up so glad they rejected me.

I'd be happy to chat more abt the subject of library degrees, which is probably not as riveting to everyone else as it is to us. Email's in the profile.

labral, that's totally creepy. About a year ago I kept getting phone calls from some inmate at the island prison where they send the really awful sex offenders. It freaked me out, understandably. So, go you!

Vern's probably my favourite TS (or ex-TS) designer, with Edward close behind -- though I haven't watched TS for something like two months, probably due to having to stare at the TS calendar at my desk. It's the flower bathroom this month, which is not at all inspiring. Of course now that I thought of the flower room, I had to look over at the calendar and come up with a new reason to dislike it: with all that gold paint, it looks like a low-rent Trump apartment.

My Smurf name is Cuddly Smurf - so not me. So not me, in fact, that I contemplated modifying the source code on the page to give myself a better name. In the end I didn't, but I guess I can take comfort in the fact that Reminiscent of Flo and Millie Smurf was not an option, or I would have undoubtedly drawn that one.

In news not related to my prickly personality, I actually went to a non-fast-food restaurant yesterday! How cool is a restaurant with a huge saltwater fish-pond inside? And I got a new computer last week. So I have no reason to be cranky and Flo-ish. I still don't think I count as 'cuddly' though.

I'm Waspinator Smurf. That sounds so weird.

I'm Full Monty Smurf. Despite being a university-aged female, I am apparently the portly, middle-aged stripper of the bunch. It's strangely fun. As is my TWOP Smurf name, As-Seen-On-TV Smurf. Does that mean I get to be half of the "Smurf Team" for TAR6?

Sigh. The Grade Three class in which I've been volunteering since the end of the school year finally finishes EQAO testing tomorrow. The poor kids have had to do five days straight of reading, writing and math testing, and a lot of it is WAY too advanced for any eight-year-old. Their eyes glaze over within half an hour. Is it just me, or does writing a letter about why the Canada goose is important to Canada, what possible conservation options are available and why you'd be the best person to head up a conservation project sound more like a cover letter to be written by a university grad looking for a job than a question for an eight-year-old?

My Smurf names? Ickyickyicky My legal name gets me "Lydia Smurf" , my full married name {I'm an unofficial hyphenator} get's me "Erectile Dysfuntion Smurf" and my TWoP name gets me "Phil the Smurf". Bleah. I think I'll stick with my porn name--Qui-Qui Felten.

He wasn't really a stalker, as such, but I had one guy determined to win my affection--he gave me about $500 in custom made jewelry, and after I made a throw-away comment about not making meringues because I didn't have a good mixer, bought me an almost top of the line mixer and almost all the accessories for my birthday--he apologized because he didn't get the sausage-stuffing kit. Then for Christmas, he commissioned a portrait. And this while I was living with another guy. I was very glad to leave him behind when I moved.

labral that's so weird that you got a letter like that just out of the blue. How the heck did he even get your address? Maybe you should contact the prison and see if they can figure it out. Isn't mail monitored in some prisons? Maybe they can find out how he got your address. Creepy.

Geez, Rabrab, where can I get a stalker like that? I need someone to pay off my student loans.

Kidding. Sort of.

Good lord!

1) They're not.
2) Who cares, let's eat them!
3) See above.

Right there with you, Rachel. Around here, we have expat Canadian geese who have decided that the yearly migration thing isn't worth their trouble, so they stick around all the time. I live on a pond, and my back lawn is just befouled every spring by numerous goose poop land mines, particularly as the goslings hatch and the families embark on their daily eating tour of neighborhood lawns. Plus, that selfsame poop has contributed greatly to the algae/weed bloom that is threatening to kill the pond itself.
Stupid scenic flying rats.

There's a family of Canadian geese that live, I swear to God, somewhere in the parking lot of the mall next to my apartment. They've been there for years and I can't for the life of me figure out exactly where they live. But I see them all the time in the summer. They stroll, 4 in a row, through the parking lot as if they own the place and you constantly hear cars slamming on their brakes trying not to kill them. Pains in the ass!

Just 'cause I know there's a lot of Candians here (and maybe some Americans know the group too), I saw Glass Tiger last night! And they were awesome! Woo!

I really would like some parts of the 80's back.

Yup - it was at the Tulip Festival. Hawksley Workman tonight! (It better not rain...)

No parachute pants, though, please. Or leg warmers. Or parachute pants with leg warmers.

Deva, that was at the tulip festival No? When I first moved to Ottawa years ago, I saw them at a bar in the market. I too celebrate the end of EQAO testing, what a grind. I love how there is so many library folks here, add me to the list.
My smurf name :Transparent Smurf. Whatever. Reminds of the "Mister Cellophane" song from the Chicago soundtrack. Of course, I can never really hide my true feelings so maybe that's what it means.
June 4th is a good day - New harry Potter and we get to meet the new teams, I swear to God July 6th can not come sooner, of course, July 5th is my b-day so TAR starting is like a gift to me.

I remember being sooo excited to get lavender leg warmers with pink stitching for Christmas one year.

And I just knew it was love in the 8th grade when my boyfriend let me wear his parachute pants (just like Hammer!). I wore them with my hot pink Guess t-shirt. I was stylin', yo.

Ok, WHY was my mother allowing me to wear this little dirty 13 y/o boy's pants? Ew!

-----

For those of you that are still concerned with US-Canada relations as they pertain to candy smuggling, you'll be glad to know that I did not have as much trouble as piperdown when mailing my package. The truly sucktacular part though? It cost more to mail than I spent on the items inside the friggin' box!

Ahem.

If you didn't know, I'm just a tad on the...let's say "frugal"...side. But I'll do just about anything for the sake of international goodwill. Besides, I knew that if I went all cheapcakes on this one, poor piperdown wouldn't have chips till sometime in August.

I've been on an 80's kick myself - we're having an 80's party tomorrow night. I've spent the last week making paper Pac-Mans and designing my costume (New Coke!). I also have to make Mr. Weds' costume - I figured he'd go as a Rubik's Cube. I have a big cardboard cutout of Sarah Michelle Gellar (don't ask), so I've dressed her up as early 80's Madonna, including my bustier. It's always nice to greet your guests with underwear. So much to do, and here I am goofing around on the Internet.

Oy. A friend of mine is having his 30th b-day tonight, and there's a theme. Come as your favorite 70s/80s pop culture icon. Me? no costume. I've attempted to generally block out that period of my life. I'm expecting much psychological trauma by the end of the evening.

Ah, Canadian gooseshit. I remember dodging massive quantities of it all over the parking lots and sidewalks at the Shady Grove Metro station outside DC. Fun times. Great green globs of greasy grimy....gooseshit. <g>

Since we have all these Canadians here, any other Great Big Sea fans? I cannot BELIEVE they didn't come through New Orleans on their current US tour; they were here last year, in a 250-person venue at the House of Blues, and being five feet in front of Alan is just.....well.....swoon. Or Sean......swoon.... My daughter just did a road trip to Houston and Austin to see their shows there, and brought me, as my Mother's Day gift (the best Mother's Day gift ever), a t-shirt autographed by Alan....swoon....

For that, I would have to come as a My Little Pony. I had bunk beds as a kid and my Pony collection covered the entire top bunk. I had the ranch house. I had the salon. I had everything. I played with the seahorses in the bathtub for crying out loud! They are by far the defining cultural element of my 80's childhood.

Ahhh yes, the 80s. Makes me a bit nostalgic for my college days. (Sigh.) And just yesterday, someone at work reminded me of the B52s and "Rock Lobster." Good times.



Now, that really brings back some memories, but not in the same way it might for most people. I actually went to high school with Madonna--which really gives away my age.

ETA: Sureshot26, you're just a kid. God, you make me feel old. Hee!

I'm having an attack of nervousness.

Ten more days (including today) at work and counting. I know leaving is the right thing to do. I don't want to be an educator, I really don't like my office (it's become a cold, unfriendly place to work), and I'm excited about my summer program. But while I'm excited about the transition, I know that entry-level publishing pays bupkas (sp?), and I have undergrad loans. I'm worried about making ends meet. Financial stability has always been important to me, and it sucks to worry about money.

I have friends in New York whose parents support them, or help support them. Not so with me (and I wouldn't ask that of my parents). What I'll make is what I'll have. I know I'm worrying a little prematurely, but I'm feeling a little scared right now. Any kind words? Any job suggestions?

WedAddams, you own a bustier? You rule. My coworkers and I were reminiscing about the 80s the yesterday at lunchtime. I was born in 1980, but I definitely had my share of neon. One of my favorite skirts was a three-tiered denim miniskirt that I wore probably every day of third grade. I also had a purple Guess sweatshirt. The "Guess" was written in hot pink across the front in script, and I wore it with jeans and matching hot pink socks. I thought I was fly as hell in that outfit.

I'm rather proud of my New Coke costume. My sister suggested I walk into the party with a whole bunch of hoopla, stay for 15 minutes, then leave. I made a smock out of red velvet fabric and I'll glue the logo to it today.

I'm trying to get a bald friend to go as Mikael Gorbachev. All he has to do is wear a suit, and I'll draw a blotch on his head with lipliner.

I had a ton of My Little Pony as well. We used to fight over who got to be Applejack. Only in the 80s would little girls fight over an orange and green horse.

At one of my birthday parties in the 80's we had a Madonna-Look-Alike contest. We all raided my older sister's closet, put on fishnets, layered big shirts over tank tops, put big belts on the outside, ankle socks, caked on makeup, and of course, drew on the mole with eyeliner. Then we had a fashion show to the Like A Virgin album. Ahhh... good times.

Get a couple of border collies and train them to herd the geese elsewhere. Our city government got one for the municipal golf course (and possibly the lake). A lot of people thought it was stupid and a waste of money, but apparently it works. Also, it's a dog, so it must be good, right?

ETA: I would love an '80s party. Instead, our church youth director had the bright idea to have the end-of-school youth party be a '70s disco thing, which I thought was really wrong -- in general since I hate disco and polyester and in particular for a church since disco really seemed to be mostly about drugs and sex. I keep trying to tell people that the '70s are out now and the '80s are coming back in, but I live in Oklahoma, where we're still 2 years behind even though you'd think with cable and MTV and the Internet we'd get closer to the what the rest of the country is doing. Sadly, among the high school kids, '70s is still sort of cool. (Although one kid who isn't even old enough to remember the '80s does have a T-shirt that says, "Still living in the '80s." I give him a hard time about it.)

An 80's party sounds like so much fun! I bet my Members Only jacket is still in the back of my parents' coat closet. I haven't been to a theme/costume party in ages. Unlike me, all of my friends are married and have kids. So the few parties I do get to are usually Sat. afternoon affairs, for first birthdays or something stupid like that.

Now, how's this for weird? Somehow, my browser got all f'ed up here at work, so I haven't been able to connect for days. I just got the bizarre idea to try and connect through a help file, and it works! (mostly)

I get all new powers when my internet connection is threatened. I'm like one of those moms that suddenly finds the strength to pick up a car that's on their kid. Ok, maybe not, but I'm proud of my creativity (sneakiness).

Wow, there's a blast from the past! I actually saw them and Joan Jett at one of those Toys For Tots benefit concerts radio stations put on back in December 1986.

I am a complete 80s freak. I gave an 80s party back in college where I put together 8 hours of videos and had 99 red balloons taped to the ceiling. (Yes, I counted. I'm that anal.) And I supplied the music for a now-defunct 80s night here in Williamsburg for a little over a year. As a matter of fact, right now I'm listening to a CD that has such tacky over-the-top late 80s gems as "18 and Life" and "Close My Eyes Forever". And giggling thinking of Diana DeGarmo from American Idol "C'MON Y'ALL!"-ing her way through them.

Aw, go on, Hildy. (I said go on, Hildy!). But yeah, extremely detail oriented. I'm totally the Vern of my family. I obsess over making my drawings as neat and clear as they can be. Even the models I did in school had to have all the little rooms inside built, instead of just doing the outer shell like most guys. I even went so far as to construct a tiny glass elevator for one project.

I'm a bigger fan of 80's cartoons than 80's music. G.I.Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Ducktales, Beverly Hills Teens...those were simply the best.

Speaking of the 80s. A couple of weeks ago I went with my daughters into a store called Ice, basically it is Claire's. Anyway they had the black rubber bracelets and fingerless gloves. I didn't see any pairs of earrings that had one long one and one stud though.

I had a Guess shirt too. Mine was white with Guess written in green paisley letters. Back in the late 80s in my school I remember it being totally cool to wear boxer shorts as shorts. Anyone else do this? Also it was really cool to roll the cuff of our jeans. There were no flare legs or boot cut jeans, oh no tapered was the way to go.

Oh, and the hair! My goodness the hair! Teased and ratted and sprayed. It's a wonder that many of us aren't bald from the torture we put our hair through. Long live Aqua Net!! hee hee

I love Great Big Sea - it seems so weird to think of them playing in New Orleans. I didn't know they were known all the way down there. Of course, when I was there, there was a big sign for an upcoming Anne Murray concert.

If the 80's are coming back does this mean I need a new ripped sweatshirt and leggings?

Yes. And 3 Swatches per arm. 2 worn one direction and the third the other.

I'll raise you: the French roll. Did anyone do the French roll? This was BIG in fourth and fifth grades. You folded the leg of your jeans over so it lay flat against the leg, and then rolled them up. They were so tight they could bruise. And they always rode up, so you had this weird almost-capri-but-not-really thing going on.

[veering off-topic]

I had the strangest morning! This Chinese guy came into our office and immediately started yammering away in Chinese to me. I had to cut him off and say: "I'm sorry sir, do you speak English?" And he got furious with me and yelled: "You no speak Mandarin?!?!?" Now, for those of you who haven't met me in person, I'm a red-headed, white, Jew...and I LOOK like a red-headed, white, Jew. There is *nothing* about me that would indicate that I speak Mandarin. So the guy got pissed off and stormed out. Now, a couple hours later, he just came back into the office all apologetic and smiling and saying: "So sorry! My mistake!". Then he handed me 2 Cuban cigars and left.

WTF??

So I am now the proud owner of 2 Cuban cigars. Heh. I don't even really know how to smoke a cigar but, hey, they were free so I'll try it just once. I've heard you don't actually inhale cigars. Anyone care to help me out here? (And you can save the Lewinski jokes, I've already run through all of them in my head.)

Heh ... I remember that. Seventh & Eighth grade for me. I loved this trend because it worked with the non-trendy jeans my parents insisted on. I still do a (much less extreme) version of this when riding my bike, actually.

I will admit that a large part of the audience was expat or tourist Canadians, but there are a few genuine GBS fans this far south! And of course the boys LOVE New Orleans -- I think they wrote the song "Consequence Free" to describe their wishes for their visits here. Even stranger, they recently played in Omaha, Nebraska. Someone gave Alan a giant ear of corn hat and there's a photo in the discussion boards section of their website with him wearing it. Uh.....right. :-)

I have to admit that even though I was one of those boring old moms during the '80s, I still love '80s music. And I did have a pair of leggings, although I don't remember wearing them much. No Guess shirts, though, and I was too poor at that point for multiple Swatch watches. But my daughter was into both My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake. She had this set of Strawberry Shortcake mini-figurines that each was scented to match its character. She put them all in a plastic container and left them in our car in the hot Texas sun one day. The stench when we opened it was truly indescribable.

Edited to add the permanent embarrasment of my life is the photo of me at my parents' 40th wedding anniversary party, with my obligatory '80s Big Hair. Man, those were the days, weren't they? Word to geebs_criminy on the Aqua Net -- if I'd owned their stock then, I'd be a rich woman today!

I didn't know that jean thing had a name. Wow. The only French Roll I remember is a hair style that I refused to ever get. In my urrea, they involved massive amounts of gel, heat, and "hard curls" that could only be created with an entire can of holding spray.


I had the crappiest of the crappy...the Barbie townhouse. Not the dream house, but the townhouse. It fell over every night. And I'd wake up in the morning and put everything back.

And then it would fall over again.

I didn't know jean rolling had an actual name. I was sort of a nerd who tried to be cool so I just copied the other people. I would roll my pants on the bus going to school and then undo them on the way home. I would have caught flack from my older siblings who were cooler than I because I always seemed to try too hard. Aw, memories.

To quote TAR3's Drew post-bungee, "I'm feeling much better now."
Yesterday at this time, I wanted to watch one of our marketing people walk down the hall as his head exploded into a gory mess. He's so clueless, he wouldn't notice -- he'd just keep walking.
Last night, I wanted to watch him walk down the hall with the dark red imprints of my fingers on his neck as evidence of a failed strangulation attempt.
Today, I moved from wanting to kick him in the balls (morning) to wanting to kick him in the ass (afternoon).
I may even be capable of civility when I return to the office on Monday.

I like him 95% of the time -- I like him a lot, quite frankly, and respect him as a professional 95% of the time (total correlation). It's that 5% where he needs distance, a referee, or body armor as protection from me. I go from mild affection to raging fury with this guy, no intermediate stops.

And I'm not the only one. I bet when his relationships end, his girlfriends (or boyfriends, maybe) go monstrous on him, and he wonders why he never saw that side of them before. It's because you didn't provoke it before, Tool Man.

At least my boss agrees with me this time.

My BFF in third grade and I did this all the time in her attic bedroom. Except her dad was a methodist minister and didn't approve of Madonna, so I'd have to smuggle my tape over to her house. We would play it so quiet that we could barely hear it. I remember one time singing Papa Don't Preach at the top of my lungs and her father sent me home for being a bad influence on his perfect daughter. If only he knew. Heh.

You guys are making me feel OLD. Let's see, the mid-80s were when I was a young single woman in the big city. I believe I did have quite a few large shoulder'ed garments and long, straight black skirts, and I wore them with laced up ankle boots. But I listened to none of the popular 80s music. I was a recovering Deadhead at the time, and we went to a lot of blues and reggae clubs. Does that make me weird? (Don't answer that, please.)
What else was big--Trivial Pursuit, we played a lot of that.
Coke was quite popular, too, but not the kind that WedsAddams is making a costume with.
I did once see The Fixx at a little club downtown, and a local band called Mission of Burma at a hole in the wall called The Rathskeller, aka The Rat. DOes that make things better? May I still post?
And if you don't have little kids, you may not know that STrawberry Shortcake is Back. Also Care Bears--are they of teh same genre?
Oh, about the border collies. I believe my town is actually going to use them on the town beach this summer (same pond I live on.) I, however, can't afford their services.

\

Ooh! I did this too! But I never did the super tapered jeans. We would go on expeditions to find cool boxer shorts. One summer we would wear them over our tights when we were skating (I used to figure skate all summer).

I love, love, love everything about the 80's - the music, the movies. I'm still pissed at VH-1 for naming "We Built This City" as the #1 Awesomely Bad Song ever. I loved that song when I was 8, and I love it now!

You loved "We Built This City" when you were 8?!? Ouch!

Hildy, this is making me feel old, too. Remember when people only got nostalgic for the 50s and 60s? I feel like the 80s were just yesterday. And I don't think I'm that old. I'm only 44. Well, um, okay, maybe I am that old.