another fat lady caught on camera

i'm a huge fan of people not giving a shit what they look like when they go out in public, but this woman needs to check herself:

i saw this gal at the at&t store near cumberland mall. this time i wasn't afraid to put myself in the middle of the action to get these shots, unlike the incident at chickfila, which i am still regretting (see post from 6.30.2008). honestly, i could have done a little better by getting a shot of the sandals from the front, but i knew the only way i could score one would be saying something like this: "hey sasquatch, you look ridiculous. i need your picture for my blog." and even i'm not that mean. i know that the socks-with-sandals look isn't that astonishing, but do not underestimate the power of the sock/tevas *and* really effin' bad pants. quite a formidable combination.

i bet i could pull off this look, but only because i'm very good looking.

quite a productive weekend

so andy says to me, "last night i was watching the video game awards..."

good grief.

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on a related note, i played some old nintendo games this weekend. andy & i spent the weekend with our friends naomi & brandon at their new house in newnan. brandon has some old game system emulators on his xbox and i spent about 2 hours reliving my childhood. here are my reviews.

• paper boy:
  
  i figured i would rule at this game since it's been at least 12 years since i last played, but i totally sucked. the concept is ridiculously simple, but it has got to be the hardest game ever. i throw a paper a little too late, which breaks my subscriber's window and for some reason that doesn't count as a delivery? they got their paper, didn't they?! infuriating.
  
  
• bubble bobble:
  
  i never played this much as a kid, but i remember spending hours watching my brother & his friend chris play it. if you're not familiar with this game, don't waste your time because it is nowhere near as awesome as i remember it being. it has the same music in each level. don't blame me if you can't get the tune out of your head after watching the video...
  
  
• adventure island 2:
  
  for some reason the original adventure island was not available through the emulator so i had to settle for #2. like bubble bobble, this game is nowhere near as awesome as i remember. andy made fun of it and called it a mario rip-off. i was like, "no way this is totally different," but as i played it...yep...just like mario. the main character rides a dinosaur that looks a lot like a pokemon, although i cannot recall which one.
  
  
• excitebike:
  
  this game did not disappoint me; it was just as cool as i remembered it. check it out here.
  
  
• 1943:
  
  this was probably my favorite game when i was younger. i remember renting it numerous times, and then i got it for my birthday when i was like, 8 years old or something. the music is pretty good.
  

while i'm reminiscing on the days of nintendo goodness, check out this video. sometimes i sing this commercial to andy and he thinks i'm making it up. never!

santa was early this year

i've been telling andy that he should buy a new vacuum for, oh, about three years. only recently has he begun to agree with me. he's using a hand-me-down from his parents, which is totally fine because it was free and it works. it's always emitted a stale odor with a hint of dog, but if you lit a scented candle after vacuuming you wouldn't notice it. lately though it's started to smell less like dog and more like electrical fire. we'd checked out a few vacuums but andy could never justify spending $100 when the one he had still worked. plus, he's infatuated with the dyson models and didn't want to be stuck with an inferior vaccum just incase it started raining dysons or something. anyway, we kept expecting this old vacuum to go at any moment. and by "go" i mean explode into a flaming ball of destruction.

the day after thanksgiving i went shopping, mostly out of boredom but also figured i might could score some good stuff for cheap. i saw a decent bissell bagless upright at big lots for $70 and figured i'd give it to him for Christmas, but i didn't buy it...couldn't tell ya why, i guess i just had a feeling i shouldn't buy it. a few days later andy told me he'd told his parents that he wanted one for Christmas. so i was glad i didn't get him one.

and then earlier last week i was driving home - it was about 10:30pm so some people in my townhouse complex had already put their larger items on the curb for thursday trash pickup - and of course i drove by real slow just in case there was anything "good" up for grabs. in the past i've gotten some awesome free stuff out of the trash piles: a big fake tree (sold it at a yard sale for $35), two nice patio chairs (currently on andy's patio), and a small utility shelf (it's now in the laundry room). this might embarass most of you, but i have no shame. then i saw it. standing tall and proud behind a busted chair and some cardboard boxes was a vacuum, glistening in the moonlight. it looked too good to be true, and i figured it was broken if it was in the trash pile. so i kept driving. but then i thought, hey, if this thing works then 1)andy would have a better vacuum for free and 2)i'd have a good story to tell. so i turned around and put the vacuum in my trunk. i tested it the next morning and it worked perfectly as far as i could tell. this weekend we bought a new filter, gave it a thorough cleaning, and vacuumed every inch of andy's condo. we're still wondering what's wrong with it.

fire drill

there was a fire drill at my office building a few weeks ago. hooray for safety. some lady came up to me while we were all standing around on the lawn and said , directly to me like we were pals, "ugh, these are so inconvenient." before i get into this story, let me paint a picture here: this lady - let's call her "sharon" - mid-forties, average build, neat appearance, uptight & snooty-looking. snooty because her husband makes major bank but she still has to work as a secretary so they can afford a second home. she was wearing a really weird red & gold/black plaid skirt - pleated - and a red ribbed turtleneck sweater. yes, i remember that outfit because it was that bad. i know it doesn't sound bad, but it was. don't let my lack of photos inhibit your imagination. so sharon just walked right up to me and made that statement, pretty much assuming that i felt the same way, and for the record i did NOT feel the same way. maybe she was hoping we could bond over the experience of walking down a crap-ton of stairs. i don't know what floor she works on, but i'm on floor 20 so i walked down about...yep, a crap-ton of stairs. unlike my plaid friend, i welcomed the opportunity to get some exercise & enjoy the afternoon sun. i don't even think i have to mention the nice 30+ minute break from doing work, PLUS, the free publicity when everyone who works in the building is checking everyone else out as they make his/her way to safety (oh wait, am i the only one who does that?) i was pretty annoyed that anyone would make such a statement, and i said "uh, you know what would be inconvenient? AN ACTUAL FIRE." just like that, all mean and stuff.