Documentaries

I am on a documentary kick. I have watched four documentaries this week. Here are my findings about them so far, in the order in which I watched them:

1. Super-Size me: I already posted about that one, so obviously I was affected. I liked it but thought it was gross when he threw up and when they show the guy getting gastric bypass. As much as I like fake medical dramas (think: ER and Grey's Anatomy) I really hate seeing real medical procedures. The DVD extras were good.

2. My Kid Could Paint That- About a 4 year old abstract artist. While the guy was making the movie, there was an expose that suggested she wasn't the one painting all her paintings. That was pretty much the interesting part, although the whole question of what makes good art in the first place is also a theme. Cause she's 4. And her paintings are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Come on.

3. Murderball- AWESOME. This one is about Wheelchair Rugby, or Quad Rugby: Dudes who are either parapalegics, or have some kind of impairment in at least 3 of their limbs, who get strapped into these crazy souped-up Mad Max wheelchairs and play Quad Rugby. It mostly follows the USA Paralymics team, and apparently we are good at this, we win lots of golds and championships. I didn't even know this was a thing, and it was good to learn about a new sport.

4. Spellbound- This is the one about the kids in the national spelling bee. And it was kinda eh. For all of what I heard about this movie, I thought it wasn't that awesome. I mean, I watched it and everything, but I didn't think it was spectacular. I dunno... too much about the individual kids? Not enough about the competition? Not enough about the could-be crazy parents? But I was impressed with myself that I could spell some of the harder words. I know I'm an adult who has been to college, but I think without any studying I could get through the first few rounds of the national spelling bee.

Live N Learn

I bought this new computer, which I've been really stoked about, as you well know. Finally wiped the hard drive of my old computer, and got this one all set up how I like it, and settled in to all it's high-tech splendor.

And then Apple announces the upgrade of their MacBook Pros. And their return policy is 14 days... which I surpass by 7 days.


!!!


Needless to say, I was kind of pissed, both at myself for not checking the rumor websites before I bought this computer, and at apple for not being a little more forthcoming with when new releases of are coming out. I understand this as a business model, but it still makes me angry that no one TOLD me that the new computers would be coming out real soon.

I called up customer service, and was re-directed several times. I finally was on the phone for probably half an hour with this really nice French dude, who talked to the management and got them to say I could return this computer, with the 10% restocking fee, and then I can get one of the new ones (which is again slightly more expensive than what I paid for this one). So it is possible to do, but annoying. And makes the computer way more expensive than I wanted it to be initially. Luckily for me, I'll be getting a little tax refund that should make up the difference.

But MAN, that shit is annoying.

As Grandmother said, "It's a wash."

Never Eating McDonald's Again... Ever.

Yesterday I watched Super-Size me for the first time. I don't eat a ton of fast food, but I'm not exactly the healthiest eater in the world, especially right now, but I try to eat balanced and control my portions. If I do go to McDonald's I mostly just get french fries as a snack. But after seeing this DVD extra, I don't think I'm ever going to eat McDonald's fries again. Observe:




EWWWW!!!

Things I am Into Right Now

This is a list of things I am into right now:

1. This new computer, and all the neat stuff I can do with it LIKE: watching videos on the internet, playing a bit with that awesome open source graphic design software I learned about last year like Inkscape and the Gimp, webcam chatting with folks, and downloading things without the other applications falling to the spinning wheel of death.

2. Riding my bike in the park again, instead of just transport, cause the weather is so much nicer.

3. FICTION. I kinda forgot about fiction for a hot second, cause I was reading lots of non-fiction, which I needed, but I am really digging getting into some stories.

4. Home-made lipblam recipes.

5. Being outside for things like drinking and eating and hanging out, since the weather is so nice right now.

6. Summer plans. I am full of ideas for the summer and fall. I am ready to shake things up. Like with job number 3, which is a one-day a week after-school gig but could also turn into summer work and perhaps continue into the fall...? Cross those fingers! But yeah, that, or Costa Rica, or you know... just move somewhere. Like Granny says, "It doesn't cost anything to dream."

7. Free music on Pandora and Lala. Loving it.

MacBookPro Online!

I got a new computer. It is really exciting... I haven't had a new computer since I was a freshman in college. I've had it for a week, and I finally successfully migrated all my stuff from my old computer... First I tried to do it manually but things were messing up, so I decided to start over from the beginning. This involved completely erasing the new computer's hard drive and reinstalling everything, so I would have seamless user and home folder integration. It was actually almost worth it so I could see the apple 'welcome' video again... it's such a show off.

But now it's sweet! And I can start doing the wipe on the ol' 7 year old powerbook I've been using... it's a good little machine, but its time to move on to crazier shinier things.

I also feel really good I did all that stuff myself. Even though macs are so easy and user friendly, still. I did that all by myself.