So, I don't tend to get controversial here. I'm a fairly neutral person, and I try to let people live the way they want to live without passing judgment.

But people on Twitter are really starting to aggravate me

I know social media is what you make of it. I always have the option to unfollow people on Twitter (and trust me, I have been recently). But some people are totally rad like 80% of the time. I don't want to unfollow them, but more and more I've been tempted.

Maybe I'm just over Twitter.

The Top Five Irritating Things You're Doing On Twitter (yes, you.)

5. Multiple blog post announcements- This one doesn’t really bother me that much, but I’ve seen other people complain. I I follow you on Twitter, I probably already have your blog in my feed reader, so one announcement on Twitter is more than enough. But when you have the feed being announced from four different sources, it’s pretty superfluous. Maybe you could scale back?

4. Hashtags- Okay, they’re not all bad. Some can be helpful; some are downright funny (like Michael Ian Black’s #fuckitlist.) But it’s completely unnecessary to put a hashtag after every tweet you have. And kinda douchey. Not everything you say needs to be indexed.

3. Blip.fm- This is the newest irritant. I don’t mind the sporadic “Rocking out to Taco- Putting on the Ritz” tweet, but you can listen to a lot of music during the day. We don’t need to know every song you listen to. In fact, that’s what Last.fm is for. People can go on their own accord to see what you’ve been listening to, without it being crammed down their throat.

2. Live tweeting television shows- Sure, it’s one thing if there’s something big going on, like a political debate. I’ll even allow for award shows, even though it’s still irritating. But we do not need to know your every thought, feeling, and reaction to what Simon said to that contestant every Tuesday and Wednesday, and then your reaction to the bachelor and to who Donald fires. Its fine to have the occasional “Wow, BSG was frakking amazing tonight” or “Man, Sheldon just doesn’t understand social customs. Poor Leonard, it must be rough being his roommate. ” comment, but seriously. Please stop. If people care that much about American Idol, they’ll watch it and have their own opinions.

1. Twitter parties- This is by far the most obnoxious, irritating thing I’ve seen yet. Good lord. Seriously, get a fucking chat room. It is really galling to completely flood and overwhelm Twitter for your own intents and purposes. Twitter is for everyone, not just for you.


What irritates you on Twitter?

I thought I was prepared. I knew Watchmen was going to be long. I knew it was going to be dark, and serious, and all that. I knew there was going to be lots of blue penis.

I should point out, I haven't read the graphic novel. Or any graphic novel. And I'm not usually a fan of the superhero movie, unless it's really good. Or Funny. (like The Dark Knight, or Iron Man)

It definitely had it's good parts, it was beautifully shot, well acted, dark and moody, and all that good stuff.

But this movie was ridiculously, unbearably long. I thought it was going to be okay, because I kept reading reviews on how awesome it was. And I think it could have been a really good movie if someone would LEARN HOW TO EDIT.

It was unnecessarily long. I guess the point was to keep it as true to the novel as possible, but the thing is? With a novel? You can put it down and walk away, and unfortunately you cannot do the same in the movie theater. I mean, yeah, you can walk out, but I would have been waiting alone while Mike finished watching it.

I want those three hours of my life back.

Take A Bow - Muse

Do you ever feel like the world is crashing down on your head? And you try to push through the rubble to find a bit of sunlight and air, but when you do push through you find there's just more rubble and darkness?

I try to be a positive person. I try to look at the bright side. I enjoy lightness and humor. I try to help when I can, and even when I can't.

But goddamn, what a sucktastic few days.

It started early Saturday upon hearing of Lisa's passing. One of the reasons I felt connected to Lisa was because of our shared mantra, it is what it is. I've always tried to live by that standard, as a way of not over reacting, of accepting life and all it's quirks and complexities. I keep it close to me and repeat it as necessary throughout the day.

Then a good friend was in a car accident and is still hospitalized with a punctured lung and lots of broken bones.

Then my boyfriend dropped a bombshell on me on Sunday that I cannot even begin to fathom and absorb, that I'm nowhere near being able to discuss, or even comprehend. I don't know what it's ramifications and implications will be, but my guess is that they will not be positive (and no, he didn't cheat on me)

Soon after that, we found out his grandma has intestinal cancer. It's still early, so we don't know details or the prognosis or anything.

Then I found out a good friend was dumped by her boyfriend when she told him she was pregnant. Upstanding fellow, yes?

So what do I do? I try to push on. I missed class Monday morning, because putting on clothes seemed like an awful lot of work. I spent all day cleaning and moving furniture, because that's better than thinking, and sulking, and processing.

But I don't work again until Thursday (Thank you, economy) so I have a lot of free time to sit around, and only so much furniture to be moved.

So what do I do tomorrow?

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel

This is going to be shorter than I want, but I have to leave for work in about seven minutes.

As you probably all well know, Lisa from Clusterfook passed away after her brave cancer battle last night. She leaves behind Dude and the girls.

I just wanted to share a super quick memory of Lisa. In the early stages of being diagnosed again, she was feeling awful from chemo but still positive in that Lisa-way. I had tweeted about my headache and she responded with something like "I'm sorry, headaches suck" or something like that.

I was blown away. After all she had been through, the sickness she was feeling, she was still sympathetic to my stupid headache.

That's one tiny example of the kindness Lisa showed every day.

Lisa, you will be missed.

First of all, sorry I forgot to update and tell you what my Valentine's present was. I had definitely built it up too much in my head because it wasn't the big huge deal I thought it was going to be, but it was still pretty sweet. I don't even totally know how to explain it, but it was a sort of box/pop up book with different pictures that were personal to us. I don't know how to describe it, so I'm going to leave it at that. It was sweet.

You knew I had to do this one, right?

Think of 20 albums, CDs, LPs (if you’re over 40), that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Dug into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, literally socked you in the gut, is what I mean. Then when you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill.

1. Jimmy Eat World- Jimmy Eat World

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood Sugar Sex Magik

3. Radiohead- Pablo Honey

4. Starsailor- Silence Is Easy

5. The Killers- Hot Fuss

6. Greenday- Dookie

7. Jason Mraz- Waiting For My Rocket To Come

8. Damien Rice- O

9. Death Cab For Cutie- Transatlanticsm

10. Ben Folds Five- Whatever and Ever Amen

11. The Decemberists- The Crane Wife

12. Editors- An End Has A Start

13. Foo Fighters- The Colour and the Shape

14. Dave Matthews Band- Under The Table and Dreaming

15. Jeff Buckley- Grace

16. Bush- Sixteen Stone

17. The National- Boxer

18. Postal Service- Give Up

19. The Shins- Chutes Too Narrow

20. Snow Patrol- Eyes Open

I hate surprises.

Or, specifically, I hate poorly executed surprises.

My boyfriend spent Sunday working on something that he couldn't talk about that I would find out about sometime in the future. Now, he also spent the day working on a paper. He could have just said that, and not mentioned the mystery project. But now the not knowing is DRIVING ME INSANE.

I finally got out of him that whatever it is, I'll find out about on Saturday. We're not usually big Valentine's Day people, so this is odd.

I think for a really good surprise, the recipient should have no idea something is coming, then it's all Boom! Roasted! It's a little mean to telling someone like me that they have a surprise coming. (It's really hard to be in control when you're being surprise, you know?

He says I'm building it up too much, I'll be disappointed.

I just wish he wouldn't have said anything.

Don't you love it when you have one of those perfect days? Those days that don't end up at all like you think they're going to, but surprise you with their awesomeness?

I had one of those days recently. It started with my mom taking me out to breakfast at one of my favorites, First Watch. Then we went to the hardware store to get the accoutrement for hanging our new curtains.

After we finished hanging them, my boyfriend came to pick me up and we drove about an hour north to Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton, Illinois. It was too cold to hike, but we drove through their scenic drive part, and it was still beautiful, even in winter. We saw several bald eagles while we were there, which is kind of cool, I suppose.

We wanted to eat dinner in Grafton, but it was still kind of early, so we stopped at the Grafton Winery to get a drink. After sampling several varieties, we settled on a bottle of their Harbor Red and settled into a table overlooking a marina and the Mississippi. No, it's not the most beautiful river in the world, but it was a pretty day. There was a dude playing music there, mostly awesome stuff like the Eagles and 90's rock. I realized if I was going to walk out of the winery I was going to need some food, since I skipped lunch, so we had a cheese and sausage platter and some yummy sandwiches.

On the drive home, I insisted we stop at the Alton Belle Casino, because it was the ugliest building I've ever seen on the outside, and I was dying to see what the inside looked like. It was not nearly as hideous inside, just normal generic casino.

Then we came home and snuggled in bed while watching The Sopranos. It's taken me five years, but I've finally convinced him to watch it with me, so that's a win.

So what do you consider a perfect day?