Things that May or May Not Be True

Check out my other blog that's open to the public: http://thingsthatmayormaynotbetrue.blogspot.com

Trying to update it as much as I can, provided I find sayings and other things that may or may not be true. It's much easier to be cynical about said things, however, so I am now making a concerted effort to think of things that are true. It's a little sad that I find it easier to turn things into falsities — everything's a matter of opinion anyway!

So, there ya have it. Follow it. KTHXBYE.

Improv! Improv! Im! Prov! Moving! Moving! Mov! Ing!

Two things:

Signed up for level 2 improv class at iO. You should too.

Moved into my new digs off Armitage on Burling. You should too.

Moving! Improv! Mov! Ing! Imrov! Moving! Im! Prov!

Do-Do, Do-Do, Dooo-Doooo!

CNN Justice

I read a lot of CNN Justice online. But today my google widget for Top CNN articles threw me this one on the recent pre-election Philippine Massacre.

There's a part in the story noting that at least 12 journalists died in the massacre, according to the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders (a spin-off of Doctors Without Borders). And it shocked me. Not to the point of actual surprise, but more so, that journalists here in the US who have so much freedom, and so many rights, widdle those away with back-talk, opinions and really crap commentary. Being a reporter is a job. Shouting your opinion the loudest is a past-time. I wish that less crap would get through the system before landing on the pages of a magazine or newspaper. So much is taken for granted in this country, and because of that we're going to fall behind. According to Newsweek's recent issue, we already are when it comes to innovation and invention — thanks to our crap school system. There was a lot of merit to the latest Newsweek, but for me, a lot of that credit fell by the wayside when they decided to use a picture of Sarah Palin in short-shorts shot for the June '09 issue of Runner's World on the Newsweek cover. The magazine would never do that to a male political figure, so why the double standard?

I'm not a fan of SP, so my annoyance and argument against using a photo like that should have even more weight. It's just another stick in the spokes, and serves to discredit a publication that for so many years has been on the cutting edge. To quote a friend regarding the publication, "Yeah, it's all commentary now — no news." Perhaps it isn't all solely commentary, but for every bit of true story, there's someone's take on it for another three paragraphs.

And, isn't that just unfortunate?

I love the 80s. Ryan. The Office. And Prima Donnas.

I've pretty much been watching this video since last Thursday night. And just today watched the "making-of" video. Also hilarious. I think I'm going to watch it again. Right. Now. Join me?

The Ultimate List

So when blogging, at the end of the post just before hitting "publish," there's a small section marked: Labels — in which, obviously, you can type in the sort of keywords that your blog fits into. Most people don't want to fit into some sort of label, or want to fit in a label, but don't actually fit or something, whatever. I, friends, LOVE the option of a "label." Why wouldn't you? You know exactly what you're getting. You can track how different labels have shown up in numerous posts. I love it, so much that periodically I'll click my "list" label and then re-read all the lists I've ever made. It's a perfect way to pigeon who various styles and themes of writing. The number in parenthesis is the amount of times it appears. So, without further ado:

The top contenders are: Life (72), Music (46), Lists (40), College (38), Journalism (34), Happiness (29), Travel (29), Quotes (28), Change (25), Friends (25)

All Labels:
* 30 Rock (4)
* A Ballad (1)
* A.M. (1)
* Across the Universe (2)
* Actress (3)
* Alicia Keys (2)
* Allergy (1)
* Ayn Rand (1)
* Banjo (2)
* Barack Obama (3)
* Beatles (3)
* Beirut (1)
* Bon Iver (1)
* Books (7)
* Busyness (12)
* Change (25)
* Chicago (6)
* Childhood (2)
* Christmas (1)
* Chuck Klosterman (2)
* Cobwebs (1)
* College (38)
* Daily Iowan (11)
* Dash 7 (1)
* Dave Matthews Band (1)
* David Sedaris (1)
* Dixie Chicks (1)
* Eleanor Lambert (1)
* Election (4)
* Employment (15)
* Facebook (6)
* Family (16)
* Fashion (1)
* Fears (1)
* Feist (2)
* France (15)
* Friends (25)
* Gotta Have You (1)
* Graduation (6)
* Growing Pains (3)
* Halloween (2)
* Happiness (29)
* Holidays (5)
* Home (9)
* Hugh Macleod (1)
* Humor (11)
* Improv (1)
* Ingrid Michaelson (1)
* Iowa City (8)
* Jesus (7)
* Job (25)
* Journalism (34)
* Juner (1)
* Kate Rusby (1)
* Katharine Graham (4)
* Kelly Kapor (1)
* Kings of Leon (1)
* Lasts (4)
* Life (72)
* Lists (40)
* Liz Laine Reps (4)
* Mandy Moore (1)
* Middleness (3)
* Midwest (2)
* Mindy Kaling (1)
* Mirah (1)
* Movies (9)
* Moving On (13)
* Mushaboom (1)
* Music (46)
* Natalie Dee (12)
* Neko Case (1)
* New Years (1)
* Nick Hornby (1)
* Nickel Creek (1)
* Nobel Peace Prize (1)
* Nobody Knows Me (3)
* Ode (11)
* Pearls on a String (1)
* Polydream (1)
* Quotes (28)
* Racism (1)
* Radiohead (1)
* Re: Stacks (1)
* Reading (5)
* Reality Bites (3)
* Recession (2)
* Recycling (1)
* Regina Spektor (3)
* Revitalizing (4)
* Rilo Kiley (1)
* Roommates (1)
* Ryan Adams (4)
* Sadness (14)
* San Francisco (18)
* Self-harm (1)
* Sesame Street (1)
* Shakira (1)
* Sheldon Vanauken (2)
* Shout Out Louds (1)
* Sick (3)
* Silver Lining (1)
* Smiley Face Cookies (1)
* Snow Patrol (1)
* Social Networking (2)
* Sophia Kinsella (2)
* Spam (1)
* Stagnant (1)
* Stereotypes (1)
* Steve Berry (1)
* Stress (4)
* Sufjan Stevens (1)
* Switchfoot (1)
* Television (6)
* The Jayhawks (2)
* The Office (1)
* The Weepies (5)
* The World Spins Madly On (8)
* Thomas Kohnstamm (1)
* Tina Fey (2)
* Travel (29)
* U2 (2)
* Unemployment (10)
* Vacation (11)
* Volunteer (6)
* Voxtrot (1)
* Weakerthans (1)
* Weather (8)
* Web site (2)
* Wilco (8)
* Writing (19)

Kaling, Kaling, Kaling.

"Neon is the new metallic? Indians are the new Jews? You can waste a lot of your day coming up with “blank is the new blank”s. But since I’m out on script this week and have no one to talk to all day, I can think about it all I want. So yeah, neon is the new metallic. I love the way neon looks. It’s part 80’s all-star and part traffic cone. Either way, it’s totally playful and great."

I love Kelly Kapor. By default I love Mindy Kaling. She is the actress who plays Kelly Kapor. She should just be Mindy Kapor...or something. Kelly Kaling. Good names.

Anyway, this actress slash writer/blogger is hilarious. I just started reading her blog "things that i bought that i love," and it's wonderful.

Come on, "It’s part 80’s all-star and part traffic cone." Too good.

Books, still in review

If you read my blog, you know I like — no scrap that — love to read. Since my last reading list post, I've finished:

1. Personal History, Katharine Graham
2. Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella
3. The Wild Things, Dave Eggers
4. Truth in Comedy, Charna Halpern, Del Close, Kim Johnson
5. I Feel Bad About My Neck (and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman), Nora Ephron

But

I'm still trying to finish:
1. Profiles in Courage, JFK
and
2. You Shall Know Our Velocity, Eggers

I don't know if I will finish either of those any time soon though. For some reason I can't seem to get into either, really. I'm 3/4 done with Profiles in Courage though, so I think I will just tough it out. I mean, it's a good book, it's just so full that I find myself rereading things often just to keep up. I think I'm going to get back to reading autobiographies though. I find them much more enjoyable than biographies, as those read seriously like text books, rather than life stories, which is what they are. I think people are more coherent when they're writing about themselves rather than someone else. It's funny though because JFK got a Pulitzer for Profiles in Courage, and so did Katharine Graham for her autobiography, Personal History.

* Add A Long Way Gone, Beah, and What is the What, Eggers to the soon-to-read list.