Domestic Geek

Marcus' friend Brad is coming for a visit in a couple of weeks. Since I've been sick, I've really let the house go to pot. I figured I'd tackle two birds with one stone and make a list of things I need to do combined with my TT list. It's not very exciting, but here are:

Thirteen Things I'm Doing The Next Two Weekends

1. Get packed away the rest of the Christmas stuff.
2. Tile the backsplash in the guest bathroom.
3. Clean carpets.
4. Find homes for the last of the storage stuff.
5. Do my taxes.
6. File my papers.
7. Clean the oven.
8. Watch and return the movie Nina lent me.
9. Tidy my craft room.
10. Start my Hogwarts scarf.
11. Dust.
12. Replace the multitude of dead light bulbs.
13. Work on new blog design.

Update: I'm going to strike through when I get something accomplished. Let's see how I do!

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Thursday Thirteen hostess Leanne has decided to pull the plug on her weekly meme, so this is the retirement edition. All memes get to the point where they burn out their founders and I'm sad to see it end. I hope someone else will take this project on, but if not, I'm grateful for the interesting blogs I have found and the great visitors I have had.

The Last Thirteen Items Purchased from iTunes

1. Bang the Drum All Day by Todd Rundgren — I heard this on the radio a couple of days ago and when I got home and looked, I couldn't believe that I hadn't procured it yet.
2. SNL 12/16/06 w/ Justin Timberlake — I wrote the other day about how I had purchased this because it was the best SNL episode that had been made in a looooong time. As a side note, the guy that plays Dwight on The Office is the guest this week. I hope I can remember to watch that.
3. Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day — Marcus was playing an episode of Hit Me Baby One More Time that he had recorded and Greg Kihn did that song as his present day remake. I had totally forgotten that I liked that song and had wanted to get it, so I purchased it right then before I could forget again.
4. The Dirty Boogie by The Brian Setzer Orchestra — I heard this song on that Martini on the Rockies station. Brian Setzer has a really cool sound.
5. The Hampster Dance Song by Hampton the Hampster — You know the song. Who hadn't visited The Hampster Dance page way back with all those animated hamsters? Don't lie...I know you did. It was on my suggestions on the main page at the iTunes store. How did they know I love that? (OK, the fact I downloaded Axel F by Crazy Frog probably gave them a clue).
6. Celebrity Skin by Hole — I only can sing the one line along with this song..."When I wake up, in my make up." I really need to figure out what the heck else she is singing. It's catchy, though.
7. Cinderella by Firefall — I heard this on the radio the other day and had to get it. When this song came out, a girl across the street bought the 45. It was kind of a scandalous song back then. I was too young to understand exactly what it meant then. It reminds me of my childhood innocence.
8. Turn the World Around by Harry Belafonte — They did a really cool rendition of this on the Muppet show once. I was reminded that I liked the song when I came across a clip on YouTube while looking for the Manamana clip.
9. Happy Together by The Turtles — This song was playing at Wendy's one day while Marcus and I were having lunch. It makes me thing of him now. Awwwww.
10. White & Nerdy Video by "Weird Al: Yankovic — I had to free up the 3 hour block of VH1 I recorded on my pvr so I could watch this video, so I bought it. This is the greatest Weird Al video to date.
11. We Used to Be Friends by The Dandy Warhols — They use this as the Veronica Mars theme. I love this song!
12. Hips Don't Lie (featuring Wyclef Jean) by Shakira — This song just makes you want to dance.
13. I'm Not In Love by 10cc — I heard this on the radio a couple of weeks ago. I had forgotten how much I love how haunting this one is.

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I've been really sick for a couple of weeks, so I've missed the last couple of weeks of Thursday Thirteen. In fact, I've been under the weather for well over a month. I haven't even really kissed Marcus much because we've both been so miserable. So, I'm going to vent a little about why I hate being sick.

Thirteen Things I Hate About Being Sick

1. Lack of Sleep - You need rest to get better, but all of your symptoms keep you from sleeping.
2. Coughing - I hate those dry, hacking coughs that get so bad they make you pee a little.
3. Sore Throats - There is no relief for a sore throat, especially if your tonsils are also infected.
4. Dried Phlegm in Your Throat - Your nose is stuffy, so you sleep with your mouth open and all that stuff draining from your nose dries in the back of your throat. Ick.
5. Fevers - I know they're necessary to kill whatever is foreign in your system, but I hate when you get so hot that you're freezing.
6. Dizziness - I hate being disoriented.
7. Sore Joints - What is it about being really sick that makes your knees hurt? I never understood that.
8. Not Being Able to Eat - Once again, you need nourishment to get better, but everything has no taste or hurts going down.
9. Puking - I hate it when you can't even keep a sip of water down. Ugh.
10. Missing Work - I lost a whole day's pay because I had to sweat out the initial fever.
11. Reforumulated NyQuil - It's still the best stuff out there, but the lack of a decongestant because of meth makers really sucks.
12. Crusty eyes - I hate it when your eyelashes fuse your eyelids together in the morning and you need a warm washcloth to get your eyes open.
13. Chest congestion - Especially when it gets so bad that you aren't getting enough oxygen. You can't sleep because the pressure in your lungs starts you coughing. Good times.

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I'm sick and I am too out of it to come up with something mindboggling this week. So, I present to you (in no particular order):

Thirteen of My Favorite Movies

1. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
   My favorite of all the Star Trek Films. The crew comes back to 1980s earth to bring a couple of humpback whales to the future.
2. Xanadu
   My guilty pleasure. Olivia Newton John, Gene Kelly, muses, Greek mythology, big bands, rollerskating, soundtrack by ELO. Good times.
3. My Cousin Vinny
   This was one of the first movies Marcus and I saw together. It's his favorite movie and has some awesome dialogue. Vinny Gambini: "Perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove. Were these magic grits? Did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans?"
4. Amadeus
   The story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart told by Antonio Salieri from an insane asylum to a priest. While I'm sure many liberties were taken with the story line, it was a great movie. Plus, Tom Hulce made a great "Wolfy." Great soundtrack album, as well.
5. Toy Story
   I love everything that Pixar has put out, but this one is still my favorite by far. I love Randy Newman's music, too.
6. The Matrix
   This movie really got me to thinking. What if we really are stuck in a Matrix and our lives are only in our minds? Hm. I was totally intrigued by the symbolism and stuff the film makers put into it. The 2nd one was pretty decent. Too bad the third one sucked monkey balls.
7. Pretty in Pink
   I love the movies that came out in the 80s. This one is by far my favorite, probably because I had a thing for Andrew McCarthy.
8. The Princess Bride
   Classic fairy tale type of story, but funnier. I loved Cary Elwes in this. Inigo Montoya: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die."
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
   Yes, one of the reasons I love this is my thing for Johnny Depp. Plus, Orlando Bloom helps, too. It's a good story, though. The special effects are pretty darned cool.
10. American Pie
    I couldn't decide whether to put this or Porky's on the list. They're both hysterical. I think I chose thing because I love the band camp chick.
11. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
    Not the one that Johnny Depp made recently, but the original 1971 version. I love Gene Wilder. The boat scene scared me when I first saw it. The soundtrack was awesome, too.
12. The Wedding Singer
    I like just about everything Adam Sandler does, but pair him with Drew Barrymore and you get an awesome movie (I really love 50 First Dates, too).
13. Grumpy Old Men
    Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau made a great team. It cracked me up watching two old guys fighting over a girl.

Yesterday Steve Jobs announced during his keynote address at Macworld that the rumors were true. Apple, Inc. (no longer Apple Computer, Inc.) has indeed developed the iPhone. I usually wait for stuff like this to become a couple of years old before I get one, but I'm seriously contemplating getting one when they are released in June.

Thirteen Reasons I Want An iPhone

1. It's made by Apple. I love Apple's products. They're easy to use, functional and visually pleasing.
2. The screen can be either landscape or portrait. The screen orientation changes depending on how you hold it. I think that is genius.
3. It has a 4GB hard drive. That's the same drive size and the iPod nanos. That's quite a bit of data you can have with you.
4. It's a mini computer. It runs apps, has OSX, etc. — all in one tiny little package.
5. It's relatively affordable. It's proposed $500 price tag is in line with other models of "smart phones."
6. It has a camera. I really would love to have a camera phone. It featues a 2 megapixel camera and a photo managing application.
7. It is an iPod. While I just got an iPod for Christmas, I don't always want to have to carry two devices around.
8. Google Maps. I love using Google Maps. There are many times I wish I had access to it while out running errands. You can also call from your phone right from a map lookup.
9. WiFi. Not only can you connect to the Internet via your phone plan, you can connect via wireless networks.
10. Touch Screen. You control everything by touching the screen. A keyboard even comes up when you need it. Clever.
11. Visual Voicemail. You don't have to listen to all your VM at once. You can pick and choose on the screen.
12. Widgets. I have some great widgets installed on my desktop. It would be great to be able to check for the cheapest gas while you're out and about.
13. It's a PDA. Calendars, email, etc.

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