Jenn Martinelli Blogging in Boston

These are 100% illegal. Go back to the 80's where you came from, and where you should have died a painful death.

Also illegal, any garment with the word "batwing" in its name.

Just say no!

Oops, I guess we're not done making jokes about going postal.

I really think it's killing my brain cells at an alarming rate. Is it not obvious to everyone that it's super-scripted? Does nobody care? Why is it the only show on Tuesday nights?

SIGH.

OK so tonight Rob and I went out to dinner and a movie and then drinks with his friend Jim from school and Jim's wife Maureen. We had fun so we came home and were in a good mood. Then some jerk had to ruin it a little when I was taking Billy out because everyone's an ass.

I had him on a one-way street in our neighborhood and he was sniffing around a tree on the sidewalk and stepping in the road a little. I pulled him up on the sidewalk because there was a car coming (even though he wasn't actually in the way, it makes me nervous so I get him out of the road).

So the asshole in the car slows down and rolls down his window and says, self-righteously, "Look both ways, please" as if I had crossed the street in front of him without looking or otherwise impeded him which I hadn't. ARGH. People just make me so angry! He was probably drunk and not even watching the road so assumed I had crossed the street when he saw Billy stepping up on the curb. I don't know but it made me really mad. I just wish that strangers wouldn't talk to me.

Funny but I've always kind of thought of self-taught as the only kind of pure artist anyway. If someone teaches you how to draw that doesn't really count to me. I guess that's being overly simplistic but I don't know how people define self-taught as opposed to not self-taught.

I guess what I'm saying is I think you have to have an inherent talent and desire to create art to really be an artist in my mind. Otherwise you're just someone who learned the trick of how to draw in perspective, etc.

Hey, here's an interesting story about Hershey chocolate, and Milton Hershey, who of course founded the company, and the town of Hershey, PA and did lots of other cool stuff.

I grew up right near Hershey, in Lebanon, PA. Hersheypark was our local amusement park and we'd regularly go on the tour of the chocolate factory. It was pretty cool.

I've made enough scarves and hats that I could have made about 40 sweaters by now. I have to fight my own impatience and the fact that I get tired of a yarn and a project before I'm finished.

I want to make something sort of like this. Not yellow and not with a collar like that, but maybe a similar texture and just one big button or something easy to fasten it so I don't have to do a zipper or buttons with my first sweater.

I like cardigans so much more than pullovers because throughout my day, whether I'm at work or at home, I end up taking my sweater off and putting it back on so many times, it annoys me to have to pull it over my head.

I'm a temperature spaz, which is what causes the whole problem in the first place. But that's a whole other issue.

How about you stop killing whales, assholes?

Thanks.

Please see my post here for what I think about people killing animals for no reason.

Now will it?

Archived 2006/0125

Fortunately for us all, this guy has set me straight.

By the way, Jeff, you're right, all men aren't noble and righteous (and by the way, please point out to me where I implied that they were - I don't remember it), but pretty much all conspiracy kooks are crazy.

Take that, Steve Jobs.

I'm turning the big 3-0 this year, as you can see by my "days until I turn 30" counter on the left.

Since I don't want anyone to be at a loss for what to get me, here are some wish lists you can always check out:

Tiffany & Co.

Amazon

Herrschner's

Target

Actually, that Tiffany & Co. link is just a link directly to one item, even though according to their own page, it's supposed to be a link to a wishlist. Well that pisses me off. I think you have the money to hire someone who knows how to make a functional wishlist, Tiffany & Co.

Oh my God, my head is totally going to explode. I had accepted the no trash before midnight the day of pickup rule and have been following it. But I'd just like to point out, in light of this whole mess that The Beacon Hill Civic Association's own website doesn't even agree with the stupid notes they go around posting on people's doors when someone puts trash out before midnight.

Look, they even mention specific streets where a different rule applies, though I don't know how much of a rule it is. It sounds like a rule of the Civic Association, not the city of Boston. But my street isn't on this list, and this is only a few streets on the hill.

Oh baby, you people are so so wrong. Or else, if you think the rules are otherwise, then maybe you should keep your website a little more up to date. It's not hard.

In case you couldn't figure it out. I like it!

This movie has a lot of people up in arms because it comes out in theaters and at almost the same time, is released on DVD and cable. It's filmed with an HD digital camera rather than film. I feel like I need to see it just because of what they're trying to do by doing all this stuff differently. Kendall has it. I might have to go check it out... I wonder if Rob Reed is up for it.

That's what I say to everyone I've heard so far speaking about how to deal with healthcare in Massachusetts. Supposedly, the legislature is working on a way to get everyone in the state insured. Too bad so far the main plan I've heard is that they're just going to make it a law that you have to have insurance. Oh, yes, because the reason people are uninsured is because they just don't feel like being insured. Not because they're broke, their jobs don't offer it, they're homeless, etc. No, it's just for shits and giggles.

Then, I just heard some idiot on the radio now who's going to be in an NPR story at noon, saying that the real solution to solving the problem of the cost of insurance and healthcare is to just have everyone pay for their own rather than employers, etc. Because then people would "spend less frivolously" on their healthcare and drive down costs. (Incidentally, he's talking about national healthcare, but that doesn't matter for my point here.)

Newsflash, Asshole! Healthcare is not a bargain service, nor should it be. I don't want my medicine or my new organ to come from Filene's Basement! Get serious! You are not addressing the real problem. The real problem is people who cannot afford health insurance. That's it, it's simple. Making them pay for it isn't going to fix the problem because they can't pay for it. See how that works?

My friend AJPP and I kind of got out of control with the F-word in college and even after. Both of us were known to scream things like, "Fuck you, you fucking fuck!" when, for instance, driving in Cambridge. This calls for just that sentiment.

Um, remember when you said you were retiring? That you weren't going to write any more books? I guess you were just joking. But I'm pretty sure you've exhausted the possibilities of creepy story lines. In fact, I'm quite certain you've repeated yourself about 200 times by now, so can you please stop?

AJPP, you have been converted. I will add you to my permanent links in my sidebar soon, I forgot to last night.

This is interesting. Apparently this is a new field of research. They are looking at for example hyenas, where individual hyenas differ in their assertiveness, how excitable they are, how sociable they are and how curious. That's just one example this guest mentioned, but people are looking at all different animals including, of course, pets.

I know a certain dog with an overabundance of personality, if someone would like to study him.

They have commercials on TV telling people they should switch to their cable broadband service, and they list specific things they want you to know you can do - one of which is "download music to your new mp3 player from Comcast Rhapsody" and they show an iPod.

Rhapsody isn't compatible with the iPod! Comcast, do your fact checking. You suck!

Still under construction, but mostly done. The picture will change because that one is actually supposed to be at the top of Rob's blog. Also the green will probably go away in favor of the lighter purple currently on the page.

It's essentially the same as both Rob's and Heather's new sites, but can be customized by how I handle the graphic at the top and we can easily change colors, etc. if we want to.

Good job working up this new template, Rob Reed!

Apparently the woman in France to get the first ever face transplant is so stupid that she's taking up smoking again. Good idea, genius.

I hope your new face falls off. I'm sure you'll keep smoking through your skeleton face.

What is this all about? I don't get it. Nobody seems to.

Listen people, don't try to make causes and statements where there are none to be made. And if that's not what you're trying to do, then don't let the media make it into that. It's just stupid.

According to my "days until I turn 30" calculator on the right side, I'd have to be over 31. That's not right. ;) Something about it broke when the year turned to 2006. Until then it was right. Rob tried to fix it but it's still broken. I guess I'll have to help him do the math. ;)

Hooray, no more sending unbaptized babies to an endless wandering in limbo!

As was pointed out on the Daily Show, people believe this is in an effort to make the faith more appealing to people in places like Africa, where infant mortality rates are very high.

Good marketing, Catholic church. It must be nice to just have a meeting and change something about the faith that people have believed for centuries.

Do you get it now? It's nonsense. Why is anyone Catholic? Come on, next you'll be convening to decide that Protestants don't go to hell or something, to make the Catholic faith more appealing to Protestants. Ha ha.

The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.

Horace Walpole

What about those of us that do both? I guess the answer is it just makes us angry.

I am at a Barnes & Noble cafe with Rob. There is a woman behind me who just started a conversation about some child of a friend or something by saying that his "pronounciation" is very bad. She pro-nounced this wrong. Instead of pronunciation she said proNOUNciation. And of course she said it all in a horrendous Boston accent.

Lady, whatever this kid's speech impediment is, I guarantee you I'd rather listen to his lisp or whatever for an entire day than 30 more seconds of your dumb conversation. Zip it.

That's my Jozzie!

Not really my kid... he was on my staff in Tazewell at ASP and I was the Center Director, aka staff mom, so he's one of my "kids".

I wish I lived closer to Jozwik as he is the funniest person ever and I'd love to see one of his shows.

"Why is everyone being so mean to my husband? Oh, I am so sad. It is so terrible that they have a problem with his extremely conservative assocations. Don't they know that what this country needs is women to stop going to college and head back into the kitchen to cook for the menfolk? Oh it just makes me cry and cry."

Whatever.

Check out this crazy photo of this guy's dog he posted on Flickr. First of all I think it's basically impossible to capture that action and make it look good so that's a crazy good picture and secondly, dogs are just so crazy!

Here's a dumb game to play. Celebrities are such freakshows.

Just in case you're bored at work or something. I don't know anyone like that of course. ;)

I just came across this blog today because the guy posted a couple of comments in response to my angry "Boston should stop electrocuting dogs" post. Seems like a fun site.

As proof, he has a link to this other fun site and specifically, this is very funny. I'm inspired to create something similar. Not on the same topic, but something similarly ridiculous.

Maybe Billy the dog can have some kind of presentation like that when we put up his site. Yes, we're going to make a blog for our dog. That's normal, right?

Let's see

That post might sound like it but I don't mean he's always telling everybody they look like clowns, I just mean he won't lie to make you feel better. It's not helpful.

He's been so busy taking care of mine and Heather's, that he has neglected his own. In the meantime, the world has missed out on all his wisdom, which really is a shame.

There's nobody like Rob Reed. He'll pretty much always tell you exactly what he thinks, no matter who you are. At least you know he won't tell you that your outfit looks nice and let you walk out of the house looking like a clown. Right, Rob Reed? Of course, if you're me, you might choose to go out even after he tells you your outfit is dumb, but at least you'll know he gave you his real opinion.

Of course, sometimes it's wrong, but usually only about things like women's shoes and how many cookies I should be able to eat in one sitting. And about taking cough syrup. ;)

I knew I didn't need to take cough syrup! Of course, I didn't take it because I'm a whimp and don't like it because it tastes yucky. I can't really pretend I knew that it didn't do anything. But still, now I get to have a smart reason for not taking it.

Thanks, chest doctors.

Oops, maybe you should be a little more careful before you make announcements about who is alive and dead in a mining accident, folks.

12 of 13 dead.

In case you were wondering, this is apparently still a problem. The other day a woman's dog died in Charlestown. What was the problem? Loose frayed electrical wires under a metal plate on the public sidewalk.

I was ranting about this the other night and Rob said too bad nobody cares about people's dogs getting killed and that if it did happen to us there really wouldn't be much I could do since everyone it's happened to is already very outraged and apparently that has no effect on the problem. The only thing that may actually manage to change the situation would be if people literally started moving away from Boston in droves, to cities where dogs aren't regularly killed by stray electrical charges all over the streets.

I'm up for it. Seattle? Chicago? If you don't kill your city's dogs, sign me up.

The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos.

Stephen Jay Gould

Hope you had a nice Christmas/Hanukkah/any other holiday you may have just celebrated, and that you have a happy new year. Unless I hate you, in which case I hope you drank too much and passed out in a pool of your own puke, you bastard.