2 Bad Things and 4 Good Things.

Words I Hate, Part 2:

• downright. I think this word is downright overused. Often by me.
• family, as a code word for morally upright or Christian. They're ruining this word for me. I seriously was upset at the thought that S.C. Johnson Wax was "a family company," as stated in their commercial voice-over, until I learned that they are literally a company that has been owned by members of the Johnson family since its inception.

Four Songs I Would Like to Sing at Karaoke One Day:

• Say It Isn't So by Hall and Oates. For some reason, this is in my vocal range, and I know all the words. I'm not sure if it's something to be proud of, though.
• Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac. Again, in my vocal range. I kind of like this song. Plus I'd get to husky up my voice like Stevie Nicks, which sounds like fun.
• Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield. Another song roughly in my vocal range, though I'd have to practice to sound any good. Probably an overused karaoke classic, but who cares.
• Space Oddity by David Bowie. A good song for hamming it up in dramatic style. I swear this is in my vocal range, unless I'm taking it up an octave.

The only time I've ever really sung karaoke was on our trip to Japan a few years ago. It was awesome, because we got our own little room. Beth and I sang Girls Just Want to Have Fun, which went surprisingly well--who knew I could sound like Cyndi Lauper? I also attempted to sing Young Americans by David Bowie, but that was far less successful. I'm just not that cool, as it turns out. Plus, a lot of the words turned out to be a complete and total surprise. "Blushing at all those afro sheeners?" What the hell does that mean?

Stemming the Tide of Junk Mail

Sick of all those credit card and insurance offers? Me, too. In fact, I'm not sure what possessed me to read the back of "IMPORTANT FEDERAL EDUCATION LOAN INFORMATION," but I did. And somehow, I saw the small print that said something about a Prescreen Opt-Out.

So I looked it up online, and lo and behold, you, too can opt out of paper-wasting junk mail for five years or permanently. And you can always opt back in if you get that hankering to cut down some trees.

Tooting My Own Horn

It's my first official, paid print publication! Hooray! Go to this pdf and scroll down to page 22. Be warned - if I haven't already e-mailed you about this, there may be one coming. Even if it is just an alumnae publication, I'm still excited. Somehow there's a different cachet to a) being published in print, and b) getting remuneration for it. Sure, I wrote 2 columns every weekday for over a year and a half while working at IGN, making for a truly staggering number of paragraphs of drivel, but those were neither in print NOR paid.

Apparently I'm a bloggin' fool today, after not doing any blogging whilst down in SoCal visiting the 'rents. I'm in a good mood and kind of excited after reorganizing my weekly schedule (yes, that is a geeky thing to be excited about, but that's just me). I'm hoping it will make me a more organized, productive, and stress-minimizing person. It just had to be done, anyway. I try to do way too many things NOT to be organized, which is why my business license had to be relegated to Services Not Otherwise Specified.

The things you learn when you read the directions.

On the instruction sheet for my Application For Passport By Mail, form DS-82: "NOTE: Your previous passport will be returned to you with your new passport."

So, yeah. You can ignore all that bitching I just did about being sad that my souvenir visa stamps would be going away. Big ol' duh. Rilly, Sarah kan reed and rite reel gud.

Famous Cal Alumni I Wish I Knew

Ever wanted to know more about the brains behind National Novel Writing Month? All I have to say is, Go Bears!.