Job Experience

Four years of college. Three years of graduate school. Learning a foreign language. Internships. Writing a thesis. Studying abroad. What did all these things lead me to? Working as a telephone debt collector for two and a half days. (In the middle of day three, I was accused of sleeping and asked not to come back. This was the best part of the job.)

Even though I only worked for a total 20 hours, I learned so much that could be useful and applied to my life to make it more successful.

Spelling Spelling is important if you want people to be able to read the words that you write or type. I'm no great speller. You won't catch me winning any spelling bees or even being able to complete most crossword puzzles. But I am equipped enough to spell words like "confirmation" and "accept" and "coming."

Reading Reading goes hand in hand with spelling. If you want to talk to someone named Micaela, you don't repeatedly ask for Marcella.

Excedrin Migraine Tedium breeds contempt and headaches. If you ever take a job involving any level of tedium, I recommend a fairly large bottle of drugs. Prescription or otherwise.

Enthusiasm It's really hard to show enthusiasm being a debt collector. But if you don't, they will fire you. Which I didn't seem to mind, but others might need to stick around.

Ultimately, I learned that maybe I'm not cut out for gainful, full-time employment. I'll stick to writing about cheeseburgers.

Oxford Burger Blog

My friends and I have undertaken what quite possibly might be the most arduous yet enjoyable task we could conceive of. We are going to determine the best burger in Oxford, Mississippi, by eating all of the burgers in Oxford, Mississippi. I won't go into too much detail here, but you can find all the information about the project at www.oxfordburgerblog.blogspot.com, where we will be documenting our journey.

Television Fail - Cop Rock

For some reason still unknown to me, the TV show Cop Rock popped into my head today. Perhaps I was making a subconscious list of the worst TV shows ever created. I am surprised I even remember this show. It came out when I was five and only lasted eleven episodes.

For those of you who don't know about the joys of Cop Rock, it was a musical police drama. Yes, you're reading that correctly. Also, it was created by STEVEN BOCHCO. Thankfully, his future television forays were a little better than Cop Rock.

I think to fully appreciate the show, you have to see it. So here you go.

Upstairs Downstairs Abbey

Recently I've become obsessed with the British series Downton Abbey. (I know. Me like British TV? It's crazy.) And then there's this. It's splendid.

Upstairs Downstairs Abbey part 1



Upstairs Downstairs Abbey part 2

Stephen Colbert sings "Friday"

The Roots make everything better.

Colin Firth Movie Night

This man is hot sex.

Tonight was the second installment of Colin Firth Movie Night. (I missed the first. A Single Man. But of course I've seen it. It's a movie about a gay man. With Colin Firth!) We watched Bridget Jones' Diary. I used to feel embarrassed about telling people I liked this movie. But tonight I realized that if you watch it with girls, it's totally legit to love it to pieces. Watching it is like watching some sort of sophisticated British porn. And it's always fun to watch a movie with someone who has never seen it. How Beth had never seen it I will never understand.

This year is the year of the Firth, and the afirthionados are going to watch all the Firth that Netflix will allow. Next time: Love, Actually (another favorite Firth flick).

Next year shall be the year of Johnny Depp.

Lomo Little Rock

I have a lomography camera I rarely use. Because it's hard as hell and devilishly expensive. But every once in a while I break it out. These are some photos from a day trip to Little Rock last year.

Central High School

A tree

River Market

State Capitol

And a bonus photo of Panama City Beach, Florida

Mamma Mia!

French and Saunders do Mamma Mia! for Comic Relief

Baby Names I Hate

Recently, it seems like everyone I've ever met is having a child. Which is fine. What is not fine is the fact that they are making up names for these children. They think they are cute and creative and fancy, but in 22 years when this kid wants to get a job and can't because you named him Atrium, I'm guessing he's going to be a little pissed. And so, I've assembled what I call "New Wave Baby Names That I Hate."

Chesney (I hope her middle name isn't Kenny.)
Cason
Kaedon
Jayden (Like so many things, I wasn't following you on this, Britney.)
Chava
Westley
Tripp and/or Trigg (Callin' you out, Palins.)
Cabella (I bet she'll one day have a brother named Bass Pro.)
Kyler
Nevaeh (This is "heaven" spelled backwards. Yeah...)

This is only a preliminary list. Expect it to grow and grow.

Nerdy Lit Jokes (because I'm a lit nerd)