In case you haven’t made it to the movies lately

Here are this year’s crop of Oscar nominees…in Legos.

Poker Poker Poker

I’m in fabulous Atlantic City where the boyfriend is playing poker tournaments this weekend. It’s kind of great to be in the midst of this and watch so many talented pros and amateurs (and then there are the donkeys) sit around the tables and try to out-think, out-play, and out-luck one another. As interesting as I find this, I’m learning that the organizer’s table is the place to be. These people have the best conversations and seem to know an insane number of players.
The female poker player who appeared on the millionaire matchmaker show was here. A friend told me about her and I’d figured that she would be Annie Duke (because she’s the only female poker player I can name off the top of my head), but I guessed wrong.
This person is Beth Shak and she’s kind of hilarious. The guys at the table were giving her a hard time for being on tv and looking so different in person (reason: she wasn’t wearing makeup IRL). She also took a jet to Atlantic City on the program, which they found especially amusing, since she was coming from within New Jersey at the time.
She had a boyfriend at the time she was on the show, which is what I find most amusing about the whole thing. She looks to be in her thirties, but her grandfather boyfriend looks significantly older. I guess that a smart, interesting, philanthropic millionaire female poker player isn’t considered to be appealing to television viewers without some sort of romantic hook, which is just a shame.

Cringeworthy, but maybe not actionable

I guess I’m probably the last person in the world to have seen this video, which I’ve been hearing about for a few days. I didn’t know all the details until now, but now I face a different kind of puzzlement: why would anybody want to sue over this? The woman was completely unbothered by the details of her surroundings, until she ended up soaking wet. Why does she think that she has any case? What would be the grounds? Nobody pushed her in, nobody impeded her exit from the fountain. I think it’s time for America to admit that 1) not all embarrassing behavior should be rewarded with attention and 2) not every instance of public embarrassment should end in a lawsuit.

Tell no one

Can you keep a secret?

I haven’t abandoned the Internet, but I’ve actually been pretty busy for the last few days, making a new web site for my library. This is still in rough (rough rough) shape, so don’t show it to all and sundry.  The library’s current site is somewhat eye-bleedy, so my first order of business was to set up a WordPress site. Why WordPress?

1. I use WordPress on all my sites now.
2. It’s ridiculously easy.
3. All files are on the cloud, so I can update from anywhere (including my phone)! Great for snow days, etc.
4. I have no interest in spending a ton of time coding.

Although this initial transfer of data is pretty labor-intensive (especially because I’m trying to decide what’s going to make the move and what won’t), it’s actually somewhat entertaining. I may be overdoing the whole minimalism bit, but I think that this is a definite step up from this. I’m not going for the best web site ever, just something logical and organized and less busy than before. At the rate I’m going, I should be finished by the end of the week. Also, since this is the most time I’ve spend with WordPress in a while, I’ve learned a lot of valuable stuff that I will be able to use on both of my web sites. So: an update in look is in the near future.

(Cue the gleeful, evil cackling…)

If you don’t love this, you have no soul

Steroid Liza

Gentle Reader, have you ever wondered what would happen if a tiny guy with a Napoleon complex channeled Liza Minnelli? Me neither, but I found out today. Without further ado, I present Steroid Liza, aka David Barton.

Actual Liza Minnelli, for the purpose of comparison

Cripes

Dear Arizonans,

What does one buy when one’s state representative was, along with several other people, gunned down in a shocking mass shooting? Hint: the answer should not be “the type of gun used to commit the attack.”

I fully expected that there would be a run on Bibles or something, but not guns. Silly, naive Nicole.

Here comes the hat stalker

The title of this post should be sung to the tune of “Here Comes the Hot Stepper” by Ini Kamoze. It’s what plays in my head now when I’m out in public, since I am now always on the lookout for cute knit hats. It’s like a sickness. I haven’t yet reached the point where I’m zoning out on conversations, but I can tell that it’s only a matter of time. The more hats I knit, the more I want to make.

Sometimes looking isn’t enough, and i have to take pictures. If I can do it unobtrusively, so much the better, but I’m not above explaining that I am a knitter and asking a particularly squirmy person to sit still while I photograph his or her headwear.

I saw this hat on the bus the other day and liked it for a point in the future when I am looking to make a simple project. The woman whose hat it was looked flattered, amused, and slightly creeped out, all at once.

Someone else will put it back

Those are the words that you say to yourself when you’ve put down an unwanted item in a different part of the store than where you found it. Or maybe that’s just me. Anyway, somebody went and (as you do) made a web site about it. There are some pretty hilarious juxtapositions there, and the captions often make them even funnier. The picture below is from that site.

Admit it, every scenario you can come up with for these items being together is pretty damn creepy.

I just don’t know

Elton John and his husband have a new baby. Yay! Their new baby lives next door to them…yay?

On the one hand, I totally get it. Babies are so freaking cute, but they’re also loud and smelly. So I get not wanting to be in close quarters with them. But putting the kiddo and his nannies in the apartment next door? Seems a little cold-blooded to me. Still, I’d be lying if I said this option wouldn’t tempt me if I had a baby.