My friends Heather and Paul got to go to Dublin this past weekend to see U2. And I’m not talking the wanna-be Dublin where I work, near Columbus - the real deal. I’m so jealous! I’m not a huge U2 fan, but what an experience that must have been. And just to be in Ireland at all, well that would be enough for me. I’ll get there someday….
I finally got fed up enough with my comments today to fix them. Now the comment window pops open but the main page stays the same. I’m not sure what’s wrong with the TLC post though!
It’s happy anniversary time again! Three years for Johnny and me, and I wouldn’t trade a second of it. He sent me this beautiful (and very fragrant!) lavender plant at work today:
A few years ago, TLC aired a show that would change the way people looked at home improvement shows: Trading Spaces. (At least, it would change the way Americans looked at home improvement shows. Changing Rooms was already airing in the UK and Australia.) If you’re not familiar with the concept, two sets of neighbors would team up with a designer to makeover a room in each other’s house in two days. The kicker is that you don’t get to see what’s going on in your own house, you have to trust your neighbors and the designer. That took quite a lot sometimes, after seeing houses with hay stuck to the walls or furniture made out of corrugated cardboard. In fact, after a season or two, it seemed like most of the designers were having a contest to see who could come up with the most unusable room.
But just when the show started to lose its appeal, there came While You Were Out. The hook of this show was that someone was surprising someone else with a room makeover. For instance, wife is sent out of town and once she’s gone designer and carpenter come into help husband. WYWO was a little easier to get into, because the person living in the space got to have much more say in what was being done. There was still a two-day deadline though, which always meant a scramble to get things done during the last few hours. That got old real quick, because they always finish anyway.
So after that show had a few seasons under its belt, along came Clean Sweep. This is where TLC started to get serious. The Clean Sweep team went to someone’s house and helped them dig themselves out of their mess. And when I say mess, I mean it. We’re talking rooms where you can’t see the floor, that hadn’t been used for anything but junk storage in over a year. Or rooms with a path through the middle. I’m really surprised that these people allowed cameras to come in sometimes. But it has to be worth a little embarrassment: the team comes in, completely empties two horribly messy and cluttered rooms, then remakes them for you by painting, building desks and storage, and organizing your stuff. Meanwhile, you are combing through your junk deciding what to keep, sell and throw away. And the organizer who helps you is TOUGH. Most of the people on the show only end up keeping about 1/3 of what they had at the beginning. But he’s good, and I don’t know about the people on the show but he’s taught me some things about collecting and organizing. I do still enjoy watching Clean Sweep but it’s pretty much the same show each episode. Not to worry though, because TLC has finally found the perfect home improvement show: In A Fix.
In A Fix is the perfect blend of home improvement, how-to, and entertainment. The cast they assembled is great: everyone really knows what they’re doing, they’re natural on camera (they’re all former models, actors or stand-up comedians, actually), and they work really well together. The designers all have very usable, livable ideas and really try to give the homeowners something they’ll like and something that goes with the rest of their house. The host is definitely the least annoying of any of TLC’s hosts, and he knows enough to pitch in on the work. The hook of the show is probably the most real, too: a homeowner has started a big improvement project and then left it, and someone else in the house is fed up and calls In A Fix. The fed up person gets to go to a spa for 3 days while the other person stays to help the crew clean up the mess. Since there’s so much demolition, electrical work and construction, the cast has many opportunities to explain how and why they’re doing something, which was missing from all the other shows. Plus, since the show goes for 3 days instead of 2 there’s a lot less of the stupid “oh no we’re not going to make it in time everyone rush around ok we made it”. I think the biggest reason that I like In A Fix the best though is because I identify with it. I know that someday we will own a house and I will be in the position these people are in. I’m famous for starting projects and then stalling halfway through, so I’m going to need this show!
Unfortunately, it’s being cancelled. In fact, rumor is most of the home improvement shows on TLC are being cancelled so that the network can move to more “lifestyle” programming. Of course, they’re keeping Trading Spaces on, which is really stupid because it’s just horrible now. There’s no host, and as annoying as Paige Davis was, she still added a lot to the show. The room that gets made over is picked by the neighbors, not you. The new designers are bland and don’t seem like they even want to be in front of the camera. Frank is still on though, and he’s always been my favorite. And even though Ty left to do his own show on ABC, the new carpenters are pretty hot too. Still, not enough to make me watch on a regular basis. I guess I’ll just hoard episodes of In A Fix on my Tivo and face the fact that I’ll have to clean up my future DIY messes myself.
How nice of the studio to release Batman Begins for you this week. See you tonight!
Is is appropriate to compliment a stranger on their smell? We had a package delivered earlier, and the Fed Ex guy smelled REALLY good. From a cologne or deodorant, not just his natural smell. Anyway, I almost said something, but I didn’t want him to think I was hitting on him. But if he would have had on a cool tie or something, I would have said something without feeling awkward. What’s the socially acceptable thing?
Tis the season for new blogs, it appears. Woody already reported that Eric has one up and running now, widening the circle of our high school friends. Eric, if you’re reading this, I’d comment on your blog but I don’t have a blogger account and it’s telling me no anonymous comments. Then today I found out that Abby has one too. I met her through Columbus Scrappers. I’ve made quite a few good friends there, which I was surprised about for a while. I’m not your typical stay-at-home-mom scrapbooker, so I always kind of figured I’d be on the fringes of any scrapbooking club. Instead, I’m one of the oldest members there (in terms of how long I’ve been involved in the group, not age-wise) and I’m very active as a member and moderator. And although large groups of women tend to have a lot of problems socializing, we tend to all get along. Not to say we haven’t had our moments, but overall it’s a very friendly group.
Speaking of friends, I think it’s kind of strange that almost all of my long-time friends are from high school, and I keep in touch with very few people from college. I liked college for the most part, but I guess some of the bad experiences I had really made me close the door on the whole time. I think I’m very much a “live for the now” kind of person anyway, so I guess that makes sense, but there are at least a few people I wish I’d kept in touch with. I think I’ll write some emails this week.
I have come in contact with an old friend of a different kind recently: pizza flavored goldfish crackers. I saw that they were on sale at Target last week and had a craving for them so hard I could taste them in my mouth. They did not disappoint.
I forgot to mention that Bryan now has a blog. It’s over in the left column for your clicking pleasure.
I admit that I’m on the edge of a whole bunch of geekery. I’ve dabbled in everything from html to role-playing to online gaming. I have read a good amount of sci fi, and I watched ST:TNG. I really got into Lord of the Rings in the fall of 2003. But I never really got into Star Wars. A friend of mine in high school was appalled to hear that I’d never seen any of the movies, so my junior year he sat me down with his VHS copies of the original trilogy. As I remember, I enjoyed them - at least, I enjoyed the first two. I don’t think I ever did watch Jedi. Then when they were re-released I saw Empire again. Like I said, enjoyable, but they didn’t really strike a chord with me like they (obviously) did with some. So when Episode I came out, I didn’t see it. And since I’ve heard how much it blew, I still haven’t seen it. But between its release and the release of Episode II, I met Johnny. I went with him to see Episode II at midnight and although there were a lot of cringe-worthy moments, it was ok overall. Still no deep connection to the franchise though. And even after seeing Episode III (at midnight again, of course) and embracing the geekiness surrounding me, and even though I really enjoyed this final movie, I just can’t really sink my talons into the whole thing. Maybe if I’d seen Jedi when it came out, or if my brothers had been more into it when we were kids, I’d have more of a sense of connection to the Star Wars universe. I don’t, but this comic really made me laugh:
I’m sure I’ve talked about PvP before - it’s a great geeky webcomic about a group of people who produce a gaming magazine. And I feel much more connected to the Firefly world (thanks John and Tanya) (sorry Woody that I didn’t listen to you). Anyway, the point is, I think when I see Serenity, I’ll wear one of these:
Now I just need to get around to watching Buffy and Angel. Netflix is a wonderful thing!