My sincerest apologies to anyone named Adriana.

I have been hacked.

I do not know quite how it happened. As far as I can tell I do not have any keyloggers on my computer, nor have I been the victim of a phishing scam.

However, I was recently greeted by this message upon logging into my email account:

WARNING: We believe your account was recently accessed from: WI.

I was pleased to see that they didn't spam my whole address book, but they did decide to pick on people named Adriana. Apparently the hackers think that Adrianas are fat because they sent out several messages hailing the wonders of Acai Berries. So not only have they spammed these poor people, but also insulted them. This makes me a sad panda.

For the record, if your name is Adriana I personally will not assume you are fat. I mean, just take a look at these women. I doubt they need the help of Acai Berries.

Darn you Skittles, and your stupid contest too!

Skittles recently announced a contest on their Facebook fan page. Contestants were urged to submit what they would be willing to do in order to win a Skittles vending machine filled with new Skittles Blenders. You could enter once a day.

I love me some Skittles, so I obviously entered multiple times.

And then the day to vote came.... see, you couldn't vote while entries where open, only once they had been closed. I looked and looked through the entries for mine but none were to be found. In fact, it didn't look like there were very many entries at all. On the wall of the fan page I saw several people with the same complaint as me.

How am I supposed to win a contest when my entry is not available to be voted for? I couldn't even get a sympathy vote from my husband. I had lost without being given a fair chance.

And to add insult to injury the entries I did see weren't even good. Some of them didn't even answer the question! In first place is a video by some dude who is, quite frankly, annoying. Also in the top ten are pictures of people's kids who love Skittles. It doesn't say what they would do in order to win the prize, just that their kids like candy. Well duh they like candy, they're kids!

To be fair, there is also an image of a man who made a mask out of Skittles glued to his face and a write-in entry saying they would fill a pool with skittles for a skittles pool party... but over all I am not impressed. Uploading a picture of your cat with a bag of Skittles may be cute, but it isn't exactly what the contest is about.

Accepting defeat I went out and bought my own 14oz bag of Skittles Blenders. I wouldn't have any place to put a vending machine anyway.

A sure fire way to get people to take the stairs

Volkswagen has started something they term The Fun Theory, which is "the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better." One way they've done this is by creating a giant piano out of stairs. There is an escalator right next to it leading to the same place, but that's no fun, is it? Take a look at this video:

Now I'm just waiting for someone to organize a flash mob around it.

Other things they've done is create a "speed camera lottery". Speeders get photographed and receive a citation. People abiding by the speed limit get entered into a lottery for a chance to win part of the money collected from said citations. That's definitely a lottery I would participate in!

Remus Lupin as H.I.V metaphor?

I recently started an account over at Quora, which is kind of a Q&A social networking site. People ask questions, and then provide answers. You can follow certain broad topics (such as Harry Potter, for example) and then questions about that topic show up in your feed. You can also decide to follow individual questions.

About half way down my feed I saw this question, asking "In Harry Potter, does J.K. Rowling use lycanthropy as a metaphor for HIV/AIDS?". The answer, surprisingly to me, was yes. I thought I was a pretty big HP fan so the fact that I never knew this surprised me. Am I the only one who never connected the two? Anytime I would hear anything of the sort I would brush it off as internet rumors. however, she states quite clearly in this transcript that is it so. Just CTRL-F H.I.V and see for yourself.

Well, first Mr. Vander Ark does occasionally give the meaning of the names I've given to my characters. I would think this is a very, very obvious one to explain. Generally he does go to the obvious ones. This is a double allusion to the fact this character is a werewolf, so there is Remus, who is one of the brothers who was raised by wolves in Roman anthology, and Lupin, which comes from "lupine," wolf-like. But there was more on Lupin. And again, it should have been easy to anyone writing a -- genuinely attempting to write a guide. I know that I've said publicly that Remus Lupin was supposed to be on the H.I.V. metaphor. It was someone who had been infected young, who suffered stigma, who had a fear of infecting others, who was terrified he would pass on his condition to his son. And it was a way of examining prejudice, unwarranted prejudice towards a group of people. And also, examining why people might become embittered when they're treated that unfairly.

imgfave

I recently stumbled upon this website called imgfave (although I didn't actually use stumbleupon to find it, that gave me a nasty virus once). It's basically the pandora of pictures. You "fave" pictures you like, either on the site itself or elsewhere on the web via their bookmark bar button, and then it suggests other pictures you might like.

The suggest feature is still in beta so it isn't perfect yet. At one point it decided I loved sappy sayings with a raindrop background. Apparently I'm an emo kid, non-conforming as can be. You'd be non-conforming too if you looked just like me! But it's still worth it, because the gems are waiting to be found. Here are some of my favorites.

I have a whole collection of Harry Potter ones, as well.

I like lightning.

The lightning bolt sets fire to combustibles and damages objects in its path. It can melt metals with a low melting point, such as lead, gold, copper, silver, or bronze. If the damage caused to an interposing barrier shatters or breaks through it, the bolt may continue beyond the barrier if the spell’s range permits; otherwise, it stops at the barrier just as any other spell effect does.

[The image is a real person, painted with body paint (not 'shopped) by artist Craig Tracy. Check out his gallery for more amazing body art.]

When it comes to gaming I noticed I gravitate towards two things: healing and lightning. If I can do both, even better! I love how lightning is pure, raw power and I'm the one wielding it. I also find that it offers a sense of familiarity regardless of the game. Lightning, and those who wield it, can be found in most genres. I can be a wizard/sorcerer, a druid, a shaman when it comes to traditional fantasy. I can use Captain Marvel's "Shazam" lightning bolt in the DC universe. I can play a Emperor Palpatine-esque character in the upcoming Star Wars MMO. When looking at a new game it's always easy to figure out which class is for me, unless none of them have lightning powers!

Do you have a favorite "style" of character you gravitate towards?

100% Pure, Frozen, Concentrated

Name change! I figured since Frozen OJ is my handle everywhere else, I might as well be consistent. It's not like I had a facebook page or twitter with my old name anyway, so if I'm going to change now would be the best time.

The only reason I didn't name my blog something along these lines to begin with was that I had once long ago... and forgot about it within a week. Didn't want to jinx myself, you know? But now I've decided it just makes more sense, seeing as it's my name *every where* else.

My dreams have come true!

That's right, folks. Russell vs Boston Rob. I didn't even watch the last season, but you can bet I'm gonna watch this one! There was even a FB page made asking for this last May. February 16th needs to hurry itself up.

If the winner has to be one of these two (and not one of the 16 new players), who would you pick?

No, this is not a euphemism

I was recently given a link to a video which would teach me "The Real Way to Eat a Banana". Obviously I was quite skeptical of anything described as such, but it really is just a video explaining proper banana opening etiquette. I am 22 (almost 23!) years old and feel ashamed to admit I had been opening bananas the wrong way my whole life. We don't have any bananas in the house, but I will definitely try this the next time we get some. From what I hear this decreases the amount of stringy things that plague your banana eating experience.

I was also told about a new method of dispensing ketchup, but that appears to merely be a spoof and not practical instruction.

Love Languages

I've heard a lot about Gary Chapman's "Love Languages" books, so while we were at the Goodwill bookstore I picked up a copy for $4. I haven't read it yet, but am looking forward to it. Josh and I have already taken the quiz and this is how we came out:

Josh

10 - Words of Affirmation

"Actions don’t always speak louder than words. If this is your love language, unsolicited compliments mean the world to you. Hearing the words, “I love you,” are important—hearing the reasons behind that love sends your spirits skyward. Insults can leave you shattered and are not easily forgotten."

07 - Physical Touch

06 - Quality Time

05 - Acts of Service

02 - Receiving Gifts

Me

10 - Quality Time

"In the vernacular of Quality Time, nothing says, “I love you,” like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there–with the TV off, fork and knife down, and all chores and tasks on standby–makes your significant other feel truly special and loved. Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful."

10 - Physical touch

06 - Acts of Service

03 - Words of Affirmation

01 - Receiving Gifts

We both scored high on Physical Touch, "This language isn’t all about the bedroom. A person whose primary language is Physical Touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy. Hugs, pats on the back, holding hands, and thoughtful touches on the arm, shoulder, or face—they can all be ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love. Physical presence and accessibility are crucial, while neglect or abuse can be unforgivable and destructive." and we both scored low on Receiving Gifts, which is probably a good thing considering how poor we are. XD

Mine seem pretty obvious since I luuuuvs to cuddle and always ask Josh to spend quality time with me. At first I was surprised to see Josh score so high on Words of Affirmation, but now that I've thought about it it makes tons of sense. I can't see it so much in how he reacts to words of affirmation from me, as much as how he uses them to show me he loves me. From the tiny bit I've read in the book it seems we tend to show others love in the way it means the most to us.

Anyway it seems really interesting. Josh and I aren't struggling in our marriage by any means, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't use any available resource to make it even better.

"We don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it"

A woman shared this video with a forum I frequent when the subject of education reform was brought up. This man is hilarious and makes some very interesting, and true, points about how our education system stifles creativity. While that was fine in the days of old when your future was to be a factory worker, today we *need* the creative minds in order to advance.

What is family?

This semester I'm taking a class on the sociology of marriage and families. Our first assignment is a discussion on the following questions:

1. Find a definition of “family” embedded in a social policy, program, or law. The definition may be implicit rather than explicit. To give you just a few examples, what relationships are considered “family” in our federal law providing employment leaves to care for family members (i.e., The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993)? Which family members could be included in your health insurance “family” or “spouse” policy? Which family members could join under your “family membership” at the YMCA?

2. If you were creating a definition of family, what would it be? Would it be consistent with the definition you found for Question 1 or not? What criteria would you use in determining whether a particular relationship should count as a family relationship? For example, would DNA play a role? Legal contracts, like marriage or adoption? Emotional investment? Identity as a family? Length of relationship? Living arrangements? Other criteria? Which criteria are most important, and why? In developing your definition, be sure to consider how it will treat relationships that have tended to be inconsistently viewed – like cohabiting couples, gay families, and stepfamilies.

I haven't looked up the answer to question one yet, but I know that for me it would be too narrow. In the large scheme of things I think anyone who thinks of themselves as a family, is a family. However I also think the definition that matters to most (as far as legislation goes) would be immediate family rather than just family. My best guess at this point of an adequate definition of immediate family would be those who share your household and have an intimate (but not necessarily sexual) relationship with you.

This could be your "normal" family of mom, dad, kids. Or it could be one parent with kids, two married adults without kids, one parent a step parent and kids, etc. BUT it would also include those are aren't normally included when it comes to such things like health insurance currently. Co-habiting couples of any sexuality, your more traditional family and your sick dependent aunt, you and your best friend who have a very close but completely platonic relationship, etc.

What do you think qualifies as a family?

P.S. The picture is of my family, as well as some friends at my cousin's birthday dinner.

Panda Cow

Since Pandas don't seem to like breeding very much, and it costs something like $1million dollars to rent one from China, might as well just make our own right? Ben (the newborn cow pictured) joins 23 other miniature cows born to look like a panda thanks to genetic manipulation. Since they aren't really Pandas, it'll only cost you $30,000 to own one as a pet.

Back to the grind

Well, today marks the end of my series of vacations. I won't get anymore time off until Spring Break (which just happens to start my birthday weekend!). I wonder if the bookstore is open during Spring Break... I should ask when I go in today.

Like I've said in previous posts, I like my job. I really do. But this waking up while its still morning thing? Not so much. On Thursdays I have an 8am class. I have no idea what compelled me to sign up for that.

No resolution posts for me this year. I know it's what all the cool kids are doing, but I'm just nonconformist like that. I'll stick to my trend of New Years Indecisiveness instead. Because hey, when I give that up in two weeks it'll be a good thing!