More Olympic thoughts

• The Iraq soccer team is another reason I love the Olympics. They're in the semifinals and if they win their next game they go to the gold medal game. Talk about an underdog story. I find soccer so boring to watch, but I find this so exciting I'll be watching their game.

• Favorite men's swimsuit: The leggings. Thank goodness there are no more speedos. No need to cover your upper bodies, but showing off legs is a girlie thing.

• Overall I really like the summer games more than the winter. It's so much more pure. It has the events that don't require much equipment. Just man vs. land. Or man vs. water. The winter Olympic sports like skiing require so much equipment. You can't really measure the fastest man in snow. Of course I really enjoy the gymnastics, but the Olympics wouldn't be the Olympics without track and field and swimming.

• I caught part of the walking race. Those guys look so strange. It looks like Special Olympics running. Their bodies don't look proportioned correctly. I saw that the highest an American placed was in the 20s. It obviously isn't dominated by America. Good. In fact, America should boycott this sport.

• Another funny sport is the hammer throw. Those guys spin out of control and somehow let go at the right time so as not to kill anyone. I wanna spin like that. Though I don't understand why the Olympics needs shot put, discus AND hammer throw.

• OMG, a white guy just won the 400 meters.

• An Italian just won the high bar. I like Italy's anthem. They should win more stuff.

• I'm still so amused by Greek names. Everytime I see a list of athletes competing in an event I scan the flags looking for Greece and then try to say the name. They're long and a mouthful, but also not impossible to pronounce like other languages.

I flew up to New Hampshire for my cousin's wedding this weekend. Of the three weddings I went to this summer, none were normal. This one was very "earthy". Some of their friends live in yurts which are dome tent thingys with no heating. Yes, no heating in New Hampshire. The groom got married barefoot. And the band consisted of a bagpipe and accordion among other random instruments. Everyone was wearing subdued tone dresses and skirts and I wore my verstile red dress that I wear to everything. I felt a little out of place. Everyone in earthy colors and I was wearing FIRE!

I also got eaten alive by bugs. I have at least a dozen bites around my calves and ankles and two days later they still itch like crazy. And I've been pretty lucky about not getting bites the last few years.

I stayed with my cousin Puffles (aka Heather) in her "hut" along with cousin Danni and Aunt Susan. After getting picked up from the airport, we stopped at the store and I couldn't resist buying a bag of mint oreos. I ate all of them before Sunday. Mint oreos are just an amazing invention. I like taking two and eating a chocolate side off of each and then mushing them together to make a double stuff mint oreo.


Last but not least...

I GOT A CAR. I have a Cactus Mint Corolla LE. There was so much paper work involved. I'm so glad the day is over so I never have to write 8/23/04 ever again. I plan to make a trip to Bucknell this weekend as it's first big drive.

Yeah Paul Hamm!

Paul Hamm is the reason I love the Olympics. Last night's men's gymnastics competition was one of the biggest Olympic highs ever. There's nothing unamazing about being in 12th place with only 2 rotations left and ending up winning the gold. I had read a headline before it aired that a US Gymnast had won the gold, but when Hamm crashed on vault I figured the other guy had won. But no...somehow his one big mistake cost less than all the little mistakes of the Koreans who got silver and bronze.

GRRRR...I just saw the results of the women's all-around competition!! It is SO HARD to avoid these results!! I was surfing the web when I saw a picture of a girl gymnast flipping and I knew the headline was going to give the results so I immediately clicked away. Then I was watching some local news on TV and they were very nice and warned that some of the results they were about to show hadn't been aired, so once again I immediately clicked away to NBC which was finishing up afternoon coverage and I figured I'd be safe. But no, they were giving tonight's results. I bet I missed the warning. All of this happened within 5 minutes. It'll be even worse in 2008 when they're in Beijing. Once I finally watch one event, the next will have already happened so I'll be avoiding news for 2 weeks straight.

It turns the reusable ice cubes are poopy. They don't make your water cold at all because they don't melt into it. Oh well, it was worth a try. But they sure do make your water pretty!


I meant to put this in my blog a while ago, but kept forgetting. It's from my sister's livejournal and I thought it was a pretty funny incident:

Scene: My mom and I are going back to our car in the parking lot when she walks up to a car which is identical to ours except there is a bumper sticker that says "NOT FOR WAR"
Me: Mom, that's not our car, look at the sticker
Mom: *scoffs* I am SO for war!

Well I'm off to New Hampshire for the weekend for my cousin's wedding. More blogging later.

Olympic Ramblings

• Some might find it lame, but I like the leaf halos (I don't know what they're really called) all the medalists wear on the podium. In the future when we see clips, we'll know which Olympics it was. I also think it's funny how the US 800 relay swim team held them over their hearts during the anthem. That was the most exciting race ever. I'm so glad I got to watch it. (Now realizing I shouldn't post this for a few hours so my buddies in PDT don't get mad.)

• I could amuse myself all day trying to say Greek names.

• LOL-I'm about to watch the men's 200 fly final and they just showed a Japanese swimmer with the most major goggle tan. That's gotta suck.

• Is it just me or does Bob Costas not age at all? I'll bet a lot of money he gets surgery every four years just to look the same age.

• Female shot putters are not very attractive. In fact, it's hard to tell it's women's....Except for a Cuban and a Russian that I just saw. I also assume they are very lopsided. The qualifying rounds are being shown right now live from Olympia which they've made out to be as much like the ancient games were. The spectators have to stand and they aren't selling anything more than water.

• I really like that Samsung commercial with the athlestes in the sky forming their bodies to the shape of the phone. The music is really peaceful. I wonder if there's a CD.

In other news:

• My mom sent me a package with all sorts of goodies! Like my retainer and nail scissors even though I already had some. I also got an issue of World of Puzzles! This should give my brain a little workout which it needs since I sit in front of the TV all day with my lap top in my lap. Eyes going from screen to screen. My poor eyes.

• Has anyone else been shocked by the sqeakiness of Amber Frey's voice on those tapes? Looking at her you'd think she'd have this deep husky voice. It reminds me of gymnasts. In fact, there was a brief interview with one of the male gymnasts and he had a really high voice too.

• I went to Bed Bath and Beyond today and bought reusable ice cubes. A bag of them was only 3 dollars so I thought "why not". The colors are really cool too. Well see how this purchase goes.

• I'm cool and have Gmail! My favorite qwerk is when you click on Trash, if it's empty, it says "No conversations in the trash. Who needs to delete when you have 1000 MB of storage?!" Just for the record, my Gmail is jane.fulton@gmail.com. But you can still use jfulton@alum.bucknell.edu.

• Check out these pictures of my sister, Kristina and Will at the top of Half Dome in Yosemite.

Olympics time

I have Olympic fever. I'm watching weightlifting right now. This little guy from Turkey just got the gold in the 56kg group. These guys were so tiny and lifting nearly 3 times their weight!! The Turkish guy who won made tons of funny faces and noises. I think that's what I'd be like too. I've decided this is a fun sport to watch. Now badminton is on.

I went to Sam's second wedding reception yesterday. It was weird to see her whole family and be on the other side of the country. It didn't feel like I was far from home. Trippy. I snacked heavily for a solid four hours on croissants, very filling chocolate chip cookies and grahm crackers.

I'm obsessed with the little countries. You can go to www.nbcolympics.com and look up every country participating. It gives you a world map and you roll your mouse of all the coutries. I found a country named Vanuatu and clicked on it for details. Under "Olympic Tradition" it says in their Olympic debut in 1988, their boxer ate a large breakfast and was disqulified at the weigh-in. Vanuatu has never won a medal. Poor Vanuatu.

Ok, I wasn't a fan of the badminton. You can't really see the birdie and the plays don't last very long. It's been an hour since I started writing this entry because I keep looking things up on the Olympics website. I just have to be careful not to look at any of the gymnastics results.

Another computer issue:

For some reason, when I write in Word, my i's get an accent on them when they come after an f. I'm hoping the employers that I've sent my resumes to don't notice it. I went to Format->Style and under the part that says "description", it says the font, size a few other things and then something called Widow/Orphan control. WEIRD. I just checked font and there's nothing unusual. It's a mystery.

Update

Car update:

-I test drove a Corolla the other day, both an S and LE. I found the steering on the S to be too sensitive, but the LE was fine. I thought the seats were softer and more comfortable than the Civic and the gas and brake pedals were easier to use.
-The other big incentive for getting a Corolla over a Civic is that the insurance is $400/yr less.

Rest of my life update:

-I've sent out about 4 job applications in the last 24 hours and I better hear back from SOMEONE.

-My debit card expired and my parents sent me the new one, but didn't get me the pin number. I was supposed to go into the District today to deal with the car insurance, but couldn't because I didn't have enough cash to take the metro. Then I talked to my cousin after it was too late and told me I can use a credit card. So I'm going tomorrow I'm stopping there on my way to Maryland.

Current Pet Peeve:

I use Explorer and I really like it when I save a link to favorites and it has its own little icon. It makes it look more interesting and fun. But for some reason they only show up some of the time! Right now the only links that have personalized icons are CNN, Amazon, MapQuest and USPTO (US Patent Organization). I KNOW at least Google, FOXnews, and Blogger have their own icons, but they don't show up anymore. Anyone know anything about this?


I'm super duper excited about the Olympics starting tomorrow. I know I'll have the music stuck in my head all the whole time! Annie-if you read this make sure you record all the gymnastics!

Siamese twins and cars

I was watching Dateline last night and they did a story about the siamese twins that were attached at the head and recently separated. They obviously had separate brains, but what if there were siamese twins conjoined at the head with ONE brain? It would be like a spider. It's like one person having two bodies to control. COOL! It/they would make millions! The possibilities for siamese twin types are endless.

I'm in the process of car shopping. I'm deciding between a Civic and a Corolla. I've got one friend saying go for a Civic ("Corollas are for old ladies"), and another that says Corolla all the way ("totally go for a corolla, they are more cute"). Input is welcome. I test drove a Civic today and tomorrow I try a Corolla and I might also try a Ford Focus.

As I write this I'm watching Blind Date and they set up two midgets. The girl has lots of tattoos and is completely sex crazed, and the guy is totally laid back. Sigh. Gotta love dating shows.

The Olympics start in 4 days!!!!!

Office whore, night in the District and brownies

Here's a fun little blog to read through:

http://washingtoniennearchive.blogspot.com/

This woman was/is having affairs with at least 6 men at the same time, some of them paying her and this is the blog she wrote about it. Her company found out about it and got rid of the blog (and fired her), but this wonderful person has restored it uncensored so we can all enjoy :).

Last night I threw back some beers in Georgetown with Charles and the future Fox News military analyst Lt. Col. Scott Rutter. He led the invasion of Baghdad airport last year. Watch for him starting August 16...he'll be stationed in Iraq.

I wish I had something significant to say, but I didn't hear about the job yesterday like I was expecting. If I don't hear Monday I plan to swallow my wussiness and call.

I baked brownies this morning for my dad's friend from highschool who lives in Alexandria and is having me over for dinner. I ate the batter for breakfast. Mmmm....raw eggs...

I just saw on the news that the Statue of Liberty opened up to the public for the first time since 9/11. But you can only go up to the pedestal. This makes me glad I had an opportunity to go to the top as a kid and that there are pictures of me with the twin towers in the background.

So far the lesson I've learned from being in the real world is to not let salespeople push you into things without reading the fine print and making sure you are clear on every little detail you're concerned about. I got a gym membership at Bally and the salespeople there are so phony and pushy. I'm on a 30 day trial so I might cancel if I'm not happy with the facility since so far I'm not happy with the people. Let's hear it for "learning experiences" *GAG*. The whole saga would take pages to explain and I've got better things to talk about.

There are all these jobs that are requiring writing samples even though from the job descriptions it doesn't sound like I'll be writing. The problem with this is I didn't really write in college. I took math classes. I'd gladly send in number crunching samples. Anyway, I'm thinking I should write something to send in, but what? I'm open to suggestions. Unfortunately it can't be something too offensive. I'm the most expressive when I'm offensive. Plus, it's more fun.

I checked out two GRE study books from the library. I really hate how the GRE is on the computer and you can only look at one question at a time. I'm determined to score over 700 on the math. And if I get a 450 on the verbal, watch for falling pig crap.

I cannot WAIT for the Olympics to start! I will be parked in front of the television for two weeks. I'm so excited I might forget my birthday.

Tomorrow is supposed to be over 90 and very humid. Bring on the sweat! We're also getting our cable fixed so that we get all the channels we're supposed to. We're missing all the important brainless ones like VH1 and comedy central. Gotta have I love the 90s and South Park.

A weekend of bowling, gum resting, crayons and fire

I just got back from my weekend at Genelle's in Columbia, MD. It was a nice relaxing weekend. I got to see my cousin Jeff and his wife, who also live in Columbia, for the second time ever.

Last night I went bowling with her bible study group. I'm not a great bowler and it especially ticks me off when I lose to girls who make their three step approach. Stop. Bring their arm back and lob the ball 10 feet in the air so you end up praying you won't have to pay for a new bowling lane. Some how these balls end up staying right in the middle. I can do the approach and stuff, I just end up throwing the ball so it goes in the gutter about 5 inches before it gets to the pin.

I went with Genelle to the evening church service. Apparently it was a special "coffee house" night and there were tables for people to sit at instead of the chairs in rows. Very casual and laid back. There were crayons and paper table covers to draw on. I drew typical 8 year old things like grass, a sun, a tulip and stick figure with large hands. I'm not a creative person, but I have to say my idea to melt the crayons over the candles on the table and then make dots was pretty damn cool.

It probably sounds like I didn't pay very good attention. Well the general message for the service was about having more time to yourself in solitude and quite frankly, not having a job and using public transportation causes me to have way too much time to myself. The talked about how our lives get so busy and we need to step back and relax. Well once I have a busy life I'll worry about that.

I forgot to bring a toothbrush with me this weekend, so I immediately brushed my teeth when I got back. It turned out to be a good thing because it gave my gums a rest from the incredibly stiff bristles on my brush I got from the dentist. Sometimes I sing 'n sync style: It's tearin' up my gums when I use you.... Ok, I'm a dork. But yeah, it hurt a lot less this time.

Tomorrow is change the gym membership package I got at the local Bally's and find a library and call job places. I also need a car. Bah.