uncertainty principle, austin, awesome things

[fearlesstemp]

.i. uncertainty principle

Yesterday at work, I was laughing at something my brother said and my father's secretary said, "Your laugh is so infectious, it makes me want to laugh. I was telling my kids that I want to tape record it and bring it home and play it for them!"

Kind of weird! But in the neighborhood of a compliment! So I stopped guffawing like an idiot and said, "Wow, thanks."

And then I thought about it for a minute, and remembered how once when I was temping, a coworker came in wearing shoes so hideous that I actually found myself staring at them for so long that said coworker caught on, and I covered by giving her a compliment on them (I totally felt like Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls). Was my father's secretary doing the SAME THING? I had been laughing for a while when she asked me.

So then I asked my brother if I laughed like our aunt Amy, a wonderful woman who has a nasal honk of a laugh.

And my brother said, "Yeah, kinda."

The horror I felt at this must have been written all over my face, because then he backtracked, all, "Well, not completely, just a little. Mainly the beginning, like, the 'ha!' part."

And so ever since, I haven't been able to laugh properly! Because whenever I do, part of me is all, "Wait, what do I sound like? A high-pitched foghorn stuck on rapid repeat? Or a normal person?"

I know I have an obnoxiously loud sneeze! Are none of my uncontrolled reflexes unoffensive?

.ii. austin, we have a ljagu

Peeps, my brother is moving to Texas. TEXAS! I KNOW! SO FAR AWAY! A bunch of his friends from college are moving down there, and he's tagging along, and I'm glad for him, happy he'll have an adventure, relieved he'll be escaping the MyLastName Law Firm.

But what if he finds a nice Texan girl and stays there forever? Who will help me move or carry heavy things or run ridiculous errands for my father instead of me?

I will miss him. He makes me laugh more than anyone else I know, and we're pretty much two peas in a pod. But I'm glad he's going, because I think it will make him happy. Also, before I got my new job, I was becoming obsessed with the fear that neither of us would ever leave our childhood home and we would end up like Matthew and Marilla, having to adopt an orphan in our middle age to give our lives meaning. OUR NAMES EVEN START WITH THE SAME INITIAL! SCARY!

But now Jimmy's moving to Texas! And I have a job! Our lives will almost definitely not follow the trajectory of Anne of Green Gables supporting characters!

ANYWAY. If anyone has any advice for Jimmy, aka LJAGU, aka Little Jimmy All Grown Up, it'd be appreciated. I know Kate is down there and I think there might be others familiar with the area, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice or helpful hints about Austin.

.iii. awesome things

I read the Sweet Valley High books as a kid, and the Sagas were my favorite - specifically, the family sagas, the huge book that would trace the twins' ancestors back a few generations. The books were terrible and sometimes offensive and yet I LOVED THEM. A friend from college once gave me the two versions of the Wakefields of Sweet Valley, and MAN, that gift made my birthday.

The other day I found a link to someone doing a review of the Wakefields of Sweet Valley - !!!! I found it awesomely hilarious, and am linking part one here and part two here.

Key plot points: Being separated at Ellis Island! Running away to the circus! Going to speakeasies and speaking in unintelligible slang! Teenagers working for the French Resistance! Hippies!

Another awesome thing I'm into lately is the cable channel A&E, specifically The First 48, which tracks homicide detectives as they try to solve a murder case. Apparently if detectives don't have a suspect in the first 48 hours, the chances of solving the crime go down by 50% or something. I don't know, the point is, the show is ADDICTIVE. Typically each hour tracks two murders and you get to see how the cops look at the crime scene, talk to witnesses, work with CSI and forensics, interrogate suspects, etc.

Totally unexpectedly, YouTube has a clip, AND it features my favorite Detective, Sgt. Mason! She's awesome. She always arrives at the crime scenes fully done-up, hair, nails, high-heeled shoes. And she's a great detective. She's hilarious in this clip.

And I think that's it!

Comments

[keenai.livejournal.com]

Whyyyyyy did you link to that Sweet Valley recaps community? Oh man.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

I know, isn't it deadly? So far I've shown surprising restraint and have only read the ones relating to Tricia Martin, Steven's dead girlfriend (I was so into books with dying teenaged girls when I was in middle school, between Christopher Pike and Lurlene McDaniel - what is that about?). But I know I'm going to be spending a lot of time there in the future!

Also, that icon is so fabulous. DEAR SISTER! I loved that book. I think I even remember that it was #7. Or maybe #14?

[keenai.livejournal.com]

It is, indeed, Dear Sister, the first SVH book I ever bought/read.

I'm reading The Evil Twin arc (which is not actually completely updated, woe), and I read the SVT Christmas, and, of course, Dear Sister, heh.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

I am so on my way to read the Dear Sister recap right now. I think it or maybe the Kidnapped book was the first SVH I ever read - to this day, I'm always nervous in parking lots about people coming up behind me with chloroform b/c of what happened to Liz!

[keenai.livejournal.com]

I remember Kidnapped! With Carl the Crazy Orderly. Oh, man. And that cover was fantastic.

[felinitykat]

Ooh the Sweet Valley recaps! I've just read the first-half of the one you linked to and am trying desperately hard not to giggle out loud in the office (Jessamyn's solid pleasure!!... yes I am five)

I have one lovely LJ friend who is from Austin, if that would help? Her name is anglaispaon and she is awesome. All colours of awesome.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Yes, Jessamyn's solid pleasure was the point at which I lost it when I was reading that review!

And thank you for the LJ friend connection!

[felinitykat]

Of course, it would help if I actually managed to spell her (LJ) name correctly: anglaisepaon.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thank you!

[pink-aster.livejournal.com]

Bork bork bork.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Hee!

[foxyfrau.livejournal.com]

That was one of Nino's hobbies in Amelie! He recorded people's laughs! My favorite movie of all time!
(By the way, you have a lovely laugh. Don't suppress it! That would be very sad. :( )


LJAGU should check out the Maker Faire next year! He always has some wacky project going on, and that would be the place to get all kinds of crazy ideas:
http://www.makerfaire.com/

Speaking of wacky LJAGU projects, I saw this and thought he might be interested:
Brewing in a pumpkin: a Flickr photo set

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the laugh validation! And I had completely forgotten that part of Amelie - the parts I remember most are how Amelie turned around to watch people's faces during movies, and how she drove the mean guy crazy by changing things slightly around his apartment. GREAT movie.

Thank you for the links, too! I will forward them to the Jimster. I already told him about the pumpkin brewing thing, he is VERY intrigued. :)

[foxyfrau.livejournal.com]

I first saw Amelie with you at the Spectrum! We must go there when F and I are back for the holidays! Too bad the Barefoot Gypsy and our Favortie Gay Waiter are no longer around.

I have been trying to call you to tell you about my first earthquake, which I just felt! But everyone is doing the same thing, so I can't get through. :(
And by now it's a bit too late to keep trying.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Yes, we have to go to the Spectrum when you're in town! It's a MUST even if there's nothing there we want to see (although I'm sure there will be lots, since it'll be Oscar season and everything).

And OMG EARTHQUAKE! Did you go stand in a doorway or whatever it is you're supposed to do? BE SAFE, MAN!

To take your mind off things, a funny video about cats that I'm pretty sure you've seen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMXCuW9LDps

And if that doesn't do the trick, an extended blooper from Seinfeld featuring Jerry Stiller, aka Frank Costanza!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2LdHH0hmHY

Again, BE SAFE! I WANT MY ANNA TO STAY IN ONE PIECE!

[kaelie.livejournal.com]

LJAGU! First he goes AWAY to school, and now THIS! What kind of a YourLastName is he?

Dude, your laugh is fabulous, and I'm sure the secretary was being sincere.
:) When does The New Job start?

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

LJAGU! First he goes AWAY to school, and now THIS! What kind of a YourLastName is he?

I KNOW! He's quite the trailblazer!

And thank you for the laugh validation! My new job starts on Monday - am going shopping this weekend for New Job Clothes and stuff, I'M SO EXCITED/NERVOUS/SCARED!

Also: I owe you an e-mail! I am going to try to reply to comments and then write you, if not, I will write you tomorrow from the office! Or soon! I am thinking of you! You get my Grover hug icon to demonstrate that.

[navia.livejournal.com]

It's definitely suspicious that this chick told her kids about it. But unlike you and the shoe staring incident, she didn't *have* to say anything, so I don't know. Maybe you should make a phone post containing your laugh and then have your FL vote on it. *snerk*

Omg, Sweet Valley recaps. I didn't even know the Saga series existed; I read a random mix of Twins, High, and special editions. I hated Jessica with a burning passion. That's mostly all I remember.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

It's definitely suspicious that this chick told her kids about it.

YES. That's totally the part that freaked me out!

I am stunned that you read about Sweet Valley and did not know about the Saga series. IT WAS AMAZING. Entire historical eras were condensed into 1-2 cliches AND on at least two occasions, characters had premarital sex! CRAZINESS! Admittedly, after doing so, one character was killed in an earthquake, but still!

I was always more of an Elizabeth than a Jessica.

[remainthesame.livejournal.com]

Have you seen that BBC murder thing that HBO is supposedly running? Or ran? It's supposed to be really good.

Of course, I can't remember the name. SO helpful!!

You do know they're putting the SVH books out again, right? Supposedly updated for the 21st century! I bet you a MILLION BILLION dollars the Wakefield twins are still a PERFECT SIZE SIX. (To this day, I want to know what the hell an IMPERFECT size six is)

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen this BBC murder thing you speak of! I am intrigued! I used to make fun of my mother for being addicted to reality shows about murder, and here I am, LJ-ing about my favorite reality show about murder. Another daughter becomes the mother.

OMG, I think I read that about SVH! I can't wait to see how they "update" them. Yes, the twins were a perfect size six with sun-streaked blonde hair and - how did they describe the eyes? Turquoise? That sounds too bizarre to be true, which makes me think that it might be just the right descriptor. :)

[keenai.livejournal.com]

Really? They did do the SVH: Senior Year series which was, well, current, heh, but I didn't know they were rereleasing SVH for a new generation. (The twins graduate from high school at the end of the SVHSY series and it lasts for less than 100 books. Aw.)

[dick-grayson.livejournal.com]

That comment about you and the bro turning into Matthew and Marilla in your elder years made me emit a combination snort-laugh that I'm sure no one wants to record for their kids. Although, it's quite possible the snort part of it was infectious in the clinical sense.

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Hee! I hoped someone would appreciate it - but seriously, it has been a fear of mine! We're very compatible.

[katharine-b.livejournal.com]

Well, how exciting for your brother! And this just means you'll have to come down here to visit, right?

What kind of information would be helpful? Neighborhoods and transportation and things like that? I don't know if I'll be much help re: jobs unless your brother wants to work at UT, but I'm all over the housing question, at least in terms of central Austin. The rental market is pretty tight right now, but I can try to point him (and his friends? are they planning to get a place together?) to some good places to look. Feel free to ask me things and/or just give him my email address (katharine dot b at gmail dot com).

PS. I feel quite sure that your laugh is awesome in the good way, even though I haven't heard it myself. :)

[fearlesstemp.livejournal.com]

Yes, I will have to visit! And we'll finally get to meet!

Thank you for your offer to help my brother! Jim or I might be e-mailing you sometime in the next couple of weeks with specific questions. He and a few of his friends have rented an apartment on the outskirts of the city (I think). I'll ask him tomorrow if there are any particular things he's concerned about.

And thank you for the laugh validation! It's much appreciated. :)