The future of hockey

I don't know the first thing about hockey. The closest I ever came to knowing anything about it was when I designed someone's blog in a hockey theme. But even that tells me nothing about the game itself .. however, I know a lot of people who do love the sport.

Hockeysfuture.com is dedicated to being the number one nhl draft and hockey prospect magazine for hockey fans. The site features the top 50 NHL prospects, NHL Organization ratings, and lots of hockey news listed in order by your favorite team.

Also offered is a hockey discussion board to join in on discussions about the sport, fantasy leagues, the history of hockey, and much much more!

So if you are a die hard hockey fan, this would be the site for you to bookmark .. go check it out now!

This post sponsored by PayPerPost.

Stuck.In.My.Head.

Are you like me and constantly have a song stuck in your head?

Is it usually the last song you hear before you go to bed at night, or just any random song at any given time?

For the last few days for me, it's been Finger Eleven's song "Paralyzer." I finally had to break down and listen to it this morning. I watched the video on YouTube and figured that would be the end of it. But nope, it's still there. And it's just the chorus! And maybe a few random other lines here and there, but mainly the chorus.

It gets really annoying after a while!

The BP Whiting Refinery means no harm

Recently the Chicago Tribune ran an article about a BP Refinery in Whiting, Indiana, and they misrepresented some important facts that the public should be aware of.

You can view the BP Whiting Refinery fact sheet here, as well.

I find the most important key factor in this story is that BP plans to get it's crude oil from Canada and not from the Mideast. When there are resources available that are closer to home, then that makes all the difference.

Secondly, the BP Whiting Refinery is committed to keeping Lake Michigan clean. Only treated water is released into Lake Michigan, not sludge. They say the water released is more than 99.9% water and the sludge is treated and released separately, so everyone can rest assured that BP is not polluting the environment.

Lastly, BP follows state and federal laws, regulations and guidelines that protect aquatic and human life.

The Chicago Tribune's main concern was that BP was dumping massive toxic amounts of sludge and ammonia-filled water into Lake Michigan, undoing all the effort that has been spent over time to clean up the Great Lakes and harming the aquatic life within. They stated that BP was given a pardon by Indiana regulators to dump into the lake, therefore creating algae blooms that kill fish.

BP stands firm saying they are well within the legal limits, stating a new water discharge permit allows the refinery's ammonia levels to increase, but still will be less than half of those that the federal environmental guidelines could allow.

BP wants the public to know they are committed to minimizing the environmental impact of their actions.

Death to capri pants!

Why is it so hard to find a nice, basic pair of black pants?

I mean a pair with no beading attached, no glittery things sewn on, no wild colored threads running through, no funky belts looped on, no tapered legs, and dammit, NO CAPRIS! Everything is fucking capris. Is this disgrace to fashion ever going to go the away?

I finally found one pair tonight in a store full of pants, but even these have tiny red threads sewn at the bottom and little black eyelets attached as if I’m going to thread a shoestring through there or something. It makes no sense. But I figure if someone is down there checking it out that closely then they deserve to see them.

I got two shirts to match the black pants .. one khaki colored and the other, black. Finding a basic black shirt was not nearly as difficult, although I did have to search through some crappy ones before finding one I liked.

Basic, Basic, Basic .. keeping it simple seems to be a thing of the past.

Why can’t this damn town have a Gap?

At least the Gap has some basic black wide-leg boyfriend trousers to go with their god awful capris.

What are you waiting for?

Is the first thing that catched my eye when I visited fitness dates. I don't know what I'm waiting for, but I guess if I was single I would want to date someone fit haha. The site is obviously made for people who are looking for healthy young and fit people. I don't know if it would be my first choice, but if you're single I can recommend checking it out. The sign up is free and that's always the first thing I'd look for. I like their design and I like the fact that it's not got a whole bunch of ads like other sites I've seen. The search feature is really cool, it automatically loads all the towns that are in your state, and it loads them fast. Maybe I'm easily impressed but I've not seen that before. What's also a useful search feature is the distance field, not all people find their love overseas (although I do recommend it!). I'm also impressed by the enourmous amount of details you can select people on. Theoretically you could search for an atheist who likes to watch reruns, lives in Reno, is attracted to money and owns an exotic animal. (Hey I said theoretically ;). You get the point: if you're looking for fitness singles, check out the site!

Graphically Speaking: Invaluable for designers

Written by Lisa Buchanan, the long title of the book is: Graphically Speaking, a Visual Lexicon for Achieving Better Designer-Client Communication.

I have learned that people often can visualize what they want a finished project to look like, but sometimes cannot find the right words to describe their vision to the designer. It becomes frustrating for both parties when the designer fails to deliver what the client has in mind. This book can help fix that by offering specific questions for the client, such as: Do you want your design to look modern and clean? or What is your message, and how obvious or straightforward do you want this message to be?

It also helps target the client’s audience and offers ways to explain ideas to the client so they aren’t afraid to take risks.

On many occasion it has helped me decide on color schemes and fonts that work well together when creating a specific theme, anything from Alluring to Zing!

It also serves as a nice desk reference to flip through when in need of some inspiration.

I just cannot say enough nice things about this book. It has helped me through some tough times when I was blanking on what to do for a class project.

I think it makes a handy resource for any graphic designer.

Hey pssst, did you hear about...

Personally I don't really care for gossip all that much, but if you do there's this new site out that aggregates all the gossip and allows you to vote on it and leave comments. They also have celebrity pictures and profiles. The site looks pretty Web two point o and also includes many of those hip features: commenting, voting, the works. I like how they've made the related news available under each article. I assume the "HOT" page works a la digg, with the most popular articles on the front page. Right now it works really fast, let's hope it stays that way when they take off. But I do like the design and functionality.

I think this site can get popular, people love their celebrity news for some reason. If you do too, be sure to check out celebritygossip.com, looks like they have all the latest news from all the celebrity news sites. The good news is that you won't have to go back to each and everyone of those, you can just keep track right there.

This post is sponsored by PayPerPost.

Chickens have Peckers.

What started out as something funny that was said in my digital publishing & layout class turned into a full-fledged google search for “chicken peckers” so I could write a funny entry about it.
Little did I know there was actually a restaurant in China called that!

hahaha, “Uhhh, yeah, can I get a sack of large chicken peckers with some ranch dressing on the side? To go. Oh, and make sure to leave off those pesky chicken pubes, will ya? They get caught in my teeth.”

About my haircut .. the guy had me down for *yesterday* at 3:30. I was so crushed when I got there only to find out that he never works on Fridays. But I’m very organized usually, very punctual and good at remembering when I have to be somewhere. I don’t know who’s mistake it was .. but now I can’t get my shaggy mop of Einstein hair cut until the 31st unless I want to go to some walk-in place but I really don’t. Major disappointment of the day though.

Daily Veggies Free Sample

People anywhere in the western world can live a little more healthy (there's an understatement), but especially here in the US. Instead of drinking another Milkshake or Coke, why not drink your daily dose of vegetables? Lane Labs, LLC has developed a new high-end daily nutritional supplement so that you (and me) can live a little more healthy.

Personally I love Daily Veggies. I have very little time in my life right now to cook right so anytime something comes along that helps me eat/drink healthy I'm all over it. This is perfect for me because it has all the daily needed dose if vegetables and I can just drink it in my car, or in class or where ever I happen to be that day. You can also use it in all kinds of recipes (which you can find on their site).

And now the good news: they're giving away thousand of samples, so you can get your own My Daily Veggies Free Sample now! It's a $14 worth package you get so it's worth checking out I'd say. I think you'll like it, it just makes you feel better to now you are taking care of yourself. Did you know only a very small percentage of Americans have the healthy daily amount of nutritions? I think it's mostly a lifestyle issue, I know it was for me, that's why I'm glad somebody was smart enough to make convenient products like Daily Veggies. Try it, you've got nothing to lose: it's free!

This post is sponsored by PayPerPost.

Movies

I don’t often often do these, but being a movie freak this one might be fun.

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
Pulp Fiction

2. Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.
The Blair Witch Project (only twice)

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
Jack Nicholson

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Bruce Willis

5. Name a movie that you can quote from.
Pulp Fiction

6. Name a movie musical that you know all the lyrics to all the songs.
Grease

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
Grease

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
American Beauty

9. Name a movie that you own.
Wild at Heart (birthday present from Paulie)

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
probably Ice Cube in the Friday movies, he’s pretty funny

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?
Yes, Muppets take Manhattan when I was little

12. Ever made out in a movie theater?
No way, that’s lame

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t gotten around to it.
The Departed, I started it but haven’t finished it yet and people keep saying how great it is

14. Ever walked out of a movie?
No, but I’ve been bored enough to. Oceans Twelve nearly put me to sleep.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
American Beauty

16. Popcorn?
Rarely

17. How often do you go to the movies
Not very often .. it’s pricey around here and the people you are among are usually rude and annoying, so I just wait to watch it at home

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
I think it was Apocalypto but I’m not sure

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Comedy or horror or anything that makes me go hmmmmm

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
Saturday Night Fever with my Mom when I was like 3, haha .. or was it Stayin’ Alive? I don’t know, something with John Travolta

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
Pearl Harbor, because it sucked. And I miss you. (sorry, a little Team America humor)

22. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?
The Devil’s Rejects

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?
There are lots, but most recently I think Borat is hysterical

Review: Furniture From Home

If you're looking for furniture, be sure to check out furniturefromhome.com. It's a site that sells furniture exclusively online (I know, you wouldn't have guessed from the URL huh? ;). As is common with stores that only sell online their prices are relatively low compared to other online/offline companies. I've been looking for a new couch since recent since the one we have now is a couch straight from hell. We've been given it, so no complaining there, but it's just really uncomfortable.

So my first test is to see how easy I can find a couch for my budget. I see a search field at the top of the screen so I entered the word couch. A list of search results shows up. First thing I notice: no prices with each individual item and no way to sort it on price either. I like the way you can refine your search and it updates the results automatically as you click, that's a really nice feature. but I'd like to be able to see a little more product details on the list. This pretty much goes for the whole site: navigating is easy and the breadcrumbs make sure I don't get lost in the different categories/sub categories (although they don't seem to track my flow well all the time) but I'd like to see to see details on overview pages too like on the Home Office Furniture page, not just on the product page.

But that's one of the few things that I think could be improved. Overall the site looks very good. The classic look and clean design makes it pleasant on the eyes. If I want to be knit-picky I'd say that the LivePerson button on the product details page should be in the same style as the rest of the site but that's detail.

As for the content: they have a very broad selection, and as soon as I get a place with a bar I'd definitely think about getting a bar and counter stool from there. They have a pretty cool selection of those. Their Bedroom Furniture looks really nice too, too bad I can't have it all ;). Ah well, let's just start out with a couch..

This post is sponsored by PayPerPost.

Because I’m short on time ..

… it’s meme time.

Ok so I wasn’t tagged, but I saw it over at the In-Sect and thought it looked like fun .. “7 Random Facts About Me”- meme. Over 40,000 people have already blogged this. How to play: “Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog post with their 7 things as well as these rules. You need to tag others (it says 7 others, but who cares) and list their names on your blog. Remember to leave a comment for them letting them know they have been tagged and to read your blog.”

1. I’ve never had chicken pox.

2. I’m afraid of frogs.

3. I read my blogroll daily starting at the bottom and working my way to the top. I don’t know why.

4. I was born in Georgia and have lived in Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, and Holland.

5. Since about age 18, I’ve had a recurring dream about one particular house that has a room with a heart-shaped pink jacuzzi tub. I have never gone in that room in my dreams, but I always refer to it or see it from afar. I’ve been in all of the other rooms and I know what each one looks like, they never change.

6. I would be honored to meet Harvey Pekar and get his autograph.

7. I like the smell of gasoline and hate the smell of roses.

If you’ve read this far, consider yourself tagged! I’m bad at tagging people and they usually end up not doing it anyway =)

I started my graphic design internship today at the hospital — so far I’m working on a booklet about low-sodium diets and cardiovascular health. And it’s freezing in my little “office.” Gotta remember to take a sweater tomorrow.

The search for used cars

I'm quite happy with my current car to be honest. It's a 2000 Chevrolet Metro, and I love it! But if there's something that I can't be happy with it's all these used car sites that are so hard to navigate and advertise only with a listing and a picture and that's it. Not at BuyYourCar.co.uk, because the guys there offer a nice looking site with a major selection of Used Cars, New Cars, Rentals and Leasing.

The site offers cool features for different groups of users:

Car dealers: If you're a car dealer they allow you to promote your complete stock of vehicles. You can be found in 5 different ways: a standard listing, an individual listing, a dedicated page on the site, dedicated page that list stock by make and a new regional search feature. I guess they spend a lot of time on optimizing their site's code for search engines because they have really high natural listing on google.

Buyers: like I said, this site is really easy to navigate and unlike similar sites I've seen they managed to make finding the car you're looking for easy. Of course I look at every site with a designer's eye and BuyYourCar scores major points on usability and overall look and feel.

So if you need a new car or if you want to sell it, go take a look!


This post is sponsored by PayPerPost.

My name is not sweetheart.

Right now I wish to rant about this guy who comes into my place of business at my real job (not the internship) and tries to hit on me. And of course, guys that *try* to hit on women are always BAD at it. Well, let me tell you, this guy is the definition of SKANK. He’s nasty, he’s creepy, he has bad hygiene, he has a wife that waits for him in the car each time, and he thinks it’s really cute to call me “sweetheart” in a very creepy manner. He seems to get very upset when he starts to see this obviously is getting nowhere and pissing me right off. HATE to be called sweetheart as much as Thelma & Louise hated being called beavers.

Oh, and he “just looooooves my red hair.” My hair is blonde, mind you.

Today he started with the sweetheart shit and when I did what I always do, walk away and try to ignore him, he started to get visibly upset. He went over and pretended to read the newspaper headlines and before leaving, he managed to thrown in his dislike for the Cleveland Indians shirt I was wearing, as if that was going to hurt me or something.

As I watched him walk away, I daydreamed of going Thelma & Louise on his ass. I mean, after all, I DO work at a gas station. My .. what big flames I could make! =)

Save money using coupons!

If you, like myself, are into online shopping here's a cool way to save you some money on your next purchase. The website KeepCash offers a ton of coupons for over a 1000 different merchants/sites. Seriously, before you decide to buy anything online go to Keep Cash and see if you can find a good deal, because there is a big chance that you will find something to help you save money.

I have been looking to buy a laptop for a while now, since my boyfriend and I are both pretty reliant on computers for school and our jobs. We've kinda been waiting for a good deal to come along and when I learned about this site I found some great Dell.com coupon codes there. Made the decision somewhat easier, since it's not like it's just a couple of dollars off, I saved 50 bucks this way! I was afraid I also needed to look for some printer deals on KeepCash since it quit working on me today but I think I fixed the problem. I'm so smart! ;)

And what's also cool is that they update their coupon selection daily so if there's nothing on there for you now, there might be tomorrow. I wish I found out about this before because I could have saved so much money probably. Oh well, better late then never I guess ;) I subscribed to their RSS feed in my netvibes so I can see what's new whenever I log in.

This post is sponsored by PayPerPost.

My Vincent, let me show you him.

This is an old project for an art history class: Vincent, the modern day cave painter (but of course named after Vincent Van Gogh.) Inspired by the art of Jamie Hewlett of Gorillaz fame, I created Vincent in Illustrator, background was made in Photoshop with help from Paulie on getting his fingers and the lighting just right. When I first made him, he had the simple South Park hands, and well .. he didn’t look all that impressive. But like this, I’ve grown to love him and he hangs in my bedroom now.

I had more plans for Vincent, to create him in many different ways, but since college sucks every last ounce of free time you have to create things for yourself, he will have to wait.

This is scaled way down, the original is about 28″ x 12″.