A Trip to the Market

The other day, a coworker and I went out to a grocery store near our office to buy a cake for our soon-to-be-ex-coworker. It was his last day and also his birthday, and we thought we'd get him something nice to celebrate. The store itself was a maze because the entrance and the exit doors were on different sides of the place. It was difficult to find even a bakery section.

Once we walked in, my coworker stopped to ask an employee and sure enough, the cakes were 2 feet ahead of us. After perusing the selections, we decided upon a cute mango mousse cupcake that was big enough for the one candle we happened to find in our office kitchen. When we finally got the attention of the employee behind the counter, he proceeded to box it for us.

Desserts behind the glass always look so tempting to me, but ever since I gave up eggs, it's been hard to find a bakery that caters to my specific dietary needs. But there's no harm in asking right?

Wrong.

Me: Just out of curiosity, are any of these made without eggs?
Man: (in loud and obnoxious voice) Dairy means they all have eggs!

Oh really? Surely there wasn't a need to supply such a verbose answer in a condescending way. I let it go though because I already knew I'd have no luck with it.

As he handed me the box, my coworker held out her credit card to him. And then he continued his unnecessary shenanigans.

Man: Are you giving me your card, or are you paying?
Coworker: Oh um (flustered) I didn't--.
Man: Because you can give me your card and there's a bank across the street.
Coworker: ... (smiles nervously)
Man: Where are you from?
Me: Oh lord.
Man: Are you from India?
Coworker: Uh yes. (looks at me to roll her eyes)
Man: You know how to make (terribly pronounced) rotis and naans and tandooris?
Coworker: ..........
Man: ....
Coworker: .....Yes.
Man: You know I haven't had them in over 10 years!
Coworker: .......Okay...
Man: And I've also had (lists what I'm sure is about 3 pages of the index section of his recently bought Indian Cooking To Impress the Ladies: 2nd Edition book).
Coworker: Oh, okay.
Man: (smiles) You have to pay up front.

Seriously? Did we have time for him to launch into his whole "Gurl, where you from?" routine? No. Couldn't he have wasted less of our time by simply stating what we needed to be told right away? 
     - Do any of these not have eggs? No.
     - Here's my card. You actually need to pay up front.

What was wrong with that?

Key Takeaways

1. Dairy does *NOT* mean eggs.
2. His lengthy flirting lines cost us an extra 7 minutes to get back to the office.
3. I could be exaggerating with #2.
4. She's married, hello? Lady?
5. Coworker should've been more casually dismissive instead of constantly looking at me to roll her eyes. 
6. And flashed her ring.
7. Soon-to-be-ex-coworker enjoyed the cupcake very much. 

Or maybe I should've just said something. The whole episode was just weird.

Sleep...I'll Pay You If You Come

If you are reading this article past 3 AM, I’m glad to know I have some company. Ever since the last day of high school, when we had an event called Project Graduation, to serve us a last moment together without homework or exams or any worries until 6 in the morning, my sleeping pattern has been disturbed, if not completely eradicated. This went on into the years of undergrad college life, and has decided to stick. I’ve since graduated and moved on with my life, working in the “real world” and settling in on my own. And while I plug away at life’s continuous cyclic demands, somehow I find myself a perpetual insomniac. What gives?


I have tried all kinds of things. I’ve used herbal remedies and even Eastern Ayurvedic medicines recommended by a friend’s father. I’ve tried to count sheep, cats, even elephants (though it’s hard to imagine elephants jumping over a fence). I’ve turned off the television, radio, computer, all those “mind stimulating” objects, and decided instead to pick up a book and listen to relaxation or new age music. I’ve changed my diet, I’ve tried sleep eye masks, changed my mattress, changed my pillow, even changed my sleeping position. But to no avail. I keep seeing commercials for sleep medications, like Ambien and Lunesta. Those people apparently sleep like babies. My doctor tells me my condition is not “poor” enough to take them. So I lie awake at nigh, sometimes past 4 or 5 in the morning. Is it possible to be jet-lagged without having been on a plane?


I'm starting to think of embracing this kind of a lifestyle, staying awake all night and working on these fabulously entertaining articles (or incredibly boring ones that make you go to sleep, either way they serve a purpose). But then again I see too many downfalls with this kind of a life, mainly that I have nothing or no one to keep me entertained (besides those hilariously awful infomercials…anyone see that slap chop rap one?). So if any of my dedicated readers have any suggestions about how I can fix my sleep issues, or if you know any hunky men who can keep me company till sunrise, please let me know!

Jersey Shore (As Kids)

If you haven't seen this by now, you probably should. It's a hilarious spoof on Jersey Shore. I haven't actually seen the show...ever, but I would definitely love to see this one, (although I'm sure someone somewhere would have a problem with the use of the kids in it.)

Have you seen Jersey Shore? Is it worth the watch?

Clueless (The Movie)

Since I saw the series way before watching the movie that spun off into the television show, I had to get used to Alicia Silverstone playing Cher. I know, it’s weird considering she was Cher first, but whatever. Anyway, I decided to watch this on a random weeknight since I had nothing better to do and wanted to check it off my “Eventually” list.


It was actually pretty funny and cute. Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is the daughter of a rich, successful lawyer, and the most popular girl at Beverly Hills High School. Her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash) spends time with her going shopping, or talking about boys or clothes or both. Dionne pairs herself up with boyfriend Murray (Donald Faison) and is constantly frustrated regarding the ups and downs of their relationship. Elisa Donovan plays Amber, Cher’s mortal enemy, who is jealous of Cher’s popularity and tries to take her place. Then Tai (Brittany Murphy) arrives, and Cher decides it will be her personal project to turn this transfer student in desperate need of a fashion makeover into a new recruit into their elite popularity squad. But is three a welcome or a crowd?


At first, it seems like the movie is your run-of-the-mill rich airheads run the school type film. But as the movie progresses, and we listen in on Cher’s inner thoughts and feelings, we learn that there is a little more to her character than meets the eye. Although she may be passed off for being “clueless” about so many things, there were plenty of topics she remained knowledgeable about, including manipulating her way into getting better grades not only for herself but for the whole school, while making sure the teachers also won in the process. True, that may not be considered so noble and praiseworthy, however Alicia Silverstone’s acting, facial expressions, and body language all give Cher’s character the arrogance and vulnerability that was needed, with a little comedic edge. Though the rest of the cast does not necessarily have as big of a part in the movie, their supportive roles really shine throughout.


The territory of high school has not remained unexplored prior to this movie, nor has it after, but the humor elements and the clarity with which the characters’ true natures are explored give this movie a great purpose. Director Amy Heckerling was far from clueless when she made this movie, and you’d be far from clueless if you decide to watch it. Especially great for fans of the actors or the genre. I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Sleep Deprivation - Good or Bad?

If science could phase out sleep, would you be for it or against it?

In today's society, we are generally fast-paced and constantly working. We are trying to attain a better and successful future for ourselves and our families. Yet, we rarely think about our present, in particular the long-term effects our current behavior has on our own health and well-being. Maybe it's a nice idea to be able to retire to a luxurious lifestyle when you're older, but do people tend to forget the health risks and complications that could arise with age as well? We seem to be so focused on reaching that goal that we don't stop to enjoy the present.

And people are trying to find new ways to sleep less so they can work more. Eight hour work days were created so that a 24 hour period could be divided into thirds: sleep, work, leisure. It's obvious that not everyone can adhere to this general guideline but the question is why. And if there was a way for you to sleep less and get more done due to being awake for longer periods of time, would you do it or not?

Five Celebrity Twins

Ever see a movie or a TV show and think you’re watching one celeb when it’s actually another? Did you ever notice how striking of a resemblance some celebs bear with others? I did, and I put together some photos for you to compare and contrast. 

Images courtesy of WireImage.com, IMDb.com, and some others.

Exhibit 1) Topher Grace = Tobey Maguire = Jake Gyllenhaal

Yes, these are not the best pictures to illustrate the resemblance but you have to admit someone’s already thought of it, especially after seeing the latter two in Brothers (2009).

2) Eli Roth = Zachary Quinto

Both bad-asses…with Eli directing movies like Hostel and most recently playing a basterd with a baseball bat (Inglourious Basterds, 2009), and Zachary well-known for his invincible, villainous role as Sylar in Heroes, how can they NOT be related?

3) Ralph Fiennes = Liam Neeson

I don’t know about you, but Voldemort and Aslan to me are one in the same.

4) Jennifer Connelly = Demi Moore

Whenever I see Jennifer, I ALWAYS see Demi. Except for maybe the eyebrows.

5) Terrence Howard = Cuba Gooding Jr.

While watching Iron Man (2008), I had accidentally mistaken Terrence for Cuba for, like, the first 25 minutes. So when Terrence wasn’t returning for the sequel, why hadn’t they cast Cuba to replace him?

 Thoughts? Disagreements? Be sure to let me know below!

Moving Woes - What Not To Keep

Getting ready for a big move soon and trying to look around the house to see what I need to pack and what to leave behind. I spent the majority of today sitting around in the basement unearthing old boxes from back in the high school days. I found old graduation gowns, caps, and tassels with scrapbooks and pictures I kept over the years. I used to have them up on a shelf around my room, but needed the space later on. Old pictures were replaced, especially with friends I no longer keep in touch with, and it got me thinking: How do you decide what to keep and what to throw away?

I found an old trinket that a friend gave me. But I will never use this again, or ever wear it with anything. It was meaningful at the time, but now it's just collecting dust. I realize some things have sentimental value and you can just never part with them, but what about the ones from friends you'll never see again? Or if something's old and outdated, but brings back a few memories? And if you do keep it, why stick it in a box somewhere?

Outsourced (The Movie)

Have you heard of this movie? I sure didn’t. It was a recommend from a friend.

With that being said, I was glad I actually sat down and watched it. I read the description and thought it was going to be an enjoyable, fun flick about cultural differences and language barriers. I was expecting comedy, but I wasn’t quite expecting the storyline.

Josh Hamilton plays Todd Anderson, a call center manager who resides in Seattle, Washington. One day, his supervisor informs him that the call center is being outsourced to India, as this will benefit the company. While this means all that are currently employed there will be fired, Todd will have the very unique opportunity to travel to the new India division and train employees there, along with his new replacement, efficiently enough so that callers will not recognize the recent shift. Todd feels guilty and frustrated about everyone in his division losing their jobs, but has no choice but to head to India for his last job. Once there, he is immediately overwhelmed by the distinct differences of this land versus America, especially when everyone pronounces his name as “Toad.” He spends his days staying at the home of his replacement, Asif Basra (Purohit Virajnarianan) trying desperately to fit in, while heading to the office at night to teach the new employees about American culture. One new employee, Asha (Ayesha Darker) boldly suggests Todd learn about Indian culture first before trying to teach them anything new and Todd decides to take her up on that suggestion. What follows is Todd trying to learn this new culture while getting the call center to be successful.

From what I know about India and the culture there, I was a bit surprised and taken aback by some of the things that were said and done. Overall, it seemed to represent everything in a positive light, but some romantic issues that were touched upon were perhaps more unusual and sometimes a bit hard to believe. I liked the way the film was structured and that it did not rely on any stereotypes one would expect to see included in a film about culture clash. The actors all performed very well, and the ones who didn’t really have any lines contributed nicely to the comedic appeal of the movie.

It is fun to watch and a nice light-hearted movie. The script, the performance, and the respectable humor all combine to give this a 4 out of 5 stars. I also heard it has spun off into a tv series (that I have yet to see). Definitely worth the rent!

Movie Reviews

Trying this new thing where I review the movies I watch. I'm sure everyone out there does this but I figured it would be good for my own benefit, in case I ever want to go back and watch something again. And I won't be reviewing just the latest ones either.

Who knows? Maybe it will help you too.

The Truth about the McDonalds Case

At work today, while doing research, I came across an article about a case of a couple suing Google for invasion of privacy and trespassing during one of their StreetView trips. Being the curious person I am, I scrolled through the comments and cannot believe I wasted almost an hour reading through arguments of people I will probably never meet. Or will I...? But it's still fun!

Anyway, I eventually found a link to the Snopes.com article about tort reform. [see link: http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp] It basically discussed widely circulated court cases that were actually not true, and discussed further how there were also other actual court cases people did not know enough about, and how this relates to the public's outcry.

If you read some of these cases, it will likely stir up some emotional feelings like anger and frustration in how our society is turning into a land of lazy, sensitive complainers. But the truth is they were made up. They went on to talk about ones that actually did happen and sound almost as ridiculous, but it brings up the point of how tort reform is difficult to implement since it means either not giving a person a right to have their case in court, or filtering out the idiocracy that seems to be prevalent in our times.

That is a whole debate in and of itself, and I wouldn't mind if you'd like to express your opinions on that. However, what I found was all these years I was among the perpetuators of the misinformed and misguided public.

Apparently all these years, I was confounded beyond belief on why a consumer couldn't know that McDonald's coffee is actually hot and sued for getting burned. I was under the impression that some careless lady drove through the drive-thru, ordered a coffee, drove off, placed the cup in her lap due to reaching for something like makeup, and somehow spilled it all over her legs. And of course, who puts coffee in their laps?

Turns out I, and a whole bunch of other people, are wrong. What had happened was Stella Liebeck was riding shotgun in a car and while it was in park, had placed the coffee between her knees to remove the lid. That's when the spillage happened, and she was hospitalized for 8 days from the resulting third degree burns. McDonalds kept its coffee at 180-190 degrees, which could cause such burns on human contact in 2-7 seconds. And Liebeck wasn't the only one who complained. A lot of people were getting burned by MickeyD's.

It's pretty hard to admit being wrong this whole time but it's interesting how the merit for a case like this can be thrown out the window just because of how little we really know about it. It's important to know all the facts before opening your big ol' mouth.

Know the Facts: The McDonalds Coffee Case [http://www.caoc.com/CA/index.cfm?event=showPage&pg=facts]


Inappropriate Convos

Went to happy hour after work today with a few coworkers and proceeded to get into a long, intense conversation about the following:

• How many times would you let your significant other off the hook for having an inappropriate conversation with someone of the opposite sex? 
• How would you define what is considered an inappropriate conversation? Does it mean sexual? Innuendo? Or just flirting?
• Do you think it's okay for your significant other to partake in such behavior as long as they don't act on it? Why/Why not?

I thought this was a very interesting discussion, particularly because I heard several stories and arguments for both sides, but I want to know what you think! Please post your comments below. Maybe you can help us settle our debate.

Shirley, You Can't Be Serious?

I'm a little late to posting this. As I'm sure you heard by now, Leslie Nielsen passed away recently due to a pneumonia complication. Nielsen was my second favorite character in one of my favorite movies, Airplane!. He came second only to the guy who would make random comments at ground control, such as when he was handed a newspaper and was asked, "What do you make of this?" to which he responded, "This? I can make a hat, or a sailboat..."

Airplane! is one of my favorite movies of all time because of the satirical comedic style in which it was written - as a spoof on disaster movies at the time, and I absolutely loved the play on words! And who can forget the classic line, "Surely you can't be serious." "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."

Sadly, after learning about Nielsen's passing, I realized there's a lot more movies he was in that I have yet to see, mostly similar to Airplane!. So I've tried my best to compile a list with clips of his notable films below. Enjoy!

Nielsen was born on February 11, 1926 and started his career in 1948, during Television's Golden Age.
His first major successful role was in the 1956 film, Forbidden Planet:



After establishing himself as a serious and dramatic actor with several MGM Studios films, Nielsen went on to work on other roles, including Disney's The Swamp Fox:



Hawaii Five-O:



The Poseidon Adventure (1972):



And then there was Airplane!:




Which led to his iconic roles as a comedic actor...in Police Squad!:



And of course, all the Naked Guns:



2001: A Space Travesty:



Dracula: Dead and Loving It:



And finally, Scary Movie 3 as the President:



I'm sure I missed a few but nonetheless, Leslie Nielsen was a great actor and will be sorely missed. RIP.

Dirty Little Secrets?

So I feel sad for actually admitting to this, but I have a new obsession in the form of a stupid ABC Family tv show. First, let me talk about ABC Family. Since when does, like, half of the content its spurs out onto the broadcasting channel qualify as "family" stuff? 

I mean, I had a friend torture me with The Secret Life of an American Teenager episode, and the only thing I understood from that singular episode was that it was okay for a 14 year old to get pregnant because apparently everyone is sleeping around with everyone else, and you might turn out to be half related to your neighbors somehow. Oh, and apparently if you look like an 11 year old, you can still work as a bartender to help make money for your family when your parents are too busy having affairs and your sister, who's not much older than you, has a child on the way. At least it was believable that most of the main characters were actually playing characters their own age, unlike a 30 year old posing as Dawson. 

Whatever. Anyway, so there's this new show called Little Chicks That Lie or Dirty Lies and Liars or something. I swear I actually don't remember the title.

Ok, just Google searched. So useful, that Google! Pretty Little Liars, where there are no babies...yet, but affairs rampant (maybe) and pretty little students who lie and get to skip high school classes whenever. Oh and coffee and cell phones are a big deal!

I know what you're thinking.  If I made such a big rant on ABC Family shows earlier, why, pray-tell, am I bothering with this. Well, Holly Marie Combs happens to be a favorite actress of mine and I randomly spotted her appearance on this show. Trying to watch a clip, I somehow managed to watch an episode in the middle, and couldn't stop. 

It's inexplicable but I can't help it. There is something terribly addicting about it, and I'm starting to wonder how it's all going to end. I hope it's worth this stupid little obsession! 

Do you watch it? Or do you have a show that you helplessly tune into? What do you think?

Bunnicula Slopes

Just logged into Facebook, after a day, and immediately found an event invite staring me in the face, from the right side of the screen. I usually get excited about these things.

But this event, all by its lonesome, was definitely not what I had in mind.

"[Friend] has invited you to Hit the Slopes - Private Event - Saturday, December 11 at 12:30 PM..."

So I have nothing better to do on this particular Saturday, but I really don't want to go skiing. And here's why:

Fourteen years ago, I lost my skiing virginity. I signed up for a class trip with the Ski Club (yes, we actually had one of those) because I figured I might as well try it. Some friends of mine were with me at the time, and we signed up for the whole package, with skis, poles, shoes, and lessons. (On a side note, why would people sign up for packages without some of these components... like getting skis without poles?) What my friends neglected to tell me until we got there was they were already somewhat experienced skiers. We can totally skip the lessons, they said. We'll teach you everything we know, they said.

You can already tell where this is going.

First, I fell off the ski lift. Fortunately, there wasn't too much of a distance to fall at that point. And then the ski lift seat decided I was in the way and pushed me until I fell down into the fake snow. Great start already!

Somehow I got up and slowly walked (as best as beginners with skis can walk) around to face the bunny slope ahead. And stopped and stared.

See, my "friends" never actually planned on teaching me anything they knew, and I should've foreseen that from the way they didn't help me get up from falling off the damn lift. So I watched them all slowly go down, only having time to yell out, "It's easyyyyy!"

Except when I shrugged my shoulders and proceeded to push off, I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I managed to get down the first hill of the 3 part slope before
"WATCH OUT!!!!!"

I had collided with a snowboarder. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" The snowboarder barely uttered an "it's okay" before going off again, leaving me to figure out how to get up. Somehow I managed to get up to my knees before I started to go again, this time unplanned.

WHOOSH. I slid right next to another woman sitting on the ground. Without looking up at me she asked, "First time." "Yeah," and we sat in silence, pondering the color of the sky and the artificial snow. Her husband/boyfriend/significant other/friend approached to persuade her to get up and start enjoying herself, until he spotted me, just sitting there awkwardly. We re-established that it was indeed my first time, and went over a few details to confirm this was in fact the case. Finally he helped me up and gave me the lessons my "friends" never could.

Once up, I thanked him and moved down. That was the glorious part of the evening. Until I paid more attention to my feet than my direction and had to plop down again. This time I was too close to the edge and had no choice, unless I wanted several bad injuries.

Unfortunately, the nice gentleman didn't teach me how to get up, so I spent what seemed like 20 years trying to figure it out myself. In retrospect, I would've loved to see how this must have looked to an ...onlooker. A young girl sitting down on the ground, focused intensely on moving her feet around and around, as if doing so would somehow make her fly to her feet. Or something. Whatever, it was probably amusing.

But being the adolescent that I was, I soon found some of the popular kids from my grade approaching. Thinking all too quickly, I busied myself with the scene behind me, as if trying to look for one of them "friends." Why I would be sitting down looking for them still escapes me.

When they walked away, I turned and finally spotted one of those "friends" on the lift. I shouted her name as loudly as I was capable of doing, and she squinted her eyes and blankly waved. After another brief struggle with my skis and feet, I spotted and yelled out another "friend's" name along with the word help until she began to clomp over.

This is the best part, so keep listening.

I was probably down for about 20-30 minutes. There was a lady in yellow standing near me the entire time, occasionally giving me the glance-over. When my "friend" began to clomp over, this lady came over and asked, "You need help?" and got me up in two seconds.

Lesson learned: Never go skiing again.

Or should I? What do you think? Think I could've done things differently? Let me know below.

New & Improved

I never did understand where that phrase came from. "New and improved"? How can something be both new and improved. Improved implies that it was something likely dated that needed some fixing up. And new means that it was just created, and probably doesn't need to be improved...yet. So...what does it mean anyway?

Well, for our purposes, I'll just give you a brief introduction, and where I hope to go. My name is Florence and I was the co-founder of Penception, a blog site where writers posted daily and wrote such things as movie reviews, sports game recaps, and even such things as male vs. female debates. We sat down and planned everything about Penception, ever since the idea was born some time in late 2009. After running with it for awhile, we worked through designs, setting up accounts, and seeing if anyone was remotely interested in hearing what we had to say.

Unfortunately not every good idea is successful. We ran into a few problems, eventually leading to a shut down of the site, and only a few remaining members still on board. Finally, after much thought and consideration, I was still itching to write and wanted to do something about it, even if I may not get the audience we initially wanted.

So that's where we are now. Maybe this won't be a full time thing, or maybe it will. Maybe I'll have 100 followers...or just one. Wherever the path leads, I don't care. I'm writing for the sake of writing and I'm going to put in my best efforts to keep it updated almost daily.

So what is this blog going to be about? I have no idea. Maybe I'll do the same thing I tried to do with the other site, or maybe this will just be my thoughts. I guess I'll just have to see where this leads. And hopefully if you've read up to here, you will too!

So first thing's first. My name is Florence, and this is my blog. Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy!