2012

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Frugal Festivities

December 12, 2012 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Christmas this year will be very lean as far as presents go. I’ve realized that I can’t even spend money on my family or boyfriend this year because of my current financial situation. It’s unfortunate. So I’m trying to be creative with presents. Making things instead of buying. I hope they still mean a lot to the recipients and bring them just as much joy as an actual purchased gift. I can’t say any specifics on what I’m doing though, since Spike reads this blog, but I’m definitely putting the most effort of all into his presents. I’m almost done for him, but then I have to work on everyone else’s.

I can’t even afford to throw a Christmas party this year, which I really was hoping to do. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe I’ll do one in mid-January to bring in the new year and such.

The good news is that we’ve worked out the family stuff so that my family will have dinner on Sunday with Spike. Then on Christmas Eve, I’ll have a half day at work, then Spike and I will drive to PA to see his family. I’m really excited to see everyone and give presents to his niece and nephew. Then we’ll come back late Christmas day from PA after a lovely dinner with his parents.

Hoping it all goes smoothly…

Oh, and Spike swapped for the iPhone 5. I am happy.

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Phone vs. Phone

November 30, 2012 in Mindpieces | Permalink

 

image from gadgetreview.com

Recently I’ve been having a war within myself about something that seems stupid and shallow from any outside viewpoint. It has no good reasoning and is absolutely preposterous, and yet I can’t change my viewpoint on it. It’s based on the iPhone versus the Samsung S3, or really any non-iPhone.

Basically, Spike has been wanting a new phone. Though really he just wants to be on Verizon instead of AT&T. But since he’s switching, he needs to trade in his iPhone 4S for something else. He doesn’t want the iPhone 5 so he’s going non-iPhone. The Samsung Galaxy S3. At first I was confused as to why he would make that choice. But after a lot of talking, it made a bit of sense. And he wanted to try something new. He’s totally entitled to that. Better a new phone than a new girlfriend, I suppose. Sigh.

Finally we talked details and I told him that objectively I agree with his reasoning to get the S3. I don’t like it. I’m totally unhappy about it. But it’s his decision and it’s his phone. And I’m not gonna be the girl that says “if you don’t do what I want, I’ll break up with you” because that’s just asinine.

So today he went and bought the S3. It marks the end of iMessaging with him, or potentially playing games together, and completely destroys any hope of FaceTiming each other to say goodnight or something. I don’t like texting with my phone when I’m at work and iMessage alleviated that problem. Since it is on my computer, I just type on my keyboard like normal and it doesn’t take as long. I know we can use Skype instead and that’s good, but it’s not as good. It also means that whenever I finally get my app done for iTunes, he won’t be able to play it on his phone. He’ll have to use his iPad at home. A small thing, but still.

I’m terrified that it’ll create a technological wedge in the relationship and eventually tear us apart. Not that the iPhone is the only thing holding us together, because I’ll love him regardless of his phone. I just worry about these things. Maybe it’s just me being paranoid, I don’t know. What I do know is that I was very upset and a bit shaky when he first told me in a serious way that he wanted to make the switch. I couldn’t control it.

One of my big things that I look for in a boyfriend is a love of Apple products, which includes using an iPhone. It’s weird. It’s shallow. It might be a little crazy. But I’ve never gotten along with people better than I do with iPhone people. My closest friends and coworkers use iPhones or at least Macs. He’ll still have an iPad and a MacBook Pro, but it’s not the same. I’m a techno-snob I guess. To me, dating a guy without an iPhone is like dating a guy who doesn’t eat chocolate. Or something. You get the point. I just know that I am automatically attracted to men that have iPhones. Or it certainly adds to any attraction that had been there in the first place. It’s one of the things that pulled me to Spike. He’s an Apple guy. He likes Apple products and uses them everyday. I absolutely loved that about him. I thought he was more of an Apple enthusiast than he actually is, but that’s okay. Fanaticism is not a requirement. Just knowing and admitting that Apple is better than Windows is good enough.

Anyway, he says he’ll try out the S3 for awhile and if he doesn’t like it, then maybe he’ll switch to an iPhone again. I don’t even know which way I want it to go.

Really, I just want him to be happy.

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Haircut Success

November 19, 2012 in Mindpieces | Permalink

The haircut was a success. Very cute and it works. Everyone at the belated Halloween party last night thought it was cute. I also had it faux-hawked all day. I had the stylist do it and it stayed up and spiked all day and night. Very cool. This morning it looked like a mixture of bed head and intentional spikes. Not sure if I can do anything spiky or hawked for work though. But regardless, it’s super soft because of the texturing that the stylist did, which is awesome.

The party last night was a lot of fun. Most people came costumed, as requested. Many also brought shareables, which is always awesome. The DrunkScience portion of the evening was in the form of Pictionary. At the beginning of the night, the group solved 21 words in 5 minutes. Two hours later, that number decreased to 16 in 5 minutes. Obviously the alcohol had an effect on the group’s guessing and the abilities of the drawer (me). To make this a better experiment, I should have remained sober the whole time. But what fun would that have been? Heh. As it was, the party was great and everyone seems to have had a good time. Though I was exhausted by 2am and was the first to fall asleep. It happens.

Spike and I were laying around all day today relaxing and watching Psych. He had to go to work so I continued without him for awhile. But then got bored and played some Borderlands 2. Got bored with that pretty quickly too and now I’m back to Psych. I don’t know why I’ve had such a short attention span for things recently. That or I just feel blah and don’t want to do anything at all. The feeling is resurfacing so I think I’ll just go to bed now. Goodnight all.

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Haircut Hopes

November 17, 2012 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Last night we worked on getting Spike’s new apartment looking like a real apartment and not a storage unit full of boxes. I helped by alphabetizing his DVDs because I’m crazy like that. I also put little felt footies on things so that his hardwood floor doesn’t get all scratched up from chairs sliding and such.

Now I’m sitting at the hair salon waiting for my turn. For the first time in my life, I’m early for a haircut appointment. I’ve been coming to the same girl a couple times now and haven’t been let down yet. But I’m getting it cut even shorter than before so we’ll see how this goes.

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Catchup 2012

November 16, 2012 in Mindpieces | Permalink

A whole lot has happened since last I posted with any sort of frequency. I have a new boyfriend, again. And we’ve been together for almost 8 months. It’s the best relationship I’ve ever had, so it definitely has promise. Spike even lived with me for a little bit in-between his leases and we got along really well. I’m kinda sad that he’s moved out now, though it’s nice to have my own space again. I do miss having him around all the time though.

I have a new job, and a side job too. I’ve been an Illustrator at a patent drawing company for almost a year now. It’s going great and my coworkers are all pretty cool. I’ve even made some decent friends that hang with me outside of work. I just got a side job doing WordPress and webmaster duties  for a woman near BWI, but that’s just a part-time gig and hasn’t grossed much work just yet. Our schedules have both been crazy busy as of late, so neither of us has had time to get together and work. I’ve also been doing a lot of tech support work on the side as well, but that’s basically over now since she bought a Mac Mini and won’t be having as many problems as when she had a PC.

Spike just moved into his new apartment and is very happy to have his own space. I’m gonna go over and visit tonight and see what he’s done with the place in just a week of unpacking. We got him a nice little table from Kmart on Saturday, so at least I know there’s somewhere to eat other than the recliners. Heh. It will be nice to have a night together without Thomas being underfoot and such all evening. Knocking things over and getting in the way and trying to eat our food.

Well, I’m off to grab a few things before heading over to Spike’s place. Hopefully it won’t be so long between posts anymore. Sigh. Though I’ve said that before.

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Election 2012

November 8, 2012 in Mindpieces | 1 comment

The election is finally over. HUZZAH! No more campaign ads! No more pressure! No more awful Facebook arguments clogging up my news feed!

The things I was hoping for all happened, so that’s awesome. Especially Question 6. Very glad that Maryland has legalized gay marriage. Way to go MD! I have many friends who are looking forward to the prospect of officially marrying their significant other now that it’s legalized. This is just one step along the road to really change America.

Also, immensely happy that Romney didn’t win, just because he’s a dolt. We picked the lesser of two evils, really.

I’m not gonna go on a rant about politics because, well, no one wants that. Also, lazy. So in closing, I just wanted to share my political stance: Vote Brony. 20% Cooler than those other guys.

Vote Brony 2012

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New Sites

November 5, 2012 in Uncategorized | Permalink

Check out my new portfolio site: http://jenndahlke.com/ and the site for my D&D Campaign: http://blog.datapike.com/dnd.

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Also, it was Chris Hardwick

January 3, 2012 in Mindpieces | Permalink

This post could also be called: How A Book Saved My Life.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t just the cat. It was also ArtPunk, and through him, Chris Hardwick.

During my lowest times of depression, ArtPunk kept telling me to listen to an audiobook by Chris Hardwick, and I kept blowing him off with things like “I’ve never heard of him, so how can he help me?” (which was the STUPIDEST thought ever) and “I can’t listen to audiobooks and get anything out of them” (which was wrong).

Then I started my new job. And I needed something to listen to while working besides pandora. Music was beginning to bore me. That’s when I thought about the audiobook he mentioned and thought “Meh, what the heck? It’s worth a listen.” And the next few days were amazing.

As I listened to this book, called The Nerdist Way, it really sank into my head and hit me deep inside. It was probably one of  the best decisions I’ve ever made about a book. It literally changed my outlook on life. I was laughing along with it and really analyzing myself and my thoughts. It really made me think about the way I’ve handled things in my life. And the day I finished it was absolutely amazing.

I left work that day feeling like I could take on the world. And maybe win. I was so incredibly happy and felt like things were finally going my way. For the first time in a long time, I felt like everything was going to be ok and I was going to make it. I realized that things would eventually get better. I learned to enjoy the good things while they last, but without stressing about when they’re going to end. I learned to enjoy my burrito. I resolved to not take the easy way out. All because of this book.

The Nerdist Way is a phenomenal book that saved my life and all nerds and geeks should read it. Chris Hardwick and his humor really hit home for me and I think it will for many others who grew up awkward and socially inept, and even those who didn’t. He talks about making a character tome to keep track of your achievements and goals. It serves as a motivator and is kind of like D&D. ArtPunk and I are starting ours together.

Also, you should listen to his podcast, The Nerdist, free on iTunes. It’s full of humor and it’s “amaze-balls”. I listen to it at work and I’m on episode 50 already. He even does live versions of the podcast for audiences around the country, one of which I am attending THIS VERY NIGHT in DC. With ArtPunk. Cuz he’s awesome. I’m hoping to get our books signed by Hardwick tonight. Funny story about that too: I bought him the hardback copy of The Nerdist Way for Christmas and he bought me one too. Best present exchange ever. Then I gave him a graph paper moleskine notebook for his birthday for his character tome. I have a matching one that’s lined. The biggest geeks.

So yes the cat saved my life while I was deep in depression, but it was also ArtPunk and Chris Hardwick. I realize that I may have glossed over ArtPunk’s involvement in my recent life in my last post, but I was in a very bad place right then. Hating the holidays and all. But he really was there for me and tried to help me through all of it. I just wasn’t too receptive of his help. Which I regret. He’s been through a lot of crap with me ever since we met in freshman year of college, and I am unabashedly grateful for it. I just don’t know how to show him that all the time. Which makes me seem like a jerk occasionally. But he understands, because we’re both not the best socially and he knows I don’t say everything I should. And sometimes I say a lot of things I shouldn’t.

But anyway, I’m really excited to see Chris Hardwick in person tonight. I doubt I’ll get a hug like I did from Schaffer when I saw him in DC, but it’ll still be awesome. And I will enjoy that burrito. So much.

Chris Hardwick. ArtPunk. I heart you.

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