Looking Forward to Being Roommate-less

After living with roommates for all of college, I can't wait to live alone. I'm sure there are positive things roommates have to offer (like killing scary bugs, dealing with work orders, and eating leftovers I don't want) but at the moment the benefits don't seem to outweigh the drawbacks of living with other people. So here's what I look forward to when living alone:

1. I'll finally know what everything in the fridge is and how long it's been there.

2. The Disney channel will no longer be playing 24/7 on my TV in the living room.

3. All the furniture will (hopefully) actually match. And not be cheap antiques from three different families.

4. I will be able to eat any of the food in the apartment and use any of the dishes. These dishes will also actually be clean.

5. No one will try to cram pizza boxes into the tiny trash can.

6. The wireless will be properly encrypted and have a sensible password and I will be able to reach the router when there are problems.

7. No one will have to listen to me talk to myself and I won't have to listen to anyone else talk to themselves. Also I won't have to keep my voice down when talking to other people or doing other things.

8. No one will walk into my room to talk to me when I am clearly just chillin' in my room.

Inappropriate Email Addresses

Gmail does not like them.

When signing up for a new Gmail account you can enter your desired address and check its availability. However, if you enter an "inappropriate" word in your username, it gives you this:

Sorry, we are unable to present username suggestions at this time.

I find this fascinating.

Why I Think Disney Is A Cult

I remember enjoying Disneyland and Disney movies greatly when I was a child, but recently my trips have left me a little disillusioned. I'll admit, this might be because...

1. I now have to pay for my own tickets, which sucks....
2. When you've been on 5 million roller coasters at places where the only thing the coasters have going for them is speed and how many loops they have, rides like Thunder Mountain lose their thrill.
3. I'm now old enough that I don't enjoy being banged about on roller coasters that were built ages ago.
   
4. For being the happiest place on earth, I see a lot of unhappy people at Disneyland.
   

I remember back when Disneyland was just a bunch of fun rides, back when there were fish on strings in the Yellow Submarine ride and no one had ever thought about turning Pirates of the Caribbean into a movie. It seemed like Disney was more interested in providing genuine fun - not continuously promoting other Disney products.

This shows up in more areas than just around Disneyland. The Disney classics (like Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, etc.) have been mass marketed so much that I'm actually afraid to see any of the sequels, TV shows, or toys based on them just because they'll corrupt the childhood memories I have of when a movie was just a movie, not a ploy to steal all your money.

So here's my comparison to a cult:

What are they selling?
"Magic" - If you've ever seen Fantasmic or the fireworks show you know what I'm talking about.

What do they want from you?
It's all about money baby.

Where's the harm?
Well if you don't mind that they're corrupting children with the never-ending permutations of Disney products just begging to be bought and stealing all your money... then there is none.

I know a lot of people that are obsessed with Disneyland and will hear none of this, but every time I go and every time I see the newest version of some Disney title I used to enjoy, I cry a little bit inside. At Disneyland in particular I see a lot of people trying to buy into the "magic" and the "happiness" of it all, but when there is nearly a riot trying to get on the tram back to the parking lot, you see what's really underneath it all.

Facebook Suggestions

My thoughts exactly.

XKCD, thank you for expressing this so well.

Facebook needs to stop this ridiculousness. There is a reason I don't talk to these people. I do not need to "reconnect" with them. Piss off.

"Authentification"

THIS WORD DOES NOT EXIST.

Yes, I am yelling at all of you that say this. The correct word is authentication.

Definition:
1. A security measure designed to protect a communications system against acceptance of a fraudulent transmission or simulation by establishing the validity of a transmission, message, or originator.
2. A means of identifying individuals and verifying their eligibility to receive specific categories of information.
3. Evidence by proper signature or seal that a document is genuine and official.
- The Free Dictionary

Seriously, Google it. "Authentification" is most likely a combination of authentication and identification. It is not an actual word and there is no form of the word authentication that includes an f anywhere. Think you read it somewhere? Either the person who wrote it was an idiot or YOU ARE PRONOUNCING IT WRONG. Au-then-ti-cation. THERE IS NO F!

Never Say "I Love You" First?

So, this article from AskMen.com pissed me off. Primarily because it is either total BS or solely aimed towards men in relationships with women who like to be smacked down all the time.

Always let the woman bring up the "L" word first, and don't echo it back until you've had some extended time in with her.

Yeah, this is a great way to make a girl feel vulnerable and unwanted. If you feel it, you should say it because girls are in relationships for love. Have you never heard the saying that girls give sex for love and guys give love for sex? It's probably true for most people. If she's put her feelings out there, don't leave her hanging.

Men primarily need to have the experience of being accepted by a woman, while women primarily need to have the experience of having to wonder if the guy whom they are interested in, really likes them or not, and to what degree.

Really? I can't speak for what a man needs, but wondering if a guy likes her or not will drive a girl crazy. What a woman really wants is a little attention and some fun. If she doesn't know you're at least a little interested she probably won't waste her time.

So don't tell her you love her too soon and she'll love you more and sooner than you think. And by the way, don't attempt to verify this fact with women because, more often than not, they will deny it and will only confuse you even more.

All I have to say is "Ha ha ha ha ha."

...it takes at least two months to begin to know someone well enough to have any real sense as to whether they are lifetime partner material, or just someone to party with.

This I do actually agree on. If you're this far into a relationship in just 2 months you probably should step back and take a breather. Make sure you mean what you say and you understand what loving someone entails. Love is complicated and jumping in too fast can kill what would have been a great relationship. So think for a while before you say anything. Remember you can't take back something you've said, but you can always say "I love you." And don't forget to think for a moment which you'll regret more: saying those words, or missing the chance to do so.

Stingrays

I just really wanted to write something about stingrays because they are awesome.

They are naturally very curious but flee from danger and are unlikely to hurt people unless provoked - this most often happens when they are stepped on.

There are about 70 species of stingrays. The largest freshwater stringray ever was caught in Thailand and weighted about 770 pounds and was about 7 feet wide, with a 10 foot long stinger. The largest salt water ray ever may have weighed around 3,000 pounds and was about 16 feet wide.

Stingrays are often seen by divers and snorkelers in shallow sandy water, often in warm locations. We saw some while snorkeling off of Catalina and they were very cool and quite large. Lots of aquariums and places like Sea World have stingrays with their stingers removed that people can pet. They are soft and slippery feeling and like being fed small fish. Petting stingrays is awesome. Try it.

On another random note, I think my first Beanie Baby was a stingray. It looked something like this stingray, except is much more worn now.