Ultimate 5: Favourite Things, Right Now

1. Eee PC

Love, love, love. It's small and mighty, it's white and pearly, it runs Linux, weighs less than 3 lbs., connects to wireless networks, starts and shuts down in seconds, allows me to word process in small places, AND is supercute. It's especially useful for blogging before bed, trying out new online recipes by taking up minimal space in the kitchen, and using Skype to talk to my parents. Its webcam and mic are much less fuss than my desktop.

I could not have gotten through my last semester without it, and now I often take it with me - it fits in a lot of my purses - to the coffee shop, on weekend trips, to the bead store when I need to match something I only have a picture of. I literally balanced my Eee in one hand and my bead tray in the other one day last week. I dropped it off my desk once in class, while it was open and running, and it's perfectly fine because it has a flash drive. So I don't worry too much about packing it around with me, whereas I might be more careful with a MacBook - which I hope to get when my desktop packs it in.

Because my Eee PC is so light and shiny-white, I have named her Bubbles. I thought this suited it as much as GIR suits my slower, bulkier, WinXP desktop - see Nickelodeon's Invader Zim if you don't get the reference. Bubbles, however, has nothing to do with Powerpuff Girls - I just thought it was cute. It's certainly no sillier than saying Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!PC.

A picture of GIR!

2. Pencil Skirts

I have two right now - a chocolate brown wool blend with a modest slit at the back and seaming in the front; and a black satiny high-waisted one with embroidery near the waistline and a beautifully pleated kickpleat. I wore the brown one out dancing last Monday, and since there wasn't enough space to Lindy, I didn't have any trouble moving in it for blues and West Coast. I felt sophisticated and fabulous. I wore it again this morning for my interview.

The black one was a gift from my mom from Italy. I've worn it to my grad luncheon, and now to Angie's recent show at Habit. I found this great wedgewood-blue top to wear with it, and paired them with another gift from "The Mom," black slouchy ankle boots. Being able to tuck the top into the skirt showed off the embroidery, and I am trying to get over the fear of connecting high waists to the 80s and my penchant for tucking and re-tucking my shirts in while in elementary school and junior high.
I want more pencil skirts, but since my skirts far outweigh the pants in my closet, I think I will have to hold back. Including the pencil skirt, I have six black skirts, nevermind the other ones!

3. Veronica Mars

Jody and I have been watching this for the past two months, thanks to Alf & Laura, who hooked us up with burned DVDs. We only have eight episodes left! It was so difficult not to watch any without Jody when he was away for two weeks last month. Some weekends we've watched half a dozen shows. I don't know what we'll do when it's over and we have to go back to cable. I watch TLC, and Ellen, but in the evenings and on weekends there isn't much to see. We caught an old Bond flick last Sunday (Her Majesty's Secret Service) which was very sad, and then Jody found a remake of Knight Rider, which was pretty awful. "The Hoff" only makes a brief cameo at the end, so we couldn't even laugh at him for an hour and a half.

Back to Mars. It is odd to see Charisma Carpenter and Alyson Hannigan on the same show again, having watched them together on Buffy. There was a single episode that featured Rider Strong, too, and I thought he'd dropped off the face of the earth after my teen years. (Then again, he didn't show much improvement, so no wonder he was only in the one episode!) Leighton Meester, who now plays Blair on Gossip Girl, showed up in some early episodes. And now Kristen Bell narrates Gossip Girl... It's a shame it got cancelled, but at least it wasn't the end for Bell. She does have great timing, and her character's reliance on favours, gadgets, quick thinking and friends-as-resources makes for an interesting show. I hope it gets somewhat tied up at the end of season three so I'm not left wondering what happens - though Jody and I have formed some theories, we aren't positive where it's going. What we do know is that it's engaging enough to make me think about it as I fall asleep some nights, which is more than I can say for a lot of shows that have come out in the last few years.

And yes, I'm still undecided about Logan.

4. CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara

Awesome. Really. I have been wearing either Rimmel or Clinique mascara since I left high school, and I have to say, Lash Blast is both cheap and effective. Its tube is bright orange and happy in the morning, I barely ever manage to clump my lashes, and it doesn't make them go all spidery either. The brush looks really weird, but it works (though if you're looking for one to curl your lashes, look elsewhere). If you're looking for a basic daytime mascara, give it a try. I'm pretty sure it comes in waterproof now too.

5. Soy Hazelnut Lattes

I ordered a hazelnut americano a few weeks ago and got this by mistake. It was a very happy mistake, because I was in a rut. Now, I cycle between these, americanos, and chai - unless I'm at Habit, where they make wicked boonahs and vanilla lattes. And now that my S-bux card is registered, I get free soy and hazelnut when I pay with it - which saves me 80 cents! Very exciting. I don't mind paying for the extras at Habit because their coffee - whatever I order - is always wonderful, but S-bux has been hit or miss lately. The hazelnut latte does a lot to perk me up, and it's great writing fuel!