New Year's Eve Party Glasses for 2011 (Guest)

Did you think these glasses were really going to disappear any time soon? Sara is here to tell you all about how they're not going anywhere!


A longtime favorite New Year's tradition is wearing a pair of glasses in the shape of the New Year being celebrated. The glasses originated in the early 1990s, when they were sold in Times Square. They quickly grew popular during the 1990s, and were a common sight during the 2000s. Of course, making New Year's Eve party glasses was a lot easier for these initial decades, when the lenses could simply be inserted in the two nines or zeroes of the New Year. 2010 was a little more challenging, but a quick solution was found. All that designers needed to do was shift the glasses to the right a smidgen and use the number one as a nosepiece. Now that 2011 is around the corner, making New Year's party glasses is a lot trickier. Manufacturers initially struggled with the task of making a fashionable pair of glasses from the number 2011, but it looks like they have pulled it off.

Glasses Designs

Designers took a variety of routes when creating glasses for 2011. Many chose to insert one lens in the only zero of 2011, and the second lens in the first one. This design works out okay, as long as the numbers are wide and rectangular shaped. Another common design consists of one lens in the zero and the other in between the zero and the first one. This style is more accommodating for rounded numbers than the boxier version with the lens in the one.

Increase in Demand

In spite of the slightly awkward new shape of the New Year's Eve party glasses, the demand for these accessories is higher than ever. Like confetti and Auld Lang Sign, donning New Year's party glasses has become an important tradition for partygoers. The astronomical sale of these glasses in past years is one of the reasons that manufacturers were so devoted to coming up with a working design for 2011. And the glasses aren’t just used for New Year's Eve anymore. Turns out, these glasses are also very popular with high school and college graduates who wear them to their graduation parties.

It is a good thing that the manufacturers were so determined to come out with a new design because there were many who thought the odds were against them. Many people began mourning the end of New Year's Eve party glasses already in 2009. And they did so again in 2010. But as we now know, as long as the glasses remain popular, designers will find a way to make them work each year.

Sara Roberts is a content contributor for Just Eyewear, a prescription eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses retailer.

English is a silly language

There is no egg in the eggplant,
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England,
French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted, but if we examine its paradoxes we find that:
Quicksand takes you down slowly,
Boxing rings are square,
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If writers write, how come fingers don't fing?
If the plural of tooth is teeth,
Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth?
If the teacher taught,
Why hasn't the preacher praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
What the heck does a humanitarian eat?
Why do people recite at a play,
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways?
How can the weather be as hot as hell on one day
And as cold as hell on another?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language where a house can burn up as it burns down,
And in which you fill in a form
By filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes!

English was invented by people, not computers,
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course isn't a race at all.)

That is why:
When the stars are out they are visible,
But when the lights are out they are invisible.
And why it is that when I wind up my watch
It starts,
But when I wind up this poem
It ends.

*This was emailed to me without a source, so if anyone knows the author, let me know so I can credit him/her.

5 Funny, Strange and Overall Crazy Garage Sale Signs

This is a guest post by Annie Wallace, a mommy blogger who prefers to save money by clicking coupons. Her favorite site to find best coupons online is Coupon Sherpa - check out this page listing Snapfish coupons as an example.

It may be winter, but Spring is just around the corner. The habitual overhaul of our worldly possessions has become a rather traditional part of the changing season in the West, getting rid of all of the bunk that drove us crazy during the long days of November - February, and to make room for the gifts received during the holidays.

Along with that Spring cleaning craze comes the joint donation-selling part of the deal, which can only mean one thing: garage sales. Whether you are a newcomer to the fundamentals of bargaining for a $4 toaster, or you are a seasoned veteran who can battle up a customer up to $25 for an broken umbrella (a fixer-upper, I'm sure!), don't be like the people below and screw up when it comes to the sign. You can bet these babies are sure to catch the wrong kind of attention.

1. Garage Sale Fence Sign

Nothing says "We've been drinking heavily since dawn" like a garage sale sign made of plastic cups stuck in a fence.

On a serious note, did you know that "Cuprocking" (creating masterpieces using plastic cups stuck in chain link fence) is the form of modern street art? I don't know who actually coined the term but of you search Flickr, you'll find wonderful examples!

While in some situations this technique is known as a form of street art, and it can be a fun activity for the kids, you might want to stick with the better known fliers next time. Cool or not, it's still litter.

2. Brand New Dead Things

Well tie me down and beat me with a meat club! Look at that ma, they are sellin' brand new dead things! You just have to love such an enticing method of drawing the crowds to roadkill for sale, and if this was meant to be tongue-in-cheek it is pretty funny. That doesn't mean I would personally be seen speeding my car to get first dibs of the mangled skunk carcass.

3. Too Weird to Be Sold

A weird sign at a garage sale apparently dedicated to selling weird things. At least they are being consistent. Though maybe it would have been a better idea to pop those behind a crate next to the lawn chairs you're swilling beer and counting money from, rather than displaying them where someone could mistake them for merchandise.

4. Awesome Yard Sale!

Remember what your mother always told you: honesty is the best policy. If you don't truly have a yard sale that is going to have the neighborhood talking for years, the vocab downgrade is probably a good idea. But why be so hard on yourself? That mediocre glass isn't half empty, it is half full! Gather together some fireworks, put in an open bar, hire a mariachi band and make this the most kick ass garage sale/neighborhood block party ever!

5. A Better Way to Advertise?

I can totally respect using lingerie to bring the masses running to your selection of broken Atari controllers and maternity pants, really I can. But if you are going to go with the "sex sells" adage, couldn't you have at the very least used a few bras that don't look like my 80-year-old bought for their feisty color and great support? This is the kind of underwear you would be ashamed to be seen in.

Lizard-happiness

This is the perfect example of why I end up making such a quirky girlfiend. I totally relate to this and yet, I know based on past experience and what other people tell me, this isn't normal. Not at all.

It also wasn't normal when I sent my boyfriend a couple potatoes with dramatic cartoon faces drawn on them along with this picture:

Unfortunately, I have a twisted sense of romance and that was likely the most "romantic" thing I've ever done. I feel sorry for my partner if I ever end up getting married. Somebody help him, lol.

Doing it Long Distance- Tips for the Young LDR Couples (Guest)

Another guest post here from Jennifer. It's not the quirkiest of posts, but it is good info. :) Remember, if you have something quirky to share, shoot me an email.

Ninety percent of communication comes from body language, facial expression, energy you unwittingly throw, and tone of voice- and the basis of a relationship depends largely on physical energy- I don’t care who says otherwise.

Words are simply detail modifiers in an otherwise visual and energy based communication. Knowing this, it becomes clear just how dangerous communication can be in long distance relationships- especially if you’re both young and happen to be going out drinking with friends.

We all know phone calls after nights like those, in long distance relationships, generally don’t end well.
If “forced” into long distance communication (and I use the term “forced” loosely, because we really have a choice even if we don’t like to think so), there are factors that must be taken into account when using email and text.

Communication with loving intent must be a priority- that means no yelling, typing in all caps asking WHAT ARE YOU DOING AT THE BAR THIS LATE? or incessant phone calls when it’s clear they are out with friends.

1. Language base is critical.
If you are English speaking, dating another English speaking person, don’t be fooled into thinking you may not be talking two completely different languages to each other. The lack of tonal qualities, emoticons are critical. 

It may seem silly. It’s not. A single sentence that can be taken either as a joke or as an insult can take weeks to repair the long distance emotional damage caused by misunderstanding intent.
That also means no flat answers like: “Yeah. I’m fine.” (Said in monotone).
Don’t do it.

2. Add language differences into the pot and you have a stew ready to blow.
Are you an English speaking person dating someone from say…Borneo… who speaks English as a third language? No slang. No contractions. No exceptions. 

That will avoid a myriad of potential blowouts. In particular, English uses single words for multiple meanings unlike most other languages, leaving the foreign mate in total confusion over your true intent.
Subtle innuendos that Americans catch immediately will blow over the head of a foreigner. 

You know what you are saying and what you feel when you type. Your partner does not. Make your intent clear or risk being sworn at in another language.

3. Avoid, at all cost, having conversations of an emotional nature in text.
It will fail you every time. This one act will destroy a relationship before it even gets off the ground.

All personal conversations that have the potential to carry emotional responses must be on the phone and should be face to face whenever possible. That means if you’re having a “I can’t do this anymore” moment after 5 shots, do not text your partner frantically. 

You’ll regret it in the morning- trust me. Think it over, or wait until you’re in person and face to face.

4. Do not depend on written language as your main mode of communication.
It is altogether lacking of human affect. Your relationship is with a living being, not a computer screen.
Call her a few times a week. Laugh and have fun. Tease her in loving ways. Hear each other’s voices regularly and communicate daily.

5. Go out of your way to be extra kind to one another.
Long distance relationships are painful and can leave each partner hurting for attention. Extra kindness may not be needed during a normal relationship. Long distance is not normal. 
6. Taking turns visiting each other.
If you want this relationship to last, you must see one another face to face as often as humanly possible. 

That means that your partner is the number one force in your life. No exclusions. Keep the budget car rental coupons handy. You will be traveling. 
7. Make a habit of sending little notes of love.
This can be as simple as a single smiley face in text on the cell phone at intermittent times of day. Keep them unexpected and fun. Don’t feel ashamed about being so romantic either. It’ll be kept between you and her. 
8. Finally, no sarcasm, ever!
You are attempting to move ninety percent of communication into a ten percent mode. This takes effort, humor, open love and a willingness to go overboard in understanding your mate’s needs.
You love him, right? That being the case, make it your priority, no matter how far away you are from each other.

CAPTCHA art - My soup is too soupy

 

There's an entire page full of images like this where people have taken their CAPTCHA (those annoying word verifications you have to do on lots of sites) into cartoons. Some are sort of duds but a lot of them are hiliarious. Love it! Lol.

Could've been a love story...

Here's a great example of how online interactions often times mute what we really mean or want to say. In the video above, it's a very sad thing....but it's not always bad if people are more careful with what they type. :P

Oh, and tell somebody how you feel. After all, tis the season...?

Reasons not to bring a camel to church

This is reason number 1...

100 tricks to make Google work for you & save time

Google Tricks

Read it yourself and then pass it on to any students you may know. The tips are good for everyone, but especially great for students who are going to be asked to a variety of different things they wouldn't otherwise do, like a timeline search or limit results only to scholar papers.

Don't trust the media

It's been said a million times over, but it's always worth the reminder. It's quite ironic that I have a degree in Journalism, tooks tons of classes on how to avoid bias, etc, and by default of wanting to continue in the media field, should be very supportive of media.....will be one of the first to remind you to not trust it. Ever. Heh. It's my responsibility to make sure you can trust my word and what I write, and yet, I'd tell you not to, yikes.

Anyway, here's a quick example of how there are always other sides to the story and even basic facts should be question. Always, always question the "facts." 

CPR for cats and dogs - And fish apparently...

CPR for Cats and Dogs

It's very similar to CPR for humans, however, this page lists how many compressions per minute you should be doing, etc. It only takes a minute to read and who knows when it might actually come in handy?

Goldfish CPR story time:

I can say that I've never thought about needing to get my cat or dog mouth-to-mouth, but I can say that my mom used to do similar CPR to a fish we had on a regular basis. He was black moor who had an obsession with the blue rocks that were mixed into his tank's gravel. Even though we tried to remove most of the blue rocks and would cover up the bottom with as many large flat rocks, plants, etc, he would still hunt them out every so often.

And when this happened, he would choke. The blue rocks were bigger than the others and would wedge into his little fishy lips, blocking off his airway (well, his, uh, waterway....regardless, couldn't get water through :P). Belly up he'd go, gasping and sputtering. As soon as we'd notice it, my mom would reach in and try to dislodge it with her fingernail, but most times he'd suck it in too far and she'd have to carefully wedge and wiggle it out with a toothpick.

You can imagine how difficult this would be and I can vividly recall her cursing at him as she'd plunge him back in water, hoping he'd get enough water in to keep breathing a bit longer while she worked ever so carefully not to tear his lips with the toothpick. When she'd finally get it, he'd want to just lay in her hand in the water. I couldn't sworn we lost him on numerous occasions, but there she'd be, gently squeezing his sides, forcing the water in and out when he was too weak to do it himself, and sure enough, a while later, he'd be up and swimming like normal.

Until the next time he'd go belly up...

Tattoo customer screams like crazy

Ugh, she really has to be the worst tattoo customer ever. I'll warn you now before it even starts to turn down your volume and try not to cringe as she starts whining. There's no blood or gore or awfulness....she's just really overdramatic and the tattoo artist can't even really do anything because she freaks out so frequently, lol. It's safe to watch...just really annoying.

Creativity is a drug...

And like Cecil B. DeMille, it's a drug I cannot live without.

Find other creative truths and quotes like these at UberSuper.

Message in a cookie > Message in a bottle

Cookie messages are much better than bottle messages for one main reason: You can eat them! Yum.

If I were a big cookie maker, I'd definitely be purchasing these from Williams-Sonoma myself, but as it stands, I rarely make cookies and when I do, they're not going to be flat sugar cookies or ones that can even be decorated really. Bring on the double chunky chocolate fudge cookies for me instead.

Wouldn't these make an amazing gift for a cookie maker, though? Or buy them for yourself and gift your baked goods. Just be sure you put me on your list of people to send them to. ;)

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo"

I'm sure Google will think I'm trying to stuff keywords there, but really, I'm not. Instead, I just wanted to show you guys a completely valid sentence made up of all the same word...buffalo. Wikipedia will break it down for you as to which ones are verbs and nouns, etc, so it actually makes sense as a sentence. :)

Wearing a red dress in the cemetary

And not just any red dress....-the- red dress. The one you always wanted to wear, but never had a reason to. The one you just didn't have any reason to actually buy, or any place to wear it to. Get it! Wear it! Who cares if it's to the grocery store? Who cares if it's not "sensible"? Just do it.

That's exactly what The Bloggess did several months ago. If you pay attention to what I post on Facebook, you've already seen this from me, but it's worth revisiting. I was going to post a couple quotes to entice you to go see the post, but it's just all too good to choose from. Go. Read it. Look at the pictures. Click through for more.

She looks absolutely stunning and oh so happy. What's your forbidden red dress? Maybe this'll help you along...

So today, think about what it is you need and were too embarrassed to ask for.  And then go fucking** do it. Wear a ball gown to the grocery store.  Invite the neighbors to have a picnic on the front lawn.  Get that novel out of your sock drawer and publish it yourself.  Stand on a bus stop bench and belt out a song for the waiting strangers.  Find a playground swing and remember how it felt to fly.  Find your red dress. And wear the hell out of it.

**Yeah, yeah, PG blog, no bad words here, blah, blah, blah. You know it wouldn't be the same if I censored those out. :P

 

Watching nongeeks use computers

The pain of watching non geeks use computers

It's in picture format and aaahhhh, so true! The great part is that the day after I originally found this, I stood over my mom as she made a couple of these "mistakes." She's pretty good with computers, but set in her ways, so even making suggestions like "uh, just hit enter" won't get me anywhere, hehe.

Bonus: If you do this in an email... is also full of some very annoying email habits that people have.

Golf humor - The dead parrot

At dawn the telephone rings, "Hello, Señor Rod? This is Ernesto, the caretaker at your country house."

"Ah yes, Ernesto. What can I do for you? Is there a problem?"

"Um, I am just calling to advise you, Señor Rod, that your parrot, he is dead."

"My parrot? Dead? The one that won the International competition?"

"Si, Señor, that's the one."

"Damn! That's a pity! I spent a small fortune on that bird. What did he die from?"

"From eating the rotten meat, Señor Rod."

"Rotten meat? Who the hell fed him rotten meat?"

"Nobody, Señor. He ate the meat of the dead horse."

"Dead horse? What dead horse?"

"The thoroughbred, Señor Rod."

"My prize thoroughbred is dead?"

"Yes, Señor Rod, he died from all that work pulling the water cart."

"Are you insane? What water cart?"

"The one we used to put out the fire, Señor."

"Good Lord! What fire are you talking about, man?"

"The one at your house, Señor! A candle fell and the curtains caught on fire."

"What the hell? Are you saying that my mansion is destroyed because of a candle?!"

"Yes, Señor Rod."

"But there's electricity at the house! What was the candle for?"

"For the funeral, Señor Rod."

"WHAT BLOODY FUNERAL??!!"

"Your wife's, Señor Rod". She came home very late one night and I thought she was a thief, so I hit her with your new Ping G15 204g titanium head golf club with the TFC 149D graphite shaft."

SILENCE........... LONG SILENCE.........VERY LONG SILENCE.

"Ernesto, if you broke that driver, you're in deep sh*t!!!"

And we're back - NaBloPoMo Quirky Cookery

Yep, as planned, I focused on Quirky Cookery this last month to post every single day for the entire month. I've done Nablopomo on this site the last few years, but I had a lot of fun shifting the focus to showing you guys how much I play with my food. Well, and how much other people play with theirs, too, hehe. 

If you haven't been checking in over there, here's a taste of what you missed just from the pictures:

Be sure to hop on over there for hundreds of fun food posts and subscribe if you want some food-induced giggles on a regular basis. :)