Feeling shiny

When people have asked me how things are going with the Modern Love Machine lately, I have found myself saying, 'Things are great. Our relationship is still shiny." And here we are six months after our first date, give or take a day or two, things are still shiny. You know shiny -- that new-relationship, everything is perfect, everything is so heads-over-heely, nothing has gone wrong feeling.

There's an episode of Sex and the City where Carrie's in the early stages of her relationship with Aiden (in which early meant the first couple of weeks), and she keeps freaking out because everything seems so perfect. I used to think that was silly, why freak out about pefection? But now I get it.

My irrational fear is that things between the MLM and I really can't be this good, that something's got to give at some point. And that irrational fear keeps manifesting itself into bad dreams of the MLM doing something dastardly and thus revealing the folly of the shiny feeling.

Mind you, none of those irrational fears come from anything the Modern Love Machine has done or said. He is everything I want in a guy -- he's smart and funny, his personality suits mine, and really, what's not to like about dating this? (P.S., the MLM really wants to become an internet sensation, so anything you can do to help that cause is greatly appreciated.)

The irrational fears come from the fact that I've been burned so badly in the past that my subconscious is just SURE it's going to happen again, no matter how much I try to assure it otherwise.

I know it's probably also irrational to believe that the shiny feeling can be a permanent thing. Even good relationships seem to get less shiny over time and become just comfortable with a side of the occasional fight or flaw. That's not bad, it's just life. Or at least, that's what I've always thought.

You tell me. In your long(ish) relationships, when did the shiny feeling wear off, or did it at all? Is it possible to find permanent shine? Or do even the best relationship eventually settle into a status quo with just the occasional shiny spot to keep it going?

Green your Halloween

I've got a few posts brewing in my head, but I worked pretty much all weekend, so I'm just now getting caught up on life again. In the mean time, check out a post I did yesterday for The Greenists on greening your Halloween celebrations.

Also, while we're on the topic of Halloween ... I don't know that I'm going to get to fully celebrate Halloween this year because I have to work that day (I just don't know whether I'm working during the day or at night). Whether I'm free Halloween night is probably going to impact how much effort I put into a costume this year, but I'm looking for ideas. What are you planning on being and what's been the best costume you ever wore?

Come and get it

Modern Shannon at The Porch Swing has put together a collection of Rocktoberfest badges you can snag for your blog to spread the Rocktober vibe throughout the blogosphere. Feel free to grab the one in the corner, or go check out the others at The Porch Swing.

My friends and I rang in Rocktober in appropriate fashion tonight by hitting the town in our city's First Friday celebration, a time when the downtown art galleries and shop stay open late and offer free food and adult beverages. After a gloomy day, the skies parted and it was the perfect early fall evening to bike through downtown, mingle and talk about art and life with some really cool people.

Here are some artists I discovered:
1. Soundbooth Creative
2. Emily Greene
3. Wren Handmade

Enjoy and happy weekend!

A Rocktoberfest primer

Once upon a time, in a year not so far away ... ok, last year ... a bunch of bloggers in the blogosphere were having a really sucky September. Sucktember, if you will. In an effort to flip a metaphorical finger to Sucktember, those bloggers banded together and pledged to rock the socks off October and thus, Roctoberfest was born.

There isn't any specific guideline to celebrating Rocktoberfest other than to approach Rocktober with a very carpe-diem attitude. Harness the beauty of the changing leaves, the crispness of the cooling air and the healing powers of the bright sun and channel them into an attitude of kicking ass and taking names.

I like to celebrate Rocktober by trying new things. Last year it was new music. This year I'll try something old: blogging with some regularity. I just looked at my archives and realized I'd posted a total 16 times in the past two months. How incredibly lame. Can you believe there was an actual month (May '08) where I posted 52 times in a single month? Crazy. I wouldn't expect 52 posts this month, but I'm going to at least aim for 30.

I'm also trying to get back into the regular workout swing of things. I'm not going to set a 'this many days a week' goal, because I know that's just asking for failure, but I'm not allowing myself excuses when I have the time to run/bike/swim/dance/etc.

So, who's in for Rocktoberfest 2009? What's your Rocktoberfest pledge?

Get psyched about a new musical mission

A good weekend (which I may or may not tell you about ... I can't decide) and a good message at Mass on Sunday night made me ready to put the whole moping thing behind me, at least for now. I woke up this morning feeling more refreshed than I have in a couple weeks and ready to kick ass at life again.

Usually my iPod and my life are very much in sync: it's very good at playing music that suits my mood or current situation. But it don't think it got the memo this morning that we were kicking ass.

So, in hopes of keeping this renewed spirit alive, I present to you the newest Modern Gal musical mission ...

Watch more My Video videos on AOL Video

Last summer I just needed some new music to listen to and it resulted in the megahit Modern Gal Rocks album. This summer, my friends, we are going to put together a Modern Gal Gets Psyched mix, a la Barney Stinson to help fight those times when life tries to sneak a banana peel in my path.

Here's how it works: Think of the song that gets you most psyched about living life and suggest it to me in a comment on this post. Please suggest ONLY ONE SONG. If you suggest more than one, I'm just going to use the first one you give me. I want the mix to be representative of all my Modern Friends, not just a bunch of picks from one person.

After about a week or so, I'll put together the playlist, review it and probably add the playlist iTunes so that anyone who wants to download it can. (I may also give away a copy or two if it's exceptionally good.)

Bonus points go to people who suggest music I've never heard before. Also, when in doubt, '80s music is very, very good.

Pregnancy: be aware

I'm sure my officemate didn't know what to think today when I nearly fell out of my chair from laughing so hard at an e-mail I received urging me to celebrate May as 'Pregnancy Awareness Month.'

'Ok,' I said to officemate, 'how do you think I should celebrate it? How about I announce to the world that I'm aware that I'm not pregnant?'

So that's just what I did thanks to Twitter, and I got some hilarious responses* ...

-- It's a month for women on those TLC shows about women who don't know they're pregnant until labor begins. D'oh (@AC_Ent)
-- Perhaps they know something we don't. Craving ice cream? Pickles? :) (@saulyoung)
-- Never, ever, ever ask a girl when is the baby due... it always turns out that she isnt pregnant. (@glassofshutup)
-- Pregnancy Awareness Month? It would have been even better if they'd named it Surprise Pregnancy Awareness Month. More oomph. (@TheParkBench)

Anyone else care to chime in?

Just to spoil the fun, I will say that further investigation revealed that Pregnancy Awareness Month (or PAM, if you will), is a worthy cause, promoting healthy and eco-friendly pregnancies through education, exercise, nutrition and wellness and nurturing. (It's sponsored by Seventh Generation.) Still, I think they could have come up with a slightly better name.

*As far as the 'never ask a gal when the baby is due' response, you can read about my own experience with that here. Also, I claim that there's never a time that I'm not craving ice cream, so that's a bad pregnancy litmus test.

Eating your way through St. Paddy's Day (and March Madness news)

I'd meant to post this earlier, and it may be a little late to be useful, but you can file it away for next year.

MyRecipes.com has a whole guide to St. Patrick's Day food and drink: corned beef recipes, how to make green beer and how to incorporate whiskey into your cooking.

On a completely unrelated note, I want to go ahead and let everyone know that I've had enough interest in the Blogtastic March Madness pool for me to move forward with the plans. For those of you who've said you will participate, thank you! I have set up an account on CBSsports.com to make this thing much, much easier. If you will, please e-mail me at themoderngal@gmail.com so I can send you an invite.

For everyone else: it's not too late to join the Blogtastic March Madness pool. Just e-mail me so I can send an invite your way too! Also, if anyone has an idea for the REALLY AWESOME PRIZE, I'm all ears.

A blogtastic March Madness

For the second year running, I've been elected ... nay, blackmailed into being my office's March Madness Bracket Commissioner. I don't know how I get so lucky.

Anyway, while out last night with Mickey and Courtney catching a show, or rather waiting on the opening act that was over an hour late because the axle on their van had broken, the three of us chatted a bit about sports and the upcoming madness that is this part of March when Mickey had what I think to be a very excellent idea: a blog-based March Madness pool.

I told Mickey I'd throw it out there and see if anyone bit. My thoughts are this: no money will exchange hands, you just enter for fun and I'll offer some sort of REALLY AWESOME PRIZE to the winner once i figure out what that REALLY AWESOME PRIZE is. I'd prefer to take submissions by e-mail only, so you'd have to figure out how to fill out your bracket and get it to me in electric form, all before Thursday. Unless your Mickey or Courtney or any other Knoxville person reading this, in which you get to deliver in person if you want. Or I know you well enough I don't mind giving you one of my addresses (yes, I have more than one. I like to keep people guessing.)

Tell me if you're interested with a comment below, and when I say tell me if you're interested, I mean a comment below is a commitment to ACTUALLY PARTICIPATING. If I get 15 comments and only two brackets submitted, then I reserve the right to cancel this little blogtastic March Madness experiment.

This is how we rolled

Man, The Modern Gal is looking a little pale lately. All words, no pictures or videos makes for a very boring-looking blog. Let's fix that, shall we?

(Don't watch if you're offended by potty-mouth language)


Why do I bring up the Dude? Well I am a huge fan of the Coen brothers' flicks, but that's not why. It's because I did something this weekend that I haven't done in years upon years: I bowled on a Saturday night.

To be clear: bowling on a Saturday night is far different than bowling any other night of the week or even bowling on a Saturday afternoon. I've rolled on a random Tuesday night with friends just to break up the monotony of the week. For my 25th birthday, my friends and I commenced an in-denial kiddie bowling party on a Saturday afternoon that came with pizza and coke served in teeny-tiny paper Dixie cups. There's not anything terribly weird about bowling in those situations though. Bowling on Saturday night, however, involves a whole different subculture.

Sure, there are plenty of normal people at the alley on a Saturday night. People who just want to have a good time. Families looking for some PG fun. Then there's also the bleach-blonde, orangey fake bake gal wearing an inappropriately tight sparkly pink halter top with a big bow on the front (when it's 30 degrees outside).

There's the classic jukebox lineup: Britney Spears' 'Crazy' followed by GNR's 'November Rain.' And Chris Brown followed by Conway Twitty. I only wish I were kidding.

And did you know that they still turn the lights out at 10 p.m. for cosmic bowling despite the fact that black lights and day-glo paint stopped being cool like 10 years ago? (or at least as best as I can tell -- I really don't know what it is the kids are into these days besides Hannah Montana.)

I was a regular at the bowling alley in my high school days. Many people have a mall phase or a movie theater phase when they're in their teens. My friends and I had a bowling alley phase. When you go as often as we did, you roll pretty decently.

But as an adult, unless you're in a bowling league (and I think it's very awesome if you are) you're probably lucky to break 100 -- hell, you may be lucky to even break 50. It may have been months or even years since you last bowled. You're not as agile as you once were. You can't see the markers on the lane to line up your roll as well as you once could. I tell you, it's a bitch to get old. I tell you, in our party most of us were celebrating simply knocking pins down and not rolling a gutter ball.

And then there's the whole deal of adding alcohol to the equation. We were at a family establishment that tried to make it as difficult as possible on the underage drinkers -- you had to go to the bar to get a drink and you could only get one drink at a time and there were no pitchers. Let me repeat: NO PITCHERS. What that all adds up to is more time spent in line at the bar than at your lane waiting your turn to bowl. It took us two hours to get through one game.

Still, it was a blast to be able to laugh at myself and my bowling skillz (hey, I rolled a 91!) and the characters around us. You know, sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well ...

A hypothetical V-Day

I've done my best not to think about Valentine's Day, but thanks to the riptide of e-mails I've gotten from assorted retail chains promoting their Valentine's Day specials for, oh, I don't know, the PAST MONTH, it's been kind of hard not to.

I would have had little problem staying in on V-Day night had it fallen any other night of the week but Saturday, but because the Universe has a ridiculous sense of humor (although I don't always seem to find the same things funny as it does), my first V-Day in several years as a freshly minted single gal falls on a Saturday. And the combined effect of staying in on a Saturday that also happens to be Valentine's Day is just a whole lotta lame.

More on my V-Day thoughts in a future post, but let's just ask -- hypothetically, of course -- were a modern gal to ask out a modern guy whose company she enjoys for a night of G-rated fun, what kind of activities would she engage in?

I know you're all going to want to ask follow-up questions. Let me just say I don't have the answers. Discuss anyway.


From Modern Angie, who will always be my No. 1 Valentine

Do you have a dream?

Martin Luther King had a dream that the nation would live out the true meaning of "all men are created equal."

On this, the sorta-80th anniversary of his birth, The Modern Gal wants to know what your dream is.

My dream is that the political discord that has so bitterly separated the country in the past two decades or so will take a permanent vacation.

I also have a dream that I will never have to work another federal holiday.

What's your dream?

A NEW musical mission

Ok, so I'm taking off soon to spend the weekend with a couple of my best gal pals in the whole wide world for some much-needed decompression. I fully intend not to blog this weekend, but I have a project for everyone to work on in my absense (if it takes longer than the weekend, that's fine).

Remember The Modern Gal's musical mission? That thing turned out so awesome, that I've been determined to make it an annual event.

Well, scratch that. It may be a biannual thing, because I've decided it's time for a new CD: a Modern Breakup Therapy CD.

We've all been through really, really sucky breakups, and I'm sure we've all turned to music in our time of pain. Unfortunately, this week I've had a poor selection of good breakup music available in my car so I've been stuck on a CD of really, really bad 70s music from the Modern Dad (we're talking the Carpenters, people -- possibly good for a breakup but NOT for my street cred).

There are two classifications of breakup music. The first is the obvious mopey music -- music that sounds like you feel. Something to listen to when you need to wallow a bit (and we all know a bit of wallowing is important in these situations). The second is kick-ass music. Music that will quite literally kick your ass hard enough to get you off the couch when you need to pull it together.

So my NEW musical mission for you is to suggest up to two songs -- one of each kind of breakup music -- to be included on the Modern Breakup Therapy CD(s).

For reference, here are some songs I've pulled out after every bad breakup I've gone through:

1. "Never is a Promise" by Fiona Apple and pretty much the entire Fiona Apple Tidal album. I'll likely be listening to it on the drive to South Carolina. (You get a little bit of wallow and a little bit of kick-ass all on one album).

2. "If You Could Read My Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot. Ok, yes. We've established many times here that my music taste is bad. It's classic 70s singer-songwriter, but the lyrics are so painfully poetic that they can make my heart hurt even when I'm at my happiest.


3. "There You Go" by Pink. This song came out right at the time that I ultimately brokeup with my high school boyfriend, and I totally had it on repeat in my car. Pink could totally kick my ass and everyone else's.

Ok, Modern Friends. Get to work! I'll catch you on the flip side of this weekend.

Time for some resolve

I'm not going to lie, 2008 was a hell of a year and not in the best way. That's why I'm probably a little more excited than usual for the New Year to be here. I know really the turn of the calendar year has no direct impact on our lives aside from having to remember to write a different year on our checks, but I love the idea of using a New Year as a way to make changes or take a fresh start. I definitely could use a fresh start in some areas of my life.

So with that, let's talk about resolutions. I take my resolutions very seriously. I'm proud to say for the first time in several years, I'm not resolving to lose weight. Losing weight is one of the few proud accomplishments I have from 2008, and I'm so excited to be able to say I did it. I am going to commit to staying at a healthy weight and continuing to exercise, but those have to be lifelong commitments and not just a New Year's resolution.

Instead, I've got two resolutions for the year: to simplify, simplify, simplify my life by getting rid of unnecessary junk I've been hauling around from house to house over the past five years or so and to attempt to be more thoughtful of my friends and family.

The first one is self-explanatory. While I don't have tons of clutter, I still have CDs I never listen to, books I've already read and don't plan on reading again, college notebooks that I haven't looked at since I wrote in them last, clothes that I continually choose not to wear. There's no reason not to get rid of it if I can do it in an environmentally friendly way, and there's an environmentally friendly way to get rid of most everything these days. It may take me all year, but I'm going to purge little by little until I'm down to as much of as a minimum as I can get to.

The second pledge I believe I've made before, but didn't do a very good job at keeping. I'm not a mean person, but I do a horrible job at remembering people's birthdays or doing something thoughtful for a friend in need. It's not a willful disregard for others' feelings, I just don't think about these things as quickly as I should. But, I could easily enter my friends' birthdays into my Yahoo calendar and have it e-mail me reminders, so no excuse there. And maybe by consciously making an effort to be more thoughtful it will become second nature.

And for a wild card, I'm going to try to stop thinking so negatively about work, even when it's trying it's very hardest to bring me down. Thinking negatively about it only makes it worse.

So that's my focus for 2009. I'm hoping those resolutions will at least encourage a better year.

What are your resolutions? How seriously do you take resolutions?

I'll be there for yooouu

So I had one other request on this post from a while back from the oh-so-ubiquitous anonymous wanting to talk about how to make friends after college. It's a topic that's come up here before, because it certainly isn't easy after college to start over in a new town where you know no one. (By the way, welcome anonymous. Feel free to reveal your online alias, we're all friendly around these parts.)

Certainly I've had my share of starting over after college, having done it in three different cities since I graduated. I can't really count the first city as I was actually returning to a place where I'd done an internship a year prior and already knew tons of people through work. I basically had a ready-made (and wonderful) group of friends.

But I chose to start over again for a better job in a different city. That time was much, much harder. I had two friends through work but certainly was looking for more. Throw in an erratic work schedule, and it seemed impossible. And I tried nearly everything I could think of to make new friends. Three years later, I started over again, this time in the same city as the Modern Beau, which helped but didn't necessarily result in a group of friends.

So here's my secret: I'm really no expert on the matter, and I'm not sure anyone can say they are. That's because every person is different in how they have to make friends and every city you live in has a different dynamic of how to make friends.

The thing that has worked the best for me is blogging and Twittering. Through blogging, I somehow stumbled across some of the coolest local bloggers and eventually met them in person. Same goes with Twitter. I befriended a bunch of really cool people and have since met most of them in person. Don't have a blog or Twitter account? Start one. Seriously. People will find you. The great thing about this is you learn so much about people through their blogs and Twitter that when you finally meet them in person, it's like you're already old friends. The drawback? If you live in a smaller town, you might not be surrounded by a lot of bloggers and Tweeters. If you're a blogger in your 20s, check out 20 something-bloggers and search for others in your immediate area.

I'd also recommend trying some of the websites aimed at connecting people. The best in my opinion is Meetup.com, because you can find groups that tailor to your own interests. This is key. If you don't find someone that has some similar interests as you, you may have a hard time forging a new friendship. Also find a group that appears to be very active, that way you have plenty of opportunities to participate. DON'T BE SHY. Seriously, if you want to make friends, you're going to have to put yourself out there. Don't worry, everyone else who joins a Meetup group probably feels the same way you do. I've mentioned before, I have made a few good friends this way.

Another suggestion: church group/other form of religious meetup. But I'm not churchy! you say. Nonsense. I'm not saying you have to go straight to the closest place of worship. Most people believe in something -- even if it's nothing -- and can find a group of people who feel the same way. There's probably no better way to connect with someone. Use Google to find a group near you with your beliefs.

If there's a certain kind of hangout in town that you love -- a coffee shop, a diner, a bar, whatever -- thinking about hanging out there on your own. You never know when you might strike up a conversation with a potential new friend who's also there by themselves.

I tried joining a sports league one time, which didn't really work out for me but it might work for you? I ended up on a super-competitive volleyball team of people who worked together and didn't seem that interested in making friends with the new girl who sucked at playing volleyball. Maybe try a kickball league if you can find one.

Also, volunteer. I can't guarantee you'll make friends through volunteer efforts (you might, though), but you will get the kind of fulfillment from life that you would get from a strong friendship. I spent a lot of time volunteering after I moved to Nashville and before I'd really met anyone. It felt good to help other people and it filled what would have otherwise been empty time.

Think none of these suggestions would work for you? Start your own group on Meetup.com or religious young adult group. I bet you'd be surprised how many others are out there who are looking for the same kind of friendship that you are.

One last tip from me. Be patient. Good friendships don't usually form overnight. It takes time to get to know someone to the point you might feel comfortable calling them a friend. It took me more than a year the first time I had to make new friends to really feel comfortable once again. It took me several months here in my new city to get to that place.

Anonymous, go forth and try out some of these things and then report back here. We'd love to know how it goes and what works and doesn't.

And modern friends, I ask you for your suggestions for anonymous and everyone else out there that could use some help finding new people. What has worked for you? What didn't work so well?

Get excited about giveaways

Tis better to give than receive, right?

Well if that's the case, Jamie Lovely is doing it right. She's having an awesome holiday giveaway, chock full of cool items from several of the websites she features at her shopping blog, Oh! How Lovely Shops. She's not saying exactly what she's giving away, but because she has a knack for finding the best sites on Etsy, I wouldn't worry too much.

Enter the Oh How Lovely Shops Big Holiday Giveaway!

And while we're on the subject of giveaways, I've got one myself. Remember Lisha Lynn Mineral Cosmetics? I'm offering a $25 gift certificate for Lisha Lynn products provided by owner Alicia Redding as a holiday gift to you, my Modern Friends, for being so wonderful! This will give you a great opportunity to try out her products.


To enter, leave a comment on this post about your silliest makeup experience: Were you attached to an awful color of eye shadow as a teenager? Did you once use your mom's lipstick as body paint? If you absolutely cannot think of anything, then just tell me your favorite makeup product. You have to tell me something about yourself in the comment, or you're not counted toward the drawing.

You can get two bonus entries by either blogging or Twittering about the giveaways and then posting the link to your blogpost/tweet in a comment on this post.

I'll leave the contest open until midnight on Dec. 16. Lucydog will supervise the drawing at Random.org.

Confessions of an ex-sorority gal

Modern Friends, I have a confession to make which I've never shared with you before: The Modern Gal was in a sorority in college.

I know, gasp, a number of you are going to disown me now, right? Let me clarify by saying I was not a sorority gal. While I did buy make a number of really good friends with the smart, ambitious, non-MRS degree track sisters, I was never among the super-active members and didn't fit in with the hard-core sorority gals. Frat parties weren't my scene and neither was the drama that went along with it. I always felt socially inferior to most of the gals. Why did I stick with it? For the aforementioned friends and because our intramural football and softball teams were among the best in the school league.

Why do I bring this up now? Because I'm headed to my first holiday party of the season tomorrow night, that of the sorority's local alumni chapter. I really never intended on getting involved with the group, but I regularly cross paths with the group's president who was (kinda) one of the aforementioned friends. She invited me, and I didn't want to say no to her because she's really nice.

And that, my friends, is a huge example of how much I've changed in the past four years or so.

I am a dedicated introvert. You won't find me listed in the dictionary with the definition because I often do a good job of masquerading as a social butterfly. But really, socializing outside my comfort zone makes me supremely nervous. Not clinically anxious, but close enough. I don't know why, although I'm sure it has something to do with insecurity about being the awkward gal and absolutely hating the small talk that goes with first meeting someone. Please, please, please don't ask me about my job.

Had this been the Christmas right after I graduated from college, I would have politely declined and run the other way from a party where none of my close friends would be available for me to cling to. I didn't need to go outside my comfort zone because I had enough friends.

Then, I moved to Nashville and I had no friends. I tried a few things in hopes of making friends without having to completely confront my social anxiety -- church group, weird online forums. I made one friend (hi, KG!), but in retrospect I probably took the most anxiety-inducing route. I ended up making a few more friends with some people the Modern Beau knew which was perfectly inside my comfort zone.

Then, I moved to Knoxville and I had only a few friends and The MB. A funny thing happened though. The social anxiety dissipated. I don't know if it was all those dress rehearsals from Nashville that made me less scared. Or maybe having to make cold calls at work from time to time in the past few years. Or maybe the blog/Twitter have helped me come out of my shell. But it's mostly better now, with only an occasional flare up.

Still, I can't help but think when I go to the Christmas party tomorrow night, will I be stepping into a lion's den of anxiety? Back with the types of gals who could easily make me feel insecure about my looks or social life? Or surrounded by a bunch of gals whom I might not even know? We'll see just how far I've come.

An Election Day night guide

Happy Election Day, Moder Friends. I'm not going to tell you to go vote, because either you already have or you're not going to, and nothing I say or do is going to convince the latter any differently.

For the first time in five years, my job doesn't have me working on Election Day night. I used to have a job that was very integral to the Election Day night process, but no longer. That means for the first time in five years I actually get to be at home and soak up that which is the election returns process. Though I'm not a huge, huge fan of the process of campaigns, I do enjoy the excitement of election returns and waiting to see who it's going to be.

So to prep you for your own Election Day nights, some resources:

The Modern Gal's Election Night Drinking Game. There have been some great suggestions for additional rules, so check it out even if you already have seen it.

Modern Erica has put together a Presidential Bingo game card.

Lest the 2000 election debacle not be enough of a lesson, here's a reminder of how our Electoral College works:



And my favorite activity of Election Day night: coloring in states on a U.S. map as they're called for a candidate. Yes, I have a box of crayons ready to go.

P.S. Don't forget your free Starbucks, Ben and Jerry's and Krispy Kremes today.

2008 Election Night Drinking Game

Apparently Americans like to drink because I've been getting tons of hits from people who have Googled "election night drinking game."

With Election Night only a few days away, I turned to the Modern Beau, connoisseur of all things political commentary, to help me come up with a few rules for your Tuesday night election return viewing pleasure.

• Every time the term "battleground state" is uttered, take a drink.


• Every time young voters and Obama are referenced in the same breath, take a drink.


• Every time McCain and Bush are referenced in the same breath, take a drink.


• Every time John King thinks he's John Madden trying to illustrate something on his CNN magical board, take a drink.


• Every time a pundit says "The race was really over when ..." or some variation, take two drinks.


• Every time a battleground state is called for one candidate or the other, the first person to yell "Joe Sixpack" gets to distribute six drinks among as many people as they would like. If you're drinking alone, you might as well drain your drink. It's going to be a long, lonely night.

What rules would you add?

No love for witches, ghosts and mummies

Modern Friends, I come to you again for advice because you're just so darn good with it.

But first, a fun time waster for the week. Feeling a bit Dr. Frankensteiny? You can create your own monster here and have it issue you some sort of greeting. It's fun, try it!

Now, I have a confession to make. I suck at Halloween. Like big time suck at Halloween. I do really well at decorating my house, but it's pretty much downhill from there. I have the hardest time coming up with costume ideas. I don't completely mind going all-out if I have a good idea, but I tend to be a last-minute costume designer and don't have the time to go all-out.

I think it's just because I don't get that jazzed about Halloween. I enjoyed going to the Modern Beau's frat's Halloween party in college, but those times have sorta passed me by. Modern Kristen and I gave up on trick-or-treating in seventh grade, deeming ourselves too old to be demanding candy of our neighbors, and I've sort of been over Halloween ever since.

The Halloween party the MB and I went to last year sucked, so I had all the intentions of the world to stay home this year and just hand out candy. I know Halloween is on a Friday night, but I just haven't been feeling it this year. Well, the MB, being the social creature that he is, got a Halloween party invite for Saturday night (I know, Nov. 1? I've generally moved on to Thanksgiving by then).

And here's the catch: the costumes are supposed to be something that starts with the letter "B."

I've been pestering the MB to come up with an idea all month, and he hasn't, so I turn to you because my uninclined butt is even more uninclined when given such letter limitation. Do you have any good suggestions for costumes that begin with the letter B? I'd ask for couple costume ideas, but at this point, I'll take any good ones. Nothing too time consuming, because I really have no time to put into it at this point. And I don't do naked costumes -- you know the ones of which I speak.

Also, I want to hear about your costumes. (Because like Halloween or not, I still get really entertained by other people's costumes.)

Am I a Mac or a PC?

The Modern Gal is in the market for a new computer, and she's looking to you for help.

I bought my personal laptop exactly five years ago, which is like 125 in computer years. In other words, the computer has been dead for the past six months or so. I have a laptop through work, so it's not like I'm completely unplugged, but I can't do everything I'd like to do on the work laptop for obvious reasons.

Since the Christmas Day that Santa left the IBM next to the tree some 20 years ago, I have been a dedicated PC user. I understand them. I can fix them to a certain extent. I love my right click button. I've been eyeing some of those fancy-looking HPs lately. I really have no impetus to switch from using a PC other than I'm scared of having to upgrade to Windows Vista and I know that so many of you are Mac fans. And because I know my Modern Friends tend to use their computers for many of the same reasons I do, I figured I would turn to you to convince me one way or the other: Mac or PC.

So, in the comment section below, please give me a reason or two or three why I should buy a Mac instead of a PC or vice versa. Comments that are no more useful than "I have a Mac, and I love it!!" are not allowed because they tell me nothing. Why did you buy what you have and what do you like and dislike about it? Be fair -- tell me both likes and dislikes. You never know what will strike a chord. And if you've owned both in recent years, offer me some comparisons.

If it will help you offer suggestions, here are the things I prefer to use my computer for:

1. Blogging
2. Downloading music on iTunes and Napster and loading to iPod (which also needs replacing).
3. Watching videos
4. Balancing my checkbook on Microsoft Money
5. Doing a minimal amount of design (does anyone remember what The Modern Gal blog used to look like? That's what I mean by a minimal amount of design)

Here are some of the pros and cons that are already stirring around in my brain:

1. PCs are way cheaper than Macs. The Modern Gal is buying, so cheaper is good.
2. If I were to get a Mac, I'd have to buy a new Mac-compatible copy of Photoshop, which does not come cheap.
3. Something always seems to go wrong with a Mac, and you can never seem to fix it yourself. It always means a trip to the Genius Bar.
4. I'm scared of Windows Vista.
5. I kind of hate Apple.