personal space

so i'm having lunch with a friend today at cafe express, and as i'm sure you know, they have counter service. it was around noon, and it was pretty crowded, and my friend and i were waiting in line. at first my friend was a little in front of me, and there was a woman behind me. i realized very quickly that she was EXTREMELY close to me, but i tried to ignore it. then she started turning her body every so often (i have no idea why), and every time she'd turn, she'd knock me in the back with her elbow. a normal person would realize, "hey, i keep hitting this girl. maybe i should back up a little." this lady, however, was not normal. i tried to back up a few inches to show her how close she really was, but that didn't work. then i tried to scoot up a few inches; she'd scoot up as well. who is this woman?? she was literally about 2 inches behind my back. then my friend and i switched lines b/c they opened a new register...and what do you know: close-stander was right behind us. when we switched lines, i stood in front of my friend, so close-stander was behind her now. same thing happening. after she had been knocked twice, my friend turned around to look at close-stander, and she replied with a smile, "oh, i'm sorry." but did she back up? NO. apparently there are people in this world who just have no personal space boundaries. no one ever says to them, "back off! you're too close," and they just go on irritating others. i should have said something, but frankly i was so annoyed at that point that i would have just been mean. so i said nothing, gave my order, and walked away, leaving her to annoy still more people.

kelly rippa

who is this girl? i say girl because she seems about as mature as a 10 year-old. i turned on the tv this morning, and she was hosting with none other than doogie houser, md. they were making fun of something, and she was acting like a royal idiot. is she on tv b/c she's skinny and hot? this chick gives new meaning to dumb blonde.

what kind of pj's am i?

i was reading mer's myspace today, and she had a link to a quiz asking what character she was from a tv show. i followed the link and found another quiz that was more my style: what kind of pj's i'd be (yes, i know, silly and mindless, but exactly the kind of thing i appreciate these days). anywho, i think it was pretty accurate, barring the "tend to follow conventions" part (although i don't know that i have "an understated easy sexiness that men love" either...but the rest is good):

The PJ's You Are Most Like: Comfortable PJ's
You're a bit conservative, traditional, and tend to follow conventions. You have an understated, easy sexyness that men love. People instantly find comfort in you, and you're a "best friend" to many.

absolutely

One of the most overused clichés of our age: the pleasant little monosyllable
yes seems to be disappearing in favor of the tetrasyllabic absolutely. Listen to
any interview on radio or television: almost every yes, yeah, or uh-huh is fed
through the speaker's pomposity amplifier, and comes out as absolutely on the
other side. And it's not just in interviews. When I asked a waiter, "May I have
some more water?," the answer was "Absolutely," as if the question admitted
various degrees of assent. Now, there's nothing wrong with the word itself, and
when you really mean that something is true without qualification, go nuts.
Still, how 'bout some variety? certainly, yep, aye, just so, damn straight, sho'
'nuff, sans doute, you bet your bippy — almost anything else would be an
improvement. [Entry added 14 Sept. 2004; revised 21 April 2006.]

copycat

everyone who knows me knows that i'm kind of a grammar freak (i was the "grammar police" 2 years ago for halloween...dovie was jealous that she didn't think of it first). however, because mike has an entire blog dedicated to grammar patrol, i have never posted on the subject, even though it is a huge pet peeve of mine. reading his blog (and the link) and commenting on it made me want to write my own, so here goes the copycat...

i have several HUGE pet peeves (and teaching 6th grade english, i was peeved quite a bit). here are a few:

1. ya'll - what is this??? this is not a word! people from texas, this is a word we can call our own; for the love, punctuate it correctly: y'all. the word is a contraction for "you all"; it is NOT a contraction for a word containing the verb "will", as in "we'll" or "you'll". (this is the only explanation i can come up with for why people do this.)
2. "then" in place of "than" - again, what is this? it seems to me that this is a very simple thing that we SHOULD HAVE (as opposed to should of) all learned in elementary school. "then" is an adverb and tells when something happens (notice there's only one letter that is different in the words then and when). "than" is a comparatve word: this is bigger THAN that is.
3. when people use adjectives in place of adverbs: i got dressed quick. it should be "i got dressed quickLY."
4. alot - okay, this is especially annoying b/c it's so common. question: would you say "i have abunch of friends" or "i have a bunch of friends"? that's easy (i would think), so why in the world do we want to say "alot"? it should be two words: a lot
5. could care less - hmm, well if you could care less, then you're not making much of a point. correct usage: couldn't care less