I bought a coffee table

and it was a heck of an adventure, as far as coffee table shopping can be. I tried multiple Targets, and everything was ugly as sin. I tried Target online, where all the cool ones were stupidly expensive. I tried Ikea.com, where things were nice and affordable but the shipping cost twice the price of the stupid table.

Finally I gave in, strapped myself into my car and made the hour-long drive out to Frisco, Texas, to the new Ikea store that was the talk of the town a few months back. It actually became somewhat fun because I was surprised at how effortlessly I got from one side of this metropolis to the other. It was one of those moments where I stepped out of my car (surprisingly not feeling uncomfortable after an hour) and silently thanked it for being the wonderful, loyal car it is. Once inside, it took me more time to navigate the store, get my cart, haul my table over to the checkout lines, and check out than it did to pick out a nice, usable, fitting table for $30. Nevertheless, I made sure to hurry because I was definitely about to get sucked in to the place and start finding really cool stuff.

On the way home, I wrote a haiku about my experience at Ikea:

Fat Americans
buying skinny Swedish things
even at midday

Clean slate

A little while ago, I took down the "women" list from my sidebar, because they all failed to hold my attention. All of them, with the exception of Natalie Portman, had gotten married and had a kid. How boring.

Rachael Leigh Cook? Married. Hasn't even been seen in anything recently anyway.
Michelle Branch? Married her bassist, had a baby, then launched a tirade on her own website about how she hates the world because nobody supports her country music side project. She also hated collaborating with Santana. She's obviously psychotic.
Katie Holmes? Must I even go into it?

But I'm keeping Vanessa Carlton. She can actually play piano and sing, and regardless of her songwriting ability that's enough to keep me happy.

But I've decided I really, really like Imogen Heap. She got recommended a little while ago as the smooth-singing female half of Frou Frou, and her earlier solo stuff (which actually precedes Frou Frou) is really picking up in popularity. But do a Google image search on her. She's really pretty. She has the voice of an angel and she's undeniably very creative. She's got a new single on iTunes that doesn't even have her vocals, yet it's still beautiful and complex.

I think I gravitate toward creative types. My first date was with an actress, and I've since gone out with various singing girls and one girl who wound up a ballroom dancer. Maybe there's a New Year's resolution to be found in all of this.

End of Year Awards!

I could make a big post justifying the best album, best game, etc. of the year, but really, I'm just too damn sleepy.

Stupid college.

Edit: I have a bit more energy now so I'm gonna do the quickie version.

Album of the year: Jamiroquai - Dynamite
Game of the year: Shadow of the Colossus

I've learned that the 'best of year' conversation is one best had over coffee with a bunch of knowledgeable people. A handful of us (myself, Mel, Martone, and Rizzo) all had the Game of the Year convo a couple days ago and it went fantastically. You probably could have put it on TV, if someone had bothered to film it. Right now, my life is just too busy (and my brain is far too tired) for me to sit in front of the screen and develop a well-articulated argument for either one of those. But if you really want to discuss it, I'm available to grab coffee any time.

Pictures!

I put up a small collection from my 21st birthday celebrations, and they can be found at the usual link.

Also! Christmas was kind of mellow around here. That grandfather nonsense didn't quite happen, so mom and I had a very relaxing day. As for new toys, I got an espresso machine and a new camera. A beast of a new camera. It's a Canon Powershot S80 - an 8.0 megapixel monster of a pocket-sized Powershot. It's bigger than the Powershots we all know and love but still pretty damn portable. The resolution is insane, but I haven't gotten to really put it through its paces yet. We'll see what happens during the New Year's Eve celebrations.