weekly wrap-up

There wasn't much that entertained me (and that was appropriate to post somewhere where my family will see it) this last week or two, so I threw in some oldies as well.

• Cosby GIF mania!
• Celebrating the Year in Channing Tatum
• Least Likely to Be Adopted Project-I want them all!  I still really think that my dad should do something like this with his photography skills instead of taking pictures of birds.
• Burger King Delivery Service in NYC-I'm ok with not having Burger King delivery service, but I do really wish that more restaurants would have drive-up windows.  Or at least car-side service like at Sonic.  My point is that I will get in my car, but not get out of it. 
• Pictures from James Mollison's Where Children Sleep-Love the boy from Kentucky.  The girls from Nepal and Brazil break my heart.  Check out these pictures if you need a gratitude check.
• Russell Brand interviews two members of the Westboro Baptist Church-I feel like this is a combination of people that should have been an epic disaster, but Russell Brand handled himself with dignity (mostly) and his guests with more kindness and respect than I ever could have.
• Butt Implant Malfunction-So many things wrong with this.
• iPet Companion-I haven't actually tried this yet, but how could something that lets you remotely play with pets in shelters be a bad thing?
• My favorite travel blogger is Adventurous Kate.  She is the one that inspired me to take this solo trip to Ireland and England next March, so we can all blame her if things go horribly wrong!

weekly wrap up

• Looping GIFs
• The green caterpillar is trippy!
• Sonia Sotomayor visits Sesame Street and crushes dreams
• Cutest wet kitten/gremlin ever
• Anne Hathaway attempts the Claire Danes cry
• Also, for my fellow Homeland fans, check out texts between Brody and Abu Nazir.
• Who should play the candidates and other prominent people in the movie version of 2012
• Steven Segal as Joe Biden=pure genius.
• Straight men everywhere better watch out for those girlfriend-stealing gay guys!
• A motherf*cking quiche!
• I now know why my dating profile didn't work. 
• Favorite tweet of the week
• Big Bang Theory flash mob?  Yes, please!
• Best reason ever to not go to class
• Supercut of Robert Pattinson's stares
• So intense.

Also, these were not entertaining, but were informative and/or interesting, so enjoy them as well:

• France's new anti-domestic violence ads
• Woman dies after being denied an abortion
• America Has the Worst Economy Anywhere, Except for Everywhere Else

And finally, this is the way I feel about most people:

This week's entertainment wrap-up

Here are some of the things I enjoyed on the internet this week (many of which are election-related)*:

The Funniest Tweets from the 2012 Presidential Election
Election Night Texts Between Strangers
Let's Play 'Drunk Nate Silver'
My personal favorite tweet of the week
A Leaked Scene from the New Star Wars Movie
Australia Twitter-Shames the Crap Out of Random Teen
Girl Meets Lion (The sad face on this lion-I can't handle it!)
Rachel Maddow on Obama's Re-election   (This one is a must watch!)



*I would like to think that this will become a weekly feature, but I think I know how this story ends.

interesting idea

Immigrant farm workers' challenge: Take our jobs

By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer Juliana Barbassa, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 24, 5:42 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – In a tongue-in-cheek call for immigration reform, farm workers are teaming up with comedian Stephen Colbert to challenge unemployed Americans: Come on, take our jobs.

Farm workers are tired of being blamed by politicians and anti-immigrant activists for taking work that should go to Americans and dragging down the economy, said Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the United Farm Workers of America.

So the group is encouraging the unemployed — and any Washington pundits or anti-immigrant activists who want to join them — to apply for the some of thousands of agricultural jobs being posted with state agencies as harvest season begins.

All applicants need to do is fill out an online form under the banner "I want to be a farm worker" at http://www.takeourjobs.org, and experienced field hands will train them and connect them to farms.

According to the Labor Department, three out of four farm workers were born abroad, and more than half are illegal immigrants.

Proponents of tougher immigration laws have argued that farmers have become used to cheap labor and don't want to raise wages enough to draw in other workers.

Those who have done the job have some words of advice for applicants: First, dress appropriately.

During summer, when the harvest of fruits and vegetables is in full swing in Central Valley, temperatures hover in the triple digits. Heat exhaustion is one of the reasons farm labor consistently makes the Bureau of Labor Statistics' top ten list of the nation's most dangerous jobs.

Second, expect long days. Growers have a small window to pick fruit before it is overripe.

And don't count on a big paycheck. Farm workers are excluded from federal overtime provisions, and small farms don't even have to pay the minimum wage. Fifteen states don't require farm labor to be covered by workers compensation laws.

Any takers?

"The reality is farmworkers who are here today aren't taking any American jobs away. They work in often unbearable situations," Rodriguez said. "I don't think there will be many takers, but the offer is being made. Let's see what happens."

To highlight how unlikely the prospect of Americans lining up to pick strawberries or grapes, Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" plans to feature the "Take Our Jobs" campaign on July 8.

The campaign is being played for jokes, but the need to secure the right to work for immigrants who are here is serious business, said Michael Rubio, supervisor in Kern County, one of the biggest ag producing counties in the nation.

"Our county, our economy, rely heavily on the work of immigrant and unauthorized workers," he said. "I would encourage all our national leaders to come visit Kern County and to spend one day, or even half a day, in the shoes of these farm workers."

Hopefully, the message will go down easier with some laughs, said Manuel Cunha, president of the California grower association Nisei Farmers League, who was not a part of the campaign.

"If you don't add some humor to this, it's enough to get you drinking, and I don't mean Pepsi," Cunha said, dismissing the idea that Americans would take up the farm workers' offer.

California's agriculture industry launched a similar campaign in 1998, hoping to recruit welfare recipients and unemployed workers to work on farms, he said. Three people showed up.

"Give us a legal, qualified work force. Right now, farmers don't know from day to day if they're going to get hammered by ICE," he said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "What happens to my labor pool?"

His organization supports AgJobs, a bill currently in the Senate which would allow those who have worked in U.S. agriculture for at least 150 days in the previous two years to get legal status.

The bill has been proposed in various forms since the late 1990s, with backing from the United Farm Workers of America and other farming groups, but has never passed.

I am currently enjoying . . .

• The Seventeen Magazine Project
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
• The FURminator (Seriously-if you have a pet, you need this.)
• Being outside (Yes, Traci, my deck does count as the great outdoors!!!)
• Tootsie Rolls
• Hoppipolla by Sigur Rós
• Masterpiece Classic's adaptation of Little Dorrit
• the countdown for the season finale of Glee tonight
  

careful!

I once had a roommate who accused me of being a hypochondriac. This was ironic because for everything I thought was wrong with me, she had already had it and most of the time, had it worse. But I digress . . . here's an article about 6 Things Your Body Does Every Day (That Can Destroy You). So, since you could die at any second, let us eat, drink and be merry. Or are we not supposed to do that? I can never remember if the Bible tells us to do something or not to do something, hence that whole coveting my neighbor's ass debacle.

stuff I'm enjoying at the moment

The soundtrack to Spring Awakening. So good.












Whale Wars



"Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" by Rufus Wainwright




any book by Susan Jane Gilman


baby bok choy



eos smooth sphere in sweet mint

a blog I enjoy

I just discovered the blog Rurally Screwed and love it. I especially enjoy the post "Rumble at Wally World." You should go read it. This is one of the (many) reasons I hate shopping at Wal-Mart. If only I had the guts to stand up to people like she did!

Tastiness

Have you checked out the Pioneer Woman's new Tasty Kitchen site? I'm slightly obsessed with it.

super saver

I just wanted to let you guys know that my cousin, Wendy, has a great new blog about coupons, saving money, free stuff, etc. And she posts all the time, so there's always something new to check out. Anyway, go take a look . . . I'm saving now, are you?

Only on Jezebel

. . . will you find an article debating whether Blossom or Clarissa (from Clarissa Explains it All) is cooler. I love it! And in case you were wondering, I'm on Team Clarissa.

Muahahahaha!

I just discovered a hilarious, new (to me) blog. You should probably check out My Religious Blog. This person is my new hero. My personal favorite posts are "Mormons on TV," "Footprints," and "Brigham Young Quote." I'd give you links to each one, but I think you should read through to try to find them. Enjoy!

a funny

Click here. Too funny!

My apologies

I've been slacking with the posts again. In my defense, it was the last week of classes and I have finals coming up, so I've been just a tad bit busy. Actually, not as busy as I should be because I decided like a month ago that I was done with this semester and I didn't want to put forth any more effort. That's kind of the story of my life-unless I really love something, I tend to only put forth enough effort to get by. I am most definitely not a perfectionist or a go-getter. Mainly because I just don't care enough. I'm really glad there are perfectionists and go-getters out there though, because otherwise nothing would ever get done. So hats off to you guys. Thanks for enabling my slackerness.

None of that was the point of this post. The point of this post is that I subscribe to lots of blogs. No, really . . . lots and lots of blogs. Like possibly a couple of hundred. Don't you dare judge me-I fully admit I have no life. So I thought I would share some of the joy with you and post a couple of links here and there. My requirements for blogs that I read are that they must contain either pretty pictures, recipes, funnies, celebrity gossip, or be written by people I know. Here are the feeds for today. Just go ahead and subscribe. You know you want to.

• Austin Bush Photography (to subscribe to the feed, use austinbushphotography.com/feed/)
  
• Old Fashioned Homemaking
  
• TMZ

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for the content of these blogs. Well, other than the fact that I like them and recommended them. But if you read something you disagree with or that offends you, don't come crying to me.

great website

The Big Picture from The Boston Globe. Plus, this was on the front page (of the website, I don't know about the actual paper).

interesting article

Polish Jew gave his life defining, fighting genocide

check it out

My little brother, Mark, also has a blog and his last entry included the story of his broken arm, among other things. It was pretty entertaining. Check it out here.

Saw funnies

I saw the original Saw movie back in the day, but since they've been coming out like three a year and we're on about Saw 36, I've lost interest. Apparently Dave White from MSNBC agrees with me. He wrote a Dear John letter to the Saw franchise and it made me laugh out loud (although in my sickly and weakened state, it probably sounded more like a seal barking than a laugh). Here's a snippet:

Dear “Saw,”

This letter has been a long time coming. I just didn’t know how to put my feelings into words. But now I can say it: We’re through. Forgive my blunt words, “Saw,” but we’re breaking up for good. And not to make you feel bad or anything, but it’s not me. It’s you.

I guess you’re probably thinking that if I really understood you I’d have tarted up my words for you somehow and left you a cryptic note where I half-explained my unhappiness. Then I would have stuck that note inside an envelope that was also holding a key to a box. And that box would have been buried under a pit of deadly radioactive scorpions. That box would have contained your left lung, which I would have removed while you were under sedation. And I would have also filled your right lung with cherry-flavored Kool-Aid while simultaneously attaching a model train set to your skull. And then I would have outfitted the engine with little tiny rocket launchers that would set your entire face on fire. And you would have had 10 seconds to decide if knowing my true feelings were more important than having nuclear scorpions gnawing on you or having your nose melted off. I guess that would have been more archly poetic.

To read the rest click here.

Muahahahaha!

You must check out the Overheard in the Ward website. Some of my favorites:


Boy in sacrament meeting: Bread and water. Bread and water. That’s all they ever give us. I want a hot dog.

Non-Member: Does your church serve the little pieces of toast and the water shots?
Member: Umm… sure.


Young Man Blessing the Sacrament: Oh God, [long pause] the card is gone!

LOL!

I love this blog post.

At least the shirts are sleeveless, though, so we can still see them flex as they look at their watches. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please go watch Top Gun.