Category: shiny stuff

happenings, home improvement, shiny stuff

bathroom remodel take 2: the 3 years later edition

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It’s been a little over 3 and a half years since we took our first stab at remodeling our basic and bland main bathroom. In that project (some pictures), we took out the ugly tiles and put in beautiful natural slate tiles, and added a new vanity and mirror. This project went well, but was labor intensive. However, it was never meant to be the end; we always wanted to redo the shower, and put in a custom tiled shower with glass doors.

Well, the time has come to finish our spa bathroom. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this project. I HATE the pre-fab shower stalls that we have in both of our bathrooms, and I have wanted a walk in shower with the luxury of glass tiles and an upgraded shower nozzle. I also can’t wait to have glass doors; that will undoubtedly only make our bathing experience that much better.

So the construction will kick back into high gear over the next couple of weeks (I’m hoping it won’t take weeks, though); as God as my witness, we will finish this bathroom!! Here are stock photos of the tile we are planning to use:
For the walls, we want to use this beautiful aqua glass tile:

and for the floor, we want to use this gorgeous pebble tile; which according to the design shows, is all the rage:

Needless to say, there will be stories about the process as we begin demolition later this week, and definitely expect lots of pictures. I am VERY excited, because if it looks anything like the image I have in my mind, our bathroom is going to be AMAZING. Stay tuned for more.

all about me, happenings, mixed media, shiny stuff

economic stimulation: the tax return edition

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When I got my tax return directly deposited into my checking account, I had an agenda for the funds. At least $950 would go directly to paying off the counter tops that we installed last summer, as well as the new “quiet” dishwasher we got at the same time. I was glad to do it, because those were things we wanted, and it was time to pay them off… before the interest came into play. Whew… burden relieved; but I still had quite a bit left over (owning your own home does have big benefits at tax time), so I felt like splurging, so I got a PSP.

I have wanted one for a while, mostly for the game Darkstalkers Chronicle: Chaos Tower, which is only available in a relatively recent and attainable format for the PSP. I used to play the orginal Darkstalkers game on my Sega Genesis back in the day, and over the years, it has popped back in my mind several times; it was one of my favorite games as a kid. With the recent resurgence of the amazing Street Fighter series on Xbox 360, I have found myself thinking heavily about Darkstalkers again. Well, I managed to get the game for PSP, and I have to say, nostalgia is a very, very sweet thing that we must all treat ourselves to from time to time. For not a lot of money, I was able to get myself something that I wanted, and stimulate the economy at the same time. It is a win/win, really.

The other games I have gotten are as follows: Loco Roco (1&2), Lumines II, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, Buzz: Master Quiz, WTF (work time fun), Wipeout Pure, and Rachet and Clank (which came with it). I got the system on sale, and I got all but two of those games using credit from selling games to Gamestop (as well as the case for the PSP). Overall, I haven’t spent a great deal of money, and I got something else fun to play with. I do have to say, though, that those damn UMDs are fragile; I have already broken one of them, but was able to “fix” it with a little piece of tape. It still works fine, but still, what a weird media choice, Sony.

Either way, it was worth the whole kit and kaboodle for Darkstalkers, which is amazing on the PSP. I’m glad that I finally got one. Hooray for unnecessary purchases!!

music musings, shiny stuff

a little suprise

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Last night, I was driving home from having drinks with a friend, and I was not in the mood for whatever CD I had in at the time, so I thought I would see what was playing over on trusty XM. A little background… I have had XM ever since I got my Acura, back in August of 2005, because it came in the car, and well, I guess it is one of those things that I COULD live without, but since it is BUILT IN, I have kept my subscription current. It does get annoying though, that some of the channels have commercials; especially since their claim is radio free of commercials. Well, for the most part, they are right, but there are a few that play ’em anyway. Overall, it’s alright, and not something I consider to be a deal breaker at this point.

Anyway, I was really excited when Sirius and XM merged earlier this year, because I have heard that Sirius has several channels that I might be interested in; specifically, BBC 1. My friend Deb got a new Jeep not too long ago, and she has Sirius built in, and she has continually fueled my jealousy that she gets BBC 1, because the programming is pretty great for someone that loves brit-pop as much as she and I both do.

Alright, sorry for the tangent; back to last night… I started flipping through the preset channels, and I notice that Upop (a BBC 1 knockoff) had been replaced by BBC 1!! Apparently, XM quietly changed all of their channels (some stayed the same) at some point yesterday, and I couldn’t be happier. I LOVE BBC 1, and it is just one more reason to keep my XM subscription now! As for the other changes, I haven’t really explored them yet, but if you are interested, here’s the 411 on all of the changes.

This morning on my way in to work, some slow guy called in to one of the channels, and asked, “what’s the deal with the channels?”, and the DJ told him about the changes in the line up and told him to check out the website, but apparently she overwhelmed him, because he couldn’t grasp why these changes were made. Some people just don’t get the technologies, do they?

Thank you XM!! Hooray for BBC 1 in my car, and in my life!

music musings, music suggestion, shiny stuff

big music tuesday

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Today is a pretty decent day for music releases, as there are four CDs that hit shelves today that I had to pick up:
big music tuesday
I will confidently say that no less than one of these albums will make my year end list; you can count on it. I can’t remember a Tuesday where four CDs came out that I had to pick up, so it’s definitely a day of music worth blogging about.

I also wanted to get Guitar Hero World Tour (the drums and everything!), but I had to leave empty handed. The douche at Best Buy just disappeared when I asked for his help, and came back to tell me that Guitar Hero didn’t come with drums (which made me angry, because all he had to do was pay attention to his surroundings, especially since they have it out for everyone to play, and the drum kit is clearly sitting three feet from where we had the conversation… but I digress). So, I will have to wait until later for that one; I am going to try and get it after work, because it looks ever so fun, and we played Rock Band the other night and had a blast with the drums, and the Guitar Hero ones have cymbals (and no crappy pedal)! Looks like I found something to do for the rest of the week, eh!

all about me, music musings, music suggestion, shiny stuff

music releases and a nice surprise (or two)

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First, I will bring out the surprise: remember how I was complaining about my Microbiology test, because it was so hard? Well, I must be a good guesser, because I got the highest grade in the class… a 97. Um, wow?!! I am happy about that, to say the least. Also, the professor sent out an email saying that this was the hardest material that we will cover, which is basically a big sigh of relief for me!!

Secondly, I was super excited about at least one music release this Tuesday: the release of of Jon McLaughlin’s second, highly anticipated CD. His first record really struck a chord with me, so much so, that it made a solid spot on my 31 CDs of 2007 list. I love piano rock, and this guy is cute to boot!! Needless to say, I ran out to Best Buy during lunch to pick up his newest CD, OK Now, because when you make good graces with me musically, I generally keep paying attention to anything you have going on, especially that which you may have coming up next.

Well, while I was at Best Buy (mine and Deb’s usual Tuesday ritual), we were looking around per usual, and I noticed that there was an Aqualung CD on the end cap that I had never heard of. A quick flip over of the CD case, and I noticed that it was released in 2008! What?!?! Aqualung has a new CD (called Words and Music) out?? Well, according to Amazon, not only does Aqualung have a new CD out, but it came out today! Score!!! I totally didn’t know that, and I am totally jazzed that I saw it. I snagged it as well, because Aqualung not only made my top 31 last year with his amazing Memory Man CD, but he made the top ten as well; the album is pretty flawless. Now, while I didn’t know he was coming out with a CD today, I can’t say how happy I am that I was able to snap it up, because if it is anything like his previous work, I am sure it is going to be good. So this is a bit of a surprise too… especially for other Aqualung fans that didn’t know he was coming out with a record today… like me!

So here’s to surprise A’s, and surprise CD finds when going out for other potentially great records from favorite artists!

hotness, mixed media, shiny stuff, show the love

viva pinata: pocket paradise… first thoughts

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in the mail today...As a MAJOR fan of the Viva Pinata game for XBOX 360 (in fact, it is the reason I got an XBOX instead of a PS3), I was super excited when I heard earlier this year, that they were making a similar version of Viva Pinata for DS. Well, the game is out, and I eagerly got it as quickly as I could (damn pre-order on amazon… I want it now!), and after playing for an hour or so, I am here to sing it’s praises.

First of all, if you are a fan of the original Viva Pinata, you probably have several things that you wanted changed, because I know I did. I thought that a lot of the ways that you navigated your shovel, seeds, and other tools was too complicated (you had to remember where they were to pull them up with just the d-pad, which you tend to forget when you are worried about watering your new banana tree!!!), and the menus to get to people like Lottie at Costalot’s store were just too fumbled. Well, the DS version has taken care of every issue that I had with the XBOX version! I haven’t been playing that long, and already, I am pleased to see that they made these changes. A really, really nice feature, is that in the information screen for each pinata tells you exactly what the pinata needs, not only to romance, but also to make variants of that pinata; something that was annoyingly missing from the original. YAY FOR THAT!

Other notable changes; the annoying Leafos is gone. Sorry, she is sweet and all, but especially in the beginning of the game, she really was a hand-holder, and all I wanted to do was get to making my garden great, and attracting new pinatas. She made such pomp and circumstance about everything, that I got frustrated with her really quickly. Funny thing is, that you could hit her with your shovel if you got annoyed with her (like I did), and she would say, “nuh uh uh!”. If you hit her too many times though she took away the shovel, which pretty much made you powerless. Needless to say, I am glad to see that she isn’t running things in pocket paradise.

Another great surprise, is that they made the pinata’s the front and center main attraction! This is awesome, because they are the reason you are playing the game, and you get your tutorials from them. That was a great touch.

So far, I have set up my garden, and I am actively romancing the new members. I cannot wait to see how my garden grows, and what great pinatas I can bring inside. I don’t know the mechanics of having multiple gardens yet, but I am sure that it will have similar capabilities of the XBOX game, because that feature made it great for organizing your pinatas, and keeping the ones that incessantly fight separated from one another.

Needless to say, I am thrilled that I get to take this amazingly wonderful game with me, and that I can play when I get bored during my travels. The best part about this game, is that every time you do something (plant something, build a building, romance pinatas, etc), that you are bound to get a slightly different garden, and with experience, you can really customize things, and really keep making the game more fun. This is a game that was HIGHLY anticipated for the DS, at least for me, and so far, it has VASTLY exceeded my expectations. If you are a fan of the original game, you must get this new one… Viva Pinata indeed!!!! (there was also a recent release of Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, a new version of the original sim for XBOX, and I will definitely be getting that one at some point… but I am still having a fantastic time with my original gardens, that I don’t want to abandon them just yet!).

HUGE UPDATE!!!!!!: I just got a Taffly (for those of you that had the game, you know that they are annoying, because they eat your flowers, and don’t really give you anything… unless you burn them to evolve them, and then sell them; but that is getting outside of the point…), and they have done the best upgrade ever on an ordinarily useless pinata! When he eats something of a certain color, he produces that color fertilizer!!! No more buying that shit! (literally!) It also appears that the color fertilizer thing is more intuitive this time around as well!!! HUGE YAY for that, because I can’t tell you how frustrating the fertilizer thing was in the original game. Alright, sorry to keep gushing, but this feature is too great not to mention!!!!

happenings, is it just me?, mixed media, shiny stuff, venting

apple event: kind of a let down?

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As indicated by last weeks excitement at the announcement of the “Let’s Rock” event, I was clearly looking forward to the Apple event today. However, is it just me, or was it kind of a HUGE blah moment after they announced that not much was changing with the ipod Touch? I mean, I waited for nearly two months, and the only real benefit is that I saved $100 on practically the same thing that I could have gotten 2 months ago.

I just think it’s weird that they make such pomp and circumstance, and say “boom! bap! shazam!” and we are expected to be wowed; even when nothing major happened. The worst, is that I KNOW that as soon as I have had this ipod touch for 2 or 3 months, they will quietly release a 64GB version, and I will of course, be pissed that I didn’t wait. You are always doing this to me Apple! Every single ipod I have gotten since my 2nd Gen 10GB (which was $400 then!!), with the notable exception of my 3rd Gen Nano 8GB (probably because I bought it on a whim, just for fun), I have been “bested” by Apple mere months after I made my informed purchase. The worst was when I bought my 4th Gen one, and the photo one came out LITERALLY 35 days later (just long enough for me to be unable to return it). I wouldn’t bitch, but it isn’t like these are purchases around $100; all of the ipods I have gotten have been over $200; which is I guess a testament of being an early adopter of technology (hello $1000 Blu-Ray now being $300).

Oh well, I know that this is “how it goes” with technology, but for some reason, I have been pretty lucky with most of my “devices”; with the ipod being the exception. I have a good track record with phones and gaming consoles (both portable and home), so I guess I have to give in to the innovation of Apple, which totally takes the bank, unfortunately.

Will I get a new ipod Touch? Most certainly. I have wanted one since they came out over a year ago; but I was hoping that I could get at LEAST 64gb… It looks like I am going to have “settle” (HA!) for 32GB. Life sure is hard isn’t it? /sarcasm I’ve been on the Apple music media bandwagon this long, I guess I should come to expect these sorts of things; but it doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it!

"pointless", all about me, friends, happenings, mixed media, shiny stuff, the catch-all-egory

update, I guess?

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It seems like I don’t have much to post about these days… or perhaps it is that I only have mundane things to post about? Either way, I feel like I could at least do a bulleted update list or something, to give y’all the 411 on what’s going on in the wonderful world of duane.

  • I have officially ran out of classes to take for my pre-requisites. I am taking Microbiology this fall, and after that, I just have to wait to get into a program. I am really anxious about getting into one right away, because I REALLY want to get moving on this nursing degree. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
  • Speaking of taking that one class, just getting the random holds off of my account at GPC was more than a headache that lasted from early June all the way through this week. Currently, things are okay, but it was REALLY frustrating to deal with… especially when you call the registration and administration services offices at any of their campuses, and all it does is ring five times before you get a voicemail. Is anyone working there? I mean, they have extended hours for crying out loud! Ugh, I am just glad I have things squared away with GPC.
  • I have officially applied to Kennesaw and Georgia State. I am awaiting my friendly “you got in, yay” packet, so that I can then apply to each one of their nursing programs. I REALLY want to get in and start taking the next steps to becoming a nurse. I am so freaking ready it isn’t even funny.
  • I mentioned a while back that I wanted a new lens for my birthday, but I ended up getting that before I went on my NYC trip. I have decided to wait a little while and see what Apple is going to do, but I have pretty much promised myself that I will be obtaining an iPod touch in the near future. I hope that they come out with one that has more than 32gb, and is cheaper than $500. It would be awesome to throw a camera on that thing too; because I think that the iPhone is awesome, and I would like to have everything BUT the phone. Hurry Apple! I’m anxious!
  • We are still loving the counter tops, sink, and new faucet. I literally walk into the kitchen every time, and cannot believe that it is my house. It was the last thing about our house that we wanted to desperately change, and it has been done… I love our house even more now!
  • Other than dealing with trying to get transcripts out, holds taken off of accounts, applications in, and other whatnot, I have been hanging out with friends and having a pretty good last few weeks. My mood seems to be in an upswing, and I am not complaining about that in the least. I just wish I could get rid of my extreme sensitivity to heat. I really feel like people think that I am making it up sometimes just for attention, which is far from the truth. The other night, we were at a cookout, and I had to leave really abruptly, or pass out. Seriously, I sat in the car for like 10 minutes with the AC on full blast just to keep my food down, and my self conscious. It was awful. I just wish that it didn’t bother me as bad as it does.
  • Lastly, I guess, Soul Calibur IV, while it may make me REALLY frustrated at times when the opponent is a seemingly perfect god of moves and penetrating skills, is an amazing game. They have improved over the Soul Calibur franchise considerably, and the graphics are nothing short of jaw droppingly beautiful. It is also a hoot to play as Yoda, because he says a bunch of his little catch phrases, and well, he’s just so damn cute! It’s a great game, and a must for any fighting game fan. The Xbox 360 continually impresses me with it’s graphical prowess.

Alright, that’s it for now. Back to life…