Holiday Cards?

Do you think Holiday Cards are nice or cheesy?

Jamie Lynn Spears PR Team's Spin

This will be the last Jamie Lynn Spears Update I promise but I found this funny!

Since it was announced that Jamie Lynn Spears is preggers at age 16, it seems everyone in the Spears camp is scrambling to put a positive spin on things. And the latest installment of PR spin is a statement that her parents love the guy who got her pregnant.

Sources close to the Spears family are telling press just how amazing Casey Aldridge really is. Reportedly he’s been really helpful in shielding the “Zoey 101” actress from the pressures of Hollywood.

A pal told press, "He took amazing care of Jamie Lynn. Anything ever went wrong, he always comforted her. He took care of her. Jaime [her dad] talks about how he really likes Casey because he's a great guy. And Lynne [her mom] really likes him, too. He's a good kid, cares a lot about Jamie Lynn. They both adore Casey."

As for Aldridge, he's either 18 or 19 years old, and grew up in Liberty, Mississippi, a short drive from Spears' Kentwood, Louisiana stomping grounds. According to the Spears family source, he’s going to be a terrific dad.

"He's a stand-up guy, and he will take care of the baby. He is not the type to let her deal with it on her own. He will be there in any way he can. ... I know a baby wasn't in his plans for right now, but he'll do what he has to do, and he'll be a good father. He really will."

Source ~ Gossip Girls

Do Celebrities think being Pregnant is Trendy?

Has anyone heard of a rubber or birth control? I know some where trying, but many were not.Here is a list of Celebrities that got pregnant in 2007...

Just announced: Jamie Lynn Spears and boyfriend Casey Aldridge are expecting their first child in summer 2008.

Kate Thornton and fiance Darren Emerson are expecting their first child in summer 2008.

Actress Kelly MacDonald and husband Dougie Payne are expecting their first child in March.

Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony are expecting their first child next year.

Cate Blanchett and husband Andrew are expecting their third child in April.

Model Laura Bailey and Eric Fellner are expecting their second child in Spring.

Freddie and Rachel Flintoff are expecting their third child in April.

Lisa Scott-Lee and husband Johnny are expecting their first child in Spring.

Emmerdale's Sheree Murphy and husband Harry are expecting their third child in April.

Sara Cox and partner Ben are expecting their second child in Spring.

Halle Berry and boyfriend Gabriel are expecting their first child in Spring 2008.

Javine Hylton and boyfriend Michael MC Harvey are expecting their first child in December.

Samantha Morton and fiance Harry are expecting their first child in January.

Nicole Richie and boyfriend Joel are expecting their first child in January.

Christina Aguilera and husband Jordan are expecting their first child in January.

Toni Collette and husband Dave are expecting their first child in January 2008.

Again, I know some where trying, but many were not. Has no one in Hollywood heard of condoms?

Strata Presents The End of The World

After trading in their Metal Muff distortion pedals for digital delay pedals and pawning off their Hoobastank reference discs for Interpol CDs, Strata has made hefty strides into an alternate musical universe. In fact, if you listen to their self-titled disc and Strata Presents the End of the World back-to-back, the amount of growth between the two is remarkable. What originally sounded like a nu-metal grunge soundtrack that might be played during a pole dance at a seedy strip club has evolved into an atmospheric and epic sound representative of My Chemical Romance, and even Mars Volta to a lesser extent. The more dreamy orchestral form will likely lose fans of the first album, but it is a vast improvement from the old style. Their musicianship has gotten better, as has the production value and the band's willingness to experiment with studio trickery. More importantly, this new moody style of music better accompanies the content, which has become profound and topical. Since publishing a personal book of memoirs, -Coma Therapy, it seems that singer Eric Victorino has learned to tap into his inner poet and started writing more cohesive verses about topics like, well, as the title suggests, the end of the world. Each song involves him sifting through the meaning of life in 20th century America like the protagonist of a coming-of-age story. He battles losing childhood innocence, criticizes falling prey to the machine, and is suspect of phony people who offer him false promise. With similar values as Holden Caulfield, a lot of the prose tends to be pessimistic -- sometimes to the extreme -- as the singer has brushes with suicidal thoughts and contemplates his fear of death. Even a song like "Cocaine" that seems like a straightforward story about partying with a girl in the fast-lane and who overdoses on white powder alludes to the record's greater concept with the line "might as well go out and raise your drinks tonight because we're all going to hell." Dark moments like these are evident, as is an underlying distaste for American society. The lyrics point accusing fingers at war mongers, the country's lack of cultural awareness, and "dead people" working their nine to five jobs. Moments of hope shine through where Victorino determines that love is a worthwhile reason for living, and a gentle Death Cab influenced ending "Daylight in the City" echoes the promising words "Everything is gonna be all right -- everything is gonna be just fine." The most rewarding parts of this album require a little patience and digging past the over-polished sheen of the surface, and it's interesting to think that songs with thoughtful lyrics might sneak their way on to the mainstream radio waves. The main downfall here is that when a band like Strata set their sights on becoming big, they take fewer musical risks, so the song structures are generally predictable, but with the amount of improvement they've made since the first album, we can have high expectations for the next record. It's doubtfully going to be up to the revolutionary caliber of, say, OK Computer, but if they continue in this direction, they might be on their way to a much bigger statement, especially if the slightly-anarchist lyrical themes are any indication of things to come.

Sources iTunes, Youtube, Wind up Records

Do you pick the city to live in or does the city pick you

I was thinking, do people pick a city to live in or near and then find a job in that city or does the job pick the city for them. In my case, I moved to the DC area to be with my fiancée and found a job there. But I know friends who lived in places then got a job offer in a different city, so they moved based on there job. I know there are different factors for everyone, but over all I wonder why people end up in the cities they do.

Who's House for the Holidays?

Do you have this debate / argument with your significant others, "who's house we should go to for the holidays?" I really don't think anyone wins in this situation. Reason being, if you go to their house, deep inside you really want to be with your family, and the same would go for them if they came to your family's house. I always try to come up with a solution where no one gets hurt or offended but I truly believe in this situation there is no easy answer. I've been trying to find one, but I think I'm on a pointless hunt.

Any suggestions?

Finding a Job

Why is it finding a job is so hard? Yes the Economy, blah blah blah blah… I mean it took me almost 8 months to find my current job after I graduated and the economy was "booming" then.

The reason I bring this up is I talked to a good friend who moved out to LA, and he can not find a job. He's a hard worker, a great guy and did I mention he graduated top of his class from Villanova University. He got two years of work experience working at two PR firms in Philadelphia. And despite all this no one will give him a chance. He has work experience, he has a degree, he's small, and so what’s the problem? I can’t figure it out.

Commute worth the pay?

My Question today, is your commute worth what you are being paid? I'd say I get paid an average salary for what I do but my commute is almost unbearable. I live 20 miles from where I work, which isn't that bad, but I have to take the DC beltway every day. If I leave my house before 6am my commute is normally not too bad, it takes about 40 mins to an 1 hour. But if I leave any time after 6am it can take me anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours. Blah… So recently I've been looking for jobs closer to my house, because while I think I get paid average for what I do, I don't think I get paid enough if you factor in the commute. What about you?

Boss is nice but condescending b*tch

At my job, I started working two days a week for a different department, so I have a new lady I have to report to there. I've only met her a few times and I already think she's a bitch. Now she never says things that are specifically mean but it's the way she speaks to me. It's in the most condescending and belittling tone I've ever heard. It's little I'm a f*cking idiot. The way she talks is like why the F*ck didn't you know what I was thinking. And it's not just me she speaks to like that, it's everyone on the team. Now my question is do I say something to her or do I let her continue talking to me like that.

Is Working From Home More or Less Productive

At my job, I have the opinion of working from home 1 or 2 days a week. I'm trying to figure out if it's more or less productive for me to work from home, rather than in the office.

While I'm working at home I feel like I finish my tasks more quickly and more efficiently than I do in the office. But when I'm in the office and I finish my work, there is always work to be done. So the quantity of work I do is higher in the office with the same quality I always have. There are more distractions at home, TV, Dog, Guitars, Ect.. While in the office all I can do is surf the web… I feel like I have almost reached the end of it.

So here is my breakdown of the Pros and Cons
The Upsides of working at home are:
1. Quiet/uninterrupted work time: great for work requiring concentration such as systems testing, writing specifications & documentation, analysis and ANY writing
2. Save $$$ (gas, train, dry-cleaning, etc)
3. Avoid commute (time, $$, better for the environment)
4. Comfort: pajamas, speedo Jr.
5. Extra sleep (better health!)
6. Can run errands at lunch
7. Schedule doctors appts on telework day and take less time off work to get to/from and more flexibility to work earlier or later hours to accommodate such appointments
8. Schedule home repair and delivery – no need to take off work
9. Pets – not home alone all day
Downsides
1. A lots of Distractions
2. No Human interaction
3. Being able to keep your focus.
4. When you run out of work, you're finished… Good for you bad for the Company
5. Repair people coming, always causes you to loose your focus
6. Bed / couch doesn't make the better work environment
7. Phone Calls
8. You’re able to surf the sites that are blocked at work!
9. Naps, good for you bad for the company

What do you think?

When is to early for christmas lights?

I have a question... When is it to early to put Christmas lights outside your house? We put our up last weekend but not one other house in our neighborhood has decorations up. We are new to the neighborhood, so we don't know when people put up decorations last year. But we did speak with different people over a month ago and they all said they were putting up Christmas/Holiday decorations. Did we put ours up to soon?

Driving in the Snow

To to Left is a picture from google traffic, two hours after I got to work... The chaos on the roads remain…
After driving to work today I came to the realization that people around here don't know how to drive in the snow (more like flurries). Now don't get me wrong, if the roads are bad I think people should drive with more caution BUT today there was no reason to be driving overly cautious. It wasn't really "snowing" just more like moderate flurries. The snow was not sticking to the road, so they were just wet. And as of when I got to work there was less than an inch of snow on the ground. But the reason I'm annoyed is, my commute is roughly 20 miles and it took me two and a half hours to get to work. TWO AND A HALF HOURS! My car calculates your trips average speed, mine 9 MPH. Again please don't get me wrong, I don't think people should close there eyes and hit the gas and I could understand that if it was snowing hard or snow was on the road or if it was icy or a bad accident but none of this was the case. Do you think there is anyway around people driving like idiots during bad weather?

Extra hours, maybe some compensation…

Is it right for your boss to ask you to work extra hours because other people on your team didn't work those hours? So you have all the facts, this is from the email my boss sent me, "There are a whole bunch of unused hours on the contract you work for. Would you be able to work some extra hours every week? The company might be able to compensate your extra time in the form of a bonus but it depends on revenue."

Personally, I think it is fine for my boss to ask me to work extra hours, but she can't get pissed if I choose not to accept. I mean they underpay (I feel) as is and asking me to take on extra hours with the potential for a bonus… I'd rather be broke.

Do you feel you are underpaid?

A Blast from the Past ~ Silverchair US resurgence

Silverchair perform "Straight Lines" at the Launch Party for their new critically acclaimed album "Young Modern"

After sweeping the 2007 ARIA Awards Silverchair have just launched their third American tour for this year. With many dates already sold out, Silverchair's current U.S resurgence is going from strength to strength.

Silverchair on tour in the US Now