little green guy.

Yesterday afternoon I ran out to return a few movies, and to my dismay it turned out I had forgotten to put one back in its case. After a lot of grumbling I headed back to the house and hopped up the stairs of my front porch only to by stopped in my tracks by this little guy:



Needless to say, I wasn't grumbling any more after that. =)

so you think you can dance finale.

(Spoilers below if you're a fan of SYTYCD)

Sigh. I just watched the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. The finale aired 10 days ago, but I'm just now getting around to watching it. Yes, some events actually got between me and viewing the eye candy that is the fabulous talent and amazing choreography on that show.

So if you didn't know it, Joshua Allen won. I have to admit, if Katee or Josh didn't win, I'd be pretty disappointed. Throughout the entire season, they never hit the bottom three. Never had to dance for their lives. Never left me not squealing with sheer delight after watching any routine they were in.

This by far was probably my favorite season finale of all three seasons I've watched of SYTYCD. I'm probably the most emotionally attached to season 2, but there were so many fun elements in this show that this simply beats the rest of 'em. Nigel Lythgoe tap dancing with kids from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, seeing some of my favorite dancers from past seasons dancing on stage, watching Mary in her fire engine red dress do the samba across the stage with Dmitri...droooool. Have I mentioned I like Latin dancing? ;)

The choreography from this season also outshines the other seasons, and I've definitely enjoyed how the show added new genres of dancing.

I really don't know what I'm going to do to fill my dancing-watching void. =)

Below are my top 5 favorite routines from this season. How long is it until next spring? Maaaaan.

#5



#4



#3



#2



#1

a good rma is so hard to come by...

At least, that's what I always thought. Until just about a week ago.

As the Orderer of Boring Office Supplies and Mildly-Fun Equipment of my company, I'm used to having to scour the internet for deals. It's my job to say "I'd never pay that much for an LCD monitor" or "You should use this website because at least their customer service speaks your native language." It's something I do on a fairly regular basis, and thus far I've had no qualms about it.

Scratch that. I normally don't have qualms about it -- until I screw up.

I had to order a few hundred blank, printable, CD-Rs for a client for a larger-than-usual dub job the other day, and accidentally ordered the wrong type. What I needed were inket printable CD-Rs, not thermal printable CD-Rs. It seemed to be both a simple and careless mistake, but regardless, it put me in a predicament because a) I had a deadline to meet, and 600 CDs to dub, and b) I knew it was going to be a chore trying to find that type of media in-town on a day-to-day basis.

I managed to snag a few hundred from a couple of different retailers, and then realized I still had problem C to deal with: How was I going to return all of those unused CDs? Could I?

The website that I ordered from was a trusted one, Newegg.com. If you haven't heard of Newegg and you're a tech geek, I would like to think you're simply a figment of someone's imagination. From their about us site, Newegg is "an online e-commerce company offering more than 25,000 computer hardware and software, consumer electronics and communications products in stock at competitive prices and ready to ship at lightning-speed."

I've ordered blank media from them before, but never this type, so I was a little wary. As a consumable item, I was 100% sure the 6th cakebox that I'd opened would be nonreturnable. I'd have to obtain an RMA for the 5 others, which can be a lengthy process (I'd done these before). The whole idea was slightly nauseating, since at the time I was dreading running around town, and trying to box up these items to ship them back. I also was aware that Newegg charged 15% for a restocking fee (quite common for online retailers and big box stores).

After reading further into Newegg's return policy, I found out that I could talk with someone online to obtain the RMA. I hesitantly fired up the chatbox, and in a few minutes I was chatting with someone by the handle of "Dicie." I wasn't sure if Dicie was male or female (or robot for that matter), but he/she/it seemed pleasant enough.

But after explaining my screw-up of ordering the wrong type of blank media, Dicie types: "Please kindly note that this item is non-refundable."

My heart dropped a little after that.

Then: "However as they are unopened, we will make an exception to issue the refund."

I bounced a little in my seat out of sheer joy.

Immediately after: "We will also honor the opened one as a one time exception."

After I fired off several exclamations and a flurry of questions, Dicie created an RMA number for me, and within minutes I had a new invoice in my inbox. There would be no restocking fee, Newegg would accept and honor the 6th cakebox with the two ruined CDs, and the only fee we would incur would be shipping.

I understand that everyone needs a break every once in awhile, but I by no means ever expect one. But a little blessing like that definitely went a long way for me. I wanted to review their customer service and give them 5 stars in any way I could. Dicie explained that there was a rating site that Newegg used, so I quickly logged in to the site and gave a concise re-telling of my Experience with the Seemingly Non-Returnable CD-Rs.

Today, I received another e-mail with a new invoice - my shipment had been received and Newegg was refunding our cost of the CD-Rs. And for reviewing their customer service on the ratings site, I also have a free T-shirt coming my way.

I love Newegg. =)

the thing about shooting in restaurants...

I can't pass up free food. I simply just can't. I'm sure it has something to do with the intricate, delicate way that I'm hardwired -- that immediately turns me into a heifer.

"What? You're telling me that this steak would go to waste? I can't let that happen!"

The past two weeks have brought a few evening shoots of local restaurants into my professional schedule. And while it's never expected, it always happens: a few beautiful platters are left uneaten and dangerously exposed to the ultimate predator of free food -- me.

But I think today was a little bit more than I had bargained for. Steak, calamari, dessert shots, grilled panini, seasoned fries, Chilean sea bass?

My kids are going to be so fat.

just a few weeks on the treadmill...




And they had to go and invent THIS stupid thing.

Baby steps...baby steps.

random mini-feed.

Practice makes...better?
For the past 4 1/2 weeks, I've stuck to a new, but pretty basic exercise regimen. That being said, I'm happy announce that it's getting easier to refrain from passing out after 10 minutes on the treadmill. This is pretty exciting.

Hi-ho, hi-ho
Work has been pretty decent, but I've been convinced that one of my clients is out to get me. This particular client (I'll call him/her "Bob") has the same faults that a lot of demanding, impatient people have: every time Bob needs something, it has to be right then. Right now. Five minutes ago! It's a little unnerving, to be honest. For a few months we won't hear from this client, not a peep, but it's like trying to brace yourself for WWIII whenever Bob enters the picture again and things are in full swing.

The heat...oh, this heat.
My poor air conditioner at home has been working overtime. It's a struggle just to walk out to my car during lunchtime, with this wretched, wretched heat. I miss being able to drive to work with my windows down when it's not 83 degrees at 7:45AM. I miss being able to wear sunglasses because I liked to, not because I had to. I miss....not sweating.

Reading machine
And ahhh, yes, finally, I've finished the last book of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. Finishing up this last book left me with a big ol' smile on my face. But no spoilers here. I'll be posting more on that soon.

/mini-feed.

more font fanaticism.

I've never used the font Trajan in design, and always pondered what I'd use it for...but now I don't want to. Ever.

via goodiebag.tv. I've just discovered Kirby Ferguson. He's pretty funny.