Captain Hard Sell Strikes Out

So I picked up my niece from school today and we decided to walk around the mall for a bit. A smoking hot guy at a nail care kiosk stopped us so he could hawk his wares. He did the hard sell while buffing my fingernail (yes, just the one fingernail) to show how shiny his product could make it. Then he tried to sell the gift package, and it went something like this:

Looks at my 9-year old niece: "You're really cute..." turns to me, "...and you're..." CONSPICUOUS PAUSE "...probably very nice."

Ooh! Steee-rike!

But wait, that's not all, he then goes on to say to me, "Now, you have oily skin, so let me show you this soap..."

Steeee-rike two!

I didn't give him the opportunity for strike three.

Dude. Ouch.

I told the girls at the Lush counter about it, since they'd been so nice to me and Rachel earlier, and they gave Rachel a free slice of her favorite soap (Demon in the Dark) to make us feel better. A big slice. Guess where I'm getting gifts for Christmas? That's right: Lush.

Then we went for ice cream.

Cup of Tears

O.
M.
G.
Seriously.

The Cup of Tears film trailer. Dir. Gary Shore from Gary Shore on Vimeo.

I will so see this movie when it comes out. Oh, yes I will.

Via i09

SDJ: Comics Mashups

My goodness, but I've been MIA for a long time! Work is busy-busy and rather stressful, and I haven't been particularly well for a few weeks now.

Anyway, I'm back with a Squee du Jour! Today it's comics mashups from Ryan Dunlavey!

I think "Orlando Bloom County" is probably my favorite. That one, "Cringerfield", and "The Dark Side".

Ryan Dunlavey, via i09

SDJ: Sword Geek is Me

My alter ego is The Queen of Swords. No, not the short-lived TV show. It was the online handle I chose back in 1997 for my anime and manga fanfiction site The Queen of Swords Webpage of Rather Silly Things. I picked the name because the profile of the Queen of Swords tarot card suited me to a T...and I just really love swords! So my reaction to this video of the swordsmith that created the swords used in the Lord of the Rings movies was: SQUEE!



via TheOneRing.net

Rachel the Math Wiz

My niece Rachel is really, really good at math. She's the opposite of me when it comes to numbers, but we do share a love and a knack for analysis. So while the story my mom told me yesterday made my jaw drop at the time, the more I thought about it, the less surprising it seemed.

My brother-in-law draws his income from a business he owns. He recently began entertaining a certain offer to buy this business. He told Rachel about the offer, including the amount. Previously, he'd told her how much the business brought in per month.

The next day over breakfast, Rachel advised her father against accepting the prospective buyer's offer. She'd done the math and worked out that what the buyer was offering was less than what the business brought in in six months and was therefore kind of a rip off. Nobody asked her to do that. Something just didn't sound right about the proposal, so she got out paper and pencil and figured out why.

I don't think my brother-in-law will be selling his business to that person. And from now on, I think maybe he should have his 8-year old daughter do his books. (I'm kidding: He has a professional accountant for that.)

Yeah. She's 8-years old. I'm so proud! I had to share.

A Truly Haunting Squee du Jour: The Cat Piano

The animation is gorgeous, and narrator Nick Cave's delivery is positively haunting. It's noir at its animated best. It's "The Cat Piano" by The People's Republic of Animation (PRA).

The Cat Piano from PRA on Vimeo.

Via i09

Cross-posted on Spilt Ink

If He'd Done This in the Campaign He Might've Been Senator Sooner

Dude. Senator Al Franken is amazing. I'm actually jealous of Minnesotans now. First you get a pro-wrestler/ex-Navy Seal for Governor, and now you get a satirist/comedian/artist for your Senator. He totally makes up for Michelle Bachman. Totally.

Check out Senator Al Franken (D-MN) drawing a map of the United States:



Wow. Just...wow.